The friendship between Grace Cardinal and Maya Matlin formed during their sophomore year of high school in Season 13 of Degrassi.
Friendship History
Overview
The two originally met through Miles Hollingsworth III when someone created a hate page about Maya and he paid Grace to help take it down. Following this, they soon became classmates when Maya was sent to spend time in the Remedial Room after she discovered it was Zoë Rivas and openly sang a "death threat" song to her. During their time together, the two became close and officially became friends after Maya stood up to Grace and her friends about their attitude to being put in "The Rubber Room" and that they deserved better treatment than being viewed as criminals by others.
During the course of season 13 and 14, the two become close and, as some may say, best friends despite being polar opposites; Grace is blunt, sardonic and hardcore whereas Maya is sweet, girly and friendly.
In Degrassi: Next Class, the girls are still very close, however, their friendship is tested a handful of times. While they are in a band together, and help eachother through their problems, Grace admits to having feelings for Maya's boyfriend, and tries to kiss him after their break-up, but Maya forgives Grace. The pair drift apart in their senior year due to Maya's depression, and Grace ends their friendship. After Maya's suicide attempt, Grace forgives Maya, and promises Katie that she will be there for Maya.
Degrassi
Season 13
In Barely Breathing, Miles takes Maya to and introduces her to Grace in The Rubber Room and pays her for the information about who made the hate page for Maya, which turned out to be Zoë Rivas.
In The World I Know, Maya is first introduced the the Rubber Room classroom after getting punishment for her "death threat" to Zoë. She watches as Grace in shock as she nearly stabs a boy in the crotch for checking out her sister. When caught staring at her, Grace demands to her, "What are you looking at, blondie?" which causes Maya to nervously takes her seat. When Maya asks to interview herself during her first class assignment in there, Grace calls her "Princess" and walks off. In Zig and Maya's presentation, Grace laughs at Zig's impersonation of Maya.
In Better Man, Grace tells Maya to pretend like she doesn't care, and tells her that she thought that Maya wanted out of the room because she thinks she's better than them. Maya says she does not, and to prove her point, joins the game of Smackball. Maya asks Grace to help her make friends, even offering her to pay her, but Grace refuses to help her. Grace eventually emails Maya a list of things to do if she wants to fit in, and Maya has Tristan give her a makeover. Grace compliments Maya on her new look, which causes Maya to smile. Maya insults the teacher during class, and Grace asks her to hang out later, though Maya would have to blow off class.
Maya skips class to hang with her, Zig, and Tiny on the picnic bench in front of the school. When she approaches them, Zig asks what she is doing there, and Grace says that she invited her. They make her hold onto a gun, and Grace yells at her to hide it when Maya holds it in plain sight. They have her shoot at a fish tank in a classroom, but when Maya pulls the trigger, the gun turns out to be a toy. Maya is shocked that she wanted to fit in with them at all, and leaves, saying that they all deserve better. They are all silent as she walks out.
Later, Grace is impressed that Maya stood up to them, so she invites her to hang out with them. When Maya brings up how Zig still doesn't like her, Grace tells that she doesn't what Zig as a friend, warning her against befriending him again. When Maya casually asks if being friends means she gets to have her money back, Grace retorts, "No refunds".
In What It's Like, they are in the Rubber Room with Zig and Tiny when they are turning in their reports. When Maya starts going through Zig's bag because she suspects that he took her laptop, Grace comments that Zig won't like that. Later, they all do trust exercises together. Grace was originally supposed to be Zig's partner, but she switches with Maya so that she could talk to Zig.
In Close to Me , Maya tries to convince Grace, Zig, and Tiny to come to the dance, but Zig says no. Later, Zig and Grace show up to the dance, which surprises Maya. Grace is the one to figure out that Miles was the one to narc on Zig, and informs Maya as such.
