"Maddie, hurry up. Eli and Adam are already here," says Olivia.
"Okay, I'm coming," replies Maddie as she comes down the stairs. Maddie is wearing a yellow polo shirt, a khaki skirt and an ID around her neck. She has short, curly, red hair and blue eyes and freckles. She is wearing a smile on her face.
"Bye mom," she says.
"Bye," says Olivia, Maddie's sister, who is two years older than Maddie and looks almost the same except for her short, curly hair. Olivia is wearing a red polo shirt, a khaki skirt and an ID around around her neck.
"Have fun on your first day of high school Maddie," replies her mom.
"I will."
They go out the front door and see a big black car.
"Hey, how do you like my new ride?" asks Eli, "I got it over the summer." He is leaning on his car and has on a blue polo shirt and khaki pants. His hair is black and he's wearing the same necklace he always does.
"I like it," replies Olivia and they kiss.
"Hey Adam," says Olivia afterwards as she is leaning in the car. A boy with brown hair, freckles and blue eyes is sitting in the car. He waves at her. Like Olivia, he is wearing a red polo shirt.
"Hey. Did you have a good summer?" he asks as he exits the car.
"It was fun."
"I can see it's your sisters first day at Degrassi," says Adam.
"You'll have a lot of fun," says Eli.
"Yeah, I can't wait," replies Maddie.
They all enter the car. Olivia goes up front with Eli and Maddie sits in the back with Adam. Eli is Olivia's boyfriend and is so sweet. He is goth and likes to wear all black. Adam is Olivia's friend and he is an FTM. Female to male transgender. Last year he was new and apparently he showed up one day as a girl. Everyone was shocked. He even got bullied, but all that is over. Adam is actually a really nice guy.
"Degrassi, here we come!" says Eli as he drives to the school.
"What did you do during the summer?" asks Adam.
"I stayed here in Canada for most of the summer. I was a counselor in training in my old camp. In August Olivia and I went to LA," replied Maddie.
"Sounds like fun," says Eli.
"It was. We got to see our cousins," says Olivia.
"Well, I stayed here all summer," says Adam.
"What did you do while you were here?"
"Nothing much. I just hung out at home with Drew. I saw Clare a few times."
Drew is Adam's older brother who's a senior and Clare is Adam and Olivia's friend. They are all in 11th grade. Clare used to date Eli last year, but they broke up. Now Olivia dates him. Eli is one year older, so he's a senior.
They all go to Degrassi Community School, which is a high school in Ontario, Toronto, Canada. In the middle of last year, the principal, Mr. Simpson said that everyone had to wear uniform. Ninth grader, like Maddie, have to wear a yellow polo shirt, tenth graders wear a purple polo shirt, eleventh graders, like Olivia and Adam have to wear a red polo shirt and twelfth graders, like Eli wear a blue polo shirt. Everyone wears khaki pants or skirt and has an ID around their neck.
"This summer, I went to New York,"says Eli, "I saw the Statue of Liberty and Empire State Building. I also visited NYU, where I hope to go next year."
"Nice. I've always wanted to go to New York," says Olivia as she puts her head on Eli's shoulder. During the summer, Eli and Olivia have video chatted so much that it made Maddie a little crazy.
"Bing!"
"What's that?" asks Eli.
"It's an update from facerange. This one is from Clare. She says that she already arrived at Degrassi,"says Adam as he looks at his phone.
"I believe we are here too," says Eli as he pulls up to the parking lot of Degrassi.
Adam, Maddie, Olivia and Eli get out of the car. Adam and Olivia see Clare walking up.
"Hey," says Adam, "Did you have a good summer?"
"Yeah. Adam, Olivia hi," replies Clare.
"Clare!" says Jenna as the walk up behind her. Jenna is Clare best friend. Alli is also Clare best friend, but they are not talking because over the summer she kissed Jake. Jake was Clare's x-boyfriend and step-brother. Clare's mom and Jake's dad got married at the end of summer. She is mad at Alli, so now they are not talking.
"Hey," says Alli.
"Hi," replies Clare, awkwardly.
"What happened during the summer? You two don't seem too happy to see each other," says Olivia.
"Alli kissed Jake."
"I didn't mean to. You two were broken up," says Alli.
"Ooh here he comes. Hi Jake," says Adam.
"Hey. Clare," he replies. They have a small kiss.
"I think we should go," says Clare, "See yah later."
Clare and Jake leave.
Adam, Olivia, Alli and Jenna head inside.
As Maddie makes here way to the doors, she bumps into someone.
"Oh, sorry," she says.
"It's all right," says a boy with brown hair, wearing the same clothes as her. A girl with long, curly, brown hair is standing next to him.
"I'm new. My names Maddie."
"We'll, your in luck. We are new too," says the boy, "My name's Tristan Milligan and this is my best friend Tori Santamaria."
"Hi," says Tori.
