Chapter 1

Life at Third Street School seemed a little quieter than usual lately. The kindergarteners were still being their usual, wild selves, King Freddie was shouting orders left and right, Miss Finster was still barking at anyone who lifted their foot too high off of the ground and the Ashleys with still shouting their catch phrase and laughing loudly every few minutes, but even so, the school had definitely calmed down as of late.

A part of it was due to Principle Prickely. After their last summer vacation fiasco, he had definitely become more kid friendly and as such, the playground was treated less harshly by the faculty. The other part the students figured was the lack of shenanigans performed by the most ragtag, yet effective, group in the school.

TJ, the group's natural born leader, just didn't see much of a need for pranks anymore. During the summer, he developed a great deal of respect for the principle and with Prickely so kid friendly, TJ's sense of justice wasn't triggered nearly so much, meaning less pranks. In addition, his group, the Ashleys and Lawson's gang had become more tolerant of each other, though grudgingly for some, and the school's biggest trouble makers had finally graduated the previous year. So, other than when Randall and Miss Finster needed to be put back in their place, the group had been focusing almost entirely on their two favourite things to do during recess; dodge ball and kickball.

"Ok guys, we got 'em two for two, let's do it one more time." TJ Detweiler called from the pitcher's plate, a big red ball in hand. As he was one of the shorter members of the group, slightly chubby looking due to retaining baby fat and his really baggy jeans, shirt and jacket, the boy and looked pretty average by all things considered, he was the most admired, both by the group and everyone else on the playground. His friendly, carefree nature made him one of the most approachable people you could ever meet and his kindness, loyalty and sense of justice and adventure made his friendship a valuable one to all who gained it. One the playground, he stood out as affectively as the red hat sitting back to front on his head.

"Please Teej, like you have a chance at stopping me." Vince LaSalle smirked, strolling casually up to the plate. He was of African American descent and the most impressive looking member of the group. He was one of the taller members of the group, very athletic and always wearing a green basketball jersey, yellow wristbands and a confident smirk. He was one of, if not the most popular kid in school and the greatest sports player and he knew it. If it was a game, he had to win.

Grinning back, TJ tossed the ball and dived to the ground as Vince kicked it back at him at a speed that promised pain before running towards first base, the crowd of kids around cheering for a home run.

"OOF!" A blond kid gasped as the ball hit his gut, resulting in him falling to the ground, gasping for breath. A little stunned, he noticed a little bit of pressure on his chest and looked down to find the ball in his hands.

"Hey, I caught it. I caught a ball kick by VINCE!" He cheered, jumping to his feet happily.

"WHAT?" Vince gasped, stopping dead in his tracks, a stunned look on his face as he whipped around. "How did Mikey of all people manage to catch it? No one every catches me out." He cried in disbelief, failing to notice the kids cheering loudly for the boy.

Mikey Blumberg was easily the tallest member of the group. Though only ten, he was almost as tall as most of the teachers and was a bit overweight. However, despite his imposing form, he was a gentle soul. He wasn't a great athlete, but his passion for poetry and the arts were just as great as Vince's was for sports.

"Well boys and girls, that's three out. Time to change sides." Spinelli called triumphantly as she passed a groaning Vince to the kicker's bench. Another member of the six, Spinelli was an Italian American girl with raven black hair in pigtails and under a skier's hat. She was only about as tall as TJ, but she still was the greatest protector of the group. Strong and quick tempered, she was quick to jump into a fight if she or an innocent kid was given a hard time. She was a good friend, but as her leather jacket and boots suggest, taking her on was a very risky move.

"Unbelievable! Not only are we looking at a very quick changeover, Vince was actually caught out. I never thought I'd see the day."

"You got that right Gus. Not in the entire history of Third Street School sports has Vincent LaSalle ever been caught out before. We are talking about a catch that will go down in Third Street history." At a table with a loudspeaker, just outside the playing field, sat the last two members of the group, giving commentary as their friends played.