In You Are Not Alone, Grace is seen with Zig and Maya looking at all the clubs they could join. When Maya mentions Film Club, Grace looks over at the movies they have, and the people that are sitting there move the movies. Grace comments that if she wanted to steal the movies, she would have pirated them. Then, Maya pitches another idea to join show choir club, which causes both Zig and Grace to laugh and Maya. Zig says that they are viewed as outsiders, and they all come up with the idea to have an art exhibit at the school for a night. Later, Grace explains to Maya the dynamic of Tiny's gang, and warns her not to get involved.
In Enjoy the Silence, Grace and Maya discuss Zig, with Maya revealing that she convinced Zig to try and quit the gang. Maya confesses that they made out, and Grace is convinced that she does like Zig. However, Maya reveals that she is still hung up on Miles, and she kissed Zig to stop him from leaving the house. Grace tells her that the only ways out of the gang is either death, jail, or moving far away, but Maya confesses that he has nowhere to go. After Tiny comes looking for Zig, Grace comments that he may have to stay at Maya's house for forever. At the art event, both Maya and Grace are excited. Maya wishes that Zig was there to see it, to which Grace points him out to her in the audience. Later, Maya looks for Zig in Grace's room in the art exhibit, but she hasn't seen him. Grace knows he went back to his old neighborhood and finds his location for Maya. Maya is upset he is at the bus station, but Grace sees it as an opportunity for Zig to escape.
In How Bizarre, Grace, Maya, and Zig discuss Zig's new job at a restaurant.
Season 14
In If You Could Only See, Tiny, Grace and Zig are in class when Maya walks in. She starts talking about how she's worried about Miles and they make fun of her because he's gay. After Maya has her nightmare in class Grace looks worried about her.
In Can't Stop This Thing We Started, Maya and Grace are arm wrestling in class and Zig says "I believe in you Maya." After Grace won the match Maya asks if Grace is on steroids. In the hallway Grace and Maya are watching the match of Zig and Grace that Tiny uploaded and laughed and Zig got mad and pushed Tiny against the locker and Grace tells Zig to calm down and that it was a joke and Maya says teacher and Grace says "You'll discussed this in detention."
Degrassi: Next Class
Season 1
In #TeamFollowBack, Grace and Maya are preparing for their performance at The Feminist Club rally, but Maya is distracted because she is being threatened online. Grace almost tells Maya how she knows that Zig cheated on her with Zoë, but she stops and decides to tell her later. Grace finds out that Maya has been doxxed online.
In #SorryNotSorry, Grace and Maya are seen rehearsing for the dance. Jonah suggests they do a song about how much Maya loves Zig as their last song in which Grace loudly shouts in protest before realizing that she just gave away that she knew about Zig and the cheating. Maya says that she's sick of people lying to her and tells her that she's not needed for the dance and Grace walks out. At the end of the dance after the lockdown, Maya turns after talking to Zig and finds Grace. She grabs her and hugs her before telling her never to lie to her again.
Season 2
In #SquadGoals, Grace and Maya are sitting net to each other in class. Maya is working on getting into her new co-op placement with Peter Stone and Grace is surprised at how excited Maya is about it since she just got cheated on with a "notorious psychopath". Maya reassures Grace that she just wants to focus on her interview. Zig walks into the room and sits with Esme Song, and Grace tells Maya that it looks like Zig is happy too. Later, Grace walks in on Maya on the computer and asks how her co-op placement. Maya starts questioning Grace about what she knows about Esme, then shows her a photo on Hastygram of Zig and Esme together. Grace tries to reassure Maya that Zig and Esme are likely just friends when Maya accidentally likes the photo and starts freaking out. Grace asks why Maya isn't focusing on herself like she planned to. Maya says that she's been trying to focus on herself, but everything she does always leads back to Zig. Maya wonders if she should get back together with Zig. Grace reminds Maya that she said that Zig was a distraction. Maya thinks about how much she loved Zig when they were together and Grace tells Maya that Zig also cheated on her. Maya continues to stare at the photo of Zig and Esme when Grace takes her phone away so Maya can focus on the co-op.
In class, Grace notices that Maya is still working on her co-op and asks why she didn't finish it. Maya says that her mind was pretty much elsewhere.
