Chapter 3
"So what'd you do in Winnipeg for fun?" Wheels asked Ty as the two of them walked down Degrassi Street towards the school the next day.
"Mostly I just hung out with my friends." Ty said as he kicked a rock down the sidewalk. "We played video games and spent a lot of time hanging out at a classic arcade playing the games there. We formed a band and we were actually pretty good! We used to play at Open Mic Night at a coffee house downtown, and every now and then someone would hear us and hire us to play at weddings and parties and stuff. It was cool, and the best part was all the girls!"
"I was in a band with my friends Snake and Joey when we were in school. We originally called ourselves 'The Zit Remedy' and later we changed it to 'The Zits'. We. . .were never quite as successful as your band was, though! We only knew one song, and that was 'Everybody Wants Something', a little number we wrote by ourselves. Joey tried more than anything to get us into the spotlight, but it never happened!" Wheels laughed as he shook his head, remembering Joey's futile attempts at fame for the trio. "Snake played guitar, Joey was on the keyboard, and I played bass. Although we never hit it big like Joey wishes we had, we still had a lot of fun playing together!"
"I play bass!" Ty said as they walked along. "Do you still play?"
"Not anymore. I'm sure I could if I wanted to, I just haven't played in a really long time, so I'm really rusty! I still have the bass at home that I used in high school, though. Maybe I could dig it out and we could jam sometime."
"That'd be cool!"
"Well, here we are!" Wheels said as they stopped outside the front of Degrassi Community School. The new school closely resembled Degrassi High, but it still wasn't the same.
Ty gulped. "I REALLY hate being the new kid!" He said.
"Oh, come on! It's not really that bad! Besides, you still haven't Emma and Craig yet, and I know you'll love those guys, and I'm pretty sure Emma will do everything she can to help you here! She has this uncanny knack for interfering with things she knows full well she should just leave alone, with good intentions, of course, and she'll be more than happy to help you adjust to life here!"
Ty gulped again, and the two of them proceeded up the stairs and into the building.
Once they were inside, the halls were crawling with students. Apparently a class had just been let out.
"Attention students!" Mr. Radditch's voice blared over the intercom. "This is just a reminder to all student council members that there will be a short meeting today after school in room 209. Please try to attend!"
"That guy was just on the intercom has been here forever!" Wheels said to Ty. "His name is Mr. Radditch and he's the principal here. When I was in junior high he was a teacher and in high school he became a vice principal."
Wheels led Ty to the office. Although Wheels hadn't gone to the new Degrassi, he still had a pretty good idea of the layout of the building. He'd been there several times to visit Snake since they'd reconciled and had been taken on a tour of the building at his high school reunion. He liked the new school. It was very modern.
Wheels remembered the discussion he'd had with Jayci the day before. He wondered why she had never even tried going back to school. He was sure if she really tried and worked hard that she could probably graduate with her class or maybe even shortly after them, depending on how far behind she was.
He followed Ty into the office. He decided to inquire about alternative programs for kids and adults wishing to complete high school diplomas.
"Can I help you with something?" The secretary asked Ty.
"Hi." Ty said to the secretary. "I'm new and here to enroll and register for classes."
"OK." She said. "There's a few forms you have to fill out first, and then you'll need to meet with Ms. Suave, the guidance counselor. She'll help you get signed up for classes. Do you have any records from your previous school?"
"Yeah, they're right here." Ty said as he pulled a few folded up papers out of his back pocket.
"You'll need those when you go in to see Ms. Suave." She said as she handed him a clipboard with papers attached to it. "I just need you to fill out the first page of each of these forms. Don't worry about the backs, those are for us to fill out. When you're done with those bring those back here and we'll get you in to see Ms. Suave." She handed him a pen.Ty took the clipboard and pen from her and took a seat in an empty chair and proceeded to fill out the forms. Wheels was next.
"And what can I do for you?" She asked.
"I just want to get some information on alternative programs for kids who've dropped out of school but want to get their diploma." Wheels said as he leaned over the countertop.
