The friendship between Derek Wheeler and Joey Jeremiah began prior to the first season of Degrassi Junior High.
Friendship History[]
Before Degrassi Junior High[]
It's possible that their friendship began sometime before the events of Degrassi Junior High in their Grade 7 year. However, little is known as to when their friendship officially began.
Degrassi Junior High Season 1[]
In The Big Dance, that morning Joey asked Wheels if he was going to their school's upcoming dance. Wheels told him he didn't know and Joey told him that he was certain that Stephanie Kaye was going to ask him to the dance and that she thought she was crazy for him and lusted for his body. Then later that day as Joey and Wheels were meeting up at their Lockers, Stephanie and the Farrell twins meet them at their lockers, and Stephanie had something to ask one of them. Then just as Wheels was beginning to walk off, Stephanie asked Joey to speak to Wheels alone and Joey could overhear what Stephanie was asking him and much wheels' shock and to Joey's angry disappointment Stephanie asked wheels to the dance instead of Joey. The night of the dance Joey and Wheels met at the dance and Wheels smelled horrible he had doused himself in a ton of his father's aftershave in an attempt to make himself smell good but only to do the opposite he smelled bad, and as the night went on and it turned out Stephanie was late because she was getting drunk at Lucy's house. Joey made a smart remark to Wheels claiming she stood him up and he and wheels reconciled and Joey had a fun time dancing with Caitlin. Stephanie finally showed up drunk and she acted idiotic and she and Wheels danced a few minutes and she ended up getting sick to her stomach running off to the bathroom.
In The Experiment, Joey and Wheels passed by Arthur Kobalewscuy in the hallway and Joey made a teasing rude remark, "Hey Artie Smartie, I hear your mother recalling you" and they both laughed and walked away. That afternoon after school had ended they were seen socializing and hanging out with some other friends in a restaurant. Then Joey overheard Melanie Brodie tell her best friend Kathleen Mead that she was curious to try drugs even if only once. Joey overhead them and tricked them into thinking he was a drug dealer and the next day after school he tricked them and sold them some fake drugs that were actually Vitamin pills he made them think they were real by pretending he was high and stoned and Wheels backed him up by not saying anything and going along with it. After a few days Joey had sold them and two other students more of the fake drugs. Then Stephanie who was concerned when she heard the rumors of Joey drug dealing met them at a table in the local restaurant and asked him and Wheels about what was going on. Joey first asked her if she wanted to come to the mall to buy some new clothes with him. They were both laughing when they revealed they were just vitamin pills and that Kathleen and Melanie made fools of themselves and acted like they were stoned because they only thought they were. Kathleen and Melanie overheard them and were furious and felt humiliated. The next day Melanie, Kathleen and the two other students met up with Joey and demanded their money back when they realized Joey spent their money on his nice new clothes they chased him and stripped him to his underwear and locked him in a broom closet.
In The Great Race, Joey shows up at the end of school assembly to watch the swimming match between the boys' soccer team and the girls' swim team. Whether he showed up to give Wheels his support or not was never mentioned.
In Best Laid Plans, that morning after finding out Wheels had been asked out on with Stephanie, he thought it was awesome and told some of their classmates about it, and he encouraged Wheels to try to go all the way with Stephanie. That day after school Wheels stopped by the local Shopper's Drugmart to buy some condoms. Wheels was unaware that the pharmacist who sold them to his was Stephanie's own mother. Stephanie's mother figured out what their intentions were that evening when he showed up with flowers and she was dressed like a tramp and she put a big stop to them going out on their date that night.
In It's Late, they had both recently attended yet another cool party held at Lucy Fernandez's house. Then about a month later one afternoon Shane McKay asked them both in the bathroom what they would do if they ever got a girl pregnant. At first, Joey was a little shocked and asked him if Spike was pregnant. Shane claimed it was just a question and asking whether or not it was the guys fault or not. Joey told him that of course it was because it would be his baby too. After Shane left Wheels then asked Joey if he thought Spike was pregnant and Joey told him "Nah, they were probably just kissing" to which Wheels agreed, both of them unaware at the time that Spike was pregnant.