"So, we're in the same grade," says Maddie.
They all go in the school. There's a table at the front where Seniors are passing out locker numbers. Maddie, Tristan and Tori take a number.
"What's your number?" asks Tori.
"Mine is 203," replies Maddie.
"I have the locker next to you. Number 204," says Tori.
"My locker number is 207. A few lockers away from you two," says Tristan.
"Hey," says Olivia as she walks up to Maddie, "Did you get your locker number?"
"Yes and I met someone. His name is Tristan. He's the one up there," replies Maddie as she points to Tristan.
"Good for you. My little sister is already making friends."
"He's not a friend. He's just someone in my grade I met... and he has the locker next to me."
"Ooh!"
"Stop it."
"Okay, see yah. I gotta go to my locker. Have a nice day."
Olivia goes to her locker, which is next to Clare's.
"So, I heard that you Jake got back together," says Olivia.
"Yeah. We got back together after the wedding." Jake's dad and Clare's mom got married.
Adam comes up to his locker, which is three lockers away from Clare's.
"Nice locker buddies," he says.
"Hey Adam," says Clare.
"Hi."
"How was your summer? What did you do?"
"I met a girl, but it didn't last."
"Great! Was she hot?" asks Olivia.
"Yeah. I'm not sad we broke up. She was from England and had to leave."
Clare, Adam and Olivia continue talking as they go to their first class.
After being at her locker, Maddie heads off to her first class, which is band. She sits next to Tori and Tristan.
"My name is Ms. Oh and I will be your band teacher for the whole year," says the teacher with long black hair.
"Sorry I'm late. I couldn't find the class," says a girl with blonde hair and glasses, who sits down next to Maddie.
"It's okay," says Ms. Oh, "You can start on the cello."
"Hi, I'm Maya Matlin," says the girl as she takes a cello.
"I'm Maddie Stanton. You can play the cello."
"I've been playing since I was really young."
"Where is he?" Tori whispers to Tristan.
"Who are you talking about? Zig?" asks Maya.
"Who?" asks Maddie.
"Some boy I talked to that asked me to hang out at the Dot with him. Apparently Tori and Tristan don't like him," whispers Maya. The Dot is the cafe where everyone likes to go to.
"He transfered to art."
"How do you know," says Tori.
"He told me," says Maya, "Is he a friend?"
"No. He's a player and uses girls then breaks their hearts, so I would stay away from him, if I were you," replies Tori.
"Did he do that to you?"
"Girls, it's not the time to talk. You can chat afterwards," says Ms. Oh.
Maddie gets a trumpet and starts playing. It's not that good because she's never played it before.
At lunch, Clare and Jake sit together. Olivia, Eli and Adam sit together. Maddie and Maya sit together.
"Hey," Maya says as she sits down with Maddie.
"Hey," replies Maddie, "Come on, let's sit with Tori and Tristan."
"Okay," Maya says as they Come up to Tori and Tristan.
"Can we sit?" asks Maddie.
Tori and Tristan give each other a look.
"Sorry, we're done," says Tori as she pulls Tristan away from the table.
Maddie and Maya sit down. They eat and talk. Maya tells Madi that she has an older sister Katie, who's a Senior and dating Drew. Maddie tells her about Olivia. They continue introducing each other.
At the end of the day, Maya is looking up Zig on Facreange from her laptop. Katie comes up and looks at Maya's screen.
"He seems cute," she says, "Do you have a crush on him?"
"No. He's just someone that asked me to hang out with him at the Dot. Tori and Tristan say he's a devil," says Maya.
"You know, before I started dating Drew, people said he was a pervert, which ended up not being true," says Katie, "So I would get to know him more."
"Okay." Maya gets up, puts away her laptop and heads to the Dot. She gets in and goes sits at the counter. He's late, she thinks as Zig walks in.
"Hi. One question. Why do Tori and Tristan hate you?" asks Maya as the sit at a table.
"Well... We went to the same Junior High and I used to date Tori. I broke up with her because she not my type."
They continue talking on the same subject.
At home, Maddie tells Olivia that her first day of high school was great. Olivia knew that she would like Degrassi. The doorbell rings and Olivia goes to answers the door.
"Maddie, your friends Tori and Tristan are here," she says as Maddie comes to the door. The enter the house.
"Hi."
"Do you want to go up to my room?" asks Maddie. They nod and head upstairs. They go into Maddie's room which is normal size and has a bed, a desk, a closet, a window and carpet on the floor. Olivia and Maddie have separate rooms. Maddie sits on her bed, Tristan sits on a rug on the floor and Tori stands.
"Why do you hate Maya?" asks Maddie.
"We don't hate her," says Tristan.
"Then what's up. She thinks you hate her."
"That's not true. I just don't like her hanging out with Zig. He's bad news," says Tori.
"In class, you said that he goes out with girls and breaks their hearts. Is that true?" asks Maddie.
