Degrassi: Next Class

In the aftermath of a trauma, the human body has one amazing instinct...

survival.

Even when it appears as though nothing's happening,

white blood cells spring to life to fight infection,

tissue repairs itself, and the heart...

keeps beating.

Emotional scars can be more difficult to heal,

but we do our best by renewing old friendships...

creating joyful moments...

or trying new things.

To make us feel like we're doing something,

even if we feel helpless.

But through it all, as long as our hearts keep beating...

we survive.

And that's my latest post.

It's number 50 since the bus crash.

Blink once if you totally loved it.

Did you just...

Can you hear me?

Tristan, can you hear me?

Someone, come quick! He just... he just moved!

Hurry up. School starts in an hour.

Wow.

What do you think of my first day outfit? I want to say "best year ever."

Why not just get a T-shirt with that phrase printed on it?

Laa-shokran. That means "No, thank you" in Arabic.

I have learned a little so I can help make the Syrians feel more welcome.

All of them? Or just the ladies?

All of them.

We didn't spend the summer raising 60 grand so I could get a date, Grace.

That's a lot of clubs.

Yeah, ten more than last year.

Tristan would be proud.

He'd also want me to be president.

Hey, Zoë won last spring's special election, fair and square.

I really thought he'd be better by now and would be here to take over.

I'm sure he'll be back soon enough.

Then he can give you some tips on how to pick up...

your presidential dry cleaning.

Well, I gotta get my stuff for class.

I will meet you at lunch to get the food ready for the welcome barbecue.

Goldi doesn't know I'm gay.

So?

Well, I can't tell just anyone.

- You still haven't told your mom. -

She just got engaged, and she was so proud when I won that election.

You'll have to tell her eventually.

But right now, I need to focus on making everything great for the new school year.

Then I'll tell her...

when I go away to college.

What's Arabic for "terrible idea"?

We have spare together! SP 301?

Lola, "S," science. "P," physics. Grade 11.

Ooh! You're breaking my heart, Shay.

He's really here.

How do I look?

It might be kind of weird.

You haven't seen him all summer.

You look great. Go.

Okay.

Hey, Tiny, kiss her! Kiss her!

- Would you get lost? - Will you? She's waiting for it.

- Aren't they the cutest? - Suddenly, I can't wait to get to physics.

Hey. Are you guys having trouble posting things today?

Only with Mom commenting on photos of me and Yael, calling us "cute."

Are you saying we're not cute?

Yeah. Well, look, it's not letting me post my Tristan update to the Degrassi page.

I mean, can you... can you fix this?

Uh, not without violating the terms of Hunter's parole. Sorry.

As if being back at school isn't scary enough,

now there's gonna be a bunch of strange new people?

They're just Syrians. To them, you're the strange one.

Hey, Hunter! Yael! Good summer?

Good summer. Hi, Mr. Simpson.

- Hey, Miles. Welcome back. - Hey. Yeah.

Uh, Principal Simpson, is there something

wrong with the Degrassi community page today, or...

Oh, right. Yes. Um... we had some complaints about your posts.

Some people find them upsetting...

Wait. Did you... did you... You blocked me?

Look, I just... Listen, after the bus crash,

everyone's trying their best to heal.

Dude, you think I don't know that? I mean, I'm the... I'm living it.

I just wanna avoid anything triggering, Miles.

Okay. But look, regardless, this... This time, it's good news.

Right. Great. So why don't you tell your friends in person

and you can see the happy reaction on their faces instead of on a screen.

Okay? All right. I'll talk to you later.

Welcome to Degrassi.

Hi! Are you one of our new students from Syria?

Welcome to Degrassi. We'll be starting our tour soon.

Yep, a safe space for everyone...

except our president, who's stuffing herself back into the closet.

I'm just not coming out to my mom. I can still be out at school.

How will anyone know? You don't exactly have rainbow emojis in your bios.

My mom follows me on everything.

Just tell your mom. It'll be okay.

