Back From the Dead

by Nasious Cordova

Continued from Eli loves Drew: Before Eli met Clare he had been madly in love with Julia. He still lives with the guilt of causing her death. Now after a romantic summer with Drew, Eli starts senior year to find the surprise of his life waiting for him.

Then:

"You're twisting what I said, Julia," Eli said feeling the frustration building inside of him. He loved Julia and really hadn't wanted to fight with her but she just kept pushing and pushing him.

It was two AM and there was dew in the grass as Eli Goldsworthy stood in the park listening to his girlfriend tell him how he was a heartless monster. As he'd tried to defend himself, she'd twisted his words around and thrown them back at him.

"What do you know about any of it, Elijah?" Julia spat with acid in her voice. Whenever she wanted to strike a nerve with him she tended to use his full name instead of the name he preferred. She pushed the slender, dark haired boy away from her and dismissively said, "You act like you're this big rebel, all dressed in black with nothing to rebel against. Me, on the other hand, look at what I got out of this life. Look at my parents and all the stuff they put me through. You just want to pretend and play dress up."

"That's really hurtful, Julia," the dark haired boy said fighting back the tears that threatened to pour out of his eyes. Not wanting to prove himself to be the fraud she'd accused him of being, Eli focused on his anger instead. He was dismayed because guys were supposed to fight with their girlfriends over things like not paying them enough attention or for looking at other girls. Neither of these were issues that anyone could ever accuse Eli Goldsworthy of. Eli was the most loyal boyfriend a girl could hope to find. He constantly wrote emotionally honest love notes to Julia and hid them in her books or in her handbag so that she could find them later and think of him when he wasn't around. He lived his life for her and all she could do was take her frustrations out on him. Although he usually stood by and took it so that she could vent her frustrations, tonight he'd had enough of it. Trying to remind her just what she had in him, Eli said, "I've only been here for you and you try to make me feel like some spoiled privileged kid? You're putting me down as a poseur because I have parents that love one and other? Don't forget, those parents of mine opened their house for you like you were family."

"Right!" She cried as fire flashed in the blackness of her eyes. The moonlight shone down on her pale face, washing away her fine features into a sea of alabaster broken only by the darkness of her blood red lips. With a sneer, she told him, "Your parents opened their home for me to get a girl into their baby boy's bed. They probably figured that it was the only way it would ever happen."

"What did I ever see in you?" He asked in disgust. "You're just cold. There's nothing inside you, is there? After all we've been to one and other, you can even say something like that?"

"What's the matter?" She asked with condensation thick in her voice. "Is the big emo baby gonna cry?"

"Just go, Julia," Eli said holding back a murderous wave of rage. "I never want to see you again. After tonight, you're dead to me."

Julia shoved Eli and jumped on her bike. "God, I hate you, Elijah Goldsworthy," she screamed.

As she pedaled away, she reached back with one hand and flipped him off.

Now:

The alarm clock woke Eli Goldsworthy from the nightmare he was having. Almost immediately the last burning embers of the dream slipped away, leaving only a bitter residue of the malaise that it had brought. He glanced over at the night stand and hit the button on the clock. His eyes fixed on the snapshot leaned up against the lamp and the malaise he'd awoken with washed away.

The memory of the fun he'd had with Drew Torres at the carnival when the picture had been taken replaced the guilt his nightmare had planted inside of him. It had been early summer, only days after their first kiss the night of prom and the two of them had been reluctant to take their relationship to the next level. Well, one of them had been anyway. Drew had surprised Eli with the invitation. Adam, still recovering from the shooting wasn't interested but had really wanted to go. The carnival had set up about ten miles outside town, so it had been possible that they wouldn't see a single person that they already knew. Drew had reasoned that they would be alone among all these strangers and able to be the people they wanted to be.

Although Eli had never cared either way about carnival rides, Drew loved them. As soon as Drew had asked Eli to go with him, the dark haired boy realized that it would be his opportunity to get the beautiful jock alone. Where Drew had been a virgin to having sex with another guy, Eli had already done it twice. He understood Drew's reluctance but he really wanted to do more than just kiss the guy he loved.

After a forty minute bus ride, they'd spent the whole afternoon enjoying all the rides and exploring the oddities of the traveling show. Both of them had been free with their affections and no one around them had cared or paid the young couple any attention. After a couple hours, Drew had stopped looking around to make sure none of their friends or classmates were around each time he wanted to put his arm around Eli or kiss him. By evening they'd acted like any other couple there. It had been one of the happiest days of Eli's life and that night before they'd caught the bus home, they'd finally had sex together.

Eli's right hand started to explore his body as he remembered that night of passion. He wrapped his fingers around his penis remembering how Drew's fingers had felt and slowly started working it up and down. He bit at his lip and squeezed at his right nipple with his free hand as the ripples of pleasure started washing over his body in waves.

Suddenly there was a knock at the door followed by his father's gravelly voice asking if he was awake. It killed Eli's mood immediately and he called out that he was up to keep his father from entering. Reluctantly, Eli dragged himself out of bed and threw on a robe.

Twenty minutes later, Eli had showered and was dressed in his new school uniform as he grabbed the bagged lunch his mother had prepared for him. Cece knew that her son wasn't big on school lunch, so she always made him a sandwich and tossed in some cut up carrots and celery. Eli always appreciated it even if he was running late and didn't take the time to say thank you. This being one of those mornings, her son, in his new light blue polo, breezed through the kitchen without time to sit down for breakfast.

Ready for the first day of school, Eli grabbed his backpack, ran out the door and started to the bus stop. Since he'd crashed Morty intentionally, Eli's parents were a little less that eager to buy him a new car or even allow him behind the wheel again. Although he was a lot better now, Eli realized that it might still be a while before he won their trust back enough to change that.

Eli was waiting for the bus with several random strangers when his phone buzzed with a text. He pulled it out of his pocket and frowned. The screen showed "onenewtextfromunknown" on it. He hated getting texts from blocked numbers. He opened the text anyways and smiled as he read it.

"Drew," he whispered.

The text had simply said, "I'vemissedyou.Seeyouagainsoon."

With a crooked grin, he dialed his secret boyfriend's number but it went right to voice mail. With levity in his voice, Eli said, "Hey you, cute text. Nice touch blocking your number. I miss you too. See you at school."

Eli knew that Bullfrog and Cece respected his privacy, so they wouldn't snoop on his phone. In a moment of paranoia, Eli wondered if Drew had blocked his number because he didn't trust him to show the text to anyone. At the beginning of summer, after their date at the carnival, Drew had been far more comfortable in his relationship with Eli than he'd been the past two weeks. Eli had noticed that as the first day of school had approached, the popular jock had become more and more edgy about how they were going to handle being around their friends at school. Drew and Eli did not share the same set of friends, so their hanging out may seem odd to some. Truth be told, after his antics last spring, Eli had very few real friends left. A few closer friends like Adam and Fiona had remained or forgiven him but a lot of the kids had kept their distance from the crazy emo kid. Drew on the other hand was one of the most popular kids at school. He was really concerned with his reputation. The dark haired writer knew that Drew had been most afraid that the guys on the team would figure out that he'd switched teams.

When Eli had pushed the subject only days ago, Drew had said, "Canwedropit?Youcouldn'tunderstand.You'reawriter.Peopleexpectyoutohavequirks.AsanathleteI'mheldtoadifferentstandard."

Actually, Drew had been almost hurtful with his lover when he'd said it. To Eli it had sounded a lot like Drew had been trying to say that his reputation was more important that Eli's. Reading between the lines Eli had translated Drew to have said, "It'scoolforguyswhowritestoriestocomeoutoftheclosetbutI'mafootballplayer.It'sdifferentandmoreisexpectedofme."

Of course that couldn't have been more far from the truth. Last year two of the school's most high profile football players had been gay and also quite popular. Eli thought that Drew's real reason for fearing their secret be made public was the fact that Drew had blackmailed Riley using the knowledge of his orientation to get starting QB from him. He feared how it would look to if everyone found out that he shared the same secret.

