Wesley approached the front steps of Degrassi full of apprehension and nerves. It's not like he hadn't been here before, it had just been a long time - over a year at this point, since he had been to Degrassi.

His parents had tried to fix their marriage by moving to Vancouver for what they kept calling a 'fresh start'. It seemed doomed from the beginning, honestly. Wesley's parents' marriage had been slowly dissolving through their fingers like sand. Now, his parents were officially separated, living apart and finally not completely miserable.

There had been so much fighting between his parents on who was going to keep Wesley, as if he were some unwanted puppy that they were trying to pawn off on the other. That made Wesley feel like crap. When Wesley asked if it was possible for him to move back to Toronto to live with his Uncle Mike, his parents immediately obliged. Wesley figured they just had too much on their plate to deal with him, which was understandable, but still… Wesley feeling unwanted wasn't necessarily something new.

Wesley's eyes scanned the hallway - no more uniforms, he quickly realized. He had worn khaki pants with a plain shirt in order to fit in with the dress code, which had apparently been abolished in his absence. Nice. It was cool to see what everyone wore when they had free reign to express their personal style. Wesley still admittedly found himself missing the simplicity of the Degrassi uniform polos.

His eyes fell on two familiar faces who were goofing off on the other side of the hallway. Wesley quickly sneaked around and placed himself behind the boys - Dave and Connor - and startled them when he spoke. "Hey guys," Wesley grinned as he greeted his old pals. "Remember me?"

Dave raised his eyebrows in shock. "Wes!" He slapped Wesley's back playfully, still managing to sort of knock the wind out of Wesley. Dave Turner did not know how to be subtle or soft - that just was not his style.

"Wesley! You're back!" Connor said with a sigh of relief. He definitely seemed genuinely excited to reunite with Wesley. "I got back from my suspension and you were completely gone without a trace. I thought I'd never see you again."

Wesley cringed as he remembered for a moment the reason Connor had been suspended - stealing girls' underwear, including their hot teacher Ms. Oh. "You've stayed out of trouble in regard to, uh — that aspect, I hope?"

"Don't worry, I'm never gonna do that again. I learned my lesson," Connor replied.

"I believe you, man," Wesley reassured Connor. "You look different! You look cool!" Wesley said with a pang of jealousy hitting his chest. He hadn't been as blessed by the puberty gods as Connor had. Wesley basically had the same baby face he had in Grade 10, despite his 18th birthday taking place a few months earlier.

"Right? The Con-Man got like ten inches taller too!" Dave pointed out.

"Now I can reach all the high shelves that your shrimpy butt can't." Connor directed his words toward Dave with his trademark deadpan tone.

Dave rolled his eyes. Wesley knew his reaction was due to the fact that Dave hated people referencing his height. Dave was the perfect example of someone who could dish it but couldn't take it. "Shut up." Dave couldn't help but crack up, though, which caused the whole group to erupt into laughter. "I'm glad you're back, bro."

"I really missed you guys," Wesley tried to mask the fact that he was slightly emotional at this reunion. He had been so caught up in trying to play referee for his parents and adjusting to a new school that he hadn't had much time to reflect on his old friendships from Degrassi. The nostalgia of early high school was overwhelming. How were they already old enough to graduate this year?

"We missed you, Wes. How's Hannah?" Connor questioned. Wesley's brain quickly and briefly recalled the time that Connor had been caught staring at Hannah's chest… Hopefully Connor was telling the truth when he said he learned his lesson when it came to girls.

"Oh, I guess you aren't quite caught up," Wesley reached to push his slightly slipping glasses up the bridge of his nose. "Hannah and I broke up about six months ago."

Dave placed a hand on Wesley's shoulder. "I'm sorry, bro. How are you holding up?"

"It's been hard," Wesley admitted. "I think I'm finally starting to feel better, though. I'm trying to look on the bright side. That's what my uncle always suggests."

"That's great bro! Anyone catch your eye at your new school?" Dave asked.

"Not really, but I wasn't exactly paying attention, and today I've been caught up in first-day jitters. Plus I'd feel like I was betraying Hannah…" Wesley wasn't sure if that last part was fully logical. Plenty of time had passed and many of his peers moved from relationship to relationship like nothing. Wesley wasn't like that, though. He didn't want to just flirt and pick up some random hot chick - he wanted someone he had a true connection with - like he did with Hannah.

"What about Anya? She's single now and you did have that wet dream about her -" Connor said, missing the social cues that indicated what he said wasn't appropriate to say.

"Shhh Connor!" Wesley's face turned bright red.

Dave stifled a laugh. "Seriously though, she broke up with Owen last year. It was all over Twitter and FaceRange."

Wesley felt butterflies begin to rise in his stomach as he thought of his old crush. "Maybe I'll message her on Facerange, just to say hello..." His crush on Anya had never really disappeared - he had just pushed it down and to the side since it seemed completely impossible. Anya was practically his dream girl, though. Wesley wondered if he had more of a chance now that he was back in town, older and single. "She's probably dating that doctor or someone even more impressive…" He began to doubt himself a little.

"Just do it!" Dave and Connor urged excitedly.

The bell rang and Dave offered one last piece of advice. "You're finally a big man now. Anya will totally dig you."

"I'll catch you guys later." Wesley smiled and slung his backpack onto his shoulders. Wesley wasn't sure about Dave's remark about him being a 'big man'. He had definitely grown into his own more than when he was fifteen and nervous about everything, but he still had a ways to go before he felt like a man. Wesley was far from a master when it came to talking to girls, but a good deal of his teenage awkwardness had subsided… For the most part.

Later that night, Wesley took forty-five minutes to craft a simple, nonchalant message to Anya. It read: 'Hey Anya, it's me Wesley! How have you been?'

From the public posts on Anya's FaceRange page Wesley could see that Anya had recently applied to vet school. Last Wesley had heard, Anya was bulking up and joining the military with help from Owen Milligan, Degrassi's biggest bully. Helping animals seemed way more up Anya MacPherson's alley.

Anya quickly opened Wesley's message. She was available. 'Wesley?! OMG!' She responded. Following that message, a friend request from Anya popped up in Wesley's notifications.

Wesley's hands shook slightly as the clicker of his mouse hovered over the 'accept' button. This was really happening. He knew becoming friends on FaceRange wasn't exactly going steady, but Anya was already more interested than he had anticipated. Wesley honestly expected his message to go unnoticed for a few days or even a week, buried by messages from all of Anya's friends and potential suitors. Her inbox had to be overflowing. Yet, she answered Wesley immediately. He had to believe that meant something, even if it made him look like a hopeful dope.

Anya's friend request was followed by a few hours of pretty intense back-and-forth messaging. Wesley was surprised he captured Anya's evening so effortlessly. He would've assumed a gorgeous girl like Anya would have a million other things to do and people to chat with on a Tuesday night, but for some reason she was completely available to Wesley until Wesley started falling asleep around midnight. He was never too good at staying up late, especially without caffeine. If he had known Anya was going to give him so much attention he would've gotten a jumbo coffee with a side of those nasty-tasting five-hour energy shots.