Adam walked out the door at the main entrance of Degrassi Community School and looked around, searching for Fitz. There was no one else outside the school besides him (and maybe Fitz), as the day wasn't over yet and it wasn't lunch time. Adam was looking for a fight, and he was hoping Fitz would give him one. Adam knew from past experience that Fitz probably wouldn't fight back, but even if that was the case, it would feel good to get a few punches in. He couldn't stand the transphobia that Fitz aimed towards him, calling him names in the hallway and occasionally pushing him into lockers or anything else that was around (Adam thought about how Fitz, for those moments, seemed to forget that Adam was "a girl," and that he wouldn't hurt a "girl").

Fitz had seemed to back down for a few days, as Adam hardly saw him at all. Mr. Simpson had finally let Adam use the boy's washroom again, and Adam viewed that as a major success. Thankfully Adam hadn't run into Fitz in the bathroom yet, and he was pretty sure that if/when he did, it would not be pretty sight.

But then one day, earlier in the current day, actually, Fitz had been in the washroom when Adam walked in. Adam caught sight of Fitz standing at a urinal and weighed his options—he could either walk into the stall as though he hadn't seen Fitz or as though Fitz had no significance to him, or he could be a coward and turn and walk out, which would probably call some attention to him, anyways.

As Adam was trying to figure out what to do, Fitz turned his head and looked at him, probably wondering why someone was just standing in the doorway to the bathroom. Fitz smiled evilly, then seemed to decide what to do. He put a disgusted look on his face, quickly zipped up his pants, jumped away from the urinal, and spoke.

"Woah, dude, gross! Why the fuck are you looking at my junk? Oh, wait, I can think of two options. One would be that I totally turn you on. The other could be that you're a fucking tranny who is jealous of what she can never have."

It took Adam a second before his brain could process that he should turn and run away, but when it finally did and he turned to leave, Fitz grabbed his sleeve before he could run very far.

"I, personally, think it's the second one. Or, y'know, it could be both. But the thing is, the problem I see here, is that there's a chick in the guy's washroom. So I think she might need to leave." Fitz let go of Adam's sleeve and pushed him from behind until he was outside of the washroom. He then shoved Adam forward, and laughed as he fell.

Adam had had enough. He mustered up all his strength and courage and stood up, looking at Fitz with a determined look on his face, wishing he was taller.

"You. Me. Fifth period, outside the school. Be there."

Fitz laughed and said, "Aww, the little girl wants to have a chat with Fitzy? Alright, but let it be known now that I don't find you very attractive, so don't try anything!"

Adam had glared and Fitz for a moment, then turned and walked away.

And now Adam was standing outside the school, looking for Fitz. He finally spotted him, standing against a wall and smoking. Adam shifted the weight of his backpack on his shoulders, and walked over to Fitz.

"Hey, Fitz!" Adam said loudly, as there was still some distance between them. "Glad to know you weren't too scared to show up!"

"Scared? Of you? Yeah, right," Fitz yelled back. "Well, what'd you want to talk about, 'Adam'?", he said mockingly.

Adam dropped his backpack on the ground and walked over to Fitz. He grabbed Fitz's shirt by the collar and tried to pull him away from the wall.

But Fitz was too strong for him, and resisted with what didn't appear to even be all his force. "Aw, now, don't be feisty," he said in a kind voice, "I don't like it rough."

"Shut up and fight me," Adam practically yelled in his face. "What, I thought you weren't scared?"

"I'm not scared of you. But I'm not going to fight a girl. I might really hurt you, and I wouldn't want you to go crying to Mr. Simpson again." Fitz imitated a young girl's voice, "'Oh, Mr. Simpson, big bad Fitzy hit me! You need to expel him before he harasses another vulnerable little girl!'"

"You know I don't talk like that, and you know I'm not a girl. And I think that you better shut up with the chatter and fight me before I do go get you expelled for harassment," Adam threatened, knowing that he wouldn't actually rat Fitz out, but hoping that it would get him to move away from the wall.

Fitz just smiled at him, so Adam took the initiative. He pulled back his arm and went to punch Fitz in the gut, but Fitz caught his hand while it was in the air.

"Oh, well would you look at that. You just provoked me! I might really be in danger here! I should probably protect myself."

Fitz kneed Adam in the gut, remembering at the last minute that Adam had no balls to injure. Adam fell to the ground, gasping for air. Fitz just stood over him, smiling.

Adam collected himself and stood up. He shoved Fitz backwards, hoping he would fall, but he had no such luck. Fitz punched Adam in the face, making a nice smacking sound that brought an even bigger smile to Fitz' face.

Adam fell to the ground, and Fitz took the chance to kick him in the side. Adam grunted as Fitz's foot connected again and again. Adam grabbed Fitz's foot in hope to pull him down to the ground, but Fitz just shook him off. Fitz grabbed Adam's collar and pulled him up so he was sitting, the punched him in the face a few more times while still holding Adam's collar with his other hand.

Then, all of a sudden, Adam, whose vision was blurring, saw Fitz fall to the ground. He tried to clear his vision, but all he could make out were the legs of some other person, clearly not Fitz, wearing black skinny jeans. He heard a familiar voice, but his brain was too jumbled to figure out exactly who it was.

Adam felt himself being dragged across the parking lot and into the school, listening to the person pulling him huffing and puffing all the way there. The person finally let go of him, lying on some cool tiles, and said something that sounded like "I'll be right back." Adam lost track of time for awhile, and before he knew it he opened his eyes, only slightly blurred, to find himself lying on a cot in the nurse's office with Eli sitting at the foot of the bed, reading a comic book.

"You alright?" Eli asked, with much concern in his voice.

"I… I think so," Adam replied, smiling at Eli, glad he had rescued him.

"I heard Fitz earlier, bragging that you wanted to fight him, talking about how he was going to 'mess you up.' I didn't think it would be a good idea to go to Mr. Simpson, but I was still worried. I guess I was too late, because by the time I found you, Fitz was already wailing on you and you didn't seem to have any fight left in you." Eli paused, then continued, "What I'm curious about, though, is why you thought it would be a good idea to fight Fitz. You know that he's bigger and stronger than you, and you know that he most likely wouldn't hold out on killing you once he was provoked. So, what happened?"

"I… Just got sick of him, I guess," Adam choked out. "I thought I might have a chance, or at least thought that I could show him I'm not some sissy girl who can't even try to defend herself. It was stupid, I know, but where's Fitz now?"

Eli sighed. "Well, I didn't want to rat him out, but when I brought you in here—which I really needed to do—they asked who did it and where they were. I told them he was outside, and although he wasn't there when they got there, they do know it was Fitz, and as soon as they find him he's going to be suspended." Eli paused, then said, "I'm pretty sure you're going to get a detention, too. Fitz will be sure to let them know that you started it. Sorry, man."

Adam just smiled at him. Man, he thought, I am a man. And I can take a fight.