Eli brushed it off. He loved Drew but his baggage was his own. He was a big boy and could take care of himself. If he needed Eli's counsel, he could ask for it. Eli had his own set of problems in heading back to Degrassi for senior year. All summer Clare had avoided him. Since he was with Drew, Eli had avoided Jake. The last he'd heard, Clare and Jake were now step siblings and he wondered if they were both still avoiding one and other. The worst part was that this situation was his fault since it was fallout from his scheming to win Clare back. Although he hadn't seen him all summer, Eli hadn't avoided Jake because the two of them were on bad terms but because he knew that Jake really liked him. After Clare had found out about their affair, they'd both agreed that a male on male relationship wasn't really what either of them wanted. Eli feared how Jake would feel once he learned that Eli had started a relationship with Drew. The dark haired boy had really liked Jake once he'd gotten to know him but had felt terrible about how he'd started their relationship under false pretenses. The last thing he was looking to do was hurt him in any way.

As Drew followed his brother out to the van, his phone chirped, signaling that he had a new message. Adam laughed at him when he immediately dialed voice mail to hear it. "Aw, sweet, another message from your secret sweetie?" Adam asked, picking on his older brother. Adam hopped into the front seat of the van while Drew stood outside and listened to the message. It had been obvious to Adam for weeks now that his brother had been secretly seeing someone but still he denied it. Adam wondered if Drew had secretly reconciled with Alli or Katie. As much as she had been around over the summer, Adam hoped that it wasn't Bianca because he'd actually started finding himself attracted to her.

Again.

Back when he'd started at Degrassi, Adam had been attracted to Bianca. She had obviously liked him back because she'd started flirting with him. Unfortunately Adam hadn't thought out how quickly flirting with a girl as notoriously easy as Bianca would turn into touching and she'd figured out that underneath the surface Adam was inside Gracie's body. Soon the whole school had known Adam's secret and his life had become a living hell. Slowly Bianca had gotten to know Adam for who he was and had mostly apologized for the mess she'd started. Over the summer, Adam and Bianca had spent a lot of time together and he really liked her, so he really hoped that his brother wasn't secretly seeing her.

Drew listened to the message and looked perplexed as he thought to himself, "Whattext?"

Either someone was playing games with Eli or someone was onto them. He glanced into the van at Adam. Several times over the summer Drew had been convinced that Adam had figured out that Eli was the secret girlfriend he'd accused him of having been hiding. It wasn't like his younger brother to play games but whereas Eli was his best friend, maybe Adam knew and was holding a grudge. Drew's feelings for Eli were the real thing, so he'd eventually have to come clean and tell his brother along with the rest of his family but for now he wasn't ready.

For most of the summer, Drew had been comfortable being with Eli and sleeping with him. He still didn't want to think of himself as gay but he was madly in love with the skinny emo boy. Eli completed Drew in a way none of his trophy girlfriends ever had. Drew just knew that Eli got him and respected him. Although the dark haired boy was a lot smarter than him, Eli never made Drew feel stupid like Alli or Katie often had. He saw intelligence in Drew and respected him for who he was without trying to change him. Like Bianca, Eli had a dark past but he'd separated himself from it, so Drew didn't have to worry about anyone coming after him.

Being a jock and the logical choice for starting quarterback for the Panthers, Drew has started feeling the pressure to be straight for school. He feared that Eli had misinterpreted some of his remarks on the subject. The popular jock felt like being open about being in a same sex relationship would be a lot easier for a guy like Eli. Between the guyliner, the scarves and his flair for drama, a lot of the guys on the football team had already questioned the skinny emo kid's sexual orientation. At the time Eli had been obsessed with Clare Edwards but some of the guys had still talked. Of course these were the same guys that talked about Drew's own brother when he wasn't around to stop them. Drew knew that he shouldn't care so much about the opinions of other people but he so often did.

In a way, Drew envied Eli because he wasn't as wrapped up in his public image. Eli was actually the opposite. He wore a lot of vintage clothes instead of the designer labels that Drew liked. He painted his fingernails with black sharpies and at one time had even driven an old hearse around. Eli just didn't care what his peers thought. He could come out of the closet and there would be no drama. Was that what Drew wanted? To come out of the closet and tell everyone that Eli was his guy? Beyond Eli's love, even he didn't really know what he wanted.

"Are we going to school are you just going to stand there?" Drew heard his mother ask. It pulled him out of his daydreaming and he got into the van.

Laughing, Adam said, "I think he's still daydreaming about his girlfriend. Dude, who is she? I mean, why all the secrecy?"

"Adam, leave your brother alone," their mother said. "Obviously Drew wants to keep this private."

"She must have a mustache or something," Adam laughed.

"That's it Adam, I'm seeing a girl that makes the bride of Frankenstein look attractive," the handsome boy said with sarcasm. "You know I'd never date a girl that wasn't super hot," Drew said hoping to quiet his brother. He knew that he couldn't keep this a secret much longer. He had been very close to just putting his cards out on the table and telling his brother that his secret girlfriend was actually his own best friend but he'd resisted.

"That's just what a mother wants," Mrs. Torres muttered as she shook her head. "To hear her son objectifying women right within earshot."

Eli walked down the corridor toward his locker and saw Drew coming from the opposite direction. When the other boy stopped at the locker next to his, a grin crept across Eli's face making one blossom across Drew's too.

"Really?" Eli asked reveling in the crooked smirk that lit up his face. "Our lockers are side by side?"

"Talk about luck," Drew laughed. "Now I have an excuse to see you all day long."

Luck had nothing to do with it. With his mother so active on the school board, Drew had been at Degrassi a week earlier when she'd been attending a meeting. While she was in Principal Simpson's office, Drew has seen the list for locker assignments. He'd swapped spots with the niner that was supposed to be next to Eli. All summer, every time Eli and Drew got together, they'd done it at Eli's house. Even when Eli came over to visit with Adam, the two of them had acted like strangers. Drew really didn't want Adam finding out about the two of them. Not yet anyway. Having side by side lockers, Drew could always pretend that there were reasons to talk with his dark haired lover here at school.

"I guess we do," Eli said back flirtatiously.

"Oh, and hey, I didn't send you any texts," Drew told his friend. Worried that Adam knew and was messing with them, he asked, "Did it come from my number?"

"It came from a blocked number," Eli explained as confusion clouded his green eyes. "I just assumed it was you."

"It wasn't me," Drew said again.

"Huh, who else would have missed me?" Eli wondered.

Fiona Coyne sat in second period French class as the other students wandered in. She'd spend a good part of her summer in Paris and Milan before visiting her brother and best friend while they got situated at Yale. She was happy that they'd made their way back to one and other and hoped that some of their happiness would rub off on her. She had very few friends at Degrassi, so her face lit up when one of them walked through the door and took a seat next to her.

"This seat isn't taken, right?" Eli asked with a happy looking crooked grin.

"How ironic?" she smiled. "I was saving it just for you."

"Thanks," he laughed. "So, are you joining the drama club again this semester?"

"My summer was great," she said mocking his directness. "And how was yours?"

Eli laughed. "Actually, I enjoyed my summer," he told her without explaining.

"Good," she laughed. One of the things she enjoyed about her dark haired friend was his intensity. "As far as drama club, I'm not sure after last spring."

"Was I that bad?" He asked with the mocking expression of shock on his face. "On second thought, don't answer that. But seriously, you should join again. You were one of the best parts of the whole experience. I know that I got intense at times but tell me that it wasn't an amazing rush being on that stage."

"I'll think about it," she promised. Of course she planned to join. Although Eli had been manically out of control for a good portion of the time, she enjoyed his excitement.

"Good," he said with sincerity. "They meet right after lunch."

"I know," she said cleverly revealing her intention to join all along.

