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A bell sounded as Marisol pushed open the door. She cautiously stepped inside, clutching her right arm out of nervousness. She had no clue what to expect.
The lobby was nice. Quiet. It reminded her of the waiting room at her doctor’s office, albeit significantly smaller. A few cushy peach-colored chairs, a big white desk adorned with a fake plant, walls that were bare excluding a huge painting of a lily on one side. The floor was carpeted, stopping Marisol’s heels from making their usual clack-clack sound as she made her way urgently up to the desk.
“Can I help you?” the woman behind the desk asked. She was middle-aged, with her blonde hair tied up in a bun.
“Uh, hi,” Marisol said, cringing at how weak and shaky her voice was. She swallowed and tried again. “I’m here to see Katie Matlin. I’m her best friend.”
“Go ahead and check in and I’ll take you to see her.” The woman gestured to a clipboard sitting on the desk.
Marisol snatched a pen from the mug next to her and quickly signed her name. The next box was labeled “time-in.” She glanced up at the clock on the wall. It was almost noon. Normally she would be at lunch right now, but she was using this lunch period to go visit Katie as soon as possible. Her best friend was worth missing a meal.
She placed the pen back in the mug. The woman began leading her down a long hallway with closed doors on either side. As they walked, Marisol distracted herself by admiring the woman’s outfit. A black skirt, white blouse, and a pair of brown pomps. Basic, but still pretty cute. Much cuter than Marisol’s Degrassi uniform, which she was unfortunately still wearing.
Eventually, the woman stopped in front of a door with the number “14” plastered on it. She knocked twice, then cracked open the door and said, “You have a visitor.”
She stepped aside and gestured for Marisol to go in. Marisol’s hands balled into fists as she walked forward. This was it. The moment she’d been mentally preparing herself for the entire drive over here.
Keep it together, keep it together. This reminder pounded in her head as she slowly pushed her way through the door. Keeping it together was the best thing she could do for Katie right now.
And yet, as soon as she laid eyes on her best friend, she just about burst into tears.
Katie was sitting up in bed, her wavy ginger hair pulled up into a loose ponytail. She was wearing plain clothes that almost looked like pajamas. Her eyes were bloodshot, her face pale. She looked sick. She was sick.
Her best friend, normally so composed and put-together, looked like she hadn’t slept in weeks. For the first time since freshman year, Katie was falling apart.
“Mare?” she said once Marisol was officially in the room.
Marisol didn’t know what to say. All she could do was try and gulp down the lump in her throat. Try and push off the memories of Katie losing weight by the day.
“Mare, it’s okay,” Katie said. Her voice was croaky, tired. She patted the spot next to her on the bed. “Come in.”
Marisol immediately pulled herself together. She was supposed to be reassuring Katie, not the other way around. She made her way over to the bed, taking in her surroundings.
They were in a dimly lit room. The bright sun poked in through the closed blinds, casting a streak of light along the gray carpeting. The room was extremely plain; everything in it was either white or gray. The only splash of color was the lily painted on the wall, the same one from the lobby.
It was such a boring place. Katie deserved something way prettier.
“Hey,” Marisol finally said, sitting down on the bed and pulling Katie in for a hug. “How are you?”
“I’m fine.” Katie’s voice wavered. “Yeah, I’m fine.”
She tried to smile, but her face contorted. Marisol was already pulling her into a second hug before Katie burst into tears, her sobs and shaky breaths rattling against Marisol’s shoulder.
“Oh, Mare,” she gasped. “It’s terrible. My whole body hurts, all the time.”
Marisol’s eyes welled with tears. She blinked as hard as she could. Not here. Not now.
“But it’s worse in my head,” Katie continued. She sat back up against her headboard, wiping tears away. “All day long, I just think about soccer, and how I should be with the national team right now, but instead I’m here, locked away in some looney bin.”
Marisol just patted her shoulder comfortingly. She felt awful for Katie. This was supposed to be her year; their year. They were supposed to rule the school together, as co-presidents. Marisol would lead the Power Squad while Katie played soccer. It wasn’t supposed to be like this. Katie wasn’t supposed to be broken.
“I’m not even...addicted to drugs,” Katie went on. “I just took a few extra to help with my knee. My parents freaked out over nothing.”
“You OD’d,” Marisol gently pointed out.
“I know, but it was an accident.” Katie hugged her knees to her chest and gripped her blanket. She avoided Marisol’s eyes. “I don’t need to be here.”
