CH I- Sparkle

ADAM POV-

Last night was a night from hell. Fiona, the first girl who had accepted who I was- or, what I was-, cheated on me. With my own brother. I mean, a girl's gonna cheat, right? That part didn't upset me nearly as much as the fact that it was my brother with whom she'd cheated on me with.

I was barely able to dial in my locker combination because I was so mad. I finally opened it, pulled out my books, and stormed off to class. Eli was already in his spot waiting on me to take my seat next to him; he had a concerned look on his face- he knew me too well and could tell all too easily when I'd been pissed off.

"Dude, what happened to you? You look like someone ran over your dog." Eli said, turning around to face me as I took my seat behind him.

"I don't wanna talk about it." Was all that I said as I slumped back in my chair, hands behind my head.

"Ahh…girls?" he guessed.

"…and my brother." I rolled my eyes.

"Dude…Fiona…and Drew? Are you serious? He does realize you're his brother, right?"

"Guess he doesn't care. So yeah. She and I—we're done. Finito. Never gonna happen again."

"Ahh, well, if it involves the slut of a princess she is, this is what happens. If it were my brother, I'd make sure his reason for being able to ever have kids were removed."

I just shook my head. "Whatever, man. I'm done with chicks."

As Coach Carr walked into the classroom, so did a girl, right behind him.

"Coach Carr?" said the girl. She was definitely new; she was careful when she spoke.

"Yes ma'am. You're the new addition to Degrassi. Welcome to introduction to Psychology. Take a seat. Anywhere. Degrassi Panthers don't bite." Coach Carr said, waving his hand across the room.

"Speak for yourself." Piped up Danny, one of the "Loser Niners". 'That's one of the quickest ways to get punched in the face.' I thought.

The new girl made her way in my direction. She was tall, about my height, with long blonde hair and blue eyes. She gave off the Barbie doll vibe—pink sparkling shoes, a sparkling silver top and a sparkling purse. Sparkling head to toe. Despite this, she gave off a "I know who I am and what I'm doing here" vibe; kind of a mix of Clare and Jenna- pretty and smart.

"Hey, earth to Torres. Pick your chin up off the floor. It's gross." Eli said punching me in the arm.

"This seat taken?" the girl piped up, flashing me a…really cute smile.

I blinked my eyes and cleared my throat. "Uh…it..it is now." I said.

She giggled and plopped down beside me. "Is he going to be okay?" she joked with Eli.

"You know, I ask myself that my question everyday." Eli said glaring at me.

"Very funny." I whispered.

She giggled again. Wow, she was so cute.

"This is Eli, by the way. And I'm Adam. Adam Torres." I introduced myself and Eli.

"I'm Maggie." She replied. "So," she began, pulling out her books, "anything interesting go on here?"

Eli and I just looked at each other. "You have no idea." I told her.

When the bell sounded, I walked out of Coach Carr's classroom and headed to my next period—Recreational Gym. This week we were learning ballroom dancing. I had zero rhythm. But, the plus side of it was the fact that I got to dance close to pretty girls. Only right now, I didn't want any girl touching me. It would just make me think more of Fiona.

I plopped down on the risers where I usually sat for the class- Biannca had dropped the class…well, come to think of it, she probably just dropped out of school.

"Adam?" I heard someone say to me.

I turned around to see who had said that, and saw Maggie standing in the doorway.

"Oh, hey. What's up?" I asked as she sat next to me.

"Oh nothing. Just coming to recreational gym. We're ballroom dancing today, right?"

"That's what's on the agenda."

Our dance instructor came waltzing- I mean, literally waltzing- into the room and clapped his hands. "Oh boy." I said under my breath.

"Ladies and gentlemen! Welcome to Recreational Gym. I will be teaching this segment of the course, and I'd like to start off with the tango. So, partner up!"

Maggie and I stood up and looked around; everyone else had found their pair.

"Partners?" I asked.

"Sure." She replied.

"Now, everyone! Listen carefully! Men, wrap your left arm around your lady's waist. And ladies, place your left hand atop of your man's right arm."

I wrapped my arm around Maggie's waist and she placed her hand on my arm.

"Hands at eye level!" the instructor said, touching mine and Maggie's hands. "Beautiful." He told us.