In Parents' Night, Joey and Wheels begin to regularly hangout with Snake and begin to form their own band. Parent's night was coming up at there school and they were going to perform a show for their parents sometime that night. Joey didn't want his parent's to attended parents night say he forged a note saying they were both sick and and asked Wheels to proof read it to to see if it seemed convincing enough, all Wheels told him was "good luck" as if to say is that really going to work. Recently, it had been Wheels' birthday and since Joey and Snake were asking him what he got for his birthday it can be assumed that he might not have had a birthday party. When Wheels realizes the man who had been seemingly stalking him from the school yard is his biological father, Joey went with Wheels to met him at a restaurant. Also, Joey wanted to see a real live rock band.
In Revolution!, Wheels turned down a date from Stephanie because he felt he really needed to catch up and study to make up for how poorly he did on his last report card. Stephanie was so mad and humiliated about being turned down that she begun flirting with Joey and gave him special treatment to make Wheels jealous. Later that day while they were practicing their band's music, Wheels had to cut it short and leave home to study for an upcoming exam the next day Joey told him not to worry about the exam then Wheels told him "maybe you don't wanna pass but I do!" then Joey started getting smart about how Stephanie liked him now and chose him instead and Wheels got mad and called Joey a jerk and stormed off. Then next morning before their exam Wheels was in the school library and he overheard Heather and Erica talking about how unfair it was for Stephanie to lead Joey on and use him to make Wheels jealous for not going out on a date with her. Wheels figured it all out and told Joey, Joey eventually spoke to the twins and found out the truth and he then decided to stop letting Stephanie use him.
Degrassi Junior High Season 2[]
In Eggbert, that morning at school they were in the boys' washroom talking about girls. Joey mentioned that a person's tongue could become infected leaving them mute if their tongue got bitten while french kissing someone. Wheels tried to reassure Joey that it was safe to French kiss and that people wouldn't do it if it wasn't safe. Then, Joey saw Shane in the bathroom and told Wheels about asking the "expert" so they tried to ask Shane about his sexual experiences. However Shane was very serious and sensitive about the matter. Wheels asked Shane how he and Spike were doing and Shane told them she wasn't talking to him, and Wheels suggested telling his parents about the pregnancy and Shane told them that his parents were very strict and always wanted him to go away to private school and he would certainly be sent to it if his parents found out about the pregnancy. Joey and Wheels were disgusted by Shane's self-centered attitude and walked off. A few days later when Shane was proving his parenting commitment by taking care of the egg Eggbert, Joey and Wheels along with their friend Snake kept teasing Shane by making egg and chickens jokes to him. Later at the end of the day Joey and Wheels teased Shane about Eggbert again about how they got to attend Lucy's party which would supposedly be awesome and how he has to babysit instead. However, later that night at Lucy's party with Lucy's stereo broken the party had no music and with no music it was pretty boring. Wheels tried to get his Walkman's music to play music for everyone to hear but it just wasn't loud enough. Then unexpectedly Shane showed up with "Eggbert" and Joey encouraged a bunch of people to toss and catch the egg around which livened the party up a little bit.
In A Helping Hand..., Joey and Archie were both disappointed that Wheels' parents would not allow him to play with the Zit Remedy until his marks improved. However, they hired Simon Dexter, who was a talented musician, to be their new bass player. They told Wheels that he and Simon would both be in the band once Wheels returned. Archie was excited that they would be the first band to have two bass players.
In Great Expectations, Joey said to Snake and Wheels that the new Degrassi student Liz O'Rourke looked as if she had sex. Wheels asked him what he thought a girl who had sex looked like while Archie accused him of being sex crazed, which he denied. While playing baseball that afternoon, Joey told Snake and Wheels that sex was no big deal to him as "Chicks are like aspirin: I take two and go to bed." Later that day in English class, he told them that he was going over to Liz's house to study after school, intimating that they would in fact be having sex. Archie and Wheels were very impressed. That night, Liz was extremely annoyed and offended that Joey assumed that they would be having sex and told him that she never wanted to speak to him again. The next day, Wheels asked Joey what had happened but he refused to talk about it.