An image flashed in Marisol’s mind, one she really didn’t want to remember. But there it was; her sitting next to Katie and the rest of the Matlins in the waiting room of a large treatment center. She was holding Katie’s pale, clammy hand as they waited for the doctor. Katie hadn’t spoken the entire car ride over. Then, all of a sudden, in that same, weak and defeated voice, she declared, “I don’t need to be here.”
She did, of course. She was twenty pounds underweight and her hair was thinning, her skin losing its pigment. At their last sleepover, Marisol had been awakened by the sound of Katie throwing up the spaghetti Marisol’s mother had made for dinner. At first, Marisol wondered if it was just because Katie had eaten that spaghetti awfully fast, but when she thought about it in conjunction with recent events; Katie always going to the bathroom after lunch, always carrying breath mints, always getting on her about her calorie intake, it began to make sense.
Marisol confronted her about it, but Katie just kept denying that anything was wrong. Eventually Marisol threatened to go to Katie’s parents about it, but it turned out she didn’t need to. Because when Katie passed out at school, her parents took things into their own hands.
Marisol didn’t understand at the time how Katie didn’t realize anything was wrong. She could have died, how could she not see she needed help?
But now that she was older, Marisol understood that denial was just a normal part of the recovery process. Katie eventually realized that she was hurting herself and accepted help. And she would do that again one of these days. The gravity of what could have happened would eventually hit her, and she would work through this therapy and get out soon enough.
That was the only option. Katie needed to get better. Because Marisol could not imagine a world without her better half.
She knew from experience that it wasn’t her job to help Katie see the truth. That was her counselor’s job. Marisol’s was to be there for her best friend and support her in any way that she could.
“What can I do for you?” she asked.
Katie wiped away some more tears, attempting to collect herself. “Um, student council’s gonna fall on your shoulders for the next few weeks,” she said. “Can you just keep me updated on what goes on?”
“Of course.”
“And could you bring me some crossword puzzles or something? I’m losing my mind in here, ironically.”
“You got it.”
“And maybe some flowers?” Katie’s eyebrows raised hopefully. “Even fake ones. Just something to add some color to the room.”
“Shouldn’t your boyfriend be doing some of these things?” Marisol questioned. She had always been skeptical of Drew Torres. Recently he’d been spending a little too much time talking to Bianca DeSousa, his ex whom he cheated on his last girlfriend with. Marisol couldn’t help side eyeing them when she saw them in the halls. If they hurt Katie even more...
“He will,” Katie said defensively. “He’s probably just been busy with football.”
Not too busy, Marisol thought. But she smiled, wanting to be reassuring. “Yeah. I’m sure he’ll come around.”
After I have a word with him, he damn sure will.
“Anyway, enough about me,” Katie said. “What’s going on with you? How are things going with Mo?”
Marisol couldn’t help blushing. She had recently started going out with Mo Mashkour, a football player at Degrassi. So far, he wasn’t anything like any of the other guys she’d dated. He was sweet. Gentle. He’d been super understanding about her preoccupation with Katie. Well, excluding one dumb incident where he posted a picture of himself with strippers to try and make her jealous. But they’d worked past that.
“It’s going great,” she said.
She began filling Katie in on all of the details, from her first date with Mo, to the dinner they split, to the way he held her hand and comforted her whenever she needed it. And pretty soon, the two girls were laughing and talking and gossiping as though everything were normal.
Things will be normal again, Marisol told herself. Soon enough.
<><><><>
When she got back to school, chaos was waiting for her.
Students of all ages were crowded outside the student council office, chatting amongst themselves. Some were angrily pounding on the door. The same door that she had specifically put a PRESIDENT OFF DUTY sign on.
She picked up her pace, about to yell at all of the kids to scram, when Mo suddenly stepped in front of her, blocking her path. “Hey, how’s Katie?” he wanted to know.
“Not great. What is going on?” she glanced past him at the mob.
“The kids want to talk to the people in charge,” Mo explained. “I told them that the people in charge were not here right now, but they don’t really care what I have to say.”
Marisol stared at the group in dread for a moment. What could this many kids possibly want? At the tail end of the semester, no less?
And then it occurred to her. It was the tail end of the semester. The kids would want some big event to start off their winter break. They’d want to talk about next semester, make requests for change.
This were all things she and Katie were supposed to deal with together. She squeezed her eyes shut, longing for Katie’s presence, but then snapped out of it. She was perfectly capable of doing this herself. And that’s what she needed to do, for Katie.
