614

The end of the semester was near, which meant exams were right around the corner. But unfortunately for some students, so was the opening night of Hamlet and as long as Linus was in charge, the working process wasn't going to be easy. He was in overdrive, making sure the play would be prepared in time, even persuading Jimmy and the rest of the art club to help paint some of the sets during study time. It was a decision they were all starting to regret.

JT was hanging out near the back of the gymnasium with Johnny, taking every possible break and hiding place he could find. They both looked around nervously for a moment, before Johnny pulled a small bag of marijuana out of his pocket and quickly shoved it into JT's hands.

"Thanks man" JT said as he put the bag in his pocket and handed Johnny some money.

"Anytime, my friend grows the finest herb in the province," Johnny joked with a smirk. "I was kind of surprised when you asked me for some, I always thought Jane was against this stuff."

"Yeah, I was kind of hoping we could keep this between us," JT said, shuddering for a moment at the thought of how mad Jane would be if she caught him doing drugs. "I've just been so stressed out from this play, and I need some kind of break."

"The less they know, the better," Johnny said with a chuckle. "And trust me, one hit of this, and all your stress will be forgotten."

"About that," JT said. "What's the best way to smoke this stuff?"

"You've never smoked before?" Johnny asked, a surprised look on his face.

"Is that so wrong?" JT asked, feeling a little embarrassed.

"Well kind of," Johnny said, as JT gave him an annoyed look. "Alright, well a bong or a pipe is always good. Or rolling it into some joints… you can pass 'em around a while, have a good time."

"Hell yeah," JT said, nodding with satisfaction. "I can't wait."

"JT!" Jane said, as she ran over. Johnny immediately looked paranoid. "There you are. Linus needs you to rehearse the mouse trap scene with Darcy right away. I'm kind of surprised you didn't hear him yelling. What are you guys talking about?"

"Nothing," Johnny said. "Mind your own business, woman."

Johnny quickly walked off, as Jane looked at him strangely. She turned to JT. "Was he saying bad stuff about me?"

"No, he's just being his weird self," JT said, trying to shake it off as he put his arm around his girlfriend and began walking toward the stage. "So is Linus in one of his moods?"

"Let's just say he's had better" Jane warned him.

"Can we please get this show on the road?" Linus questioned in a frustrated tone. "This is a key scene, and we cannot screw it up on opening night!"

"I'm just a human" JT joked under his breath as he made his way to the stage.

"Lady, shall I in your lap?" JT asked, putting every ounce of focus he could into the character.

"No my lord," Darcy replied shakily, causing Linus to groan as he sat back. Tim looked over at him, unsure what he could say or do that wouldn't make him even more angry. "You are merry tonight, my lord."

"What should a man do but be merry?" JT asked. "For, look you, how cheerfully my mother looks, and my father died between these two hours."

Darcy blanked, looking utterly frightened at JT. He gave her an angry look and she immediately turned to Tim who quickly leaned forward and began mouthing out 'Nay, 'tis twice two months, my lord.' Linus immediately noticed and stood up, a frustrated look on his face.

"Sit back Tim," Linus ordered, before turning to the stage. "Is this some kind of joke? Darcy, opening night is Monday and you still don't know your lines. I can't work with this."

"Maybe you should calm down," Tim said to Linus in a calm voice, trying not to piss him off.

"Maybe you should stay out of it!" Linus retorted. "I told you to sit back for a reason."

"Hey man," Jimmy said, who was painting a piece of the set a short distance away. "Can you keep it down a little? We're trying to get some studying done while we're working."

"I don't have time for this," Linus told Jimmy. "Maybe you should save your studying for class and focus on finishing the sets. We have to get this done!"

"Well WE still have to do good on our tests" Jimmy said to Linus, but he had already gone back to chewing out the cast and crew of the play. Jimmy looked at the rest of his art club and they all shared a look of agreement before silently exiting the gym. They were fed up with this.

Tim slowly noticed over his shoulder that they were leaving and jumped up in surprise, unsure what to do since Linus was still on one of his rants. "Uh, Linus," Tim slowly stammered. Linus didn't answer. "Linus?"

"What is it Tim!?" Linus turned to his co-director in sheer fury.

"You might wanna take a look" Tim said anxiously, motioning back. Linus looked back and was baffled when he saw the art club had left all the unfinished set pieces just sitting there. He was silenced for a moment, trying to get back in his center.

He sat down, feeling completely drained. "We're on break" he flatly told the people on stage who were nervously waiting for him to say something. They didn't question any further and immediately got in their own groups to hang out and enjoy what little time off their harsh boss would grant them.

Linus turned to Tim. For the first time that semester, Tim saw a bit of fear in Linus's eyes. "We have a problem," Linus said. "Don't we?"

Opening Theme

Linus was pacing back and forth around the gymnasium repeatedly, trying to come up with a new plan that could save the play. Tim simply sat and watched, afraid to contribute… it hadn't really worked well in the past.

Jane, JT, and Danny all sat together on the edge of the stage, hanging out and watching their director attempt to collect himself. "This guy needs to make up his mind already," said Danny. "What moron decided that he would call all the shots?"