One was a boy with blond, spiky hair, square glasses and wearing a green, button down shirt tucked into his darker green pants and a high tech watch that stood out on his wrist. Gus Griswald was the smallest and newest member of the six, only having transferred into the school the previous year. Due to the tough and firm personality of his father and constantly being shuffled around schools, Gus was easily the least confident member of the group and had a tendency to be very sensitive. However, he had a heart of gold and with the help of his first group of friends, particularly TJ, he found the courage to show it, even if it meant taking on the toughest bullies if he had to.

The other was a girl as tall as Vince. Like Gus, she too wore large glasses, though hers were round, and a blue dress with a pink ribbon tied around her torso. Like Spinelli, she kept her auburn hair tied in pigtails, though hers went straight down from her head as opposed to Spinelli's going out to the side. The last member of the group also happened to be the smartest. She was a child prodigy, but still retained a polite, kind and modest personality. She loved learning for the sake of learning and helping the world and was happy to lend her brains to TJ's plans.

"You know Gretch, I really wish I had a camera right now. I don't think I've ever seen Mikey so excited or Vince so shocked." Gus commented happily. However, Vince turning a glare his way quickly wiped the smile off of his face and he gulped as he sunk behind the desk. "Um, let's get back to the game, shall we? It's Spinelli taking the field." Gus said, quickly changing the subject as Spinelli stepped into place. As the ball was thrown, she gave it a good booting and took off, eliciting cheers from the team and momentarily distracting everyone from the catch of the year.

As the game progresses, Ashley Q took to the field, looking as confident as Vince. As the ball was thrown, she almost casually kicked at it and sent it sailing towards the building.

"Look at that! I like, so did it again." She bragged as she walked uncaringly around the bases, only speeding up at the end when the kid fetching the ball tried and failed to get her out at the home base and leaving the fielding team to sigh. Vince however, just stared at her retreating form and grinned.

"I still can't believe that an Ashley is that good a kickball. Pretty and good at sports. What could be better?" Feeling confident, he took a quick check to make sure no one was looking his way and gave her a wink and a smile, getting a chuckle in return. Feeling confident with the result, he turned back to the game, however, the bell chose that moment to ring, ending recess. "Aww, man! Back to class." With a big, group sigh, the kids grudgingly headed back to the yellow painted building, their play time over.


"Hey Mikey, great catch."

"Way to go Mikey!"

"You're a school legend Mikey."

Student after student called out as the group walked through the halls at the end of the day, all of them thrilled by Mikey's success. Mikey looked like he'd died and gone to heaven as they approached the school's front door. All of his life, he'd been the laughing stock, the one that other kids made fun of and pushed around. All he'd wanted was to be treated respectfully, and now, not only was he being treated with kindness, he was the most popular kid in school. It was a dream come true and the enormous smile never left his face as he said 'thankyous' and 'talk to you tomorrows' to everyone.

"Wow, I never thought that the big guy would get so ecstatic over popularity." Spinelli commented amusedly as Mikey gave a dramatic bow to the Ashleys. "I mean, he's the one who always says popularity is fleeting and unnecessary. That good friends are all that you need."

"It appears that his phrases were more of a front." Gretchen responded, adjusting her glasses as the wind hit them. "He was trying to convince himself of it and make us feel better when our popularity levels would decrease while secretly, popularity was the greatest desire that he couldn't have."

"Mikey, you've gotta be the best kickball fielder ever." Phil stated, patting the gentle giant on the back.

"Why thank you Phil. I guess I'm not bad, am I?" Mikey replied with a laugh.

"Oh come on! It was a lucky catch, nothing more." Vince grumbled lowly, glaring at the ground. He was happy that Mikey was getting decent attention for once, but the compliments were at his expense and to him, stabbing reminders of his shame. "They're acting like it was skill."

"Oh let it go Vince. He doesn't get this kind of attention very often." TJ said softly as they approached their bikes. "It's not like they're questioning your skills. And besides, it'll all blow over pretty quickly and he'll be stuck where he started. Let him have his fifteen minutes."

"See you tomorrow everyone. I promise I'll catch every ball that comes my way." Mikey called, waving as a group of kids walked away. Beaming as brightly as the sun, he unchained his bike and joined the others as they took off. "Who would have ever felt that this would feel so good?"

Vince shut his mouth firmly as a snappy remark came to mind, deciding that TJ was right. He should be happy for his friend, not knocking him down.