She stomped over to the office, carrying herself with confidence. The click-clacking returned as she was now walking on hard floor. Mo quickly followed her in anticipation.
“Alright, everyone, out of my way,” she snapped as she shoved her way through the crowd. She retrieved her office key from her lanyard and swung open the door. The kids began filing in immediately.
“Pick a number!” she shouted, pointing toward a board with numbered cards hooked to it. Only half the kids listened. The ones who did immediately rushed over to snatch the best numbers. The others just started yelling random shit at her.
“Guys, guys!” she said, trying not to let her stress show. The room quieted down, if ever so slightly. “Until Katie gets back, I’m acting president. So take a number, and I will get to you.”
“Yeah, well, Katie said she’d ask Mr. Simpson about the uniforms?” a freshman said, completely ignoring her order. Marisol crossed her arms in frustration. She did not come here, straight from visiting her BFF in rehab, just to be disrespected like this.
Thankfully, Mo stepped in before she could bite the kid’s head off. “Well, she’s not Katie, is she?”
Marisol’s heart swelled. She loved having a guy defend her like this. If she wasn’t worried about looking soft, she would have shrieked and hugged him right then and there. Instead, she just raised her eyebrows, daring someone else to take on their impenetrable duo.
And someone did. But it wasn’t one of the kids.
“You’re right about that.” Fiona Coyne stepped into the office, followed closely by Imogen Moreno. They both looked far too holier than thou. Great. This was exactly what she needed right now; two freaks interrupting her and further undermining her authority.
“Marisol, you’re clearly in way over your head,” Fiona continued. “So Imogen and I would like to help. We have an idea for an era-defining end-of-semester event.”
“We do,” Imogen threw in.
Marisol rolled her eyes. “You know I’m social convener,” she reminded them. Seriously, who did these girls think they were?
“And we’ve had, what? Zero dances, no movie nights,” Fiona said. “Remind me, has anything fun happened this year?”
“Hmm.” Marisol pretended to think about it. “The Coffee House.” Everything gathering at lunch for a school-wide talent show had been the first success of the Matlin/Lewis administration. Marisol had pulled it off mostly by herself, since Katie had been preparing for her big soccer tryout. Fiona was clearly trying to get under her skin, but all this interaction was doing was reminding her that she was in fact capable of handling things without Katie. So what if she’d spelled coffee wrong on the poster? She was an independent, socially inclined badass.
“An idea you stole from me,” Fiona sniped.
Marisol gritted her teeth. “Listen, Miss Know it All,” she said, stepping further toward Fiona. Everyone else in the room--including Mo--watched, eager for a catfight. “Since Vegas Night and prom both ended in violence, Simpson has banned any more after school events.”
There. That should teach Miss Coyne not to get in her face and tell her how to do her own job.
“So your job has been pretty easy, then.” Fiona stepped closer.
Or maybe not.
“If you think I’m gonna play dead just because Katie’s not here…” Marisol scoffed. “Girl, you’re fooling yourself.” Marisol turned to Mo. “Please remove this rich brat and her sidekick from my face.”
Mo didn’t move for a second. When he realized Marisol was glaring at him, he jumped. “Me?” he asked.
She gave him a “duh” look.
With a shrug, Mo stepped forward. “Sorry, ladies,” he said. Despite Fiona and Imogen’s protests, he hooked each of them under one of his shoulders and pushed them out.
“This is assault!” Imogen exclaimed. “I have lawyers!”
Mo closed and locked the doors behind them, leaving the two girls staring in disbelief. Marisol smiled in satisfaction and turned back to business.
“Who has number 1?” she called. A sophomore girl stepped forward.
As Marisol worked her way through the requests and pinned ideas to the bulletin board, she felt herself become more and more relaxed. She could do this; rule the school by herself. She wished Katie were here with her, but since that couldn’t be the case, ruling the school in her honor was the next best thing. She would make Katie proud with whatever end-of-semester event she came up with.
And she certainly didn’t need Fiona Coyne and her annoying little conjoined twin to do it.
<><><><>
After school a couple days later, Marisol was sitting at her table in the council office, buried in papers. She was trying her best not to start crying in frustration.
