Part One: Claudia
Johnny DiMarco first met Claudia Valenzuela when he was in Grade 8 at Holy Cross Catholic School.
Yes, from Kindergarten through Grade 8, Johnny went to Catholic school. He wore a uniform and everything. Some other Lakehurst/Degrassi hood rats also attended Holy Cross; Lucas Valieri, Nic Rancone, Drake Lempky and Bruce "The Moose" Sullivan. Back then, they were all just normal kids. They weren't angels but they were far from the sociopaths they had become once they reached high school.
Little did any of them know that the summer between Grades 8 and 9 would signal significant changes in their lives. Especially Johnny's.
Grade 8 started out as normally as any other year at Holy Cross yet this year was going to be special. It was the last year of grade school and Johnny and his friends were now the Big Dawgs. Younger kids looked up to them and teachers cut them some slack. Plus, they were starting to notice girls, even shy Johnny.
The eighth graders had just received their locker assignments and Johnny, as usual, was the first one to figure out his combination. He opened his locker and started putting his things inside. He noticed that the girl next to him was still struggling to get her locker open. He had never seen this girl before and he knew everybody in Grades 6 through 8, known as the Upper School, and some kids in the lower school.
It was painful to watch her struggle with that lock when it was obvious to Johnny that she was turning the dial way too fast. She grew more and more frustrated, so Johnny decided to offer some friendly advice.
"You're turning it too fast, that's why you can't get your locker open," he said, slightly amused. Startled to hear someone talking to her, she looked up.
"Oh...thanks," she said. Taking Johnny's advice, she turned the dial more slowly and precisely. Finally, she got her locker open.
"I hate combination locks," she said with an exasperated sigh. "I had a padlock on my locker at my last school." The lockers at Holy Cross had combination locks built into them. One thing Johnny and his friends loved to do for entertainment was to slam shut the lockers of younger kids right after they had gotten them open. The kids then had to rework their combinations to get their lockers open again.
"Yeah, I figured you were new,: Johnny told her. She looked at him quizzically.
"I know everybody in the Upper School," Johnny explained .
"My name's Claudia," she said, "I just moved here from Montreal." This sparked Johnny's curiosity. He had never met anyone from outside Toronto. She was pretty, too, with curly brown hair,a pretty smile and big brown eyes. Johnny liked girls with big brown eyes.
"Hi Claudia, I'm Johnny."
They sat together at lunch and Johnny found it easy to talk to Claudia. At thirteen, Johnny was shy around girls and never knew what to say to them. Regina, Anastacia and Mia didn't count since he had known them since kindergarten. Besides, Gina and Stacha were the sisters of two of his friends.
Like Johnny, Claudia liked to read and had some of the same favorite books. They also liked the same movies and, by the end of that week, they had made plans to see I, Robot. She was the first girl Johnny knew that liked science fiction. It was a typical date between two thirteen year-olds, nothing special. But after that date, the once shy Johnny was suddenly The Man.
Soon the two became inseparable and when classmates talked about them, their names ran together. They became JohnnyandClaudia. If this had been the time when the combined name trend had started, theynmiht have been Jaudia or Clonny. It was a good thing that trend came later because when it did come around, Johnny thought it was the stupidest thing ever. However, he did like teasing Lucas and Mia by calling them "Mucus".
Johnny always gave Claudia a ride home from school on the back of his bike. Hearing his friends' cat calls was an adrenaline rush. The only other guy in their clique who had a girlfriend was Lucas. He and Mia started going together when she was in Grade 6 and he was in Grade 7. Johnny didn't really like Mia that much. She was spoiled and bratty and always had to have her way. But that was Lucas' misery.
"Yeah, Johnny!" Lucas and Nic would yell. "You are The Man!"
"Make sure your skirt doesn't fly up, Claudia!" That came from Bruce.
Claudia's parents both worked so she was by herself in the afternoon. Johnny began spending time after school at Claudia's. He would stay until her parents came home and get to his house in time to eat dinner with his parents before they left for their jobs. He would watch TV and then put himself to bed before his parents came home at 3:00 a.m. Magda Lempky, Drake's mom, checked on him throughout the night.
Claudia and Johnny's afternoon get-togethers started off innocently enough. Then homework and video games soon gave way to other, more mature activities. Their first kiss took place at Claudia's house after school during a game of Super Mario Brothers. Claudia had just beaten the pants off Johnny and was gloating. Impulsively, Johnny leaned over and kissed her on the lips. Shocked, Claudia jumped back and let out a little squeal.
"Did you like that?" Johnny asked.
"Yes," she whispered.
"Do you want another one?" he asked.
"Uh huh," she said, nodding. Johnny gave her another kiss, and then another and another.
Soon, that became all they ever did.
