Chapter Text
Marisol Lewis coughed and wrapped her pink fuzzy blanket tight around her body. A minute ago she’d been burning up, but now she was cold and shivering again. Being sick truly sucked.
She flipped to the next page of her fashion magazine, trying to distract herself by looking at the pretty dresses the models were wearing. One in particular really stood out to her. It was a dark purple dress with puffed sleeves and a cute bow tied across the chest. The satin fabric was patterned with shiny gold and silver stars. It was easily something she would wear.
She closed her eyes and tried to envision herself in the dress. She saw herself walking down the runways at one of Degrassi’s fashion shows, then at a red carpet premiere, then at prom.
And then she had to immediately shut the magazine and collapse back against her pillow. It wasn’t bad enough that she was sick. She had to be sick on prom night. And it wasn’t just any prom night--it was supposed to be her first prom. Normally prom was just for seniors, but Degrassi was extending this year’s prom to juniors and even a few Grade 10s so long as they signed up for a volunteer position this week. Marisol knew a couple kids, like Adam Torres and Eli Goldsworthy, who had volunteered to be servers at the actual dance. Marisol already spent enough time waitressing at Little Miss Steaks, so she definitely didn’t want to spend prom night doing that. Instead she had signed up to help with Grade 9 Orientation along with Katie. Boring, but she figured giving future niners a tour of the wonderful world of Degrassi was a small price to pay for a night of fun.
She had been so excited. She’d spent four hours at the mall trying to find the perfect dress. Twelve stores and six dressing rooms later, she’d found it. A glittering, luxurious dress with a dark green and black bust, long spaghetti straps, and an almost floor-length skirt. The skirt was a lighter shade of green and patterned with floral golden sequins. It just screamed her. She’d actually found it while she was in the middle of buying a different dress. Standing at the register, she caught sight of it on a mannequin in the back, waiting to be claimed. She stopped the cashier mid-transaction and ran like hell to go get it. It had cost her at least three paychecks, but it was so worth it.
That dress was currently locked away in her walk-in closet, out of sight. She couldn’t stand to look at it, to be reminded of what she was missing. Her mother offered to go and return it for her so she could get her money back, but Marisol didn’t have the heart to agree. If anything, she would just save it for next year. That was the only thought keeping her optimistic right now: there was still next year. Her senior prom, which would be fully her prom, was going to be amazing. She would make sure of it. She would self-quarantine for a week beforehand so she physically couldn’t catch anyone’s nasty germs.
Marisol sniffled, willing herself not to cry again. Her flu wasn’t the only reason her queen-sized bed was covered in tissues.
“Knock-knock,” someone said while rapping on her doorframe. Marisol rolled over and smiled when she saw Katie standing in her doorway. Katie was one of the few people who was allowed to see her like this; curled up in bed, pajamas, makeup-less. At least she was wearing her cute silky purple pajamas and bunny slippers. Being sick in style was the only way to be sick. Her best friend was still wearing her bright orange GRADE 9 ORIENTATION VOLUNTEER shirt. Marisol checked the time on her bedazzled digital clock, which had numbers inside of diamonds. These diamonds read 12:55. Orientation must have just ended.
“Hey,” Marisol croaked. Her voice was weak and hoarse. She hated it.
“I brought you some lunch.” Katie revealed a plastic bowl and spoon that she’d been hiding behind her back. She walked over and placed it on Marisol’s nightstand. “Chicken and noodle.”
“O-M-G, you’re the best.” Marisol waited until Katie had backed up again before she sat up to grab the soup. It was from The Dot. Steam poured out as she lifted the lid.
“Are you feeling any better?” Katie asked with concern. She pulled up Marisol’s fuzzy pink desk chair and sat down a safe distance away from the bed, but close enough that she didn’t make Marisol feel like a leper. Best friends were like that.
“Not really.” Marisol scooped a spoonful of noodles and blew on the spoon to cool them down. As awful as she felt, she needed to eat and hopefully the warm, soft soup would feel good on her scratchy throat. “How was orientation?”
“It was fine.” Something in Katie’s tone seemed off. She took a deep breath. “Bianca was there,” she added, trying her best to appear nonchalant. Marisol knew her better than that, though.
“Bianca? Like, boiler room Bianca?” Marisol’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. Bianca DeSousa was Degrassi’s resident bad girl who hung out at the ravine with losers like Marisol’s disgraced ex Owen Milligan and Mark Fitzgerald (well, before Fitz went all Kirk Cameron born-again Christian overnight). She was also the ex of Drew Torres, whom Katie had just recently started going out with. Earlier in the year, at the school’s disastrous Vegas Night, Drew had cheated on Alli Bhandari with Bianca in none other than the trashy Degrassi boiler room. Drew and Bianca had actually started dating shortly afterward, but they had broken up after something happened over spring break. Most of the school thought Drew had killed Bianca’s ex-boyfriend in self-defense, but according to Katie, it was actually Bianca who killed the guy and Drew just took the blame. Apparently the ex was also in a gang who later violently attacked Drew, taking him out of school for several weeks. Katie told Marisol that Drew had severe PTSD from the experience.