After days of racking her brain and even neglecting to pay attention to the video in science class, she still hadn’t come up with a good idea for an end-of-semester event. Simpson wasn’t allowing anything after school, so a winter dance or holiday party were out of the question. She supposed she could do something off school grounds, but that would require her to pay out of pocket and she doubted her father would just hand over that kind of money. Plus there was all this other stuff to worry about, the basketball banquet, exams, Katie…
She let her head fall against the table. She needed to not think, just for a second.
“Hey, we still going to the Dot after school?” Mo asked. He paused. “What’s wrong?”
“Everything,” Marisol said, sitting up but still holding the sides of her head in her hands. “I can’t come up with a stupid idea for a stupid end of the semester event.”
“Well, lucky for you, I happen to know a lot about stupid ideas.” Mo pulled up a chair at the table next to her.
In spite of everything, she smirked. “It’s just so hard, with all these limitations. Why can’t this just be a normal school? Where people don’t get stabbed or shot at every single dance?”
“Beats me.” Mo shrugged. “But I’m sure you can come up with something. You’re brilliant.”
Her smirk turned into a real smile.
“What about something at your house?” Mo suggested. “Like a party?”
“Eh, I want to do something different than a regular old party,” she contradicted. “Something more special that doesn’t happen every week. Something that makes me and Katie stand out from all the other presidents at Degrassi.”
“Ah.” Mo twisted his lanyard around his finger. “Then I don’t know what to tell you, m’lady.”
Marisol sighed. She needed to come up with something quick, or else she wouldn’t have enough time to plan. But her mind was completely shot. All she could think about was Katie in that boring ass room, battling withdrawal headaches.
She also kept thinking about this morning, and how she had tried so hard to portray herself as someone who knew what she was doing. Someone who would never be shown up by Fiona Coyne. But now she was second guessing herself.
For a split second, she considered swallowing her pride and letting Fiona take this one. Simply because Marisol already had too much on her shoulders. If anyone, including herself, tried to mock her for it, she would just be honest and say that she was too focused on Katie. Nobody would be dickish enough to blame her for that. At least she hoped not.
“You know…” she piped up to Mo. He looked at her with interest. “Fiona did say the other day that she had an idea.”
“Fiona? The girl you made me drag out of this room when she said she had an idea?” Mo raised an eyebrow.
“Yes, I know,” Marisol relented with an eye roll. “But desperate times call for desperate measures.”
“Okay, so, talk to her.” Mo shrugged. “You guys are supposed to be working together, after all. Couldn’t hurt.”
She just nodded. As condescending and annoying she had been about it, maybe Fiona truly was trying to help. And as much as she didn’t want to admit it, Marisol needed help. This was too big of a project for her to handle alone. Katie wouldn’t want her to.
The tears threatened to come again. She and Katie would’ve come up with something great together. They still could, if Marisol asked her about it. But she couldn’t burden Katie with that right now. She needed to focus on recovering, not planning a big school event.
Fiona may be Marisol’s only hope. In that case, Marisol would be willing to put their beef aside, just for now. They could come together for the sake of the school. Making everyone happy--and in turn, making Katie happy--was more important than how much Marisol wanted to whack Fiona upside the head with one of her designer bags.
With that in mind, Marisol pushed out of her chair. “We need a raincheck on our Dot date,” she informed Mo. “I have some presidential business to take care of.”
“Wow. Sounds sexy,” Mo remarked. He gave her a small smile to show he wasn’t mad. “Good luck.”
I don’t need luck, Marisol thought as she click-clacked her way into the hall. I just need a lot of patience.
<><><><>
Unfortunately, she didn’t have much time to muster up patience before she got pissed off all over again.
Right smack in the middle of the hallway, surrounded by a huge group of teenagers, was a table headed by Imogen Moreno. She was smiling as she took cash from kids and handed them what looked like little tickets in return. Behind her was a giant poster labeled THE FROSTIVAL, with ticket prices listed underneath.
Impulsively, Marisol stomped her way over to the table, pushing through the crowd. A bunch of people yelled at her for cutting in line, but she didn’t care. “What’s this?” she demanded, slamming her hands against the table.
“Oh,” Imogen said, without looking up from her transaction. “Since you wouldn’t let Fiona and me speak at the council meeting, we took matters into our own hands.”
“That wasn’t a meeting,” Marisol insisted. “That was a bunch of kids bothering me when they should’ve been in class.”
“Well, whatever it was, you didn’t listen to us.” Imogen shrugged. “If you had, maybe you could be in on this, but too little too late.” She smiled at the next kid in line. “Hi, how many?”