In #TurntUp, Maya is talking to Grace and Tiny outside of the school. Grace and Tiny seem confused when Zig runs up to Maya and acts like they're still together. Maya tells Grace and Tiny that she'll tell them what happened later. Grace walks away.
In #BuyMePizza, Grace is sitting with Jonah Haak when Maya walks up to them and tells them that she got the opportunity to perform with Peter at the anniversary gala. Maya asks if Jonah and Grace if their band could perform with Peter's band. Grace and Jonah reluctantly agree. Maya is happy and says that she already told Peter yes. Baaz Nahir walks up to them and starts making fun of Grace. Jonah and Maya laugh when Grace gets up, knowing that Grace was going to scare him away. Grace tells Baaz that she's going to remove his face from his head and Maya tells him that he better run. Baaz runs off, scared, and Jonah and Maya laugh. Grace asks what they're laughing at and Jonah says that Grace wearing so much black is a little terrifying. Maya agrees and says that it's cool that Grace doesn't care about looking attractive to other guys. Maya also jokes that at least Grace is always prepared for a funeral. Later, Grace and Maya are in the bathroom when Maya tells Grace about the internship with Peter. Grace asks if it's weird that she wears black all the time and Maya says that it's Grace's style. Grace asks if it pushes people away. Maya asks if Grace has a crush and Grace says she just wonders if she's missing out on making friends because people are terrified of her. Maya apologizes for what her and Jonah said earlier and Grace says that Maya was right. Maya says that clothes send a message of who you are and says that Grace's clothes send a message that says "go away". Maya asks if Grace is happy with who she is and Grace says yes and they hug.
Later, Maya and Grace are walking together in the hallway and walk up to Baaz. Grace starts telling Baaz how he needs to become a better person. Maya grabs the book he was reading and reads that it says that insulting a woman will make her desperately seek your approval. Grace says that the book is garbage and tells Baaz that if he wants a girl to like him, he should talk to her like a normal human person. Baaz runs away, scared. Grace throws the book at him and Grace and Maya laugh together. Zig walks up to them and asks if Grace was the one that made Baaz run away. Maya tells Zig that Grace was awesome and tells Grace to never change. Grace says that she won't.
In #ToMyFutureSelf, Grace and Maya are in class together. Grace starts talking but Maya tells her to stop moving so she can draw Grace's ear. Grace tells Maya that Jonah can't make it to the gig because his girlfriend is dealing with some problems. Maya gets frustrated and says that they can just discuss it during lunch but Grace says that she's eating lunch with Zig. Maya asks since when Zig and Grace became friends. Grace offers that Maya can join them but Maya says that she doesn't want to eat lunch with her ex. Grace asks Maya if she really wants her to ditch Zig, but Maya sadly tells her that she has stuff to do anyway. Later, Maya and Grace are walking together in the hallway. Grace tells Maya that Zig should play guitar for their gig to replace Jonah. Maya says that Peter should do it instead since they discussed it over lunch. Grace asks why an old man would want to have lunch with a teenage girl and says that he's probably trying to have sex with her. Maya says that Peter is going to play guitar with them no matter what Grace says.
Later, Grace and Maya are playing for their gig. Grace rolls her eyes at Maya leaning against Peter while she's singing. Maya hugs Grace and Peter at the end of the song. Grace jokes about all the "sex faces" Peter made during the show. Maya defends Peter right as he walks up to them and asks if they want to hang out. Grace says she has to be home in thirty minutes and Maya suggests that they all hang out the next day. Peter says that he's having his birthday party tomorrow so he can't. Maya says that they should all hang out tonight because her mother finally lets her go to gigs alone. Grace reluctantly agrees and Peter goes off to get them cokes. Zig shows up and Maya asks what he's doing there. Grace tells Maya that it's always nice to have fans. Maya begins yelling at Zig and Grace tells Maya to calm down. Maya tells Grace that what Zig is doing to her just isn't fair. Later, Grace is in the hallway while Zig is reading off Maya's texts to a bunch of girls. Maya walks up to them and yells at Zig. Grace tells Maya that she should apologize for yelling at Zig. Grace says that Maya had embarrassed Zig and Maya says that he deserved it. Grace says that she can't just stop being friends with Zig and Maya tells Grace that she can try. Grace asks why they can't all just be friends again. Maya tells Grace that she can have Zig because she has Peter now then walks away.
