Alli Bhandari stared at the new girl as she walked into last class, late as usual. Alli watched her in pure disgust. She had witnessed her make-out session with Johnny, and now she was pissed. When Justice has sat in her usual place, Alli leaned towards Claire. "What do you know about that Justice girl?" she whispered.
Claire shrugged, glancing towards the curly-haired girl who was now writing on her blog. "I don't know anything about her. Why would you want to know?"
Alli leaned away, turning back to her computer. "No reason."
When class was over, Alli parted ways with Claire as she made her way to her locker, only to find Johnny talking with Bruce. She stayed back, listening in on their conversation. Apparently, Bruce wanted Johnny to meet him at the Dot. Of course, Johnny commented that it was lame and he would never go there, until Bruce explained to him his plan to prank Spinner, then he was all for it.
Alli formed a plan then and hurried off to find Justice. She found her digging around in her locker and approached her. "Hey, Justice!" she said cheerily.
Justice glanced at her. "Uhm. Hi, Alli?"
Alli leaned against the lockers. "Would you like to accompany myself and a couple friends to the Dot?"
"No." she said flatly.
"Please! I think it'd be great to get to know each other."
"Why? We have no relation. We've never even spoken to each other."
"Actually, I was wanting to thank you for sticking up for me about the picture incident with Johnny." She said, quickly. "I would like to treat you to the Dot, and maybe we can be friends."
Justice smiled, closing her locker and slung her bag over her shoulder. "Normally, I wouldn't hand with kids, but you seem pretty cool, Bhandari." She said. "I'll meet you and your friends at seven." With that, she walked passed Alli.
Justice walked through the halls to the front of the school. As she skipped down the steps to the sidewalk, she realized she would have to take the long walk home. Since she had upset Peter, she assumed he wouldn't speak with her, so she wouldn't even bother. She would catch the bus, but she didn't know her bus number, nor how to get it. Maybe she wouldn't even go home just yet. Maybe she would go to the Dot early and just wait for Alli and her friends to arrive.
As she was walking through the parking lot, she stepped out in front of a truck without realizing it because her mind was so far gone. Her heart jumped as she heard the tires screech against the pavement. Standing in the middle of the road, she looked over to find Peter sitting in the driver's seat, staring back at her with wide eyes. Obviously, shocked about nearly hitting her.
Looking away, she continued to walk until his voice called her back, "Get in."
"No." Justice called, continuing to walk.
Peter drove up beside her. "I said we needed a break. But that didn't mean I want us to stop talking." He said. "Besides, I drove you here. I'm not going to let you walk home."
"I can make it on my own." She said. "It's not too far."
"Justice. . ." Peter said softly. There was a brief silence.
Justice sighed, giving in, and got into the truck. Closing the door, she sat her bag on her lap and stared straight ahead. Peter stared at her for a moment, and then began to drive.
The ride home was done in silence. Neither one of them spoke until they arrived. "See you Monday." Peter said as she opened the door.
"Bye." Justice said shortly, closing the door. Walking around the front of the car, she continued up the sidewalk to her front door. She heard Peter slowly drive off as she opened the door. She walked in on her father walking down the stairs. He met her eyes.
"I have many things to say to you." He began, "But it would only be a waste of breath." He grabbed his coat and reached for the doorknob.
"Where are you going?" Justice asked.
Her father looked back at her. "I don't know, Justice." He said and left the house.
***
Justice sat at a table in the Dot, staring out the window and checking her watch ever-so-often. She had been waiting on Alli and her friends for nearly an hour. However, she had had so much on her mind that it barely felt like more than a few minutes. She had been thinking back on what her father had said, and how hurt he sounded.
Had she really caused him so much trouble that you have given up on communication? She had once been that rebellious child that no parent wants. But her father dealt with her for so long, and apparently, he couldn't do it any longer. She didn't know if he was going to be home when she got back or not. She had been trying to change her ways, but apparently this last night was the final straw. If he never came back, she wouldn't blame him. She had already pushed her mom away, and now her father.
"Knock, knock. Anybody home?"
Justice jumped, suddenly torn from her thoughts, and looked up to find Alli smiling down at her. She had been so lost in thought that she hadn't noticed Alli and her two friends approach her. The trio—Alli, Claire, and KC."
"What took you guys so long?" Justice asked, although she didn't care why.
"May-up emergency." Alli said, and her childish smile grew. "KC, Claire, could you get us all drinks."
Claire looked from Alli to Justice then back. "Uhm, okay. What would you like."
"Anything would be fine." Alli said, quickly. "Go." Without another word, the pair got up and left the table. Alli turned to Justice and propped her chin up on the back of her hands. "So, Justice, I was on my blog during class when I came across your post." She said. "It sounds like you have a lot of drama going on. Do you have anything you want to share with me? Anything you just want to get off your chest?"