Marisol didn’t even know what to say. She was almost too angry to form words. Looking from the poster to Imogen and back again, she stammered, “I--you know Simpson needs to approve this.”
“He did,” Imogen replied nonchalantly. “Fiona talked to him.”
“Without my approval?” She was appalled. What kind of principal was he?
“I guess he’s just desperate to make the school look good to the public again.” Imogen handed the kid two tickets. “Or our idea was just too good to resist breaking the rules. Probably both.” She gestured for the next people to step up. “Next!”
Marisol didn’t want to, but she knew she had to ask. “What’s the idea?”
“A winter carnival. Off school grounds. Paid for on behalf of the Coynes,” Imogen said. “Now, shoo. I’m busy. You had your chance to be in on this, but you blew it. Goodbye, Marisol Lewis.”
Normally Marisol would not stand for Imogen dismissing her. But right now she was so angry that all she wanted to do was get out of there. Without fighting back, she stopped away from this humiliation.
How could this happen? How could Fiona and Imogen show her up like this? And how could Principal Simpson allow it? That was completely disrespectful to her, and of her authority as president. This school was a fucking joke.
In the midst of her rage, she was able to form the comprehensive thought that if Fiona were still at school, she would have been selling tickets at the table with Imogen. With this in mind, Marisol turned and stormed toward the parking lot. She had had enough of this day. She was just going to blast her music and take a relaxing bath and think about investing in Fiona and Imogen voodoo dolls.
Unfortunately, the horrible sights did not end there. Standing by the exit doors were Drew Torres and Bianca DeSousa, standing a little too close together. They also appeared to be whispering. They’d been doing that a lot lately.
Without even thinking about it, Marisol stomped up to them. Her shoes caught their attention and they quickly pulled apart, eyes wide. Much to her annoyance, they were both also holding Frostival tickets.
“Marisol,” Drew said awkwardly, scratching the back of his neck. “What’s up?”
Seeing Marisol’s expression, Bianca swung her backpack string over her shoulder. “Uh, I should go,” she said, waving at Drew. “I don’t wanna make Auntie upset.”
He just nodded, and his gaze lingered on her as she walked out the door. Marisol tapped his arm, returning his attention to her. He looked like a fucking deer in highlights.
“Are you forgetting that you have a girlfriend? A girlfriend who’s in rehab for drug addiction right now?” Marisol raised her eyebrows expectantly.
“Yeah, I know that--”
“Do you?” Marisol’s hands swung to her hips. “Because from what I can tell, you haven’t gone to visit her yet. And I know you sure as hell don’t have a good reason.” Drew opened his mouth to protest, but she cut him off. “No matter how busy you are, if you’re a good boyfriend, if you’re gonna be the guy that she deserves, you will make the time to show up for her.” She made it clear that this was not a suggestion, but an order.
Drew didn’t say anything for a few seconds. He just leaned against the lockers, looking somewhat ashamed.
“I just--I don’t know what to say to her,” he finally said.
“You don’t have to say anything. Just-be there for her.” Marisol took a deep breath and started speaking in a calmer voice. “She told me the other day that she wants flowers, to liven up her room. Do that for her.”
Drew considered it. Then, biting his lip, he simply nodded.
Marisol knew she didn’t need to say more. With a dramatic turn, she made her way out to the parking lot.
At least she’d accomplished something today.
<><><><>
The next day, Marisol was in the council office, writing down notes for the basketball banquet. She’d managed to calm herself down last night, thanks to a relaxing bath and a text from Drew that he had run the flower errand. He’d sent her a picture of Katie holding a rose, smiling from ear to ear. That image was enough to make Marisol smile even after that frustrating day.
Plus, now that she’d had some time to think about it rationally, she’d realized that Fiona and Imogen would never be able to pull off their Frostival idea. It was too big a project for them to tackle by themselves. Something was bound to go wrong. And when it did, she was going to swoop in and save the day with her idea. The idea that she was bound to come up with within the next couple days.
At that moment, Fiona walked into the office, carrying a poster stand. Marisol felt contempt boil up inside of her again. Even if she was calmer now, she still couldn’t believe Fiona had gone to Simpson behind her back like that.
“Well, well, well,” she said. “You won Simpson over. Aren’t you a hero?”
“I’m gonna need to take over student council for a little while,” Fiona said as she set up another Frostival poster right there in the office. Marisol looked again at the prices and scoffed. Ridiculously low. Yeah, she had nothing to worry about as far as being shown up.
