Riley, Maya, Lucas, Farkle, and Zay arrive at Degrassi Community School. They meet the Hollingsworth siblings, and Miles and Hunter instantly hate Lucas. There's something that attracts Lucas to Frankie, but there's another grade 11 Lucas has his eyes glued on. Farkle meets Maya, a grade 12 who's dating a protective gang member named Zig, who doesn't let Maya out of his sight. If she takes one step, he's right behind her. Zay meets Shay, a hot grade 11 who isn't afraid to speak her mind. She has a grade 12 boyfriend named Tiny. Zay starts to have feelings for Shay, but he can't let that get out. Riley becomes friends with Frankie's brother Miles, and she learns of his abusive father and how much he has been through with girls and boys. An emergency takes place at the Hollingsworth house, and Riley is there. What is she supposed to do? Farkle meets two grade 12 girls named Zoe and Grace. Grace has cystic fibrosis, and is fighting to survive. Maya has a big secret though.
As Claire aims to leave her oppressive stepfamily behind, she befriends Zion. Will he be her ticket to freedom or a distraction in achieving her dreams?
*****
Claire Olsen has had a crush on Zion Petrakis since the first time she laid eyes on him, but he never noticed, instead only having eyes on the school's it girl, Maddie Jennings. Knowing she couldn't compete with Maddie, Claire hid her feelings for Zion, satisfied with admiring him from afar. However, when a series of events led Claire closer to Zion, her feelings for him grew from infatuation to love. And despite fighting hard to keep her feelings contained by distancing herself from Zion, he was determined to show her that he's earned a spot in her life.
[[word count: 100,000-150,000 words]]