"We'll just have to make sure that you can catch a ball like that again. So you can keep the popularity." He said instead, giving Mikey a small smile.

"Really Vince? You'll help me? Thank you so much my dear friend." Mikey said excitedly. He would have hugged the boy had they not already taken off down the street

"Not a problem Mikey. Though if you don't mind, I'd like your help with something too." Vince replied, looking at Mikey hopefully. "It's right up your alley, but I'll talk to you later about that."

"Sure Vince, I'll be happy to return the favour."

"Well if you two are done making dates, what do you say we head to Kelso's for a round of smoothies?" Spinelli asked, getting a little bored with the conversation. The others smiled and quickly agreed, changing direction towards their favourite hangout. No one noticed the odd look on TJ's face as they rode on their way.

The leader of the rag tag, yet extremely compatible group couldn't help it as an image of Vince and Mikey looking fancier than usual and sitting together at a booth crossed his mind. What was more, the image didn't bother him in the least. If anything, he kind of like it. It was such a weird and sudden thing to TJ that it left him confused.

"Hey Teej, come on, you're falling behind." Gretchen's call snapped him right out of it with a shake of his head. Speeding up, he just shrugged it off as his imagination running wild and joined the others in laughing as Vince made cracked a joke about Randall being like Miss Finster's pet dog.


The next day started mostly like any other. The gang met up at the bike rack before class, Miss Finster gave them another 'surprise' quiz and Randall was given a cookie for sucking up and squealing on who clogged all of the toilets in the boy's bathroom. The only difference was all the attention Mikey got on the way in and how he was drinking it all in greedily.

"Alright, time's up. Hand your papers forward for marking." Miss Finster barked. "Hopefully, more than two of you have passed this time." Sure that he had failed, TJ dejectedly handed his forward and sunk into his seat with a sigh. He had yet to pass even one of these stupid tests. To pass, you basically had to memorise everything Miss Finster had said and written since the beginning of the year. Excluding Randall, who could and would possibly do that?

"I see I'm going to be drawing a number of big Fs today too." Miss Finster grumbled, rifling through the papers before setting them on her desk. "Now, I would move on to having you read and answer questions on the revolution, but Principle Prickely has organised an assembly for the fifth and sixth graders for a lecture on the beginning affects of puberty."

"AAAAHHHH!" The screams reverberated throughout entire school as the fifth graders' faces turned white or red in fear and embarrassment.

"So you see, due to these new hormones coursing through your body, you will soon start gaining hair in new places and certain parts of your bodies will start changing shape." Principle Prickely stated, pointing to two overhead projections, one showing armpit hair and the other to an adult man and woman's chests. "You will also find new feelings occurring. You will start being attracted to other people physically. This is called lust. Once this starts, you will tempted to form relationships such as those your parents possess."

"Oh great, it's the experiment all over again." Spinelli muttered, scowling at the stage. "Only now there's even more to think about."

"And it's worse." Vince agreed, scrunching up his face. "Why would we want to look at some guy's armpit hair?"

"Though this does explain why our experiment had a negative result." Gretchen commented, taking every word in. "It's pleasurable for people because their bodies have redesigned themselves for it."

"All of these changes occur as to give you the requirements and instincts required to have kids of your own one day." Principle Prickely continued as the projection changed to a man, a woman and a baby. "How this occurs will be explained to you when you are older, but I will tell you that for such a thing to occur, it takes both a man and a woman. If people didn't get hormones, humans would cease to exist."


"That had to be the worst assembly I've ever been to." Gus groaned, a little green in the face.

"You can say that again. Like I wanted to hear about how much chest was coming to grow out." Spinelli complained, glaring at the ground.

"And let's not forget the period, whatever that is. Even Principle Prickely didn't want to talk about that one." Gretchen added, gulping. "I don't want to know what it really is."

"Well at least we know that everyone will eventually be a boy or girl liker. Now people will stop teasing each other over it." Mikey said happily, sending a small smile to Vince. "Now let's go play some kickball. I have fans to please.

"Sounds good to me." Spinelli stated excitedly, her previous thoughts forgotten. "I'll go get us a ball."