“And you’re gonna pay for a parking lot full of carnival rides at two bucks a ticket?” she said skeptically.
“I’m coming in with a heavy subsidy.”
Marisol rolled her eyes. Now she was being reminded why exactly she couldn’t stand this girl in the first place. She was filthy rich and not afraid to flaunt it. Meanwhile Marisol had to scrape gum off of tables and serve loud customers five nights a week just to pay for her car.
“Oh, of course,” she snapped. “Your only trick. Throwing Mommy’s money around. Have you ever had to work for anything? Seriously. If you weren’t ‘rich’, who would you even be?”
“Shut up, Marisol.”
Sudden movement from behind her caused Marisol to turn around. Imogen was placing some materials on the small table. Oh, great. A two for one deal.
“Oh, and throwing money around to impress your little girlfriend,” Marisol quipped. She and Katie had been convinced for a while now that Fiona and Imogen were secretly dating. She didn’t have a problem with that; on the contrary. Those two deserved each other.
“Hey!” Imogen exclaimed.
“Pathetic.” Marisol turned back to Fiona.
“Okay, that’s it. Time out.” Fiona grabbed a yardstick and began pushing Marisol out of the room with it. “Shoo, shoo, shoo.”
“Ow! Hey! We’re supposed to be working together!” Marisol protested, since apparently Fiona had forgotten that. Sure, Marisol herself had initially planned to come up with an idea on her own, but she was still always going to include Fiona in the actual setup process. She had to, if they wanted to get anything done in time. It was her job to order Fiona around. Not the reverse. She was supposed to lead this project. As stand-in president, she had the power and the right. Fiona did not.
“Then go update the marquee and leave the rest of us,” Fiona said. At this point she had pushed Marisol out the council doors.
Before Marisol could register what was happening, Fiona slammed the doors in her face. Marisol reached for the knob, but the doors were already locked. And, as she realized when she reached for her lanyard, her keys were inside.
“Classic lockout,” Imogen said. She and Fiona both gave “sucks for you” pouts as they walked away.
“See how she likes it,” Fiona said.
“Hey!” Marisol complained, pounding on the door. “Hello? Open the door!”
It was no use. They were not going to budge. She had been left out to dry, in more ways than one.
Marisol stormed away from the office and leaned up against a bank of lockers. She sank down, resting her head in her hands.
She couldn’t believe how awful this week had been. First Katie was sent to rehab, then Marisol was forced to work with Fiona Coyne, and then when Marisol tried to plan a big event in Katie’s honor, Fiona and her girl toy swooped in and stole the spotlight. They had planned a whole event out from underneath her. And the school authority was allowing it, because apparently they were that desperate.
This sucked. She had only been acting president for a few days, and once the school found out she wasn’t involved in this Frostival business, she was probably going to face impeachment. Katie would come back to school with Fiona as the new president and Imogen as vice. So much for making her best friend proud.
All week, she’d put up a tough facade so that nobody could tell she was breaking inside. But now there was no point in hiding it. As soon as this event happened, everyone would know that Marisol Lewis did not have control over anything whatsoever.
A shadow appeared over her. Marisol didn’t look up. Probably someone wanting to buy tickets for this stupid carnival. This stupid carnival that truly was not a bad idea, as much as she hated to admit that to herself.
“Care for a milkshake at the Dot?”
It was Mo’s voice. Marisol slowly raised her head.
“You look like you could use it,” Mo added.
<><><><>
As she sipped from her chocolate milkshake, Marisol gave Mo a rundown of what had been happening in student council.
“So, they went behind your back and planned something without talking to you,” he concluded, sipping his water. He had opted not to get anything sugary, which she thought was odd at first, but when he reasoned that he wanted something free so he would have more money to spend on her, she accepted it without question. He was sweet like that.
“Right.” Marisol shoved her shake away for a moment. “Can you believe it? I’m the president. They can’t just do that.”
“I mean, apparently they can.”
Annoyance flashed through Marisol’s veins. Okay, maybe he wasn’t so sweet. “You’re not helping,” she said.
“Well, sorry.” Mo shrugged.
He didn’t say anything else after that. Marisol eyed him suspiciously. Mo only acted like this--passive aggressive--on rare occasions. “What?” she demanded.
He shrugged again. “I just think you’re making too big a deal out of this,” he said. “I mean, sure, they came up with the idea, but who cares? As long as you have something to do, right?”
