The Long And Winding Road
Notes: The usual disclaimers apply, and remember that all episodes that came after "This Charming Man" aren't canon in this story.
Thanks to Maibe Josie, YellyBelly, Neviegirl, fcms1163, luvdegrassi12345 and GlamGlitterRockFabulous for your reviews and comments.
Chapter 47 - Choices
Several busy weeks passed after JT and Emma's Stouffville trip. In that time, JT paid Sal and took over ownership of TMD. As previously agreed upon, Sal continued to work at the theater in an advisory capacity, leaving JT the time to complete the remaining weeks of school while also learning more about what it takes to own the business.
Now, with end-of-term projects and final exams completed, all that remained for DCS's senior class was a graduation ceremony. But for JT and Emma, the night before this event was an opportunity for each to hang out with a friend – not to mention ponder the future.
At the Van Zandt house, Emma sat on Liberty's bed while class valedictorian Liberty stood and practiced her graduation speech.
"So, Emma, how did that sound?" Liberty asked.
"Just fine," Emma replied. "But then it also sounded fine the other two times you went through it."
"This will be my final address to the Degrassi student body. I don't want to make any poor word choices. Is there anything that you found questionable?"
"Well…" Emma hesitated.
"I need your honest appraisal, Emma. Don't try to spare my feelings."
"Honestly, I think it sounded really good, Liberty."
"Thanks."
"Except I'd lose that whole section in the middle where you're speaking entirely in French."
"Lose it?" Liberty grew concerned. "That was my way of showing support for multiculturalism among the students."
"Most of the students don't speak a word of French. Even the kids who've taken a year or two of the language aren't exactly fluent in it."
"You don't think removing that portion would count as pandering to the ignorance of the audience?"
"Consider it making sure you don't lose your audience before your final words. You wouldn't want anyone to tune you out, right, Liberty?"
"I suppose when you put it that way…All right, no bilingual elements."
Liberty walked over to her computer and started making edits to the speech.
"So how are you and Patrick doing?" Emma asked.
"Who?" Liberty replied."
"You know. Your boyfriend. Works at TMD. Parents own Ryan's. You may have heard of him."
"Sorry," Liberty responded, turning back around toward Emma. "I was just trying to get this edited. I wasn't paying attention. We're fine."
"You two made any fun summer plans?"
"I've been too busy to even think about the summer. Tying up loose ends with The Grapevine, finals, preparing this speech…"
"That's understandable. JT's been on the go practically this entire month. Luckily after tomorrow, he's taking a couple of days off to rest and recharge. No school AND no work. Then after that, Sal will be gone and JT will be in complete control. Well, he is already but…"
"But now it will truly feel like it. Without the safety net of having the previous owner around to help out."
"Exactly."
"Still, I know he's got to be tired, Emma."
"I'm sure he is, even though you'd never know it to look at him. But I was hoping that with me over here tonight and him taking the night off that he'd use the time to catch up on his rest."
"But…?"
"I should have known better than that. He said he gets enough sleep. To quote him: 'There'll be a lot of time for extra rest years from now when you and I are in an old folks home with nothing else to do but play shuffleboard and hope our false teeth don't crack on the lumpy oatmeal.'"
"So what IS JT doing this evening?"
"If I'm not mistaken, he's at Burger Time. Probably driving Sean crazy."
Several miles away, Sean was standing near a pool table toward the back of said restaurant watching JT shoot…and miss.
"I'm getting a lot better at this game," JT said with genuine optimism.
"Yeah," Sean responded sarcastically. "You haven't come close to making a shot, but at least you're not sending the cue ball sailing across the room anymore."
"One time that happened, a couple of weeks ago, and you're not going to let me forget it."
"JT, it hit an old man in the back of the head."
"It did not. It hit the back of his chair. Missed his head by at least two or three inches. And he was very nice about accepting my apology. No thanks to you, just standing there laughing. Anyway, you only wanted to teach me how to play this game because you're good at it, while you suck at ping-pong and can't handle me winning every game."
"I do NOT suck at ping-pong," Sean protested.
JT just stared at Sean and smirked.
"Okay, so maybe I do. Wouldn't happen if they made the paddles bigger so I could actually hit the ball."
"Excuses, excuses," JT said, shaking his head in mock disapproval.
"Number 23, your order's up," a voice called out over the loud speaker.
"That's us," Sean said. "Looks like you've been spared another defeat."
"Keep it up, Sean, and I'll have to challenge you to a pool cue sword fight. After all, I must defend my honor against all scoffers."
JT then lightly jabbed Sean in the stomach with the stick. In response, Sean rolled his eyes tried to keep a straight face.
"Are you done?" Sean asked, trying to sound unaffected.
"Who, me? Yes, I suppose so."