"Yes. Tori used to date him," says Tristan.
"Tris, I'll say it. We used to go to the same Junior High and Zig was my boyfriend. We really loved each other, but just before school started, he broke up with me. I don't understand that," explains Tori, "I thought we were perfect."
"It's okay. He's just a jerk and doesn't realize how great a girl you are," says Tristan.
"Thanks Tris."
"Hey, mom's home," says Olivia as she opens the door and leaves.
"Hey sweetie," says Mrs. Stanton as she kisses Olivia on the head.
"Hi mom. How was your day at work?" she asks.
"It was fine. Where's Maddie?"
"Up in her room with her friends Tori and Tristan."
"She already made friends. How good." Mrs. Stanton takes her sweater off and puts it on the coat rack. She puts her bag down and goes up to Maddie's room.
"Hello. Who are your friends," she says.
"Mom, this Tristan and this Tori."
"Hi, I'm Mrs. Santon, Maddie's mom."
"Hi."
"Well, you guys have fun." She leaves.
The next day, the whole cafeteria is covered in tinfoil. It was a prank from some of the Seniors. Fiona Coyne, Marisol Lewis, Imogen Moreno and Katie Matlin did it. Katie and Marisol are best friends and Imogen and Fiona are friends. Fiona is repeating 12th grade. Last year she was an alcoholic, but over the summer, she went to rehab. Fiona is also lesbian. Imogen is a quirky girl who has a crush on Eli. Katie is school president and Marisol is her VP. Katie plays soccer and loves it. Both Katie and Marisol are popular.
Both Imogen and Fiona got in trouble, but Katie and Marisol didn't. Fiona and Imogen have to clean up the whole cafeteria.
Zig and Maya are seen walking to class by Tori, Tristan and Maddie. Tori doesn't seem happy. The bell rings and they go into class. Third period is band and Zig leaves for art.
"What were you doing with him?" asks Tori to Maya.
"We're just friends and besides, you're not his type. He told me that yesterday at the Dot," replies Maya as she sits down. Tori sits next to Tristan who sits next to Maddie who sits next to Maya.
Tori seems angry, so she picks up her trombone and blows all of her spit in Maya's face. Maya gets annoyed and jumps up on Tori. They start fighting.
"Girls, stop this!" says Ms. Oh, "To Mr. Simpson's office."
They both leave.
"I am so disappointed to see two smart girls fighting over a guy the first week of school," says Mr. Simpson, "One week of detention to both of you and if I see this again, you will get three weeks detention. Understood?"
"Yes."
They nod.
Mr. Simpson leaves and Tori starts to cry.
"We had a really good relationship, but all of a sudden, Zig started ignoring me and I need some explanation. It's not fair. Why would he do this to me?"
"I can talk to him if you like?" says Maya.
"Would you?"
"Sure."
They leave the principals office and return to class.
Later in the day, Maya talks to Zig about Tori. He says that he will to talk to her.
"Great thanks."
"Hey Tori," Zig says at lunchtime.
"Hi."
"Listen, I didn't mean to break up with you. I actually never stopped liking you. It's just that I didn't want to have a girlfriend when I started high school. I don't even know why I thought that. You are the best girl I could ever have as a girlfriend," says Zig.
"Does that mean we are back together?" asks Tori.
"If that's what you want," says Zig.
"I want it."
"Hey," say Maddie, Tristan and Maya as they comes up to them, "I can see that you two are talking. What happened?"
"We got back together," explains Tori.
"I realized that I was a fool to break up with her," says zig.
"See, I knew that this would all be resolved if you two just talked," says Maya.
"I can tell that all of us will have so much fun this year," says Tristan and they all laugh. They sit down together at a table for lunch.
Later, Maya reveals to Katie that she has a crush on Zig.
"I never realized how much I like Zig until he was gone,' says Maya.
"Well, you need to give him and Tori some space," says Katie.
Marisol walks up to them.
"We'll meet you at home," says Katie.
Madi and Maya walk home together.
"I love this school," says Maddie.
"Me too," says Maya.
They spend the afternoon together at Maya's house. Katie is busy with Marisol.
"I got detention," says Maya.
"Really? What sort of detention?" asks Maddie.
"I have to write an essay about why fighting in class is bad."
"I'm sorry."
"It's okay."
They both talk and have fun.
"Did you check Hastygram? Tori posted a photo of her and Zig together."
"Oh yah," replies Maya checking her phone.
"Even her Facerange status is in a relationship. She must be happy to have him back."
"I have a small crush on Zig," says Maya.
"No, really?" says Maddie in shock.
"A small crush. It's nothing."
"You can't hide your feelings," says Maddie.
"I know, but I wish I could because at the same time, I happy for Tori and Zig."
"Aw!"
They continue to talk until Maya has to go home.
P.S. The photo is of Adam and Eli