Marisol stared at him in disbelief. “You don’t get it, do you? They completely disrespected me by not including me in these plans. They knew what they were doing. They were trying to show me up, and they did.”
“Maybe so,” Mo said. He paused for a moment. “But they did try to include you in the plans. The other day. And from what I saw, you shut them down. Or rather, you had me shut them down by literally dragging them out of the room.”
Marisol was about to protest, but stopped to think. Okay, maybe he had a point there. She had turned away Fiona and Imogen when they tried to present their idea. But that was because they were being so condescending about it, in front of a huge group of people. They’d tried to embarrass her, to undermine her authority, and she had simply reminded them who was boss. If they’d come to her in private, at a better time, she might have been more agreeable.
“I only did that because they were being jerks,” she insisted. “And I thought you were happy to defend my honor, but I guess I was wrong.”
“They were being jerks,” Mo agreed. “And I will always defend you when I think it’s necessary. But there are some times, like right now, where I can’t do that.”
“Okayyy…” Marisol was getting more confused by the minute. Where was he going with this?
“I know those girls get on your nerves, and I understand why,” Mo started. “But if you were to work with them, think about what you could accomplish. They need your skills and expertise, babe. Trust me, they can’t do this without you.”
Her heartbeat picked up, both out of happiness and annoyance. Her body was so confused right now. She didn’t know whether to be flattered or mad at him.
“But I already told you. They won’t let me help,” she reminded him. “Today they kicked me out of the council room.”
“You mean, the exact same thing you did to them,” Mo remarked.
Marisol pinched her straw between her fingers and stared down at her milkshake awkwardly.
“Just call a truce,” Mo said. “Go to them in peace, take that step. Make this the best damn carnival Degrassi will ever have.”
Marisol couldn’t help smiling at that. She finished off the rest of her milkshake in silence, but only because she was thinking.
Mo had a point. This feud with her and Fiona and Imogen was getting in the way of too much. At this point, it didn’t matter who started it or who was right (even though Marisol still very much believed she was). All that mattered now was that the entire school was counting on her and Fiona for a fun end to their semester, and she was going to do whatever it took to deliver that.
If--or rather, when--it got hard, she would just think about the smile that was bound to spread across Katie’s face when she showed her the pictures.
<><><><>
The next day, Marisol walked into the council office, where Fiona was pacing around for some reason.
“What do you want?” Fiona demanded when she saw her.
Her tone was almost enough to make Marisol bite back, but she remembered what she’d promised herself and kept her voice level. “To call a truce,” she said. “If you let me work on the Frostival with you, I promise to try and get along with you and Pigtails.”
“Well, that’s great,” Fiona said, sounding distracted. Marisol realized for the first time that she was holding her phone in her hand. “But there might not be a Frostival now.”
“What? Why?” Marisol did her best not to panic. “You said you had the money.”
“I did, but now…” Fiona trailed off. “I don’t wanna get into it. It’s just not happening.”
Marisol could feel the anger boiling up inside of her once again. She knew it was too good to be true. She never should have trusted Fiona Coyne with something so huge. After all, this girl apparently used to show up to school drunk.
And that was when it hit her: Katie used to show up to school high. Her best friend was very similar to Fiona in that regard. Marisol immediately chastised herself for having had that thought. Fiona must have been sick, just like Katie was. She must have been vulnerable and scared.
But you wouldn’t know it, from looking at her. This girl came back swinging. She let everyone know that she was better, that she was capable of co-running a school. In that moment, Marisol felt a smidge of admiration for the girl. She had been through and bounced back from a lot.
She must’ve been through rehab. Looking at Fiona now, Marisol felt a lot of hope for Katie. Katie could turn out like this too. She certainly had the strength to do so. By next semester, Katie could be back here, showing the school that she damn sure had what it took to be in charge.
But until then, it was just her and Fiona, this girl who, in her own way, was a badass. But a girl who clearly didn’t feel like one at the moment. Fiona looked so defeated, so embarrassed, but Marisol wasn’t going to let that fly. She was being struck with a huge burst of sympathy, a strong desire to help the girl. To support her in any way she could.
“The Frostival is still gonna happen,” Marisol insisted.
“But Marisol, I-”
“It will happen. We’ll find a way.” Before she entirely knew what she was doing, Marisol stepped forward and gave Fiona a side hug.
Fiona looked at her like she had just grown a second head. “Who are you and what have you done with Marisol?”