"I'm in. I haven't actually played in a while." Gretchen nodded, following Mikey to the field. "I'm assuming you guys are going to play to?"

"I'm..." Vince started before the sound of people giggling cut him off. Turning around, he found the Ashleys walking by, talking animatedly with each other as they headed toward their clubhouse. "Actually, I'll see you guys later. I have some business to take care of."

"Say what?" Gretchen gasped, her eyes widening almost to the size of her glasses. "But you never miss a chance to play sports."

"Hey, it's no big deal. I just have business to attend to." Vince shrugged, starting to walk away. "Besides, if I play, it will probably be the end of Mikey's popularity and TJ said to let him have his fifteen minutes. I'll just let him have more. See you later."

"Now that was shocking." TJ commented, gaping as he watched Vince disappear. "And very out of character."

"Just leave him be guys. Let's just go play." Mikey shrugged, turning away from the group so they wouldn't see his knowing smile and leading the way.

"I think I'm going to go to see the nurse." Gus groaned, holding his stomach as he turned back into the building.

"Poor Gus. He never does too well with Prickely's lectures." Gretchen said sympathetically as they watched him go.

"Yeah, but you really can't blame him this time. Heck, I feel weird after that one." TJ responded. The lecture had definitely gotten to him. Ever since it ended, he had this funny feeling inside of him and he unconsciously swept his eyes over every person he saw, checking out every part of their bodies. What confused him even more was that his eyes lingered a little longer on the guys than the girls. He guessed it was because he was curious as to how he would develop.

"Are you guys going to wonder about the damn thing all day, or are we gonna play?" Spinelli demanded, catching up to them, ball in hand. Conceding to her point, they headed off and let the game begin.


Half an hour later, which found the teams even and people cheering as Mikey made a number of catches, TJ stepped up to the plate, his eyes focused solely on the ball. Pulling her arm back, Gretchen threw the ball at him as hard as she could. TJ lifted his foot was about to kick it when-

"Guys, guys, you've got to see this." Thrown off by the sudden cry, TJ missed the ball and lost his balance, falling back on his butt. Looking up, he saw an astounded looking Gus sprinting in their direction before stopping by Gretchen and bending over, puffing hard with his hands on his knees.

"What is it Gus, what's wrong?" TJ asked worriedly, getting back to his feet and moving to his friend.

"And can't it wait until after the game?" Mikey asked, annoyed.

"Whoa, the poetry loving doofus who hates the idea of winning and losing in games is the one who wants to keep playing? That makes two of us acting weird today." Spinelli said, a little shocked.

"You don't...know the half of it." Gus puffed as TJ helped him stand upright. "You have got to see what Vince is doing behind the Ashleys' clubhouse. Come on." Shrugging confusedly to each other, TJ, Spinelli and Gretchen followed their little blond friend, ignoring the annoyed groan from Mikey and the complaints of Mikey's fans that the game was over as he followed them.

Making their way to the clubhouse, they altered their root so as to avoid Ashley A standing at the entrance and gossiping with Ashley T. Reaching the pile of tyres, they slowly crept across the side and peaked around it. As they peaked, Gus had to put a hand over both TJ and Spinelli's mouths so as to stop them from gasping, Mikey doing the same to Gretchen.

Standing there with his back to them was none other than Vince. He had yet to notice them and wouldn't for a while, as his arms were wrapped around Ashley Q and both were releasing low moans as they smashed their lips together.

"Whompin Bobula! Vince is kissing an ASHLEY!" Spinelli whisper shouted , turning to the others. "And he's LIKING it!"

"This is very interesting. I didn't know Vince was a girl liker and who would have thought that he'd be interested in one of the people we consider our worst enemies?"

"He happens to believe that she is very beautiful and loves her craftiness and her athletic ability." Mikey said dismissively, pulling the group away. "As far as he's concerned, she is the perfect girl for him."

"You knew about this Mikey?" Gus asked, shocked that Mikey knew and hadn't mentioned it.

"It's what he wanted my help with." Mikey shrugged. "He wanted a few tips on how a guy like him gets a girl like her. I watch all different types of romance movies, so I was the perfect source of information for him. Now can we get back to our game? Or should I look for other people to play with?"