"A bigger one than I," JT said, deciding to leave it at that. "But don't sweat it man, hours from now we'll be chilling at guy's night!"

"Guys night," Jane joked with a grimace. "If only I was biologically qualified." JT and Danny laughed as Danny had a look of remembrance.

"Oh yeah, about that," Danny said. "I kind of promised Chantay we would hang out tonight. Maybe next time."

"What?" JT asked in disappointment. "Weren't you just breaking my balls about bailing on you for my girlfriend?"

"I guess I learned the error of my ways" Danny chuckled with a shrug. "And I guess while we're at it, Derek mentioned he was gonna be studying with Liberty all night. So he's not gonna make it either."

"You guys disappointment me" JT said. Jane rolled her eyes playfully behind JT, causing Danny to laugh.

"Relax man, we can hang out anytime," Danny reminded him. "Why are you so excited about this?"

JT thought quickly and opened his mouth to respond, but Linus beat him to it.

"I've got it!" Linus said, excited about his new idea. "I knew it… all I had to do was just ask, be patient, and the answers would come to me. I don't know how it didn't come to me sooner!"

"Well, awesome," Tim said, a little weirded out at seeing Linus this excited. "Let's hear it!"

"Well at first, I had no idea how we could afford to hire someone to paint these sets by Monday night," Linus explained. "But then I realized we could simply stay a few hours late, spend some time here this weekend, and we could finish the sets without paying anything!"

"Cheap bastard," JT whispered to Jane, causing her to giggle. The rest of the students looked at each other, all unknowing if they could stand anymore time in the grueling conditions Linus had been putting them through. Darcy, especially, looked angry as she whispered a storm to Chantay.

"So what do you guys think?" Linus asked. "Any opinions?"

"I have an opinion," Darcy said, standing up as Linus sulked, knowing Darcy wouldn't be happy. "That plan is crap. We've been pouring our blood, sweat, and tears into your stupid play all semester and now you want us to do even more work?"

"Okay, Darcy, you've said more than enough" Linus cut her off.

"Come on man, she's right," Danny said. "This plays making me exhausted. Why should we have to come on the weekend to paint the sets?"

"Because we're a team!" Linus reminded them. "And teams stick together. Come on guys, I know I can be strict-"

"Strict is a huge understatement and you should know it," Darcy interrupted him. "And if we were a real team, you wouldn't be treating us like this all the time. And I'm pretty sure I speak collectively when I say I've had enough of this."

"Well no one's asking you to stay" Linus snapped back.

"Great!" Darcy exclaimed. "That's the best news I've heard all year. I'm outta here. Whose with me?"

Darcy marched out of the gymnasium, with the rest of the cast and crew slowly following. Despite everyone else leaving, Tim stayed as he noticed Linus sink into his chair. He finally realized that he had gone too far. His behavior had driven everyone and everything away from him… Kim wouldn't take him back, the play was going downhill quickly, and he hadn't even found time to study for his exams. What was he going to do this time?

"Well I guess we better get started" Tim said. He could tell that he would have to take charge and try to get Linus out of this slump.

"Are you kidding me?" Linus asked, laying his head on the table. "How could 2 people possibly finish painting those sets by Monday? I think I finally just need to embrace it… I'm an idiot."

Tim sighed… as much as he wanted to agree with Linus, he kind of felt bad for him. He had never seen him this low. "Linus, I know you and I don't exactly see eye-to-eye on everything, but I've never thought that you were an idiot. You're pretty much in charge of this whole play. If it doesn't take brains to do that, than I don't know what your secret is."

Linus sighed, taking Tim's comments in. "Thanks man. You really aren't that bad…" Linus suddenly had a face of confusion. "In a heterosexual way."

"I know," Tim said, laughing and feeling a little amused at Linus's ignorance so he decided to let it go. "But listen man, at the end of the day, the show has to go on Monday Night, and it's still our responsibility. So I'm willing to stay and help paint the sets if you are. I know we probably won't get much done, but it's all we can do at this point. So what do you say?"

Linus thought about it for a moment. As much as he didn't agree with Tim on a lot of things, he really was a good friend. Linus turned to him with a small grin. "Let's get painting."

Toby walked down the hall, and noticed Emma by her locker. His face instantly lit up as he approached her.

"Hey there, tree hugger" He said with a sly smirk as he leaned against the locker beside hers.

"Well what does that make you? An x-box hugger?" Emma teased back. "I could hardly hear you on the phone last night over Halo."

"Guilty as charged," Toby laughed. "But you gotta admit, I am impressive with my multi-tasking."

"One of the many things that impresses me about you" Emma said, giving him a flirtatious smile.

"Okay, now you're just lying" Toby said half-jokingly.

"I would never do such a thing" Emma told Toby, looking into his eyes brightly, grabbing his hands. Toby slowly leaned in to to kiss her, but her face suddenly turned to horror when she noticed Manny and Liberty were coming over to them.

She immediately separated from Toby, who looked confused. "What are you doing Toby? I thought I made this clear, you're just tutoring me!" She gave him a pleading look, praying he would go along with it as Manny and Liberty tried to contain their laughter. They decided they couldn't anymore and burst out laughing.