The two friends went up to the counter and retrieved their order – a hamburger for JT, veggie burger for Sean and two drinks – and then found a free table to sit at.
"You're really going to eat that?" JT asked, looking at Sean's meat-free sandwich.
"Yeah."
"I hear that if you eat enough of those veggie things, you turn green."
"I'll take my chances."
"I'll never understand how you, Emma and others can eat those things. You all should probably seek out medical attention for your impaired taste buds."
"Have you ever even tried one before, JT?"
"Yes. Once. Emma made me try one a few years ago."
"And you didn't like it? Even a little?"
"Are you kidding? All of those meat-protesters that love animals so much should be more sympathetic to us humans. My poor stomach deserved a candlelight vigil that night for all the suffering it endured."
"I see," Sean responded. "It's not easy being JT, is it?"
"It's a heavy burden, my friend, but someone's got to do it."
Just outside the restaurant, Craig and a young brunette were walking from the parking lot toward the door, with Spinner Mason following close behind.
"Spinner," Craig said in an annoyed tone, "in case you haven't noticed, I'm on a date."
"Yeah. And…?"
"So quit following us and go away."
"But you can't be serious about this."
"About wanting a Spin-free evening with my girlfriend? Trust me, I'm serious."
"No, not that," Spinner said as he followed them inside the restaurant. "I'm talking about the group."
"There is no group anymore," Craig said brusquely. "It was fun while it lasted but it's time to move on. We can talk more another time, but NOT tonight."
Craig then noticed JT and Sean sitting at a table across the room.
"Come on, Cathy. I see some other friends I'd like you to meet."
The pair approached the table, with Spinner on their heels.
"These guys will show you that I do indeed have some friends who are perfectly normal."
"But because I'm such a nice guy," JT said to Sean, unaware of the newcomers at the table "after my veggie burger experience I made Emma a promise."
"Oh?"
"I told her that if there's ever a time when the hamburger on my plate cries out to me saying 'Help me! Please don't eat me! Let me walk away in peace!' then I'll never eat another hamburger again."
"You're quite a guy."
"I know. It's a curse."
"Uh, see Cathy?" Craig asked hesitantly. "Perfectly normal friends."
JT and Sean then noticed they were no longer alone.
"Oh, hey Craig," JT greeted. "Hello back there, Spinner."
"Hey guys," Craig said. "I wanted you to meet my new girlfriend. I know I've said it before, but even though the two of us only met last week, I think this one could be the real thing. Cathy, this is Sean Cameron and JT Yorke."
"Nice to meet the two of you," Cathy said.
"Sean, JT, this is Cathy…uh…"
Sean rolled his eyes at Craig's uncertainty of the girl's last name while JT had to struggle not to laugh.
"Thomas!" Craig finally exclaimed. "It's Cathy Thomas."
"Thompson, actually," Cathy said icily.
"Right! Thompson. Just…uh…testing you. Seeing if you were paying attention."
"Now somebody ask Craig if Cathy spells her first name with a C or a K."
"Shut up, Spinner," Craig said, feeling both embarrassed and annoyed.
"Cathy," Spinner offered, "maybe it would be more helpful if I made the introductions. First, there's JT. He used to date a girl who also used to date Craig. Now he dates a girl who used to date Sean. Sean here used to date the girl JT's dating but is now dating the girl that both JT and Craig used to date. Don't worry. They didn't date her at the same time, although I know she once dated two Degrassi soccer players at the same time. As you can see, we've got a very close-knit group. And as for Craig? Well he dates you now, of course, but don't expect too much. In fact, I think he's dated or tried to date most of the girls in the county. Hey Craig, do you still have that 'Take a number' ticket machine outside your bedroom?"
Spinner was finished. Cathy looked appalled, Craig looked embarrassed, Sean just shook his head and JT was amused by the whole spectacle.
"You're an idiot, Spinner," Craig responded.
"Yeah? Well you're a…you're a…I don't know, but when I think of it, THAT'S what you are."
"Well put," JT said sarcastically.
"Where's your date, Spin?" Sean asked.
"I'm not here to date."
"There goes my 'imaginary girlfriend' theory," JT joked.
"Not now, okay?" Spinner said to JT. "You're never going to believe what Craig's trying to do."
"What's going on?" Sean questioned.
"He's just mad because I decided that it was time for the band to come to an end," Craig explained.
"Just like that," Spinner complained. "Can you believe it? No warning or anything."
In the midst of this conversation, Cathy – tired of standing around on her date with a man who had difficulty remembering her name – quietly walked away from the group and left the restaurant.
"No warning?" Craig asked, not noticing his date's departure. "Spinner, it's been obvious for a long time that it should have ended last summer after Jimmy and Marco each went away to school. Every new person we tried to bring in as a replacement wasn't a good fit. Downtown Sasquatch was about the four of us, high school buddies making music in a garage. High school's been over for a year. Time to let this go."