"How could you help him get an Ashley?" Spinelli scowled. "You should of had him find a different girl. One we actually like."

"It's his choice who he dates Spinelli."

The two kept arguing, with Gus and Gretchen trying to keep the peace, but TJ wasn't paying attention. Turning to look at the still kissing couple, he thought about when he kissed Spinelli and how he hadn't liked it. Going over the memory, he focused on every detail of how it felt to kiss a girl and scrunched his face up in disgust.

This isn't any better. I still think it's gross. He thought as Vince and Ashley Q took a moment to catch their breath before Ashley giggled and kissed smug looking Vince again. Tired of the gross activity, he was about to turn away when an image of him in Ashley's place kissing Vince crossed his mind. Gasping, he turned away faster than a whip and leaned back against the tyres, his cheeks turning vey red. Where did that come from? He asked himself, embarrassed and confused. Why would I imagine kissing Vince?

Now he was beyond confused. He knew that girls became boy likers and boys became girl likers, but he'd never heard of a boy boy liker. It wasn't backed up by the puberty speech either, as it was designed to create kids and that required a girl and a boy, not two boys. Maybe there's something wrong with me. He thought sadly. I'll have to check on this. But I think this time, I'll research it myself. I don't want anyone else to know. Nodding to himself, he turned his attention back to the argument just as Spinelli sighed in defeat.

"Fine, I won't tell him off for this, but that doesn't mean I'm going to be nice to her or any of those other powder puffs."

"That sounds fair to me." TJ replied, getting everyone's attention. "Now let's get out of here before we ruin their moment. We can tease Vince about this later." He added with a grin, keeping up appearances. The others all either smirked or smiled in agreement and they headed back to the kickball field, much to Mikey's and the crowd's delight. The others let what they'd seen slip to the back of their minds as they either focused on the game or gawked as Mikey started claiming he was the greatest in a very Vince way as he caught another two people out. That is except for TJ. Even as they played and wondered at Mikey's changes, he knew his mind wouldn't leave his problem until he had the answers that he seeked.


That night, after dinner and grudgingly doing his homework, TJ booted up the family's computer. Bringing up a Senior Fusion web page to hide his activities if his family came in, he opened another window and brought up Google.

"Let's see." He muttered lowly, mulling over what to write. "Boy doesn't like kissing girls, imagines kissing guys. That should do it. Reason. That should do it." His heart rate increasing, he nervously hit the search button.

The first results proved absolutely useless, only commenting on girls kissing boys or boy or girl practicing kissing each other for the real thing. A couple mentioned boys genuinely, but upon further inspection, he found that they were mostly French, Italian or Russians and it was just a way of saying hello to them. Getting frustrated, he was about to hit the computer when a link caught his attention. It said 'Am I bi or gay?'. Not knowing what those words meant, he typed them into the search engine and asked for a definition. When the page updated itself, he was pleased to see that this time, the first link was exactly what he was looking for and clicked on it.

"Now let's see here. A bisexual, or bi for short is a person who is sexually attracted to both genders. Ok, that's something, but I'm not attracted to girls at all." TJ muttered before moving down the page. "Let's see what gay means. Here we go, a man who is attracted to other men and is not attracted to women. The female equivalent is a lesbian. Ok, so I'm not sick or broken or anything, I'm just gay." TJ sighed in relief at that. He was so sure that something was wrong with him. However, this one, small piece of information ensured him that he was perfectly fine, just different than what he'd expected.

As his relief settled down, his curiosity took over and he started looking for more information on gays. After all, if he was one, he should know about them right? The first thing that came up on the search was porn. As soon as he saw that word, he knew to stay away. Gay porn was still porn and his parents had already told him that that stuff was meant only for adults. The next few pages depicted a number of gay bars. Again, TJ knew that you had to be an adult to get into one, but it still made him feel relieved to know that there was a place that gays could get together. After all, if he'd never seen any sign of gays before, they had to be less common than boys that liked girls right?