"Better luck next time Tobes," Manny said. "Nice try."

"Oh, don't worry," Toby said, looking Emma straight in the eye. "There won't be a next time."

He walked off, leaving Emma feeling terrible. She looked at him sorrowfully, struggling to keep up with Manny and Liberty as they kept going down the hall.

"Why didn't you just ask me to help you?" Liberty asked. "I know the material way better than Toby!"

"Yeah, I don't know what I was thinking" responded Emma. She was feeling completely stupid. She didn't really know why she felt the urge to hide Toby from her friends… but she had no idea how they would react. It was such an odd thing to admit.

Spinner entered Coach Armstrong's class, which was basically a study hall for the day. He saw Jimmy and decided to see how he was doing. Jimmy had been acting really distant ever since his post-traumatic stress disorder diagnosis and Spinner really wanted to patch things up. He would hate to lose Jimmy's friendship again.

"Hey dude" Spinner greeted his best friend with a smile as he sat down next to him. "I thought you'd be off painting for Linus's play."

"Yeah, we're basically on strike," Jimmy told him. "That guys a total ass anyway. I don't know how you put up with him."

"Trust me man, neither do I" Spinner said. "So what are you doing this weekend?"

Jimmy hesitated for a moment. "I'm gonna be kind of busy."

"You say that every weekend," retorted Spinner. "C'mon man, I miss you! I understand that you're having a tough time, but I just want you to feel better."

"I don't know what can make me feel better" Jimmy told Spinner.

Elsewhere in the class, JT and Ashley were sitting around a very bummed out Toby. They looked at each other, feeling bad, as they tried to cheer Toby up. It wasn't going so well.

"C'mon man, just forget about her" JT advised. "You can do better than her anyway. Emma's always been a sketchy girl."

"I know, but I didn't care about that, and I thought she respected me for it," uttered Toby emotionlessly. "But just like every girl, she ended up stomping on my heart."

"Toby whatever happened," said Ashley, putting a hand on her stepbrothers back. "I'm sure it wasn't that bad. Maybe you need to be a little patient."

"Well she basically made it look like I was trying to sexually assault her in front of Manny and Liberty," Toby responded. "I don't get it. I've told you guys that we've been going out and she's kept it a total secret from her friends. It's like she's ashamed of me or something."

"Ouch," JT responded. "Well I can't say I'm surprised."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Toby asked, getting offended. "Why is it such an outrage that a girl would attracted to me? I mean, I dropped the glasses, and not even that worked!"

"Toby, relax," Ashley said. "Just ignore him. I'm sure deep down, Emma feels really bad about she did. But it's up to you if you think she deserves a second chance. Don't make the wrong decision."

"Trust me," said Toby. "I'm making the right one this time. I knew this whole thing was too good to be true."

"Well hey man, maybe you'll have some fun at guys night tonight," JT said. "Trust me, it'll be one to remember."

"I bet" Toby sarcastically said. "How are we supposed to have a decent poker game with 3 people?"

JT looked around the room desperately, trying to spot out two guys that could join them for a guys night. He saw Spinner, who was still trying to convince Jimmy to hang out. "Hey, Spinner!" he called out. Spinner looked over blankly. "You guys wanna come hang out at Peter Stone's place? Just chill, play some poker?"

"We're in!" Spinner said with a grin, causing Jimmy to look down in annoyance. Spinner looked over at Jimmy, worried that he had might have crossed the line.

"What the hell was that?" Jimmy asked.

"Jimmy, you need to get out and have some fun," Spinner told him. "You're always stressed out and quiet when I see you. C'mon man, just come do this for me. It's one night, it won't kill you. And I can't hang out with these kids by myself."

Jimmy sighed and rested his head on his hand. "I guess you're right. But next time, I'm deciding where I'm going to hang out. Understand?"

"Yes sir" Spinner jokingly smiled, just glad that he had convinced his friend to come spend time with him.

In the gymnasium, Linus and Tim were still hard at work painting. It was a tremendous job for two people, but they were making the most of it. And surprisingly to Linus, Tim wasn't as bad to work with as he originally thought. They took a break, admiring their work for a moment. They were actually making decent time.

"This is going better than I thought," said Linus. "I thought this would turn out to be a colossal failure. I guess I really should let you call more shots."

"Well it's a little too late for that," Tim said. "But thank you. I've been involved in theatre since I was about 5, so I've had plenty experience as a stagehand."

"Thanks again for helping me out," Linus said to Tim. "I really thought we were done for. And sorry that I've been so hard to work with all semester."

"Don't worry about it," Tim said. "Like I said, we need to finish this play, whether we like it or not. We've put too much hard work into it to just give up now."

"Definitely," Linus responded, as he nervously looked over at Tim. "So uh, hey. Can I ask you something?"

"Shoot" Tim said as he grabbed a bottle of water out of his backpack and opened it up, taking a drink.

"Well… I don't want to offend you," said Linus. "I'm really just trying to understand. But… how are you attracted to men? It's just… I can't wrap my head around it. You're actually a cool guy, why do you decide to live a lifestyle like this?"