"Then forget a full group. We could be a two-man band. Partners."
"You mean the kind of partners where I write and sing all the material AND play the guitar while you sit behind me occasionally tapping on the drums?"
"Okay guys, calm down."
"Don't stop them, Sean," JT said between taking bites of his hamburger. "In your fancier restaurants, this would be what they call dinner theater."
"Don't make fun of how I play the drums, Craig. As for you being a guitar player…Did you ever get around to learning more than one chord?"
"Look, I'm getting more and more work as a photographer. And when I have the time to make music, I'm going to do it all on my own and see what I can do as a solo artist. And we talked about all of this in detail the other night. Sorry if that bothers you, Spin, but that's just the way it is. Now it's time for my girlfriend and I to get back to our date."
Craig looked around but didn't see the girl anywhere.
"Where did she go?"
"I think that's her getting into that cab," Sean said, pointing to the window through which they all saw a cab pulling away.
"Just great. Listen, I'll see you guys later. I'd better try to track Carrie down."
"I thought it was Cathy," Sean corrected him.
"Cathy! Right!"
"It's obviously true love," JT joked.
"Bye guys."
"Who wants to bet that he finds a new 'true love' while searching for Cathy?" JT asked after Craig left.
JT and Sean noticed that Spinner was still standing beside the table, looking lost.
"Uh, Spin…Want to sit down?" Sean offered.
"Huh? Oh. Yeah. Okay."
"The end of your band is not the end of the world," JT assured him.
"JT's right," Sean said. "Anyway, maybe with the new free time you can get in more hours at the bakery you work at."
"Dude, where've you been? I lost that job last month."
"Yeah, Sean. Spinner works at the bowling alley now."
"Until yesterday," Spinner said.
"Tell me you didn't get fired from another job already," JT said.
"I was carrying some bowling balls. Going to put them away. Then the manager stopped me so he could tell me something. While he was talking, one of the balls slipped out of my hands and landed on his foot."
"Okay," Sean commented, "I'm sure it hurt him, but I can't believe he'd fire you over a little accident that could happen to anyone."
"And then later on in the day, I got my foot caught in one of those ball-return machines."
"I'm not even going to ask…" Sean said.
"The boss had to call in a repairman. Took over two hours before I could get loose."
"And that's when you got fired," JT interjected.
"I was a victim of circumstance."
"So now what are you going to do?" Sean asked.
"I'll figure out something. Can't believe Craig. Taking away the one thing left that…Hey, JT, you still keep in touch with Paige, right?"
"Yeah, we usually e-mail back and forth a couple times a month. Why?"
"Is she coming home for the summer? Or staying there? Never mind. The two of us…that's been over since last summer, too. If she comes back, it's not because I'm still here."
Spinner then stood up.
"Where are you going now?" Sean asked.
"I don't know. Back to my place I guess. I need to figure something out."
"Hold up," JT said.
"We'll have to trade jokes some other time, JT. I've got stuff to deal with."
"Come work for me."
"What?"
"Don't make me say it again. The first time was painful enough."
"Forget it, JT. I don't take offers made out of pity."
"Yes you do."
"You're right. Yes I do."
"But that's not what this is. I need another full-time employee and was going to put an ad in the paper next week."
Spinner was happy about his friend's unexpected offer and had no intention of passing up the opportunity. Still, he felt it best to downplay his enthusiasm.
"So JT, what you're really saying is that if I accept, I'm doing YOU a favor. Saving you money on the ad."
"If you say so," JT replied sarcastically.
"Yeah. I'd be the one helping you out. Besides, you don't want strangers working for you."
"Spinner, I don't know anyone stranger than you."
"How big an office do I get?" Spinner asked.
"I don't know. I've never measured the broom closet."
"What's my title? Executive Manager?"
"I was thinking Lowly Underling."
"When do I start?"
"Come see me the first of next week and we'll sort it all out. I'll probably have you train with Pat. You can work food detail with him and Amanda."
"Great. Hey, is she hot?"
"Don't bother, Spin," JT replied. "Amanda's got a girlfriend."
"Ah. You mean she's lesbionic. That's okay. But is she hot?"
"God help me."
"Well, I'm off."
"We've always known that, Spinner," Sean said.
"No, I mean I'm outta here. See you later. And JT?"
"Yeah?"
"Thanks," Spinner said with all sincerity. "Really. You won't be sorry."
After Spinner left, JT looked over at Sean.
"Don't say a word."
"That was a nice thing you did, JT, giving him that break."
"My first chance to hire somebody on my own and I end up with Spinner. Is it too soon for me to consider retirement? I'm obviously not well."
"Why did you do it?"