The next part was a report on the last gay rights parade. That one confused TJ. He couldn't figure out why they would need a parade for their rights. Did people need parades to be together or something? Hoping to find the answer, he read the report and gulped loudly as he read a line stating that they were fighting for their rights. He may be knew to sexuality stuff, but he was fully aware that the only times that you have to fight for your rights is when you don't have them or they are under threat of being taken away.

It didn't take long to get answers to his questions. He paled considerably with each page he passed, words like disgust, hatred, mistreatment and rejection crossing his vision. By the time he'd shut the computer off, he was in tears. He knew now that homosexuality was hormonal, just like normal couples and it couldn't be changed. That would be fine with him if it wasn't for how people treated people like him. He'd found a number of pages working to help gay people along his search, something that he was very grateful for, but that didn't change what others did. Dating back to when religion was in power, gays had been mistreated, rejected by the world, harassed and assaulted by straight people. There was once even a death penalty for it and plenty of gays still got murdered for being just that by homophobics. People had been disowned by their own families and left on the streets. He was more afraid than he had ever been in his entire life now. He wouldn't dare tell his parents. They were religious people, not extremely so, but they did still believe most of it, and it was written in the bible that homosexuality was an enormous sin. He couldn't bear to see their faces if they ever found out about him and Becky was no different.

But I can't deal with this alone. He thought miserably as he headed into his room and flopped on his bed. I'm scared and I don't know what t do. I need someone to talk to about this, but if I haven't seen any other gay people before, what are the chances that I will know? Laughing hollowly at the chances, he turned to his dresser and his eye caught the photo sitting on top. It was the school photo taken last year and he was the only one in it still clean. It had been Gus's first class picture and in wanting his father to be proud of him, he wanted to stay clean for the shot. Unfortunately, they were the last to have their picture taken and the kids who'd already gone through it were running wild. The group had sacrificed their time and ultimately their own appearances to help Gus stay clean, being the true friends that they were, only for Gus to make the same sacrifice when Lawson cornered TJ with cheese. That photo was his favourite as that day was one of many that proved just how loyal and caring the group was to each other and how happy they were with each other.

Maybe that's the way to go. TJ thought as he got up and ready for bed. We've stood together through every other situation. Why would that change now? Feeling a little more appeased, he brushed his teeth and went to bed.


Any sense of reassurance the thought of his friends gave him before was completely gone by the next morning. The closer he got to the school, the more nervous he became. He had to stop riding his bike and walk half the way to school as he was shaking too hard to stay upright. As a result, he made it just as the bell rang.

"He Teej, hurry up and chain up your bike or you'll get a tardy." Gretchen called, heading through the double doors with Gus and Spinelli. Mikey wasn't far behind them, talking animatedly with a large group of students and Vince wasn't anywhere to be found.

"Probably off with Ashley Q." TJ muttered, watching the other three Ashleys strut into the school as he chained his bike and followed them. He made it to class just before Miss Finster did.

"Detweiler, into your seat now!" She barked, setting a stack of papers onto her desk. Not wanting any trouble today, he immediately jumped into his seat and pulled out his #2 pencil for Miss Finster's daily 'surprise quiz'.

It wasn't until after lunch that TJ was able to gather the courage to tell his friends. He was too much of a wreck during their first recess, not that the group really noticed. Vince was absent, off with Ashley Q again, and Mikey was giving all of his attention the crowd of people who had come to hang out with him nonstop since he caught that ball. The other Ashleys had once again teased Spinelli, leaving her on the warpath and Gretchen had stayed inside to talk to Hank. Gus was the only one paying any attention to TJ, while trying to calm down Spinelli, and knew something was up, but he didn't want to invade TJ's privacy. He could tell that his friend wanted to tell him something and decided to just wait until TJ was ready to say it.

Deciding that he had to say before he lost his nerve again, he grabbed Vince by the arm as they entered the playground and dragged him towards the side of the building near the trash cans, motioning for the others to follow.

"Hey! Teej, what are you doing? I have somewhere that I have to be." Vince cried, looking down at TJ with exasperation.

"I have something I need to get off my chest and there is no way that I can say this more than once, so can you please just wait a minute? Then you can go back to the lip mash with Ashley Q." TJ asked desperately, getting a shocked gasp from Vince.