"It's not that simple man," Tim told Linus. "Ever since 4th grade, I knew something was different about me. And no matter how hard I tried, I just couldn't keep living as something I wasn't. So when I finally came out, all my so-called friends pretty much either abandoned me or started bullying me nonstop. But I lived through that and I'm stronger for it… I try to be myself at all costs, even if no one agrees with it."

"But your parents had to have stuck with you?" Linus asked, surprised at what Tim gone through.

"Well I would have loved that," Tim replied. "But my dad kicked me out into the rain. And things haven't been the same ever since that night, even if I try to talk to him about it."

Linus didn't know what to say. He had no idea that Tim had such struggles in his life. "I'm so sorry"

"The stupidest part is that I did it all for a guy, and he ended up bailing after it all anyway" said Tim.

"That sounds rough," Linus admitted, realizing Tim went through troubles not too different from his own. "This may sound kind of strange, but I kind of know how you feel. My parents basically arranged for me marry this Greek girl since I was a kid, and no matter how hard I try to stand up to them, it's not good enough for Kim. It sucks when your parents feel like they can interfere with your love life."

"Hell, I'd even take accept rather than interfere," Tim laughed. "You want to take a break a grab a little something to eat?"

"Yeah that'd be cool," nodded Linus. "We probably shouldn't be so close to these paint fumes anyway."

At long last, it was the end of the day and JT was more than ready to start hanging out with his bros. He hadn't told any of them about his surprise party favors, but he figured it was better that way. He spotted Toby walking with his head down in the foyer and walked quickly to catch up.

"So what did you decide about tonight?" JT asked, joining Toby's side. Toby looked up, trying his best to look upbeat.

"You were right man. I can't just let her walk all over me," Toby said, realizing that if he and Emma were to have a relationship, he would have to man up and take charge. "She has to respect my feelings if this is gonna work. I don't expect her to apologize, but either way, I'm hanging with you guys."

"Well I'm glad. But you might wanna reconsider that whole apology thing," JT said, causing Toby to look confused. "You know, since Emma's standing right in front of us with a sad look on her face."

Toby looked forward and sighed when he saw Emma. She gave him a small wave, clearly hoping to get a word with him. "Give me a minute" Toby told JT as he walked over to her.

"Hey," Emma said. "I'm so sorry about earlier. I just… didn't know how Manny and Liberty would feel about us kissing. But can we still hang out tonight?"

"Well… I don't know" Toby said, looking down. He was having trouble trying to get the right words out… he had never really had a conversation like this with a girl.

"Toby, I know I was a bitch," Emma said in a sad voice. "But please know, it wasn't really me."

"Then who was it?" Toby asked, his temper starting to rise. "Look, I just don't see why you can't tell your friends about us. It hasn't been a problem with me so far. I really like you, and it hurts that you're acting like this."

"I don't know," Emma said looking down. "But you know how Manny and Liberty are. They would probably laugh at me."

"Sucks to be you," Toby sarcastically said, looking down himself and feeling hurt. He obviously did not want to deal with this anymore. "Look, I'm going to hang out with the guys tonight… at Peter's house." He hesitated about adding in the last part.

"Peter?" Emma asked in disgust. "Why are you hanging out with HIM?"

"Because I don't know if I can do this," said Toby in a straight forward voice. "Unless you can tell them about us, I don't know if I can be your boyfriend."

Emma didn't know what to say as Toby gave her one last strong look in the eye before walking away. She didn't realize how much she had hurt him. Things were going so well, and she had to make a stupid mistake like this.

Peter walked into his dad's house cautiously. Even though his dad had told him numerously that he was going to be out of town this weekend, there were cases before where it got cancelled, so he wanted to make sure before he brought all of the guys in. When his dad's house was empty, it made an awesome hang-out, as long as Peter followed the rules.

"Dad?" he called out, praying his dad wasn't home. After a few seconds of silence, he put on a sly grin. "Alright guys, you can enter!"

One by one, JT, Jimmy, Toby, and Spinner came into Peter's house. Spinner looked around, impressed by the vast size. Jimmy tried to stay optimistic, hoping Spinner was right about needing to get out more, and Toby tried to stay optimistic about his problems with Emma.

"Man, do you live in a mansion?" Spinner asked, still in awe of Peter's place.

"Only when my mom's tired of putting up with me," Peter responded jokingly. "And my dad always goes out of town for business, so this place makes an awesome party pad."

"So what's on the to-do list for tonight?" Jimmy asked, starting to loosen up a little bit.

"Anything we want really," Peter said with a shrug. "We got the whole house to ourselves, money for food, a full liquor cabinet, and to top it off a kickass home entertainment system." JT smiled, thinking about the bag that was in his pocket. The best part of guys night was yet to come.

"Well let's bust get this party started!" Spinner said, excited for a night of fun. He and Jimmy excitedly followed Peter to his TV. JT looked over at Toby, noticing he still seemed a bit down.

"You alright?" JT asked.

"Yeah, I guess," Toby responded, not really sure. "I just can't stop thinking about what Emma's doing. Maybe I was a little harsh earlier."