"Is this for yourself or someone else?"
"It's for someone else. I work with kids who are recovering alcoholics at St. Michael's Hospital and one of them has an interest in coming back to school."The secretary handed Wheels a thick manilla envelope filled with papers. "This has everything in it they'll need." She said. "Tell them if there's any questions to please call the school or school board for assistance."
"Thank you." Wheels said as he took the envelope from her.
--
"My next class is Grade 10 Media Immersion." Ty said as he looked at the schedule he'd just been given. He'd been walking around the school with Wheels finding all of his classes and even meeting a few of his teachers.
"That's the class Snake teaches!" Wheels said as they rounded a corner. "You'll really like him, and he's a good teacher."
They were coming up on a group of four guys, one of which was Craig Manning, Joey's stepson. The rest of them were Craig's friends Jimmy, Marco and Spinner. Wheels walked right up to them.
"And the best part was when he burped the national anthem!" Spinner said, laughing. He had been talking about a show on strange and unusual talents he'd seen on TV the night before. "And I don't mean one verse, I mean the WHOLE thing!" Spinner then attempted to do what he'd seen on TV.
Marco rolled his eyes. "Spin, that's disgusting!"
"What? It's funny!"
Jimmy shook his head.
"It's good to see that gross, disgusting humor still lives in the halls of this place!" Wheels said.
"Oh, hey!" Craig said. "What are you doing here?"
"I decided I didn't get enough of this place 12 years ago so I decided to come back." Wheels joked with Craig.
Spinner looked confused. "Are you serious?" He said.
Craig, Marco and Jimmy rolled their eyes.
"Spin, do yourself a favor and don't try to think anymore today, OK?" Craig said as took some books out of his locker.
"I'm actually here with this guy." Wheels said as he pointed to Ty. "Craig, this is Ty and he just signed up for classes here today. Ty, this is Craig. Ty just moved into the apartment right next door to mine."
"Hey." Ty said as he waved to Craig and the rest of the guys.
"Hi!" Craig replied. "These guys are Spinner, Marco and Jimmy." Craig said as he pointed out who was who to Ty. "Did you just move here?" Craig asked.
"From Winnipeg." Ty replied. "I'm in grade 10."
"Cool!" Craig said as he shut his locker. "I was new here last year, so I know what it feels like being the new guy." "It really sucks!"
"Yeah, no kidding!"
"It's OK here, though! You'll get used to it really fast and most of the people here are nice."
"Well I need to go finish finding the rest of my classes, but maybe I'll see ya around!" Ty said.
"OK, cool!" Craig replied. "See ya!" With that, Craig, Marco, Jimmy and Spinner took off in the opposite direction.
"The Media Immersion lab is this way." Wheels said as he pointed it out to Ty.
The Media Immersion lab was buzzing with conversation, as normal. This looked like the most interesting class to Ty. He loved working with computers and was actually quite good with them.
He apprehensively watched the other kids as they chatted and took their seats. He always got really nervous when he was around a large group of people he didn't know. That was mostly due to that fact that he wanted to make a good first impression on them.
Snake walked in the room.
"Snake!" Wheels said as Snake entered the room.
"Hey Wheels!"
"I'd like you to meet your newest student! This is Tyler Hoeklinson. Ty, this is my friend Snake, or as you'll probably call him, Mr. Simpson. Ty's family just moved into the apartment next door to mine, and I volunteered to help show him around here today."
"Hi." Snake said as he greeted Ty. "Welcome to Degrassi! Is this your first day here?"
"No." Ty answered. "My first official day will be tomorrow. I'm just figuring out where all my classes are today."
"Well, you're welcome to join us for this class today if you like!"
"OK!" Ty replied. "I will! That sounds like fun!"
"If you're gonna stay here, then I guess I'll go home." Wheels said. "I think you'll pretty much be able to find everything else by yourself."
"Why don't you stick around?" Snake asked. "After this class I have a free period and I always get lunch then. We could have lunch together!"