"Um, what do you mean lip mash? Me? No way and with an Ashley? Get real." Vince said quickly, trying to look as indignant as possible.

"Can the crap Vince, Gus caught you and Mikey told us you went to him for pointers while we watched you." Spinelli responded, rolling her eyes.

"Friends, must we continue this argument? Can we not let TJ say what he wants to say and get back to the kickball court?" Mikey asked dramatically before Vince could respond any more than dropping his jaw and blushing.

"Yeah, before I lose my nerve again." TJ nodded in agreement as his eyes darted around the area. "But first, make sure that Randall or any other kid isn't in hearing distance."

Noticing the near panicked look in his eyes, the group fanned out and checked every hiding spot. When they were sure no one else was around, they gathered back together and waited expectantly for what TJ had to say.

"Before I say anything, you guys have to swear on the kid's unwritten code of honour that you won't mention a word of this to anyone." TJ stuttered, getting more and more nervous by the second. "No matter what you think of it or me after you hear it, no matter what you or I ever do, this goes to the grave with you."

"Sure Teej. We promise. Now tell us already." Spinelli said, a little shocked. She'd never heard TJ talking this way before. The others quickly nodded in agreement, all of them just as put off as Spinelli.

"Ok. Well you see, ever since that assembly yesterday, actually even before that now that I think about it, I've had funny feelings. They became really noticeable when we caught Vince kissing." He rambled, biting his lip and looking at the ground.

"So what, you've become a girl liker?" Vince asked dully, raising an eyebrow. "I realise that I don't want that getting around at the moment, but that's hardly worth doing all of this."

"Yeah. I'm a boy liker. I've dealt with it and so can you." Spinelli said reassuringly, blushing a little bit at the thought as she stared at him.

"I know, and if was just that I was a girl liker, it wouldn't be so bad." TJ responded, his lip almost bleeding at the pressure he was putting on it.

"What, are you falling for someone special too?" Gretchen asked.

"Um, no. It's that... I'm..."

"Come on Teej, I have people who want to see the school's newest great catcher in action." Mikey said impatiently, causing everyone to turn and stare at him in amazement. That was completely unlike Mikey. What had happened to their gentle, patient and understanding friend?

"Well, um, ok." TJ squeaked fearfully. That sure hadn't done anything to increase his confidence. "You see, I'm...g...I'm gay!" There. He said it.

The entire area had gone tense and silent. TJ was so scared at what their reactions would be that he couldn't even hear the noises travelling from the rest of the playground. The rest of the group couldn't either, as the last two words echoed in their ears.

After a full minute of no responses, TJ couldn't take it anymore and hesitantly looked up to see their neutral faces.

"Please guys, say something. Anything, please?" He begged, looking at them desperately.

Vince was the first one to come out of it at that and TJ almost cried as his face warped into a look of disgust.

"Well then you better stay away from churches. Your own religion states you'll be struck by a lightning." He spat, turning back towards the playground.

"Vince-" TJ started desperately, grabbing his wrist, only for Vince to roughly pull it out.

"DON'T TOUCH ME! You're a disgusting creep. I don't want anything to do with you, fagot!"

Tears fell down TJ's face and his knees wobbled as Vince stomped away. When the sports star did stop and turn around, it was only to look at the rest of the group.

"What about you guys? Are you still intending to stick around that!" He asked, spitting 'that' out like it was something foul and sending another dagger through TJ's already damaged heart.

"Not me. I don't want anything to do with him." Mikey stated snobbishly, again surprising everyone with the out of character attitude and causing TJ to whimper as the pain in his chest continued to rise. Not even sparing TJ a glance, Mikey headed towards Vince.

"Sorry Detweiler, but my religion is very clear that bad and wrong and there is no scientific need for a boy boy liker." Gretchen said coldly, following Mikey. "Our communication shall now cease.

"I can't believe this!" Spinelli shouted furiously. Jumping in surprise, Vince Mikey and Gretchen looked to her fearfully, worried that she was angry with them, but sighed in relief when they found her staring daggers at a fear scared and heartbroken TJ. "How could you do this TJ? HOW COULD YOU?"