"Come on Tobes, you can't let her treat you like that," said JT, not letting him think otherwise. "She's gonna have to tell Manny and Liberty at some point. No matter how hard they're gonna laugh."

Toby looked up, a little irritated. "You just had to add that last bit in?"

"I'm sorry man, you know me, I never think straight," JT said, feeling bad. "But don't worry man… I could tell Emma felt really bad. And if she really likes you, she'll be with you and find the confidence to tell her girlfriends."

"Whenever that'll be," retorted Toby, feeling pessimistic about Emma revealing the news of their so-called relationship.

Emma sat at the mall food court with Manny, Liberty, and Derek, all 4 sipping on milkshakes. Emma was completely in her own headspace, barely listening to her friends who were engaged in conversation.

"Emma, are you gonna drink that?" Manny asked. "You usually already have yours finished by now."

"I'm just not feeling good today" Emma said. Her mind was still stuck on Toby.

"You seemed fine earlier when you were using up all the equipment in the weight room," Derek joked. "Maybe you outdid yourself?"

"I don't think that's it" Emma said firmly, her eyes drifting off. Manny and Liberty looked at each other worriedly, wondering what was wrong with their best friend. Liberty took a sip of her milkshake, seeing it was close to empty.

"Babe, do you mind getting us a refill?" Liberty asked Derek.

"Not at all," Derek said will a smile. Liberty kissed him on the cheek as he took his and Liberty's milkshakes and went to get them refilled. Manny and Liberty looked at Emma, wanting to get straight to the subject while Derek was gone.

"What's wrong with you?" Manny asked. "You've barely said anything this whole time."

"Nothing" Emma vaguely responded, battling with herself as to whether she should get her feelings off her chest right then and there.

"Emma, we know you," Liberty said. "And you can tell us anything."

"Yeah, c'mon Em, it can't be that bad," said Manny. "You'll feel better if you just tell us what's bothering you."

"Well, there is something," Emma finally admitted. She felt scared as she tried to keep talking. Manny and Liberty looked at her questioningly as she took her time answering. "I'm just nervous about hiking the trail this summer. My parents haven't been very encouraging and it's just been getting to me." She felt a mix of emotions… bad, because the weight still remained on her shoulders and good, because she had managed to keep her secret.

"Are you crazy? Don't ever worry about what they say!" Manny said. "In the end, it's your future, and you need to be honest and open with them about it."

"You're absolutely right," Emma responded, hiding tremendous guilt.

"Even though I do think you're crazy for trying to walk across Canada" Manny added, causing the girls to laugh.

"But there's nothing Emma can't protest her way out of" Liberty said, smiling at Emma encouragingly. Derek came back, putting the milkshakes on the table. He checked the time on his watch and looked at Liberty.

"Hey, we better get going" Derek said. "The library's going to close in a couple of hours."

"Sorry guys," Liberty said. "We really need to get some study time in. Are you going to be alright Emma?"

"Yeah," Emma said, obviously lying. "I always am."

Linus and Tim were walking back to Degrassi from their lunch break at the Dot, in mid conversation. The two were making fast allies, having quite a few similar interests. And Tim turned out to be a very cool person to talk to.

"So not to get all negative," said Tim. "But what are we gonna do if the cast doesn't show up on opening night?"

"I don't know," Linus responded honestly. He hadn't really thought about it. "I would hope they wouldn't quit over something like this. Kim would know what to do. Somehow, no matter what problem or issue I had going on, she found a way to keep me in line."

"That sounds like a difficult job," Tim commented. "You really miss her, don't you?"

"You have no idea man," Linus told him. "It's just… for the last 3 years, it's like I've always had someone by my side to put up with all my crap when no one else would. 3 years that I might have just thrown away. And no matter how many times I apologize, she just won't bother hearing it."

"May I offer my perspective?" Tim asked after thinking about it for a moment.

"Go ahead," Linus said. "My perspective hasn't been doing me any good."

"Well, not that I've been around you guys enough to know," Tim admitted. "But it sounds likes you need start listening and let her talk. She probably feels like her opinion isn't valued enough to you and that's why she doesn't want to accept your apology."

"Whoa. That's freaking brilliant," Linus said, taken aback at how solid Tim's advice was. "I didn't know you were a relationship guru."

"Well I hang out with a lot of girls," Tim replied. "And therefore, I hear a lot of girls complain about their boyfriends. So I can usually see when they're doing something wrong."

"I'll keep that in mind," Linus said with a chuckle. "Thanks man, I didn't really have anyone else to go to about this." Tim and Linus bumped fists before they entered Degrassi for a few more hours of hard work. But Linus's mind was now set on getting Kim back. It actually seemed possible now.

As a few hours passed, guys night was starting to get old. Peter and Spinner were glued in front of the TV, having a video game war. Jimmy and Toby were having pizza, trying to pass the time… the night wasn't really living up to their expectations. And JT sat on the couch, thinking about the bag in his pocket. He was starting to feel a little nervous about busting it out, now that the moment had finally come.