Eli liked Fiona. She'd been the first person that had forgiving him last spring after he'd cracked. He also appreciated that she'd survived her share of problems too and had come out standing. He considered asking her about the text but concluded that it was not her style. Obviously someone he knew had sent the text and not knowing was eating him away inside.

"So, how's your love life?" Fiona asked out of nowhere, catching her emo friend off guard. Seeing his expressing, she laughed.

"It's complicated," he said cryptically after a moment's hesitation. "And yours?"

"I haven't seen Charley all summer," she confessed. "We texted and emailed but I think it's pretty much over. We're just friends. I think I'm just going to focus on graduating this year and give the love life a break."

Eli smiled and nodded. "Not a bad idea."

Just from his bright disposition, Fiona could tell that her friend was happy. The kind of happiness that only true love brought. "You are seeing someone," she said knowingly. When his face cracked into a grin she knew that she was right. "Who is she?"

Unable to keep it to himself any longer, Eli confessed, "I've been seeing someone in secret since prom. We don't really want everyone knowing, so we've both kept it quiet."

"Now I have to know," she laughed as her eyes dramatically grew wide. There was nothing Fiona Coyne loved more than knowing a secret. With this friend it could easily be a scary secret. Suddenly feeling dread, Fiona rolled her eyes at him and said, "Don't tell me that it's that flaky Imogen that bailed on the play."

"It's not Imogen," he laughed, thinking about the odd girl that had stalked him for the better part of the school year. He'd smoothed over things with her but she'd kept her distance the few times he'd seen her over the summer. It really hadn't bothered him too much because Imogen had treated him like a trophy instead of a real person. The same way he'd treated Clare at a certain point.

"Is it someone I know?" She asked. Remembering how she'd seen him leave in the ambulance with Clare on prom night after Adam had been shot, she had to ask, "You didn't bury the hatchet with Clare Edwards, did you?"

"Oh no," he sighed. "As far as I know, Clare's still grinding that axe."

"Can't say that I'm sorry to hear that," she muttered.

Eli raised his eyebrows at her forwardness but didn't say anything. Once upon a time he would have argued immediately at the idea of anyone putting down his ex but that ship had sailed. Once the drugs had settled in and helped balance his brain, Eli had been able to step back and see that Clare had never been this perfect, supportive girl in his life. Falling for Drew had really helped Eli take off the rose colored glasses and see Clare's flaws. So many times he'd made grand gestures to Clare and she'd only belittled him for it. He remembered how she'd reacted to his romantic invitation to the Gothic Fiction Festival. As a published writer, she should have been thrilled but Clare had actually acted as if she was doing him a favor by accepting the invitation. He remembered how she'd talked to him like he had been a child. He wished that he'd said something to her but at the time he was too afraid that he was going to lose her, so he'd let her walk all over him. At any rate, Eli now agreed with Fiona and was happy to have broken free of Clare Edward's drama.

Almost protectively like she would have been if he was Declan, Fiona added, "You can do way better than that." Fiona just couldn't understand the power Clare had over Eli. Not only were they so different as people but on top of that, Clare was always picking at Eli. She disapproved of nearly everything Eli said or did but still, he'd nearly killed himself trying to please her. Literally. Fiona knew that a girl like Clare could never truly understand how a guy like Eli ticked but she did. There was something self destructive inside of him just like there was inside of her. It was hard for people like them to control themselves. Instead of offering understanding and support, a person like Clare washed their hands of someone so needy.

It had happened to Fiona time and time again too.

The bell rang taking Fiona's focus off her friend's love life and back on the class at hand. Eli was thankful because he'd really wanted to tell his friend about Drew. Since Fiona was quite cosmopolitan and into the ladies herself, Eli was fairly certain that she'd be happy for him without offering judgment. He knew however that Drew would have died if anyone were to find out about their relationship. Eli valued his love and trust above anything else, so he swore to himself that they would remain a secret to everyone until they both agreed to be open with their friends.

French had always been one of his least favorite classes and it was killing Eli to sit through it today. After a summer of freedom, Eli hadn't been happy to return to a schedule. The summer before had been spent inside his bedroom for the most part, mourning the death of his first real girlfriend, Julia. This summer had been spent with Drew at his side nearly every day. Thinking of his handsome boyfriend, Eli wondered what Drew was doing. As if fate was listening to him, about ten minutes into class he saw Drew in the hallway outside his class trying to get his attention. A grin crept across Eli's face and he asked to use the washroom.

"Were you stalking me?" Eli jokingly asked Drew as he joined him partway down the hall from his French class. Drew's hand reached out and took hold of his, allowing their fingers to intertwine. With a crooked grin, he playfully added, "Not that I'm complaining."

Drew laughed. "I was on my way to the washroom and I saw you in there," he said. "You looked as bored as I was in my math class."

"Bored doesn't even cover it," Eli laughed knowingly. He was aware that Drew had always hated math. He always struggled with it. Leading the way, he told the muscular boy, "Come on."

Eli led Drew into the empty drama class. He explained that he'd already talked to Mrs. Dawes and knew that the room went unused during second period. Drew looked around at the various props and set dressings strewn around. A grin grew across his face and he pulled Eli close to him.

"Good to know," Drew muttered as he pressed his mouth against his lover's and started kissing him. He felt a little nervous doing this at school but also excited. Most of the time over the summer, when Drew and Eli had sex it had been in Eli's bedroom. His father did a radio show and his mother worked a day job, so privacy had been nearly guaranteed. Besides that, even when they were around Eli's parents weren't very meddlesome. At Drew's house, his mother and Adam were always around. Mother had always been nosy with what Drew was up to and Adam had spent most of his time recovering in front of the TV. Since the shooting and Bianca testifying against Vince, Adam had become friends with his onetime enemy, so she'd often show up too. Drew wasn't ready to come clean about his relationship with his brother's best friend, so that was just too many eyes to have on them.

Eli's parents on the other hand were very relaxed in raising their son. Drew actually wondered if it was one of the reasons his lover had turned out so creative and open. Where his mother would have given him the third degree about how he'd spent his day right in front of his friends, Eli's mother had simply said hi and asked if Drew would be staying for dinner.

In a way, getting to know Eli had helped Drew get to know himself. The two of them were such different people. Where Drew had no idea what he wanted to do with his life, Eli wanted to be a writer. He wrote plays, poetry and had even published a short story in a magazine. One day Eli Goldsworthy would be a world celebrated writer. Drew had no doubt about it. Himself on the other hand, Drew had no set plan on what he wanted to do. He'd spent most of his time playing sports, pounding the skins and chasing girls instead of focusing about the future. He wasn't even sure what he wanted to study at college. Since he was so good at his drumming, Eli had even suggested that he look into music.

Eli ran his hands up inside Drew's shirt, caressing his chest as he continued to kiss him. Drew moaned and the smaller boy knew that his lover liked how his fingers felt against his erect nipples. He could feel the blood rushing to his own loins, so he knew that Drew was excited too. Eli's hand went for Drew's belt but he suddenly pulled back.

"We can't do this here," Drew said, breathing heavily with fear thick in his voice. Eli just started into his blue eyes with that look he always gave and Drew caved. Like he always did. He started kissing Eli's neck and pulled his shirt up and over his head before removing his own. He caressed the emo boy's soft skin, gently squeezing his nipples as he passed over them. A grin slowly washed across his face as he looked into Eli's green eyes. Without wasting a moment, he kissed the smaller boy one more time before he gently pushed at his shoulders, moving him to his knees.

Eli unfastened Drew's belt, popped his button and unzipped his pants before sliding them halfway down his hips. As their peers sat in classes all around them, Eli took the jock's engorged penis into his mouth and slowly worked him. As excited as he was to be fooling around at school, Drew didn't take too long to orgasm. As Eli smiled up at him, Drew mused to himself that Eli in the drama room beat Bianca in the boiler room any day.

"Come on," Drew said. "We'd better get back to class."