She's super Catholic. It most definitely will not.

Oh, come on. No one has a problem with gay people anymore.

We have a problem with the QSA.

- Who? - The Queer-Straight Alliance.

It used to be called the LGBT Club.

We have a problem with...

gay people.

What is going on?

A kiss-in, which we're staging until you give us back our office.

This is the prayer room now. Uh, we gave you a different office.

A converted janitor's closet. How ironic.

We just want our new Muslim students

to have a central location within the school.

So let us share the room.

These students are coming from Syria.

They're likely more conservative, and they're just not used to seeing, uh...

Gay people? Some of them might be gay.

No.

So because they're more intolerant, they get the better room?

Is our student council seriously just a bunch of cowardly homophobes?

I am not homophobic. I can't be.

- Why not? - I'm gay.

You?

The LGBT community have already won their fights.

Can't we just focus on making the newcomers feel at home?

I have a tour to do,

then get hot dogs for the welcome barbecue.

Hope to see you all there.

- -

So you guys combined protesting and kissing?

I've got to get in on this.

It was pretty sweet.

Speaking of kissing, did you see Shay and Tiny this morning?

They're, like, the cutest couple in school.

She's cute. But him? Is it a cumulative score?

They're not that cute.

Okay? Me and Tiny are way cuter.

I totally forgot you two dated.

And you haven't purged the photos yet?

Figured you would've moved on.

I have, but...

Doesn't mean I should forget how cute we were.

You may be asking... is it illegal to look this good?

Well, get ready to find out that answer in Grade 11 law.

We'll begin this unit by discussing legal considerations

for social networking users.

You should always act appropriately when posting online because you are liable

for sharing anything that contains defamatory content or...

You know, I almost didn't recognize you without your cast on.

Yeah, it still feels weird to have it off.

I thought Maya was in this class.

Yeah, I actually haven't seen her all day.

Okay, guys.

Come on, who, uh, who narced to Simpson?

Hmm?

Apparently, my updates about my boyfriend's health

were just maybe getting a bit too much for the...

delicate flowers in the room. So who was it?

I, for one, am glad they aren't popping into my timeline.

Are you... Are you... You kidding me right now?

They did get kind of personal.

Well, like, yeah. I mean...

my boyfriend nearly died, right? I mean, how could that not be personal?

She means it was sad to watch you delude yourself all summer.

Well, he's getting better. Okay?

He squeezed my hand while I was reading to him.

Uh, that's great! Yeah!

- - That's what I mean.

What actually happened? He went like this?

Yes, exactly.

Probably some leftover signals in the nervous system. Involuntary.

No. No, the doctors were all over it. Why would they lie to me?

- So you don't off yourself? -

I'll pretend I didn't hear that.

Let's stay positive, folks!

To limber up our creative muscles this year,

we're gonna start with a classic first-person story.

"What I did on my summer vacation."

Now this'll be an exercise in more showing rather than telling.

If we hurry, we can still make it back in time.

Did I make a huge mistake with how I handled the QSA?

No, I think pretending you were gay was a great, masterful play.

- It wasn't a play. I am gay. - Really?

You don't look gay.

I mean, I'm cool with it, just so you know.

I mean, I was Tristan's VP last year.

I know it's kind of weird that I was VP last year,

and then you won the by-election, and so I'm VP again this year. But it's fine.

- All of it. It's fine. -

Okay. Why is my phone blowing up?

Bunch of notifications.

About what? Tristan?

My passcode is 1234. Open it.

- Okay. Not the time! - Ooh.

Our president is a self-hating gay,

who'll let people trample over our rights like it's 1999.

- Oh, my God. - Okay. I wouldn't worry about it.

- Oh, my God! Oh, my God... - Vijay's a part of my brother's vlog crew,

and he's not exactly viral.

My mom doesn't know I'm gay!

They tagged me in it. What if it gets to her?

I need to untag it before she sees.

- - Zoë, it's fine...