"Man, what cheat code are you using?" Spinner said as he threw the controller down. "That was the 7th round!"

"No cheat codes my friend," Peter grinned. "Just pure skill."

"Well not to be an ass or anything," Jimmy said as he finished his piece of pizza. "But this guy's night is getting extraordinarily lame. Are we just supposed to sit around and watch you guys play all night?"

"Until I beat him" Spinner said determinedly causing Jimmy to roll his eyes.

"Jimmy's right," Toby spoke up. "Why don't we all do something fun?"

"I got exactly what we're looking for," JT said, deciding he couldn't keep it a secret any longer. He slowly pulled out the bag of weed and put it down on the table. Everyone looked at it for a second, nearing in to make sure he wasn't just playing around. "Any takers?"

"Where did you get this?" Spinner asked, picking up the bag and examining it. He seemed to be the most experienced of the group.

"I got some from that Johnny DiMarco kid," JT answered. "Why, did he rip me off?"

"Not that I can tell," Spinner laughed. "But then again, Jay always had bags of this stuff lying around in his car so I never really paid for it whenever I tried it."

"Wait a minute," Toby interrupted. "Am I the only one that feels a little uncomfortable right now?"

"Yes!" JT, Spinner, and Peter all replied in unison. They all obviously seemed interested. Spinner looked to Jimmy with confusion.

"Sorry, but I'm with Toby on this one" Jimmy said. "You guys get stoned all you want, but I'm not taking any part."

"You were the one that just said this was getting lame," Spinner said. "If you ask me, this night just got redeemed big-time!"

"My heads just not in the right place right now to be off doing drugs and you know it," Jimmy told Spinner seriously. "I don't want to ruin the progress I've made in therapy."

"Okay, just take it easy," Spinner said backing off and turning to Toby. "Well now that Jimmy's decided, what about you?" All eyes were on Toby as he froze up in indecision.

"Well… you guys realize this is against the law, right?" Toby asked matter-of-factly. "And completely dangerous? I just don't know if this is the best idea."

"Well of course it's against the law, that's the point," Peter joked.

"Look, Tobes," JT said. "No one's trying to peer pressure you. If anything, we just want you to have a good time."

"I just… I just don't know" Toby said, trying to think it through. "How the hell do you come up with these ideas? And what will Emma say if she finds out?"

"Who cares?" JT asked. "She dissed you, didn't she? If you ask me, payback wouldn't be so unnecessary."

"But I don't want payback" Toby argued.

"Dude, trust me," Peter butted in. "Dating Emma Nelson is a pain in the ass. And as you've probably seen, it's pretty damn easy to hide big secrets from her. This will never have to get to her if you just stay smart. If you ask me, you'd be doing yourself a favor."

Toby's hand clenched into a fist and he neared forward, as he wasn't exactly appreciating the things Peter was saying about her. JT quickly noticed and held him back. "Relax bro, who cares what he thinks?" JT asked.

"Yeah Isaacs," Spinner said. "The question at hand here is would you rather spend the night crying about some girl, or forgetting about her?" Toby sighed as he seriously thought about the question, observing his friends. JT, Spinner, and Peter seemed very eager to get the party started, while Jimmy seemed neutral in the whole scenario. Would one night really do much harm?

Emma and Manny were glued in front of the TV, watching a horror movie. Manny's eyes were glued to the screen as she took an occasional handful of popcorn, while Emma wasn't very invested in the movie, her mind clearly lying on other things. Manny leaned forward as the movie began to get intense. Emma looked over at her nervously.

"Manny, I need to tell-"

Emma was cut off by a shrill, high pitched scream, causing her to jump, knocking the popcorn over. Manny sat back, taking a deep breath. "Oh my god, I did not see that coming!"

"I like Toby" Emma said, deciding to get it off her chest once and for all. She hesitated for Manny's response.

"I didn't see that coming either," Manny said as she laughed a little bit. "When did this come about?"

"Well… a few weeks ago," admitted Emma. "He's really helped me since my breakup with Peter, and he's just so great. Underneath all of his dorky Toby-ness."

Emma and Manny giggled. "Aww, Emma why didn't you tell me sooner?" Manny asked.

"I don't know," Emma said, looking down. "For some reason, I thought you would laugh at me. And I totally hurt his feelings today because of it. I feel so stupid."

"Well of course I would laugh, but you should date whoever you want! So he's not just tutoring you," Manny said jokingly, arching an eyebrow. "Well why don't you go fix it?"

"He's at Peter's house," Emma said, putting on a dirty look. "And I really offended him, I doubt he even wants to talk to me."

"This is Toby we're talking about," Manny said with a chuckle. "He probably can't take his mind off of you."

Spinner, Peter, JT, and Toby all lied on the floor, laughing their asses off in unison. The weed was really kicking in, and Toby was finding himself in a surprisingly awesome mood. The cloud of smoke drifted around the room as Jimmy tried his best to fan around him. Spinner got up, trying to calm down. "So wait, weren't we supposed to play poker tonight or something?" Spinner asked jokingly.

"I was thinking the same thing" Jimmy muttered in annoyance.