We smiled at each other. "Study your partner's body. Become familiar with it. Become intimate from the closeness of your lady's body, gentlemen, and ladies, become familiar with the strength of your man's body."

I pulled Maggie closer to me and she tightened her hold on me.

"And…slow! Slow! Quick, quick, slow!" the instructor called as he clapped his hands. Maggie was really good; she just glided across the floor, following my lead.

After what had seemed like not enough time, the bell rang which announced the end of Recreational Gym.

"You're a really good dancer." I heard Maggie say to me.

"Thanks. You're not so bad yourself." I replied smiling at her- I didn't care if I looked like an idiot when I smiled; it was all I could do whenever I was around her.

"Well, I have to go. I have Intro to Forensics and Debate next. Then it's off to lunch. What do you have next?"

"Oh everybody's favorite class here at Degrassi, Media Mersion."

"Oh wow. Sounds…pop cultural." Maggie joked.

I nodded my head. "Nice word. Touche, Madame."

"Merci." She replied.

I smiled again. "Well, have fun in your next class. I'll see you around."

"Okay. Bye." She said as she walked away, her blonde hair dancing at her midback.

Maggie took up most of my thoughts in Media Mersion; I found myself daydreaming about her all through the class…what is her favorite color? What's her favorite food? What's her favorite movie? Endless questions. It was Mrs. Oh who brought my attention span down from my cloud nine.

"Mr. Torres? Can you answer me?" she asked.

"Huh? What? Oh, sorry. What was the question?" I asked as my face turned a shade of beat red.

"Nevermind. Danny can you tell us all what makes for a good blog on the internet?"

I had to concentrate…no matter how many times her face flooded my mind.

The bell rang shortly after that embarrassing incident, and I found myself nearly running out of class to go to my locker, but not because I was embarrassed.

As I walked to my locker, I jumped and saw Maggie standing in front of it. Was she stalking me? Not that I was offended, but, you know, she was…there. At my locker.

"Are you following me?" I asked jokingly.

"Right. What's a girl who's new to a big school supposed to do? Stalk nice people and ask them where the cafeteria is?"

"Ah, nice cover up. Well, I could walk you to it, I mean, of course for being a stalker you'd have to walk like behind me from like ten feet away."

"Oh, I'm way ahead of you; I'll take pictures of you when you're not looking and I'll steal everything you touch."

I just laughed. Fiona was never able to make me laugh; normally, she made it all about her. It was nice to be made to feel like I was being chased and I felt important.

"The caff is this way. Follow me." I said as I held my arm out for her. She took it.

We reached the crowded caff and found Eli and Clare at their usual spot.

"Ah, Clare and Eli, it's like they were waiting on us." I told Maggie.

She nodded. "Take me to them." She said.

We walked over, arms unlinked, and sat down across from them.

"Clare, this is Maggie. She's a new addition to Degrassi." I told Clare.

"And then some." Eli said. I kicked him from under the table.

Maggie giggled. "Nice to meet you, Clare." She said, holding her hand out for Clare to shake.

"You too." Clare said with a smile.

"Oh shoot. I didn't even get anything. Nice to know I've been switched to an invisible diet. I'll be right back." She said pushing her chair underneath the table.

When she was out of earshot, Clare piped up and said, "Wow. I really like her. She's really sweet and she's pretty. So much better than Fiona."

"Yeah. She's pretty awesome so far." I said looking over my shoulder at her.

"And, she seems to make you pretty happy too." Eli said as he and Clare looked over at her too.

Maggie saw them looking at her and she smiled. The cashier got her attention and she paid for her food.

I knew I looked like an idiot for smiling so big, but I didn't care; I couldn't help it. Fiona never made me feel as good as Maggie was making me feel. And I'd just met the girl.

"I think you should go for it, dude." Eli said bringing me back into consciousness.

I exhaled. "I don't know. She doesn't know…my situation. I don't want her to cope like Fiona did and drink herself stupid, if I do tell her."

"Give her a chance, Adam. Not everybody is as twisted as she was. She seems to really like you. So, I don't see how it would change if she knew your situation. If anything, she'd like you even more if you were honest with her." Clare said. Of course, she was right. Maggie was the sparkle that was missing from my life.