"Spinelli, I didn...didn't mean for this to happen." TJ sobbed, not doing anything to stop the river of tears falling down his face.

"I don't care what you say. We're through. You disgust me. And if you EVER talk to me again, I'll whomp you into next week." She screamed, grabbing him by his jacket and tossing him to the ground before stomping away.

TJ did nothing in response except crawl into a ball and cry, his body wracking with sobs. That was it. With one line, he'd lost every one of his friends. It was everything he feared. Now, the best that he could help for was that they didn't tell anyone. He was sure they wouldn't with their promise, but who knows now? He was likely to be spending the rest of his life friendless with everyone in sight either ignoring his existence or throwing every insult imaginable at him.

"Let's get out of here guys, before he starts hitting on me, Mikey or Gus." Vince said, giving TJ one more disgusted snarl before heading off again, the others behind him.

"Then good riddance to all of you." Everyone, even TJ, froze in their place at how cold that voice had been and turned to look absolutely shocked at none other than Gus. The bespectacled boy had the fiercest look on his face that they'd ever seen as he stared disgustedly not at TJ, but the at the group. From his place on the ground, TJ's watery eyes started up at him in shock and amazement while the others shivered at the glare. They had only ever seen that look on his face once before and it meant the end of the entire higher grade. It was the glare of El Diablo. The one who struck terror into an entire school.

"I can't believe I ever respected any of you." He snarled venomously, his glare never weakening. "TJ is the greatest friend any of you ever had. He's selflessly help you through all of your issues and worked harder than any of us to make the playground a fair and kid friendly place. When everyone else wanted to abandon you or treat you like crap, TJ was always the first one to stand up for you, even risking bodily injury if he had to. And now, for something that doesn't even have the slightest effect on you, you're treating him like crap and turning your backs on him. That is the most despicable thing anyone could ever do. The lot of you DISGUST ME! Now get out of here, you good for nothing lowlifes before you leave here black and blue." As he finished his rant, he grabbed the nearest trashcan lids for emphasis, holding them like he would a dodge ball. Fully aware of what he was capable of, the four of them paled considerably before turning as quickly as they could and running for their lives. Watching them go with a scowl, he put the trashcan lids back down and turned sadly to TJ.

Forgotten tears continued to run down his face as he stared incredulously up at Gus. TJ knew that Gus could be brave when he needed to be and he'd seen the fierceness the boy possessed, hidden with himself the last time El Diablo appeared, striking revenge for what Lawson did to Hector. But he never thought he'd see it again, let alone directed at the group.

Not only that, but after Gretchen, Spinelli and even Mikey had turned on him, he expected to have no friends, to be despised by everyone. Yet here was Gus, standing up for him against even the toughest group to fight on the playground. No one would dare take on Spinelli, only Lawson would try it with Vince and usually and Gretchen won every argument she entered yet Gus, the last person anyone expect to, took on all three and actually made them head for the hills. And all for him. The surprise TJ felt over that development was only overwhelmed by his gratitude as the boy in question laid a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"I know I'm not much, but I promise that I'm completely ok with this TJ." Gus said softly, giving TJ's shoulder a comforting squeeze. "I'm not going anywhere."

"Thanks Gus. You-you don't know how much that means to me." TJ sobbed, staring up at him thankfully. "Don't sell yourself short. You are more than I could ever hope for in a friend. I'm so glad that I didn't lose you too."

"You never will Teej, I promise." Gus responded, helping TJ to sit up. "You were the first kid to ever be nice to me, to want to be my friend. You've always done everything you could to defend, comfort and support me when I needed it. You even stopped people from hurting me the couple of times I got corrupted by power and helped me make things right when I did something wrong. You've always had my back TJ, and that's what's important. Who cares if you're gay? You're still the same, kind, supportive kid with the heart of gold I met the day I first came here and that's all that ever has or will matter."

TJ could only smile at that, wiping away his tears. He was touched that Gus felt so highly of him. His heart was still aching and was barely holding together, but it definitely dulled slightly at Gus's display of protectiveness and loyalty. It was enough to give him hope that maybe someday, things would be ok. But for now the pain of losing his friends was too much and he dropped his head onto Gus's shoulder and cried.