"Invite Jane and her lesbo friend and let's make it strip poker" Peter said, nudging JT. Toby and Spinner burst out laughing, causing JT to glare at Peter.

"Might as well invite Holly J too then!" JT shot back. "Tell her to wear that sexy spirit squad outfit."

"In your dreams pal," Peter joked as he got up and wandered away. "But I think I have a better game we can play."

"I could sure go for some Dungeons and Dragons right now" said Toby, making himself and JT laugh. Toby looked over at JT, who was already rolling weed into another joint. "Hey man, thanks for getting me out tonight. You were right. I needed this."

"You don't have to thank me," JT grinned. "Thank this joint we're about to smoke!" Peter came back with a shot glass and a bottle of Jack Daniels, placing it on the table.

"Let's take some shots!" Peter said, looking at his friends excitedly. "We got the true rock stars drink right here guys. My dad never notices when I touch the liquor."

"Hell yeah," Spinner said, looking at Jimmy who very visibly didn't want to be there. "I got a drinking game. Let's take a shot every time Jimmy complains about something."

"I don't think we could handle that large of an alcohol intake," Toby said, giving it some serious thought. "No offense or anything."

"None taken," Jimmy said sarcastically. "I think you'll get drunk faster if you take shots every time you guys act like complete idiots. Which is happening at this very moment. No offense or anything."

Spinner, Toby, JT, and Peter all exchanged looks, not really caring about Jimmy's comment. JT lit up the joint as Spinner gave Jimmy a smirk.

"None taken," Spinner said. "Except, we really mean it."

"I'm just trying to be honest," said Jimmy. "Because I'm getting pretty tired of just sitting here, watching you guys get messed up. This isn't my idea of a good time."

"Does that count as a complaint?" asked Peter, eager to fill a shot.

"Would you shut up!?" Jimmy asked. "This is what I'm talking about."

"Well I think I speak for us all when I say you should chill out a bit," replied Spinner as he took the joint from JT and took a hit. "Because this is GUYS night. So start acting like one."

"I'm more of a man then you fools will ever be" Jimmy said, leaning forward and feeling absolutely fed up.

"If only Rick had aimed a little bit higher," Spinner jokingly muttered. JT and Peter laughed, but Toby held back a little, noticing Jimmy was pissed. Spinner didn't quite realize the impact of what he had said, continuing to hit the joint. Jimmy felt betrayed as he clenched his fist.

"You should have requested it, since you pretty much told him to shoot me" Jimmy said.

"I didn't know that psycho had a gun," said Spinner. "Look, I've paid for that Jimmy, let's just forget it."

"And you think I haven't!?" Jimmy asked angrily, grabbing Spinner by the collar. JT and Toby jumped in to pull them apart, but they stopped, frozen in place as soon as they heard a loud knock at the door.

Linus and Tim exited Degrassi, they're clothes stained with paint. They both seemed very tired from a long day of work.

"That was rough," commented Tim, looking at his clothes with a frown. "I'm gonna have to throw this shirt out."

Linus laughed. "4 hours of painting, and we still have so much left… I really regret pissing off everyone now."

"They'll come around," Tim laughed. "You need a ride home or anything?"

"I'm not done for tonight," Linus said confidently. "I have an important call to make."

"Gotcha," said Tim, nodding with a smile. "If you want a little tip, I heard she was studying late tonight with a little group at the library. Why don't you talk to her in person?"

"Tim, I can't thank you enough for everything," Linus said, looking down. "I also can't apologize enough."

"I don't want your apology," said Tim. "Just your respect." He and Tim bumped fists, showing that his respect had been granted.

"Good luck" Tim said as he walked off, leaving Linus alone as he tried to figure out how he was going to fix things with Kim in his thoughts. He immediately went to the library, realizing it was probably minutes away from closing.

Just as he got there, he saw her exit with Derek, Liberty, and a few other students from Degrassi. She said goodbye to her friends and began to walk off. Linus saw this as his opportunity and quickly ran to catch up. For the first time, he had almost no idea of what he was going to say… but he felt it would be better that way. Let it come straight from the heart.

"Kim!" Linus exclaimed as he caught up. He stopped, catching his breath as she turned around in surprise.

"Linus?" asked Kim, her eyes wide. "What are you doing here?"

"I came because I couldn't wait any longer" Linus said seriously, looking Kim in the eyes. She turned aside, looking distraught.

"Look, I don't think this is the best time to talk" Kim said carefully.

"Kim, I love you," Linus said. "I know that sometimes I can probably act like a complete ass, but that will never change the way I feel about you. And I'll do anything you need me to so we can fix this."

Kim looked at Linus in fear, as she tried to speak. "Linus…."

A guy suddenly came up and put his arm around Kim. "Hey, you ready to go?" The guy suddenly noticed Linus and looked at Kim. "You know this guy?" Linus's eyes slowly began to water as he felt the world stop around him.

"Linus, this is Evan. We've been seeing each other," Kim said. "Evan, this is Linus… an old friend."

"What's up man?" Evan said with a grin, offering a handshake. Linus seemed to be stuck in a state of shock. After attempting to force some words out of his mouth, Linus simply turned around and walked off. Things just couldn't go as planned.