Sitting through the remainder of French class had been difficult for Eli because all he could think of was the fact that they hadn't had enough time for Drew to reciprocate while they'd been in the drama room. He hoped that he'd see him later on but didn't hold his breath. Drew would sit with KC, Owen and the other guys on the team at lunch and he'd most likely sit alone since Adam and Dave did their radio show during lunch hour. After lunch was the free period where Eli would meet with the kids in the drama club and Drew would meet with the football team. Neither of them could excuse themselves to meet up without looking very suspicious. At least lunch would mark the halfway point for the day.

Still, lunch was a whole period away and Eli would first have to see Clare in his English class. He hadn't been looking forward to facing his ex since she'd found out about his affair with Jake. He'd avoided it all summer long but now he'd have to see if she was still angry at him. Speaking of the tall, good-looking Jake, Eli was surprised that he hadn't seen him in a class or the halls yet. He hoped that he could become friends with him again but he did understand that it might be a long shot. Jake had to deal with Clare on a daily basis. Fortunately she hadn't been spiteful and started rumors about them but he still didn't want to push her too much.

Walking into class he saw Clare already sitting on the right side of the room, two seats away from Adam Torres. Although Adam motioned him over to sit at a desk close to them, Eli declined and opted to sit on the opposite side of the room. Adam frowned because so much had changed since the previous year. Part of him wished that his two friends had never started dating because now he felt like he had to choose between them.

As he sat down, Eli noticed a girl at the front of the classroom. There was something familiar about her but he could only see the back side of her. She was wearing a blue polo, so she was a senior too. She had black hair and obviously pale skin judging by the slight amount of cheek he'd glimpsed but the profile of her face was hidden from his angle, so he couldn't identify her. A lot of kids changed their appearances over the summer, so it was quite possible she was a girl he just had never noticed before.

His curiosity was sidetracked by the sound of the bell ringing. Mrs. Dawes walked in, closing the door behind herself. "Welcome everyone to advanced English, level four," she said as she looked over her students' faces. "I recognize most of you but I see a couple new faces." Singling out the girl that had drawn Eli's curiosity, she asked, "Are you new to Degrassi?"

"Yes," the girl said as Eli shifted his body in his chair in hopes of getting a look at her profile. "I just transferred here. I grew up close to here and I didn't get along with my stepmom after my dad remarried, so I moved to Vancouver with my real mom."

As she talked there was something familiar in her voice and something even more familiar in her story. Eli realized that someone he'd once known had lived through a similar situation.

All except for the last part.

A cold sweat broke out over Eli as the girl said, "Over the summer my mom moved back, so I'm finishing school at Degrassi."

"Well, welcome," Mrs. Dawes said as she looked down at her roster, "Welcome, Julia?"

"Yes, Julia O'Leary," the girl said.

Eli's heart nearly stopped beating on the spot.

This girl couldn't be Julia O'Leary.

Julia was dead.

As he sat in class, Eli remembered how Bullfrog had been the one to break the news of the accident to him. Without waiting, Eli had frantically rushed out to the hospital although there had been nothing he could do about the situation. Julia had been brought in dead on arrival. While Julia's father had immediately blamed Eli for the accident, Julia's much hated stepmother had coolly informed him that his girlfriend had died instantly and that her body was already in the morgue. Long after Julia's parents had gone, Eli had just sat there in the emergency room waiting area, crying.

Because no one in the family had wanted him there, Eli had been banned from the funeral. After Julia's death Eli's whole world had gone into a tailspin and a lot of things from that spring and summer were still a blur. Eventually, Eli had pulled himself together enough to again function and try to move on with his life.

This girl sitting in the front of the class was now using his dead girlfriend's name and history as her own. It mortified Eli because he still felt directly responsible for Julia's death. Throughout the remainder of the class he was transfixed on the girl. She never turned her head to look back, so he never got a view of her face. When the bell rang at the end of class, Julia got up and left immediately. As Eli started after her, Adam got in the way, stopping him.

"What gives?" Adam asked. "Are you mad or something?"

"I might be," Eli muttered pushing past his confused looking friend and into the hallway.

By the time he got there, the girl was gone and the hall was full of students. Looking perplexed, he turned back to Adam and saw his standing there with Clare. She looked concerned for him. That was a look he hadn't seen on her face in some time.

"You're white as a ghost," Clare said with concern for her ex. "Are you alright, Eli?"

"I just saw a ghost," he said numbly. When he realized that neither of his friends understood he explained, "That girl, the one that transferred in? I think that she's Julia."

Julia, Julia?" Adam asked craning to see out into the hall.

"The one and only," Eli said with the same sound of numbness in his voice.

"That's impossible," Clare said. "Julia is dead."

"Julia O'Leary, my ex girlfriend, was in the same situation that girl described," Eli explained. "Her parents split and her dad remarried. Julia didn't get along with her stepmother, so she spent a lot of time sleeping over at my house."

"We know all about that," Clare said with a hint of bitterness. She wondered if the knowledge that Eli had been sexually active had been one of the first nails in the coffin of their love. Was it an unrealistic expectation to find the right guy and for him to have saved himself for marriage too?

"Well, when her parents split, Julia's mom moved to Vancouver for some TV job she was offered there," Eli said. Several times Julia had tested his love by telling him that she was thinking of going to live with her mother in Vancouver just to hear Eli beg her to stay. Julia had been very insecure in that way.

"But Julia died," Clare said. "She couldn't just fake that. I mean, she was just a kid. How is she supposed to set up all of that?"

"All of what?" Eli asked as he reviewed the facts that he knew in his head. "I never saw her body. She was killed instantly. When I got to the hospital her father tried to attack me and her step mother took me outside. She said that Julia was dead and that I couldn't see her and that I wasn't welcome at the funeral."

Remembering the grief he'd felt, Eli started crying. Suddenly those wounds felt fresh again.

Compassionately, Clare put her arm around her ex to comfort him. She remembered all the guilt in his face the day he's driven her to the spot where Julia had been killed and confessed that he'd killed her. When he'd first made the statement Clare's heart had leaped into her throat. She'd been on the fence between him having had feelings for her or him being a sociopath and the statement of thisis whereIkilledmyexgirlfriend had instantly hit her with the fear that she had fallen for a coldhearted murder. After only a second however she remembered who she'd been talking to and realized that he was just being overly dramatic.

"She said that if it wasn't for me, Julia would have been still alive," he sobbed. "After that things just became a blur. I spent months locked inside my room, hiding."

"Her death must have been in the paper, right?" Adam asked hoping to help.

"I was locked up in my room," he said trying to think. "I never cared about reading the paper."

"What about her grave?" Clare asked.

"There is no grave. She was cremated," he answered. "We both talked about it."

"I hate to go but I've got a radio show to do," Adam said with regret as he grasped his friend's shoulder. Before he started to walk away, he told him, "Hang in there, Eli."

After Clare watched him go, she turned back to Eli. He looked too confused and inside of himself to think. "Come on," she said. "Let's go to lunch."

Without responding, Eli nodded and started to follow her. Finally he realized that this was Clare and she was acting friendly toward him. Had she, maybe, forgiven him over the summer? "How have you been, Clare?" He finally asked as they got to the cafeteria. "I mean, how was your summer?"

"It was alright," she said with a sound of openness in her voice that he found welcoming. Clare hadn't intended on being anything more than a classmate with Eli Goldsworthy but seeing her dark haired ex in pain had reminded her of how much she's once cared for him. She'd cried through all her hurt and screamed through all her anger. Eli had been mentally unstable when he'd done the things he'd done over the spring. How could she really call herself a good Christian and not forgive him?

After realizing that there'd be no escaping Jake Martin since he'd be living under the same roof, Clare had listened to his apologies. Jake had sworn that Eli hadn't been playing any of his infamous games on prom night when she'd caught them together. He'd talked about the affair the two of them had had before Eli's stay in the mental ward and had apologized for his part in it. In a way, she couldn't blame Jake for having fallen into Eli's web. When he wanted to be, Eli was fun to be around, sweet and charming. Clare also realized that he'd made Jake rethink his whole lifestyle. Since their break up, Clare knew for a fact that Jake hadn't dated anyone. In his heart, Clare thought that Jake was still holding out hope that he'd get another chance with Eli. Part of her wished that it would happen because then she could keep Eli close without having to worry about him becoming obsessed with her again.