“Save it.” Marisol quickly pulled away. With renewed purpose, she click-clacked her way over to her table and flipped open her notebook. “Okay, let’s start brainstorming. We have three days to plan this thing and I am not going to let my presidency be ruined by a failed circus.”
“Okay, now you sound like Marisol,” Fiona remarked, coming to join her at the table.
Marisol didn’t answer. She was too busy jotting down ideas for how they could raise money.
<><><><>
It was a long, stressful process, but they managed to do it.
Marisol and Fiona spent the next three days running around, gathering as much money from as many different sources as they could. Marisol picked up extra shifts at Little Miss Steaks and somehow managed to convince her father to dip a little bit into her college fund, since this event would certainly help her get into college. Her mother even donated a little bit. Meanwhile, Fiona had a huge sale of her rich people dresses and furniture and other items out of her condo. To top things off, they’d set up a donation bucket around school, which brought them many more dollars than they would have expected. Apparently everyone really wanted this carnival!
All of that, topped with the ticket money and money they would make from the rides and games at the actual carnival, and they had enough. They had actually done it. Together, they had pulled together the money to make the best damn carnival happen.
Mo was right. They really accomplished more as a team.
People were currently setting up the carnival at the site. They said it would be ready by tonight, easy. They were going to have ferris wheels and cotton candy machines and fun prizes. No one at Degrassi was ever going to forget it.
Marisol couldn’t keep herself from bouncing as she went in to visit Katie. The woman at the desk kept looking back at her, like she was worried she had to pee or something. Marisol paid her no mind.
“Katie!” she exclaimed as she stepped into her best friend’s room.
The first thing that she noticed was the roses on Katie’s bedside table. They definitely added a much-needed splash of color to the room.
The second thing she noticed was that Katie looked much, much better. Her skin was returning to its normal coloration and her eyes were no longer bloodshot. Best of all, she was smiling genuinely too. It didn’t seem like there was going to be any crying at this visit.
“Mare!” Katie cheered, clapping like a little kid.
“You look like you’re doing better.” Marisol sat down on the bed and gave Katie a hug.
“I am! Much better,” Katie said. “They’re thinking I could be out of here by the end of the month. Which, thank God, because the food here totally sucks.”
Marisol’s smile wavered for a second.
“Oh, don’t worry, I’m eating it,” Katie reassured her.
Marisol immediately believed her. There was no way Katie would be glowing this much if she’d gone back to her old habits. Now that she was relaxed again, her eyes fell on the red roses. “I see Drew came through for you.”
“He did.” Katie smiled and blushed. “I’m glad, too, because I was starting to get worried. I felt like I was losing him a little bit lately. But no, when he came in, he was so sweet. I think it was just a lot for him to handle.”
“Uh-huh.” Marisol still didn’t entirely trust Drew, especially seeing the way he looked at Bianca, but as long as Katie was happy, she would have to deal.
“He told me that he and his family are going on a skip trip over break,” Katie continued. “So he won’t be able to come see me. But I’m okay with that. I want him to go have fun and not stay here worrying about me.”
Was she serious? “Katie, that’s ridiculous,” Marisol insisted. “You’re his girlfriend. He’s supposed to worry about you.”
“Yeah, but I don’t want him to.” Katie shrugged. “He’s already stood by me so much, when everything happened with my knee. He deserves a break, you know?”
Oh, he deserves something, Marisol thought. But instead of arguing any further, she just decided to change the subject. “Okay, well, I have a surprise for you,” she said. She wiggled her fingers in suspense, and Katie’s eyebrows shot up in interest. “Guess what end-of-semester event the Matlin/Lewis administration is going to have credited to our name?”
“What?”
“A winter carnival!” Marisol cheered. “Called the Frostival. It’s going to be downtown. Tonight.”
“A carnival?” Katie squinted in confusion. “Off-campus? How did you manage that? You’d have to pay for that yourself.”
“Fiona and I did it,” Marisol explained.
At that, Katie looked amused. “You and Fiona Coyne actually worked together?” she asked doubtfully.
“We did.” Marisol smiled proudly. It sounded even more amazing coming out of Katie’s mouth. She had done that. Risen above all the beef and drama, busted her ass to arrange a once-in-a-lifetime event for Degrassi Community School. And she had done it all for Katie. Her best friend who deserved the world.
Seeing Katie’s smile now, she knew that it was totally worth it.