Justice stared at her. Alli Bhandari, the ex-girlfriend of Johnny DiMarco. An attractive freshman who hadn't given a second thought about sending nude photos of herself to a senior she hadn't even known for even close to six months. But, of course, she was young and ignorant. Very young and very ignorant. However, she was being nice, she had been nice nearly all day, and Justice did need someone to tell, even if she wanted to be stubborn and keep it all bottled in; she needed to release her emotions.
"Alli," she finally said. She had all of Alli's attention. "Uhm, about the blog, it—"
Before she could continue, Claire and KC approached them with their drinks. "We weren't sure what to get so we just got one of each flavor."
They each grabbed a milkshake and sat in silence while they sipped they drinks. Alli and Claire having small talk amongst themselves, KC looking around aimlessly, and Justice on her phone. KC looked at her for a moment but said nothing. After a moment, Alli and Claire excused themselves to the bathroom.
Justice looked at KC, taking in his features and build. He was tall and lean with light brown hair that hung around his face. He wore a beanie and was dressed in a t-shirt and jeans. He was silently staring out the window, and mostly kept his attention there, and since it was dark, she couldn't tell what color his eyes were. He looked at her suddenly, and she quickly looked away and at her phone.
"How long have you been at Degrassi?" He finally spoke. She looked at him but he wasn't looking at her, instead he was staring down at his drink as he stirred it slowly with his straw.
"Today was my fourth day." She said.
"Do you like it there?"
She looked out the window, barely noticing him glance up at her. "It's okay."
"Bad luck already?"
Justice focused on a street sign. "Kind of." She said softly. "But I brought it on myself."
KC stared at her. "That sucks." He said. "Well, maybe you should join the Bad Lucks Club in our school. I hear their quite supportive."
She chuckled, catching on to his sarcasm, and met his eyes. He was funny, she assumed he was bland and boring by how silent and awkward he was, but he was alright.
Looking back at the window, she caught sight of Johnny and his crew walking up to the door of the Dot. What were they doing there? They came inside like normal customers, as if just to hang out, but Justice knew better. This wasn't the type of place they would normally frequent; she knew they were up to something.
Johnny and Alli ran into eachother as she left the bathroom. She smiled up at him, "DiMarco." She acknowledged.
A smirk formed his lips. "Bhandari." He said and walked passed her. She bit her bottom lip and walked with Claire back to the table.
Sitting at a table, Bruce told Derek to order the drinks. Johnny and Bruce laughed amongst themselves, and Spinner watched them suspiciously, warning them to not start anything funny.
"He is so hot." Alli said, biting her bottom lip.
Justice looked at her, her blood running cold.
"After all he's put you through, you're still attracted to him?" Claire said.
"Of course!"
Justice turned her attention from the girls to find Holly J carrying a tray to Johnny's table, setting the drinks down cautiously. As she turned away, all three guys lifted their drinks and rose from their table, following behind Holly J. Spinner noticed this and ran towards them, trying to stop them from attempting to dump their drinks on Holly as he had assumed. Unfortunately, she hadn't been their target, and before he could say anything, Bruce and Johnny splashed him with their drinks and booked it out of the café. Angry, Spinner chased after them, but had not witnessed Derek purposefully poured his drink on the ground, and he slipped on the spill.
Alli laughed hysterically, her shoulders jumping as she covered her mouth the stifle the sound. Claire smiled, chuckling a bit, and KC joined in on their laughter. Justice watched as Spinner carefully got to his feet and walked to the bathroom, a smile on her face. She almost laughed but was stuck on Johnny's presence. Maybe now was the time to have that talk.
"You guys ready to go?" Alli asked, gripping her drink.
They left the shop together and walked down the sidewalks. Alli wanted to go to the ravine to talk to Johnny. No one else did, of course, and Justice decided to part ways and go home at that point. She needed to talk to her dad now. She felt bad for what she had done and did not want him to believe that she was going back to her old ways. She wanted to assure him that she wouldn't put him through so much trouble.
The door was unlocked when she got home, and she hesitated for a moment. Her father's car was sitting in the driveway, so he was home now. She had spent her entire walk thinking about what she would say, and how she would apologize. Now she was nervous. When she opened the door, she called out to her dad as she kicked off her shoes and headed towards the living room. She called out again only to stop short as she found Johnny sitting on the couch. He stood when she stood in the doorway. "Johnny?" she said softly.
He locked eyes with her. "I talked to your dad." He said. "He told me what happened. Is it true?"
"Is what true?"
"That the night we had sex, you got pregnant."