"Did your mom marry…" Eli started.

Interrupting, she asked, "Jake's dad? Yes. Jake and I are okay now. He misses you, you know. You should come over and see him sometime." Just because she couldn't have the tall, good-looking senior didn't mean that she wanted to see him miserable and alone. Not anymore at least. "Even just as a friend."

"Maybe I will," he said although he wasn't sure it was a good idea. Eli really liked Jake but had chosen Drew over him. He knew that if Jake ever found out that he was seeing another guy, he would be hurt. In his heart, Eli Goldsworthy realized that he'd caused enough pain to the people he cared about already without adding to it.

Sitting at a table with KC, Owen and a bunch of the other guys on the team, Drew had noticed when Eli showed up with Clare Edwards. A little part of him feared that some spark between the two would rekindle into romance but he'd pushed the thought away. Eli was with him and he was loyal. He might want to repair his damaged friendship with Clare but as long as Eli's heart belonged to him, Drew knew that his lover would never cheat. How could there be a true comparison between the two anyway? Drew knew that the furthest Eli had ever gone with Clare had been kissing. The two of them had done way more together. If Drew was going to be jealous of anyone being around Eli, it was Jake Martin. Eli had been very upfront with Drew about some of the things he'd done. Drew knew all about how Eli had slept with Jake before the two of them had had sex for the first time. The only other two people Eli had slept with were dead or knew they would be if they ever looked at him again.

When Drew had found out about the things Fitz had done to his lover, he'd gone berserk. Drew had played it cool that day but a few days later he'd tracked the former bully down and he'd kicked his ass. It was the first and only fight that Drew Torres had ever instigated himself but he didn't feel even a bit of remorse in attacking the guy. In Drew's eyes, Fitz had raped the one person that he loved unconditionally. He couldn't let that go unpunished. Drew had told Fitz in no uncertain terms that if he were to ever come near Eli Goldsworthy again, he'd kill him. With the rage Fitz had seen in Drew's eyes, he'd believed it and he'd sworn to keep away. Drew hadn't even cared if the bully had been aware that he'd been sticking up for Eli because he was in love with him. At that moment all that had mattered to Drew was that Eli was safe.

When Bianca came in and headed into the radio booth, KC nudged Drew. "So, what's the deal with your brother and B?" With a joking grin creeping across his face, he asked. "Does he go after all your leftovers?"

Overhearing it, Owen laughed but kept his remarks to himself when he noticed Drew's eyes flash angrily over at him. He'd been on the outs with the team captain last year and it was quite likely that Drew was going to win that spot this year. Owen figured that the last thing he needed was to piss him off for the same reason he'd pissed Riley off. Of course the difference between Drew and Riley was the fact that Drew was sticking up for his freakish he/she brother as opposed to Riley who'd been covering up the fact that he'd been giving it to the team's kicker.

"Adam and Bianca became friends over the summer," Drew said without addressing his friend's last comment. KC was always trying to be funny, so he was sure it had just been a poorly attempted joke. Looking into the glass room, Drew watched Adam laughing at something that Bianca had said and wondered if his brother was actually still interested in Bianca. He wasn't going to admit that to KC, so instead he added, "I think she feels guilty for getting him shot."

"Lucky Adam," KC muttered, knowing how Bianca made things up to guys when she wanted them on her side. When his friend gave him a curious glance, KC grinned and told him, "I'm sure Bianca spent all summer making him forget about the pain."

"Stop it," Drew scolded. "They're just friends."

KC just laughed.

Although Drew loved Adam, he also knew Bianca. Although she might like Adam and feel responsible for him having been hurt, she was also pretty into the cock. While they'd been together, Bianca hadn't been able to keep her hands off Drew's. Even if she somehow decided she really like his brother, Drew knew that she could never actually go for Adam because he was lacking of that certain piece of equipment.

Of course, before starting his relationship with Eli, Drew might have had some pretty crude remarks to make too if it hadn't been his little brother they were talking about flirting with Boiler Room Bianca. Drew remembered how she knew just what to do to drive a guy wild. When he'd been so in love with Alli, Drew hadn't even tried to resist Bianca's charm. Now all he could think about was Eli's green eyes, sweet smile and sexy body. Drew wasn't even slightly attracted to any of the other guys at school, just Eli. Earlier when KC had pointed out how hot Sadie had gotten over the summer, all Drew had been able to think had been, "Whatever,she'snoEli." It had nearly escaped his lips too. He realized that at this point he didn't even find hot girls at school all that attractive. During history a couple of the junior girls had come over to him and tried to flirt but he hadn't even tried to play back. His life this year was really going to become difficult if he truly planned to keep his romance with Eli a secret.

He wondered if this was how it had been for Riley and felt bad for how he'd blackmailed the guy over his relationship with Zane. Even at the time Drew had felt bad in doing it to his former teammate but at the end of the day he'd been able to reconcile himself with the fact that the means justified the ends. He knew that Eli lived by the same philosophy. Adam had told him once about how Eli had pulled some pretty underhanded tactics to win free Dead Hand tickets in a contest. Now that the shoe was on the other foot, Drew really wanted to apologize to Riley and ask for his forgiveness.

Drew had always been one of the guys, doing the things the other guys did and had never worried about fitting in. He just did. He was a good-looking jock with girls throwing themselves at him. It had been easy to lose himself in it. He'd had his pick of girls and when he'd tired of one, the next had always been waiting for him.

Now he was in love. And it was with a guy. Not exactly something he'd ever thought he'd face in his life. He glanced over at his friends and wondered how good of friends any of them would stay with him if they learned the truth. He counted Owen out immediately. The guy was the biggest homophobe on the team, if not in the school. Given the fact that his brother was quite flamboyant, Drew couldn't understand. Just seeing the prejudice that Adam faced, Drew had always been sensitive to transgender kids. He figured that Owen was insecure deep inside.

Although they'd been through a lot together, Drew also couldn't see KC standing by his side either. KC wasn't homophobic like Owen but Drew knew that he'd never really cared for Eli. Since he'd once dated Clare Edwards, KC had watched jealously as Eli and Clare's love had bloomed. In not liking the guy, KC had made a number of less than nice observations about Eli. He'd laughed about the whole emo look and of course about the guyliner. Drew couldn't remember it word for word but he'd basically said that any guy that worried about making up his eyes like that had to be a little too in touch with his feminine side.

Drew realized that when his relationship with Eli was finally exposed, he'd be looking for a new group of friends. Whereas he'd once thought of it as an if, he now knew that it was a when. Eli Goldsworthy had become the most important thing in Drew's life and when push came to shove, he knew that he'd choose Eli over just about anyone else.

As lunch had progressed, Eli had caught up with Clare. Over the summer she'd made up with Jake, had a fight with Alli and become friends with Drew's ex, Katie. He had been happy to learn that Clare would be joining drama club as well as Fiona. Since they met after lunch, the two of them had walked there together. Although there had been a few stolen glances, Eli had done his best the whole time to not sit and stare at Drew and his friends. Eli had been pleased when his eyes had met Drew's a couple times.

Walking into the drama room, Eli and Clare saw Fiona already sitting at a table and walked over to join her. Fiona was caught off guard just a bit seeing the two of them together but she quickly recovered. Eli didn't look stressed or hopeful, so she figured that that must be a good thing. Besides, he was seeing a new girl. He should be over St. Clare.

"Fiona, look who else is in our club," Eli said as he sat. Part of him seemed pretty amused because he knew that Clare had never approved of Fiona's drinking when she'd been seeing Adam and of course just three periods earlier Fiona had made it clear that she never thought that Clare had been good enough for Eli.