"OK! Well, I really don't want to hang around here, though, so I guess I'll just go wander aimlessly around the school, maybe stop at the Resource Centre and check out some old yearbooks and stuff."
"Alright." Snake said. Wheels left the room
The final bell rang.
"OK guys, have a seat!" Snake said to the class. "We have a lot to cover today, but first I have somebody I want you guys to meet! This is Ty Hoeklinson and he's new. Ty, wanna tell us anything about yourself?"
" Um, OK." Ty said. He was really nervous about speaking to a large group of people he didn't know. "I'm 15 and I just moved here from Winnipeg. I love working with computers and I play the bass. I live with my mom and dad and my little sister, Maddie."
"Great!" Snake said. "If you love working with computers then this class will be really fun for you! Guys, let's all do our best to make Ty feel welcome here, OK?"
With that, class began. They were studying a whole unit on the birth and history of the Internet that week, which was something that had always interested Ty. He'd studied about it at his old school in Winnipeg and even wrote a report on it for his English class, so he was able to contribute quite a lot to the discussion.
At the end of class, the bell rang and everyone got up to leave. Ty watched as all the other kids filed out of the classroom. He thought he was alone, but he wasn't. He could feel a pair of eyes watching him.
"Hi. Ty, right?" A girl's voice said from behind him. Ty turned around. It was Emma.
"Yeah." He replied. "What's up?"
"I just wanted to say hi. My name is Emma."
"Hi." Ty shyly replied. "She's pretty!" He thought to himself.
"Emma, are you coming?" Liberty asked as she poked her head back into the classroom.
Emma rolled her eyes. "Yes, Liberty! I'll be there in just a minute, OK?"
"Are you staying here for lunch?" Emma asked Ty.
"Yeah, I guess so." Ty said, shifting around in his seat.
"Would you like to sit with me and my friends?" Emma asked.
Ty thought about it for a minute. "Sure, why not?" He said, smiling. He got up from his chair and started walking out of the Media Immersion lab with Emma.
As they were leaving the room, Wheels was just coming back in.
"So you lived in Winnipeg?" Emma asked. "What's it like there?" She asked as she focused all of her attention on Ty. She thought he was kinda cute.
He shrugged his shoulders. "I liked it there." He said. "Its a big city, but not quite as big as Toronto. Me and my friends could always find tons of fun stuff to do there!"
"I think you'll like Toronto, too." Emma replied. "There's lots of stuff to do here. Like. . .Oof!" She said as she barreled off of Wheels. She wasn't watching where she was going, and she dropped all of her books.
"I see you've met Emma!" Wheels said as the three of them bent down to pick up her books.
"Wheels! What are you doing here?" Emma asked as she took her books out of his hands.
"Introducing Ty to my old stomping grounds. His family just moved into the apartment next to mine and I thought I'd come show him where he'll be going to school and introduce him to you and Craig so he could make some friends."
"My mom and stepdad, Snake, were in his class when they went to school here." Emma explained to Ty.
"I can remember when her mom was pregnant with her and she was just a baby!" Wheels said as he playfully punched Emma in the arm. "And now here she is, roaming the halls of Degrassi just like we did!"
"My mom had me when she was only 15."
"Wheels?" Snake asked as he approached the three of them from behind. "You ready?"
"Yeah."
"Wanna stay here and eat in the caf or go somewhere else?"
"We can stay here." Wheels answered.
"Ty, you coming?" Emma asked as she turned to leave.
"Um, yeah. You go on ahead without me, I need to talk to Wheels first, OK?"
"OK. I'll be in line waiting!" With that, Emma left for the cafeteria.
"You didn't tell me she was cute!" Ty whispered to Wheels.
"Who? Emma?" Wheels asked. Then a sly grin and a sparkle in his eyes crept over his face. "You're gettin' a crush on her, huh?"
"What? She's cute!"
Wheels kept grinning at him
"What?"
Wheels shook his head and rolled his eyes. "Nothin', man!" He said as he slapped Ty on the shoulder. "Just go find her!" He said with a laugh.