"Okay guys look, my dad said I could only have 2 friends over," Peter said as he paced around in a frenzy, scared that his dad was home earlier than expected. "So, 2 of you need to sneak out the backdoor."

"Gladly" Jimmy said, effortlessly making his way to Peter's backdoor so he could sneak out.

"I guess that means I'm out too," Spinner said. "I was his ride. Thanks for the awesome night dudes."

"Great," Peter said. "Get out!" Peter, JT, and Toby immediately started cleaning the area around them, picking up all the food and trash they had cluttered everywhere. JT looked at the remaining weed he had in his bag.

"What should I do?" JT asked, not wanting to let go of it.

"Flush it!" Peter immediately answered. "And grab the febreeze out of the bathroom and completely assault the house."

JT looked at his weed in sadness, thinking about all the good times he had just experienced with it. "Now, you pothead!" Peter frantically screamed as he pushed JT toward the bathroom.

Meanwhile, Emma and Manny waited outside the house, wondering why it was taking so long to get an answer. Manny tried looking through the door window, growing intolerant. "What the hell are they doing in there?" Manny asked.

"Who knows?" Emma asked, feeling that they were purposefully not answering the door. "Probably talking about how much of a bitch I am." Manny shook her head in disbelief as she gave the door another good knocking.

Spinner and Jimmy sat in the car on the ride home in awkward silence. Unbeknownst to Spinner, Jimmy still felt terribly scorned by Spinner's comments.

"That was a close one," Spinner said. "Bummer the party had to get busted early."

"I'm gonna be honest with you," Jimmy said, saying what he had been waiting to say for hours. "I don't want to hang out with you again. I don't even want to be your friend."

Spinner looked at Jimmy in confusion, sure he was just overreacting. "Jimmy, c'mon I was just stoned…"

"That's the point," Jimmy cut him off. "Look man, I don't think you truly get what I'm going through. Everything that I had worked for up until I was 16 was pretty much taken away, all because you made it look like I sabotaged Rick."

"But, I told you-"

"I know what you told me!" Jimmy said, getting angry. He took a deep breath, trying to calm down. "I thought I had it in me to forgive you. I thought I was past everything. But I've been going through absolute hell. I see him in my sleep pointing the gun at me… I still hear myself screaming before I hit the ground."

Spinner was silent, too high to come up with any substantial advice. He kept his eyes on the road, guilt slowly starting to set in. "I'll just take you home."

Peter checked himself out in the mirror, running a comb through his hair quickly. He looked back to make sure JT and Toby were still calmly secure on the couch. "Okay, we're good!" Peter said as he went the door and opened it, getting ready to pour an excuse onto his father about why it took so long to get to the door.

Peter's mouth dropped when he saw Emma and Manny. He blinked a few times to make sure he was still in reality. Emma and Manny looked at each other, uncertain of what to make of Peter's weirdness.

"Are you okay?" Manny asked finally.

"What are you guys doing here?" asked Peter, almost angry that he wasn't standing in front of his dad.

"I need to talk to Toby," Emma shyly said. "It's important."

Peter sighed, feeling like a complete idiot since he had had overreacted. "Of course… it would be something stupid like this." He slowly wandered back into the house, sitting on the couch next to JT. "It's for you," Peter said to Toby in annoyance. "Tell your girlfriend to call first next time." Toby quickly got up in realization and headed outside so he could attempt to explain things to Emma.

"So in other words," said JT, looking to Peter. "You made me flush all that perfectly good bud for nothing?"

Peter gave JT a vicious look. "Please don't start with me."

Toby carefully shut the door behind him and looked at Emma and Manny. He took a deep breath, trying to bring himself to feel normal again. "Hi," he nervously said to Emma, slowly smiling. "You wanted to see me?"

"Why are your eyes red?" asked Emma, observing Toby closely. He looked around, with no idea how to cover it up. "Just don't worry about it." she decided. "I came here to say that I told Manny about us. And I'm going to tell everyone about us. I want to be with you."

"Good," Toby said, grinning ear to ear. "I want to be with you too." They leaned in and shared a passionate kiss, but Emma pulled away curiously.

"Wait, have you been smoking?" Emma asked, arching an eyebrow.

"Eh… you said to not to worry about it" Toby said with a grin. "Let's get out of here, I'm tired of hanging with those guys." Before Toby could fully get his arm around Emma, Manny pulled him aside.

"Just remember one thing. If you ever hurt her, then I'll hurt you back tenfold" Manny said. Toby thought about all the events that had happened in the course of the day and simply laughed, putting his arm around Emma and walking off. Manny looked at them, wondering what was up with Toby. But in Degrassi, things were never completely normal for long… and that was something nobody forgot.

Next Time on Degrassi…

2 EPISODES LEFT!

Jane doesn't know how to contain Alex when her partying habits continue to grow, and Alex doesn't know how to contain her own behavior.

When Emma feels her life is finally in the right place, a piece of her past comes to bring her back down.

Manny gets two interesting offers… one from the man she once loved, and one from a man who could potentially get her higher in the acting industry