Fiona flashed a nervous smile and said hello. She wondered how uncomfortable this was going to be sitting between the two of them. Of course nearly everyone was aware of Eli's past obsession with perky Clare Edwards. The big school play last year had given the dark haired boy a soapbox to stand on and tell everyone about their relationship and how Clare had run recklessly over his heart.

Clare saw the look of worry on the wealthy girl's face and told her, "Before you get concerned, Eli and I are fine. We've had a long talk and we're friends again."

"I really don't want to be a third wheel," Fiona said already thinking of switching tables. Adam had told her how Eli and Clare had made him feel like a ghost in the room when their relationship had been going well.

Sensing that Fiona was concerned that they might start dating again, Eli told her, "Not that good of friends." Eli started to say something more just as he saw Julia walk into the room. Both Clare and Fiona sat there waiting for more but it never came. Instead Eli stood and slowly started walking towards the black haired girl. "Julia?"

"Elijah," she said with a wicked looking grin splitting her harsh looking lips. "It's been a long time."

"It is you. But, you're dead," he muttered.

"Reports of my death were greatly exaggerated," she said with a wry twist of humor in her voice. She glanced over at Fiona and Clare and asked, "So, Elijah, who are the cheerleaders?"

"Huh?" Eli asked, looking confused. "Oh, this is my friend Fiona and my friend Clare."

"Charmed," Julia said coolly, shooting them the quickest glance. Without affording the two girls more than a moment's attention, Julia affixed her gaze back on her former boyfriend. "You've grown, Elijah."

"How?" Eli asked, ignoring the fact that she was intentionally baiting him on by calling him by his full name. "I mean, I'm happy to see you but you're dad told me that you were killed. I went to the hospital. Your stepmother said you were killed instantly."

Julia laughed as if Eli's concern was a joke to her. "Good old stepmother," she said with acid in her voice. "She probably wishes that I'd died. You remember all the times I slept at your house because of her?" She asked with a laugh. Her whole demeanor was dismissive to his feelings as she continued to explain, "I wasn't really hurt bad in that accident but I told my dad about our fight. I told him that I never wanted to see you again and he suggested I go stay with my real mom for a while. It wasn't until later at home that he told me what he told you. And how you reacted to it."

"I was devastated," Eli said feeling a wave of that overwhelming loss wash over him again. "I loved you more than anything in this world and you were dead."

"Really?" She asked with ice in her tone. "That's not what either of them said to me."

"What?" Eli asked in surprise.

"Both daddy and stepmom said that you were relieved to have me out of your way," she said giving him a cold glare. Remembering a line for a piece of some romantic poetry he'd written for her, Julia's face flashed angry and she told him, "I guess it's true that everything dies."

Confusion washed over Eli's face as he wondered how Julia's parents could have been so cruel to them. Beyond that he wondered how she could have possibly believed that he had been relieved to be rid of her. "What? And you believed that?" The dark haired boy asked with his heart breaking all over again. "After everything we meant to one and other?"

"After everything we meant to one and other?" She mocked in a cold, whiny voice. "Are you kidding? You told me that I was a selfish, spoiled bitch the last time we talked," she said with acid in her tone. Her expression softened a bit and she told him, "All I could think of when I left was how horrible you'd been to me. I was angry at the time but I'm over it now. I figured if I was such a burden on you, then I'd just let you go on believing I was dead."

"I loved you," Eli said feeling aghast that anyone could be so heartless to another human being. Eli had likened their relationship to Romeo and Juliet on more than one occasion. Julia knew that when Romeo had thought that he'd lost Juliet, he'd committed suicide to be with her in the afterlife. How could she have not thought that her lover might try the same thing? Clare had claimed that Julia's ghost had come between them on a number of occasions. It had taken Eli months and months to get over Julia's death. Even a year after it had happened he was still mourning her. "Your death tore me apart. I went into my room and stayed for weeks. I didn't even have the will to look at other girls for the longest time."

"So, what did you mean when you told my daddy that we were finished anyway?" She asked as if calling him out. Fire burned in her eyes as the sting of his rejection was once again a fresh wound in her heart.

"Do you even know me at all, Julia?" Eli asked aghast that she could have actually believed he'd have been so indifferent over losing her. "You were the most important person in my life and then you were just gone. I never said anything of the sort to your father. But you let me believe that you were dead. That's just vicious."

"And what you said to me that night in the park was vicious," she said.

As Eli tried to process all the things he'd just learned, Mrs. Dawes walked in. "Welcome to drama club everyone," she said with a wide smile on her face. "Once again, I'll be the faculty advisor for this club. It looks like half of you are from my advanced English class. After the success of our last two productions, Principal Simpson has challenged us to outdo ourselves." She looked over at Eli and Fiona and added, "Since a number of you were directly responsible for the success of Love Roulette, I think you'll enjoy this challenge."

Eli felt like shit having had such a public argument with Julia right in front of Fiona and Clare. As their advisor talked to the group, Eli glanced over at Julia and wondered if he'd ever really known her.

The rest of the day went slowly for Eli Goldsworthy, so by the end of the last period he was more than ready to leave. The one bright point had been running into Jake Martin in his civics class. The two of them had sat at the back of the class and talked about Jake's summer before the bell rang. Clare had already told Eli her side of living with her ex as a stepbrother but in civics Jake had explained his side of it. There had been something in Jake's voice that told Eli that he wasn't over their fling. The dark haired boy had nearly confessed his relationship with to his friend several times but had refrained. Although Eli knew that Jake deserved the truth, he also knew that the ruggedly good-looking boy would dig until he discovered that it was Drew that Eli had started seeing. He figured that Jake was too classy to spill the secret but Eli wasn't willing to risk Drew's reputation.

By the time Eli made it to his locker, Drew had already finished storing his books and was moving things around in it as if stalling for time. When he looked at the dark haired emo kid, Drew instantly knew that something was wrong. Immediately Drew forgot where he was and he looked concerned for his friend.

"Are you alright?" He asked.

Numbly, Eli shook his head in a gesture that said no and said, "I never told you about my ex."

"Clare?" The confused jock asked. Everyone at Degrassi knew about Eli and Clare.

"Julia," Eli said, bothered to even hear her name. "We had a fight. She was hit by a car and died because of me. But not really because she's here now, at Degrassi."

"You're not making any sense," Drew said. He remembered Adam saying something a long time ago about how Eli had been keeping this terrible secret about some dead girl from Clare and that he had been trapped between them. At the time, Drew had been more concerned with some party Alli had been throwing than listening to his brother talk about some emo kid he barely knew and his girlfriend.

"In my head, I always thought I killed her because the accident was my fault," Eli said instead of explaining himself. Still reeling from the revelation that she was alive, he shook his head and said, "All that guilt. I've lived with it for so long."

Drew was still confused but understood guilt over causing the death of another person. He hadn't killed anyone himself but Drew had been with Bianca when she'd accidentally murdered her drug dealing ex boyfriend in an alley downtown during an attempted rape. It had been an accident but still he couldn't forget having been there when another man's life had ended. For the longest time, Drew would wake up at night hearing the sound of the stone hit the guy's head. In no way did Drew believe that this man didn't deserve everything that he got, he just wished that he hadn't been there to see it happen.

"Eli, you're not making sense," Drew said hoping that he'd reached his friend.

After taking a breath, Eli explained the basic facts of Julia's death and of having seen her during drama club to his friend without getting too far in depth. Drew was mortified that Julia's father would be so heartless as to allow his beautiful lover believe that he'd caused the death of someone he'd cared about. Just seeing how shaky Eli looked Drew wanted to wrap his arms around him and tell him that everything would be okay. Was his reputation with a bunch of guys that didn't really even know him that much more important than the guy he loved?

Looking into Eli's green eyes, Drew realized that nothing was more important to him than his lover. Compassionately, Drew wrapped his arms around Eli and pulled him in close. In that moment the muscular boy chose love over reputation. Not willing to let his lover make that sacrifice, Eli pulled away from him and asked, "What are you doing?"

