Alice sat in front of the full-body mirror at the corner of her room, applying her makeup. It was 6:30 in the morning now, but she couldn't get herself to fall back to sleep. The nerves and excitement found her more awake than any cup of coffee ever could. She opted to go with a full face of makeup for the first time since arriving in Toronto, and a crimped, half up, half down hair style. In the midst of her routine, she heard footsteps approaching the room.
"What are you doing up so early?" Jay smiled, whispering as to not wake up Sean who was still on the couch sleeping down the hall.
"Couldn't sleep," she smiled, shrugging, "plus, thought I'd put in some effort for the first day."
"Yeah," he smirked, "looking good, Lil Cam."
She felt her cheeks blush and looked at the ground to hide it from him.
"What are you doing up, Hogart?" She asked proudly, joining in on the nickname game.
"Work," he rolled his eyes, and leaned against the doorframe, taking a sip from his coffee cup, "I was expelled a few years back, and decided to get a job at a shop downtown."
She smiled softly; reminiscent. Her tone sarcastic as she spoke, "Sean did tell me he schooled you in cars the first time you met in shops class."
Jay rolled his eyes and chuckled, "yeah, your brother's always been one hell of a mechanic."
She smiled up at him, then back down at the ground. The conversation came to an end then. Alice brought her attention to the makeup brush in her hand and ran her fingers against through it. From the corner of her eye, she noticed Jay's head turn to look down the hallway toward the living room. A smile formed on his lips as he nodded at – who Alice could only assume – was her brother finally awake. Jay turned back to Alice and wished her a good day, before heading back to the kitchen. Her brother suddenly took Jay's place.
"Morning," Sean groaned through a stretch, as he ran a hand through his hair, "you look good."
"Thanks," she chuckled, noticing his disheveled appearance, "can't say the same for you."
Sean let out a sarcastic laugh, followed by the middle finger, "safe to say you'll be ready for 7:30?"
She looked over at the clock, 6:50, "yup. Why so early?"
"I figured we could grab a coffee or a bite to eat before I show you around the school," he shrugged, "what do you think?"
"That sounds great," a huge smile now graced Alice's face, "you better go get ready now."
Sean nodded, still somewhat disoriented and asleep, and disappeared down the hallway.
The forty minutes flew by, and although Alice had been getting ready for some time, she had barely made it on time, as Sean called down the hall for her, "Al, you ready?"
Alice came around the corner just as he spoke. She noticed he opted for his usual attire; a white muscle shirt, with a thin, dark denim jacket and a pair of baggy jeans. He did style his hair today, though. Alice appreciated this, as even she grew tired of the ponytail he had been wearing lately.
"Who you trying to impress?" Sean chuckled as he threw his book bag over his shoulder.
Alice rolled her eyes, "no one." She said, seriously. Trying her hardest not to blush as Jay entered the living room.
"Have a great day," Jay taunted, adding under his breath, "…in hell."
Sean looked at him as if to say really?, before leading his sister out the front door and toward Jay's Civic. As she left the door, Alice waved goodbye to Jay. Nothing could get her down.
"Excited?" Sean asked as he buckled himself into the driver's seat, and leaned forward to switch the radio station.
Giddy, Alice nodded wildly, "I bet you are, too."
Sean knew what she was alluding to, shaking his head and smirking, "yeah, whatever."
"My big brother is in l-o-o-o-ve." She sing-songed, earning an eye roll from him.
"She has a boyfriend, okay?" He said; his tone serious in an attempt to end the conversation as he pulled out of the parking spot.
Alice averted her attention to her window, "not for long."
The siblings continued their journey to school in silence, except for their quick stop at a Tim Hortons drive-thru for a coffee. Luckily, Jay lived a mere 10 minutes from the school, so the silence did not last long.
"Wow," Alice's eyes widened at the sight of the school as they pulled into the parking lot, "Degrassi is really real, huh?"
Sean chuckled as he ducked out of the driver's seat, "so where did you think I went to school all those years?"
Alice walked around the car to join her brother and playfully slapped his shoulder as they walked side-by-side into the school. Once entering the front doors, Sean took in a deep breath, "feels good to be back."
The pair made a stop at the office, where they grabbed their schedules and assigned locks and locker numbers. Sean led the way through the halls of Degrassi, where he both reminisced and conducted a tour of each room throughout the school, before turning the corner to Alice's locker.
"What do you think so far?" Sean asked.
"It's so much better than school back in Wasaga already, I mean just—,"
Alice paused her sentence and stopped in her tracks as she realized Sean's presence was no longer next to her. She looked over her left shoulder to see her brother frozen in place, a blank look in his eyes and a tortured expression on his face. She noticed his vision glued to the floor of the hallway.
Alice shrugged it off with a laugh, "Sean, come on. What are you doing?"
He suddenly seemed to come back to life to Alice's words and shook his head to erase the look on his face; the face that had now regained its natural colour. He caught up to her almost instantly.
"Sorry," he muttered, "I didn't think it would affect me that much after all this time."
Alice stopped now, furrowing her brows. Sean paused, too. The look on his face clearly regretting what he had just said. As if she was there, reality hit her like a freight train.
"This is the spot…" Alice nodded in realization, swallowing hard before she continued, "…the spot where he died, right?"
Sean's face hardened as he continued toward her locker, "you mean the place where I killed him."
The pair reached their locker as Alice replied, "Sean, don't say that. You were a hero. You didn't mean—."
Alice turned around at the sound of footsteps approaching from behind her.
"Sorry," the boy said, knowing he had interrupted a serious conversation. His face lit up at the sight of Sean, lightening the mood, "hey, I didn't know you were back at Degrassi."
"Yeah," Sean's jaw clenched, still heated up from the prior conversation, "I am, and this is my sister, Alice."
"Al, this is JT."
The boy called JT turned to his assigned locker, that just so happened to be right next to Alice's.
"Nice to meet you," he smiled widely, revealing a slight gap in his teeth. He turned back to his locker then and began emptying the contents of his backpack into it.
Alice and Sean looked at one another. Sean still appeared angered from the previous conversation, and stormed off, "see you at lunch."
JT gulped, visibly tense from what he had just witnessed. Alice was sure he knew what Sean and his temper was like; she imagined it was no surprise to anyone who knew him.
"So, 'JT', huh?" She smiled at the boy, "what does that stand for?"