"I wasn't lying about planning to hire someone, so there's a lot for him to do. And he's a friend. One who could use some help. Ever since Paige turned down his offer to move in together last year, instead leaving to go to university in Peterborough, he's been walking around looking completely lost. Oh, and despite some bungled job situations this past year, he's got the food prep and customer service experience, and, unlike all his other bosses who couldn't put up with him for very long, I'm used to knowing how to deal with him. Okay, this isn't helping. I'm just scaring myself more and more."
"You've got nothing to worry about," Sean assured.
"Just keep telling me that."
"Unpredictability is your thing. This decision just fits right in."
"Good point," JT said.
"And I'm sure it won't be your last unusual decision."
"That's a given."
"JT, you sound like you already have something else in the works."
"I just mean in general. It's good when things can work out for everybody. Sure, some of the best movies don't have happy endings, including a lot of the movies we play at TMD. But in real life? That's a different story."
Later that evening, Liberty and Emma sat in the Van Zandt dining room eating a pizza they had ordered after Emma had finally convinced Liberty of the greatness of the graduation speech. Emma now noticed that Liberty was staring at her.
"Something wrong, Liberty?"
"Not at all. It's just…unusual. That's all."
"What is?"
"You. Your whole demeanor. You're so…unrelentingly happy."
"And that's a bad thing?"
"No. It's different, though."
"I'm often happy, Liberty. Especially this past year. You of all people ought to know that."
"I do, Emma. Except lately you've seemed both happy and completely relaxed. Even with the usual stress of finals, not to mention missing out on a couple of the scholarships you were hoping to receive. Through it all you've seemed unfazed."
"This is just a great time in my life. I recently turned 18. We're graduating tomorrow. Sure, I didn't get everything I was hoping for as far as scholarship funds, but I still got a fair amount. And even though I had misgivings about JT's plans and am still a little concerned about him overdoing it, I see how happy owning the movie theater makes him and how excited he is to get started making the place his own. And if it's possible, I think in the past month I've felt closer to him than ever. It's hard to explain, but since he accompanied me to see Shane a few weeks ago, I feel like we've added yet another bond to our relationship."
"It must have been very helpful for you to have him there."
"Absolutely, Liberty. After spending time with Shane, I always end up going through a roller coaster of emotions. I can do it on my own – and I have several times in the past – but having JT there made it so much easier. But our time with Shane wasn't all difficult. In particular, there was one moment that I'll never forget. Shane was talking, going on and on like he usually does. It doesn't always make sense, and I'm not sure how much he himself understands what he's saying most of the time. But he has his moments, rare as they are, when it's like the clouds are lifted and he seems to grasp reality. His reality, at least. And this visit, he had one of those lucid moments.
"He said, 'It all goes by so fast. Sometimes slow. And then it's all over. Like nothing's happened and everything's happened. Missed out on so much.' And he had this tone of regret in his voice. I think it's like deep down he knew how much he had lost and was trying to tell me not to take what I have for granted. That's a concept I understand, but don't always seem to be able to follow.
"Not long ago, someone accused me of being the kind of person who always sees the glass as half empty rather than half full. I don't believe it and have no use for the one who said it. But I will admit that I don't always take the time to be happy with all the good things in life. Of course there are so many things I want to accomplish. So many things I want to write about.
"But at the same time, I am looking forward to a quiet summer. A chance to relax, to enjoy what IS as opposed to worrying about what isn't, and of course to spend a lot of quality time with this great guy of mine. So much has happened in the past year. Some of the greatest things, and some of the most difficult. Now, it's time to rest. Aside from helping JT find a nice apartment he can move into within the next couple of months, we're going to have a wonderful, uneventful summer."
JT, meanwhile, returned home after eating and playing another game of pool with Sean. He walked toward his answering machine, but found that nobody had left a message. He then walked into his bedroom and tossed his wallet and keys on the bed. He turned to his desk, noticing the various pictures that sat there, some framed, some not. He knew one thing he'd soon have to do is figure out a good picture of Emma – though he considered them all good – to take to the theater to place on the desk in his office.
His office. He still had trouble getting used to that concept.
He then reached into a desk drawer and pulled out some papers and placed them on the desk. Newspaper ads and circulars. Specifically, these were jewelry store advertisements. He'd been gathering these in recent days. Researching the options.
He wasn't going to do something so clichéd as to propose to Emma on Graduation Day. In his mind, that is the stuff of sappy movies. Still, he knew that there was no doubt in his mind that Emma Nelson was the one. The only one. And with high school out of the way, the need for a new place to live, and a good future for each of them that was quickly becoming the present, he knew that sometime soon there would come a moment. An ideal moment. And then a question. The question.
'Yes,' he thought to himself as he scanned the advertisements. 'This is going to be a very busy summer. But a good one. In real life, there IS something to be said for a happy ending.'
Next Chapter - Graduation Day