In Dinner & a Show, Joey and Wheels became jealous when they learned that Snake was taking Melanie Brodie to see Revenge of the Reptiles at the cinema. Instead of playing video games as they originally planned, they decided to go to the cinema themselves. They sat behind Snake and Melanie and started to mock them, much to Snake's annoyance.
Degrassi High Season 2[]
In Loyalties, Wheels told Joey that Archie liked Michelle Accette and Archie sarcastically commented, "Thanks a lot. Announce it on the PA, why don't you?" To Joey's amusement, Wheels then shouted, "Attention all students! Snake has the hots for Michelle!" Shortly afterwards, Archie, Joey and Wheels were in Joey's car, which he was desperately trying to start. A confused Wheels asked Archie if he only intended to ask out girls whom he did not like in future before telling his friend that Michelle seemed to like him. This pleased Archie but he did not know how to go about asking her out. He said that she was always with Alexa and Simon and he did not want to ask to speak to her alone as it had to be casual and spontaneous. Joey suggested that since his mother allowed him to borrow the car, Archie should just casually drive past Michelle's apartment on the way to school. When Archie said that she lived in the opposite direction, Wheels suggested that he should say that he was visiting his grandmother. Not getting it, Archie commented that his grandmother lived in Montreal. After Joey was finally able to start the car, Archie realized what his two best friends meant.
The next morning, Archie arranged a date with Michelle but he did not realize that she was very upset after a major argument with her best friend Alexa Pappadopolos. As a result of her breakup with B.L.T., she was very depressed and the date was a disaster. The following day, Joey was once again trying to fix his car as Archie was telling him and Wheels about the date. When he said that he had Michelle crying ten minutes into the date, Joey joked, "Ten minutes?! You're good!" Archie said that he would join a monastery and work with lepers, claiming that he would get along with them as they had so much in common. Wheels alerted Archie to the fact that Michelle was approaching.
Degrassi: The Next Generation[]
In Should I Stay or Should I Go?, Joey finally manages to reunite the old friends when taking Snake out bowling to get the latter's mind off of his leukemia and chemotherapy. Snake initially wants nothing to do with Wheels, but they bond over both having wanted to die (Wheels after killing the child, and Snake while dealing with his ailment and its treatment). The three former band-mates, now balder and hopefully wiser, loudly sing "Everybody Wants Something" on the ride home in Joey's convertible.
Quotes[]
- Joey: "Have I ever lied to you before?"
Snake and Wheels: "Yes!" - Taking Off (1)
Trivia[]
- They were both best friends with Archie Simpson.
- They attended Degrassi Junior High and Degrassi High together from 1986 to 1991.
- They were both attracted to Stephanie Kaye but only Wheels dated her. Although Joey's feelings for Stephanie were not requited, she pretended to be interested in him in Revolution! to make Wheels jealous.
- They both made their first appearances in Kiss Me, Steph.
- They both graduated from Degrassi High School: Wheels in 1992 and Joey in 1993.
- In both Can't Live With 'Em (1) and Home Sweet Home, Wheels described Joey as his best friend.
- They were both big fans of Gourmet Scum.
- They both starred in Lucy Fernandez's feminist horror film It Creeps!!: Wheels played Johnny while Joey played Norbert.
- They lived together for a month in 1990.
- As teenagers, they both often described things that impressed them as "dynamite."
- Wheels was several months younger than Joey.
- They are a fan ship going by the ship name "Jeels"
- Like Albert Manning, the father of Joey's stepson Craig Manning, Wheels' parents John and Helen Wheeler were killed in a car crash.
- Both Wheels and Joey's stepson Craig ran away from home: Wheels in Taking Off (2) and Craig in When Doves Cry (2) and Goin' Down the Road (2).