The look of terror in the dark haired boy's eyes was unmistakable but who had it been for? All his peers already thought that he was a psycho. Could he really care if they thought he was gay on top of that? Drew realized that Eli's concern had been for him and came from a place of selflessness.

"I'm here for you, Eli," Drew said. "You looked like you needed to be comforted."

Eli managed a grim smile and asked, "Do you know how much I love you?"

"Let's go to the dot. I think you could use a hot chocolate," Drew said as he grinned back. When Eli nodded and the light returned to his eyes, Drew added, "I love you too, Eli."

Then:

Julia hopped on her bike and angrily pedaled away from Eli. Before she could disappear into the darkness, she reached back and extended her middle finger at him. How dare Eli Goldsworthy make her feel so worthless? She'd shared his bed repeatedly over the past several months and he dared tell her how to live her life? No, that just would not do.

Although Julia O'Leary loved Elijah Goldsworthy, she also could admit that he was a spoiled little poseur. He knew nothing of what the real world was like. Not like she did anyhow. He came from a safe, middle class home with two parents, right there to wipe his ass. Eli had several fashionable punk style jackets that all looked similar besides the badass leather jacket that she loved to borrow from him. Any time Eli wanted anything his parents were right on it. In the O'Leary household, it was always a fight. Julia had to beg or argue for everything she had. Stepmother was selfish and hated sharing father's attention or money with a child that wasn't even her own.

She'd first been attracted to Eli when she'd seen him sitting in the cafeteria, writing in his notebook while the other kids were talking and joking with their friends. Unlike most of their classmates, Eli was intense and introspective like her. He dressed in a lot of black, like her and loved the same bands as her. When she first approached him, Julia had been impressed with the darkness of his poetry and short stories. He was so passionate about writing and so much more serious than any of their classmates. Julia had thought that Eli could be shaped into a perfect boyfriend.

As they'd gotten to know one and other, Julia had been surprised to realize that Eli had a pleasant home life. Both of his parents still lived with him and even more surprisingly, they'd actually still loved one and other. The seeds of resentment had started growing in her heart but she'd ignored them. So what if Eli had so much where she had so little? She had been falling for him and she should have wished him happiness.

Julia had realized that Eli had the makings of an excellent writer. He just seemed to look at the world in his own way from just outside the view of all their classmates. He was deep, thoughtful and sensitive. Too sensitive in fact. Although he had an individual style, Eli had cared about what their classmates thought of him. That had been one of the first things Julia had set about changing in him.

Once she'd started dating Eli, Julia had made him see how little their peers mattered. She'd quickly become the only thing that mattered to him. Of course the beautiful dark haired boy's parents had supported everything their son got into, so they'd naturally supported his relationship with his first real girlfriend. When they'd learned of how terrible life had been around the O'Leary household for Julia, Bullfrog and Cece had invited Julia to stay with their son any time she wanted. Surprisingly, Eli's parents had bought him boxes of condoms and had encouraged the relationship.

A little part of Julia had actually been upset. Although she enjoyed having sex with Eli, she would have preferred that his parent forbid it. That would have certainly driven a wedge into his relationship with them. Elijah Goldsworthy had become the only thing that mattered in Julia's life and she desperately wanted her to be the only thing that mattered to him.

As she pedaled away from him into the dark, Julia thought about how she'd manipulated the argument that had erupted between the two of them. Again, she'd been trying to get him to see that she was the only thing in his world that mattered to him. She'd wanted him to beg her not to leave him. He hadn't however. Instead Eli had stuck up for himself and had tried to make her see his point.

Julia cursed that her scheme had failed. Now she'd lost him. She had to find a way to win him back without giving him the upper hand. If she'd learned anything watching the fights of her parents, it was the fact that the one with the upper hand always got what they wanted.

Distracted by her inner thoughts, Julia didn't look before riding her bike through the intersection. It was well past midnight and there were very few cars on the street, so she hadn't really been paying attention anyway. Suddenly, a flash to the right caught her eye but it was too late. Out of nowhere, a black Lexus slammed into her, throwing her from her bike and over its hood.

Now:

Eli sat at a table at The Dot with Drew, sipping a cup of hot chocolate and thinking about seeing Julia again. He was overwhelmingly happy to know that she hadn't been killed that night but he was still torn. Because of her death, he'd made her into this great love in his mind while in truth she'd been filled with hatred towards him. Everything he'd believed had been a matter of his own opinion. Since their last conversation had been made in anger, Eli had done his best to not let it define their relationship. His therapist had told him that dwelling on it would only cripple him further. Since she'd pointed out that his hoarding had been directly related to his inability to let go, Eli's therapist had recommended that he defined their time together using all the memories they shared.

On that advice Eli had tried to focus on happy memories he'd shared with Julia but right now he was finding that impossible to do. When she'd left town to stay with her mother, Julia had been well aware that her father had told Eli that she'd been killed in the accident. Even if she'd been angry with him, Eli couldn't believe that anyone could be so cruel as to not tell someone that they'd once loved that they were still alive. No matter what her father told her, Eli figured that Julia should have known better than to think that he'd really said something so callused and heartless. That hurt. What hurt even more was the fact that she hadn't loved him enough to straighten out the situation.

"You're like a million miles away, aren't you?" The short haired jock asked from across the table. He watched as his boyfriend looked at him and snapped back to reality. Drew's heart went out for Eli because he'd never formed strong attachments for the girls he'd dated. As much as he'd been attracted to Alli, Drew had barely hesitated in following Bianca to the boiler room. When he'd been dating Bianca and Vince's boys had nearly beaten him to death, Drew had chosen himself over her without a second thought. Eli on the other hand was monogamous with the girls he dated and even obsessive over the thought of losing them. Drew realized that what this girl had done to his lover had been cruel beyond words.

"I was just thinking," Eli said without saying what he'd been thinking about.

"Well, stop it," Drew said with a playful grin. Picking on his own reputation for being a bit dim, he added, "That always seems to work for me."

Eli chuckled and flashed a quick grin to show his appreciation. "I wish I could," he muttered.

"I have ways of getting your mind off it," Drew said putting his cup down. He grabbed Eli's hand and told him, "Let's go to your house. I still owe you something from earlier."

The dark haired boy let a crooked grin wash over his face. Dead or alive, Julia was part of Eli's past. Drew Torres was Eli's present and future. After a day living in the past, he desperately wanted to get back to where his life was headed instead of where it had been.

"What are we waiting for?" Eli asked.

They both got up and headed outside as KC and Marisol came in. When Drew saw KC his eager smile faded and a guilty look washed over his face. Immediately KC recognized the deviously playful look in his best friend's eyes before it washed away. He was surprised to see the same look in the emo boy's eyes. The tall boy wondered why Drew was hanging out with that unbalanced weirdo.

"I told you I'm worth the money when it comes to passing English," Eli said, trying to cover for his friend. He'd seen the curious look on KC's face and knew that Drew probably felt trapped.

"Yeah, thanks," Drew said after he realized what his lover was doing. "English looks really difficult this year, so I'm going to need a tutor a lot."

"Hey, Drew," KC said. "If you needed an English tutor, why didn't you ask me?"

"Oh, Eli was at my house hanging with my brother and said he could use a little extra cash, so I figured why not?" Drew lied. As uneasy as it looked, he hoped that KC wouldn't realized how forced his smile was.

"Well, I would have helped you for free," his friend said holding back the insult he wanted to throw at the dreaded emo kid. For the longest time, KC had still held onto a measured amount of guilt in his heart for having cheated on Clare with Jenna. Eventually he'd released that self hate in the form of disliking Eli Goldsworthy for all the hell he'd put Clare through. The last thing he wanted to see was his friend making friends with that kid. KC watched as Drew started for the bus stop with Eli and called out to him. "Hey, Drew, What are you up to?"