Later, Grace is in class and Maya walks up to her and sits down awkwardly. Grace and Maya both apologize. Grace says that Maya can have Grace for four days of the week and Zig can have her for three. Maya asks why she gets more days and Grace says that Zig is the cheater. Maya tries to hug Grace but she gets weirded out. Maya says that if Grace lets her hug her then she'll tell her about what happened with Peter. Grace laughs and agrees and Maya hugs her.
Jonah showing Vijay's video to Grace and Maya
In #RiseAndGrind, Grace and Maya are walking outside. Grace asks why they're going to perform the song Maya wrote about Zig when Maya says that she's over it. Maya says she feels bad for being so mean to Vijay Maraj for doing a cover of it. Jonah tells Maya not to feel too bad and shows them the video Vijay posted about it. Maya asks if she should respond to it and Grace tells her that Vijay has many more subscribers than her.
In #TheseAreMyConfessions, Grace and Maya are together at Tiny's party. Grace tells Maya everything she's going to do for the party and Maya says that Tiny is lucky to have her as a friend. Grace asks if Maya remembers when she asked Grace to never lie to her and Maya says yes. Grace tells Maya that Zig is ready to move on now and Maya says that she figured since Zig has been spending a lot of time with Esme. Grace says that Zig would never be with a girl like Esme and Maya says that she thought that they were already hooking up. Maya walks up to Grace happily. Grace tells Maya not to sit next to her and Maya asks if she's saving a spot for her crush. Grace gets angry at the mention of her crush and tells Maya to leave. Maya asks Grace why she's so mad at her and Grace says that she's mad that Maya is so perfect. Grace tells Maya that the guy she had a crush on was Zig but he didn't like her back. Grace walks away, upset.
Later, Maya finds Grace passed out on the ground and is very worried. Maya says that they should take Grace home but Tiny says that they'll get in trouble. Maya asks how much she drank and Zig says that he only saw her drink one beer. Zoë walks up to them and says that Grace has to go to the hospital because she has very serious health problems. Maya asks what's wrong with her. Zoë tells Maya to trust her. Later, Grace is in the hospital and when she wakes up, her mom tells her that Maya was the only one that stayed there to make sure she was okay and asks if she wants Maya to come in the room. Grace nods. Maya walks in and says that she was so scared for Grace. Grace asks if Zoë told her why Grace had to go to the hospital and Maya says no. Grace begins to explain to Maya about her cystic fibrosis.
In #OMFG, Grace, Maya and Tiny are standing outside of the bus to go to the game. Grace and Maya tell Tiny that he should come with them to the game to support Shay. Zig walks up to them and asks if he should come too, and Grace tells him that he can come if he's not weird. Maya tells Grace that Zig is definitely weird. Grace and Maya start singing the Degrassi song along with the rest of the students and head onto the bus.
Season 3
In #IWokeUpLikeThis, Grace and Jonah are showing Maya their recordings and Maya tells them that they're cool. Maya asks if the recordings are for a bus crash song and they say yes. Grace asks if Maya has any lyrics written and Maya says she'll get to it. Later, Maya is on the computer when Grace and Jonah walk up to Maya and Grace says that they were waiting for her for forty minutes. Maya tells them that she's just been really caught up with university applications and homework. Grace and Jonah tell Maya that it's okay because they're dealing with that stuff too. Grace tells Maya to take the day off and they'll make music the next day. Maya happily agrees.