That was the extent of what she knew. Katie said Drew refused to share anything more. There were rumors around school that Bianca had cheated on him with one of the gang members and that was why they broke up. Marisol didn’t know if there was any credibility to that. She actually hadn’t seen Bianca around school very much lately. The girl was known to skip, but not this much. She only popped up every now and then, keeping to herself. A couple of times Marisol figured she’d finally dropped out, only for Bianca to waltz into class with her (surprisingly cute) “B” handbag. Anyway, Bianca’s lack of school spirit made her decision to help out at orientation even weirder to Marisol. It just...did not seem like her thing at all. Marisol tried to picture the girl in one of those orange shirts. Nope, page not found.
“Yeah,” Katie said, answering her previous question. “And Drew wanted to be partnered with her.”
Marisol instantly became on high alert. She shoved some soup into her mouth and looked at Katie, wide-eyed. She already didn’t entirely trust Drew with her best friend’s heart after what happened with Alli, and so she trusted him even less with Bianca in the picture. What was Degrassi’s Taylor Lautner up to?
“During the lunch break, I found him in the weight room going after a punching bag,” Katie continued. “He seemed...off. It was like how he was earlier in the year. Paranoid. On edge.”
Marisol nodded as she ate, listening closely.
“He said Bianca’s in trouble and he wants to help her,” her best friend finished. “He didn’t go into detail, but he seemed really freaked out.” Katie dragged her foot along Marisol’s cream carpeting. “I don’t know, Mare, should I be worried?”
Seeing the sadness on Katie’s face, Marisol set her bowl aside. If there was one thing she would not allow tonight, it was her best friend having a lousy prom. Since she herself couldn’t go, Katie having an amazing night was the only thing she was looking forward to. She would not have it any other way.
She offered Katie a warm, comforting smile. “He’s going with you, right?” she said, relieved to see Katie crack a small smile of her own. “Your first dance with your first boyfriend. You deserve this.”
Katie blushed a little. “Thanks, Mare.”
“Besides,” she went on. “From what I can tell, Bianca made Drew’s life super messy. You’re perfect for him. You're what he needs. You have it together. You’re a soccer star and future school prez. You’re Katie Matlin. Drew’s crazy about you, just as any guy should be. He’ll help Bianca with whatever her problem is and then send her on her way. If he doesn’t, I’ll sneeze on him.”
Katie laughed but tried to stop herself. “Mare…”
“Tonight’s your night,” Marisol insisted. “Go. Have fun. That’s what you can do for me.”
Nodding slowly, Katie stood up. “Okay. I really wish you could be there with us. This sucks.”
“I know.” Marisol retrieved her soup and continued eating. She went a little faster now that it had cooled down significantly. Mmm, so yummy.
“You know, I’m actually surprised you haven’t come up with a plan to work around this,” Katie remarked. “I always figured you’d show up to prom in a hospital gown if you had to.”
Marisol smirked. That was hard to deny. “Yeah, well, Mom’s home tonight,” she explained. “And she has me on bed rest. I’d never live it down if I snuck out while I’m sick.”
“Got it.” Katie nodded.
“Besides, it’s not like I had a date anyway.” As disappointing as it was not going to prom, she admittedly hadn’t been looking forward to third-wheeling with Drew and Katie all night. Boys were kind of avoiding her these days because of the whole K.C. incident. She’d thought that had died down, especially with all the Drew/Bianca gang talk, but apparently people still thought she was a curse who broke up relationships. As if KC did not run to her because “everything was so hard at home.”
She shook her head and coughed. She did not need another reason to cry right now.
“Mare,” Katie said gently. She sat back down. “You’re an amazing girl. You will find someone worthy of you. Preferably someone who doesn’t have a girlfriend and a baby.”
Marisol hung her head. She didn’t need yet another lecture about how stupid hooking up with K.C. was. Katie, Drew (ironically), K.C. (even more ironically), Jenna, and literally everyone else at school had already given her enough shit for it. But the person who was hardest on her was easily herself. She knew she had messed up. The guilt lived with her everyday, especially when she saw Jenna at school. She had only recently begun to stop feeling dirty over it. Why was Katie bringing this back up now, when she was miserable in every possible way?
Quickly noticing her shame, Katie said, “No, I didn’t mean it like that. What I mean is…” she paused. “You deserve a guy who will put you first. Someone who has no other commitments. K.C. wasn’t right for you. You deserve someone better. Someone who’ll put you first.” She smiled.
Marisol nodded, reaching for a Kleenex. She was trying her best to believe that these days, but it was hard. A part of her thought she would never deserve to have someone truly love her, since she helped take that from another girl. Who would be interested in a homewrecker like her?
“I gotta go,” Katie said, glancing at the clock. “Only 5 and a half hours ‘til the doors open.”
“Okay.” Marisol was disappointed to see her friend leave, especially since she would be spending the rest of the day alone in her bedroom. But Katie needed to have all the time possible to get glammed up for prom. Who decided it was a good idea to have Grade 9 Orientation on the morning of prom? Degrassi seriously had some issues with scheduling.
“Bye, Mare. I hope you feel better.” Katie stopped in her doorway and waved. Her eyes were full of sympathy.
“Bye.” Marisol smiled and dug her spoon deep into her bowl. All that was left was broth.
Once Katie had closed her door, Marisol flopped back down on her bed and clutched her pillow tightly.