In #PicsOrItDidntHappen, Maya falls asleep on the staircase while reading a book and Grace walks up to her and wakes her up. Grace asks if she was up late practicing music and Maya asks if Grace ever thinks about death. Grace mentions that she has a fatal genetic disease. Maya tells Grace that she was up all night and watched a video of a girl their age getting hanged and asks why it happened to her. Grace says that they're lucky they don't live in a place like that. Grace tries to talk to Maya about music again but Maya notices that Saad Al'Maliki was taking pictures of them. Grace gets mad at Maya because she's trying to talk to her but Maya keeps getting distracted when Saad keeps taking pictures of them. Maya runs away from Grace to stop Saad.
In #Unsubscribe, Grace is walking with Jonah when they find Maya on the steps with blood running down the side of her face. They freak out and then Maya starts laughing. Saad tells Grace that they're only doing a photoshoot. Grace gets mad that Maya bailed on her to pretend to be dead. Maya says that the photos are about showing the beauty of death. Grace says that death isn't beautiful, it's final. Saad tells Grace not to yell at Maya. Grace gets upset and starts coughing and Jonah drags her away. Maya asks if Grace is okay and Jonah tells Maya that everything is fine.
In #IRegretNothing, Maya walks up to Grace and Jonah and tells them that she's able to help with the play. Grace says that they need people that they could trust. Jonah agrees and asks if Maya told Mr. Simpson that their play was about suicide. Maya says that she did. Grace says that Mr. Simpson is now reviewing the play and asks why Maya would do that. Maya tells Grace that things have been hard for her lately. Grace says that finding out that she needed a lung transplant before she graduated was even worse than anything Maya was dealing with. Maya says that she had no idea and Grace says it's because she's a terrible friend. Maya asks what she can do to help and Grace tells her that she just doesn't want her in her life anymore and walks away.
Season 4
When Maya returns to school, the whole class takes a selfie together
In #BackToReality, everyone notices that Maya has returned and Grace and Zig walk up to greet her. Zig asks if Maya's okay and Maya says that she's fine. Grace tells Zig to stop treating her like she's made of glass and hugs her. Grace walks her to the others. Zoë decides to take a photo of all the seniors and Grace and Maya get close together. Maya notices the hickey on Grace's neck and asks who gave it to her. Everyone laughs.
In #Fire, Maya is listening to music in class when Jonah and Grace walk up to her and take her headphones off. Jonah asks what's wrong and Maya says that she's just stressed about getting her songs finished. Jonah suggests that Maya come camping with them and Maya says that she can't because she has to work. Grace says that this is their last chance to hang out and have fun before exams and Maya says that SoCal Art wouldn't like it if she failed. Grace says that Maya's therapist told her that down time was important. Maya finally agrees but tells them that they have to help her write on the way to camp. Grace and Jonah agree to. Later, Grace and Maya are with Tiny, Esme, Zig and Jonah along the campfire. Grace and Maya are talking about their days in the Rubber Room. Grace and Maya make fun of Zig for cutting the sleeves off all of his shirts. Esme tells them that they should include her next time they pull a prank because she's good at them, and the whole group laughs uncomfortably. When Maya tells the group that she brought s'mores, Grace, along with everyone else, gets really excited and happy.
Later, Maya is trying to write her song but gets really frustrated. Grace tells Maya to go easy on herself. Maya complains to Grace how stressful songwriting is. Later, Maya goes up to Grace and Jonah and tells them that she can't write anything good. Grace tells Maya that she can't write a song when she's that stressed. Maya grabs the weed brownies and says that she should try them, but Grace takes them away from her and tells her that that's not a good idea.
Later, when Grace is sitting by the campfire with the rest of the group, Maya comes out of her tent, high. She tells the group that she has a good idea for a song and Grace laughs. Grace and Jonah laugh at her song and Maya gets offended and asks what they're laughing at. Maya sits down and then asks everyone if she's twirling. Grace asks Maya if she's okay. Maya says that she must've ate too many brownies. Grace gets surprised that Maya even ate more than one brownie. Later, Grace and Maya go check up on Esme when she starts screaming that she couldn't breathe.
Later, Grace and Maya both get ready to go home together. Grace tells Maya that she was passed out when Jonah and Grace were playing with sparklers. Grace asks Maya if she figured out the song she's going to write and Maya says that she didn't but she did realize that she should go easier on herself and make her health a bigger priority. Grace asks what Maya's going to do about her audition. Maya says that if it's meant to be, it'll happen.
In #Obsessed, Maya and Grace are at Maya's house studying with Jonah, Zig and Tiny. Grace, Jonah and Tiny decide to leave because they want to be well-rested for prom and exams the next day. Grace teases Zig and Maya when Zig decides to stay longer to continue studying. Later, Grace, Maya, Zig, Jonah and Tiny are waiting outside of Maya's house due to the bomb threat at the school. Zig thinks that Saad was the one who made the bomb threat. Maya tells Zig that Saad isn't a terrorist but Grace tells Maya that it's possible. Maya and the rest of the gang look relieved when Grace tells them all that prom wasn't cancelled.
Later, Zig and Maya are dancing at prom when Grace walks up to them and tells them to kiss.
In #KThxBye, Maya, Grace and Jonah are dancing together due to Zig being gone. Maya asks if she should be worried because Zig has been gone with Esme for an hour. Grace reassures Maya that Zig would never ditch her. Winston Chu says that all the couples should go on the dance floor for a slow song. Grace is about to go with Jonah but turns back to Maya. Maya tells Grace to just go and have fun. Grace asks Maya what she's going to do. Maya says that she'll go take a walk and maybe find a new date. Grace and Jonah leave Maya to go dance. Later, Grace walks into Maya's bedroom as she's sleeping and tells her to wake up for graduation day. Maya tells Grace that she can't go but Grace tells her that she's singing. Maya says she's not going because if she doesn't go, nothing bad will happen. Grace tells Maya that she'll miss her whole graduation. Maya says that she wants to go but she has a bad feeling about it because every time she's involved, someone gets hurt. Grace tells Maya that she only thinks like this because of her depression. Maya says that she also isn't sure if she wants to go to SoCal Art. Grace asks what Maya's therapist would tell her to do. Maya says that she has to take deep breaths and go one step at a time so Grace starts her a shower.
Grace and Maya take pictures in their graduation gowns. Grace wants to take a picture with Maya on the bench that they first met. Zig walks up to them and tells them that he passed history. Grace tells Zig that good things happen when Maya's around. After they talk, Grace drags Maya to the gym so they could graduate. Grace and Maya are both seen waiting in line to graduate. Grace and Maya then are both sitting down in the audience as Zoë speaks. After Maya sings, Grace and Maya are seen graduating. Later, Grace and Maya both attend Miles' party. Grace asks if Maya's going to go to SoCal Art and Maya says that she is. Grace and Maya are last shown asking Zoë to make a speech.
Trivia
- Grace's first line was spoken to Maya. ("Hey, you're the video girl. Nice pics.")
- Grace's final line was also spoken to Maya. ("So, did you make up your mind about SoCal Art?")
- Grace helped Maya to find the identity of Maya's hate page, who happened to be Zoë Rivas.
- Grace seems to be on good terms with Maya's ex-boyfriend, Miles.
- When Maya brought up Zig, Grace warned her against becoming close to him, saying she doesn't want the new Zig to be her friend. Ironically, the three became best friends and regularly hung out with each other.
- They were both put into the Rubber Room because of their behavior. However, the other Rubber Room kids didn't really see Maya as being a true "Rubber Room" student given her sweet and friendly personality and only making it in the room because of a song that was deemed inappropriate.
- They are both protective of Zig.
- Grace is protective over Maya too.
- They are both friends with Zig Novak, Zoë Rivas, Tiny Bell and Jonah Haak, although they both had a falling out with Zoë.
- Both have had feelings for and kissed Zig Novak, but only Maya had a relationship with him.
- They were both in The Feminist Club.
- Both were involved in the bus crash.
- Grace's first and last lines were both said to Maya.