"Huh?" Drew asked.

"I mean, you should stick around and hang with us," KC invited.

Marisol gave Drew a look that told him that she wanted to be alone with KC. Acting friendly, she said, "KC, it looks like Drew has plans with Eli. We can see him tomorrow at school."

Just then the bus pulled up and Eli said, "Well, this is my bus. I'll see you guys later." Of course he knew that Drew wanted to go with him however he had to choose it. Although the choice would have been easy for Eli, his boyfriend was a very different person than him. Eli Goldsworthy put the person he was in love with above everyone and everything else in his life. That single-mindedness had nearly cost him his friendship with Drew's brother when he'd been dating Clare.

Although Eli hadn't expected Drew to choose him over his friends, the handsome athlete surprised him and said, "Wait up, Goldsworthy." Turning back to KC he explained, "I already made plans to go over to Eli's house. Sorry."

KC furrowed his brow as Drew followed Eli onto the bus. Marisol grabbed his arm and pulled him back into The Dot.

"You looked surprised," Drew said as he took a seat next to Eli. With a teasing smirk brightly blooming across his face, he asked, "Did you really think I'd choose to hang with KC and Marisol instead of what we talked about doing?"

"I know that you want to keep our friendship a secret," Eli muttered instead of saying yes.

"I don't want to keep our friendship secret," Drew corrected. "I want to keep the fact that we're fucking secret. The cover that you're tutoring me gives us the perfect excuse to become friends. Now we won't have to worry as much when our friends see us together."

"I wasn't worried to begin with," Eli said plainly. Laying his cards on the table, he explained, "I really don't care anymore if my friends find out that we're together. I'll probably have a hard time telling my parents but they love me, so I'm sure they'll accept me as I am. It hurt hearing Julia tell me that I'm a terrible person but I'm not."

Before Eli could continue, Drew interrupted him. "Julia is wrong," he said with a flat tone in his voice. "I know what's in your heart and you're a warm, wonderful person. If Julia doesn't know that about you then I pity her because she never really knew just what she had with you."

"God, I want to kiss you right here," Eli muttered so that the other passengers didn't overhear him.

Grinning playfully, Drew leaned in just inches from Eli's face and whispered, "Dare me."

The dark haired boy looked deep into his athletic friend's blue eyes and bit at his lower lip. Any of the kids they knew from school could easily be on the bus with them, witnessing all of this but Eli didn't care. He wanted to taste Drew's lips right now so badly that Clare could be there and he wouldn't have cared. Without realizing that the words were actually coming out of his mouth, Eli heard himself say, "I dare you."

Drew's eyes sparkled and he slowly moved in on Eli. Just before their mouths could connect, the bus stopped. Drew pulled away, grinned and said, "Looks like our stop."

Then:

Eli rushed into the emergency room, followed by Bullfrog and Cece. Frantically he ran up to the nurse's station and asked, "I'm looking for Julia O'Leary. I was told she was hit by a car."

"You're too late," a voice said from behind him. The worried teenager spun around to see Julia's father standing there. Mr. O'Leary wasn't nearly as opposing a figure as Eli's own father but he had a temper and his face was red with rage. He looked primed to kill as he glared at his daughter's black clad boyfriend.

"She's dead?" Eli cried, fearing the worst. His knees gave out underneath him and his parents both moved closer. "We were fighting and she rode off angry…" he sobbed as he sat on his knees on the floor. His emotions got the better of him and his voice failed. Black eyeliner ran down his cheeks as the tears poured out of his eyes and his lips trembled.

"This is all your fault!" Mr. O'Leary screamed without confirming or denying the dark haired teenager's question. As Eli had fallen to his knees, Mrs. O'Leary, Julia's despised stepmother had walked in from the parking lot entrance. Watching her stepdaughter's boyfriend sob, she walked to her husband's side. There was a looked in her eyes that could almost be described as amusement at the sight of the young man breaking down at the news of his loss. Pointing an angry finger at Eli, Mr. O'Leary shouted, "You've been playing games with my daughter's head since she met you."

Eli just remained on his knees, crying. The angry words fell away as if they'd never reached him because all he could think of was the fact that the person he loved most in this world was gone. The world kept moving around the devastated teenager but he'd stopped in the moment that he'd learned of Julia's death. As an atheist, Eli Goldsworthy did not believe in heaven or hell. When Julia had died, he feared that she'd simply stopped existing. Their souls would not be reunited at the end of his life in some fantastic afterlife like Romeo and Juliet believed theirs would be. At that moment Eli prayed that ghosts were real. He prayed that the essence of who she had been still existed on some different plane of existence but the whole idea of it wasn't very likely.

When Bullfrog saw Julia's father balling his fists, he moved in front of his broken son. "Harry, let's get some air," he said to the man. There had been a tone in his voice that told the grieving father to step away from his son and he did.

"Come on, darling," Mrs. O'Leary said to her husband. I pulled the car around."

He stepped back, dismissively waved off Eli's father and walked back down the corridor.

As Mr. O'Leary left his wife walked past his parents and over to the sobbing teenager. Where Eli was still on his knees, crying, she told him to get up. Feebly complying, he walked with her over to one of the chairs and the two of them sat. With a little more compassion she explained, "The paramedics said that Julia was killed instantly when that car hit her. She was dead on arrival. I'm sure she didn't suffer."

Numbly, Eli muttered, "I want to see her. Please?"

"It's too late," she said plainly. "They brought Julia directly to the morgue. Only family is allowed down there to identify the body. Eli, listen to me. This whole mess is your fault. You might not have been driving that car but you killed our daughter. You should have never had her out at two in the morning like that. We trusted you, Eli, and you let us down. You let her down."

"I'm sorry," Eli mumbled, feeling the weight of guilt pressing down on him. He imagined her beautiful body getting cold as it lay on a metal slab waiting for autopsy. "We were going to go back to my house and I don't even remember what I said but Julia got mad. The next thing I knew, we were fighting and I said a bunch of things I didn't mean."

"Eli, I want you to know right now, you are not welcome at the funeral," she said. In the same calm, deliberate voice she told him, "Don't soil our daughter's memory. You're responsible for all this misery. Don't put Julia's father through having to see his daughter's murderer ever again."

With that she got up and walked away, leaving Eli Goldsworthy alone with his guilt. With black eyeliner running down his face, Eli looked helplessly up at his parents. Their faces were filled with a compassion he knew that he didn't deserve.

Now:

Fortunately, no one was home when Eli and Drew arrived. A lot had happened during the course of the day and Eli would have certainly raised their suspicions if he'd run to his bedroom with Drew before telling them that Julia was back from the dead. Eli swore that he wasn't going to allow his ex ruin his fun with Drew. As soon as they'd walked in, Eli had started kissing Drew before pulling his shirt off over his head. Drew quickly followed, peeling off his shirt and discarding it on the floor next to Eli's. Next, the athlete reached for Eli's metal studded belt and pulled it open before snapping the button and pulling down the zipper.

"I've been thinking about this since second period," Drew said as he sank to his knees and pulled Eli's khakis down to his knees. Without hesitation, he leaned in and took the head of Eli's penis into his mouth. The smaller boy moaned as Drew's warm lips closed around it and he felt his tongue attack the hole at the tip. Slowly, Drew engulfed the length of it until his nose was pressed against Eli's pubes and his chin against his balls. Again Eli let out a loud moan as he became lost in the pleasure his body was feeling. Drew reached his hands up Eli's body and gently squeezed at his nipples as he worked his penis with his mouth.

With Julia fresh in his head, Eli's mind wandered to how sex with her had been and he started to compare Drew's oral skills compared to hers. He stopped himself when he came to the realization that there was no comparison. Drew was a vastly superior lover to Julia. Eli looked down and watched Drew as his head bobbed up and down on his penis. Suddenly he felt an overwhelming rush as an enormous orgasm washed over him, sending ripples of pleasure over every part of his body.

Drew jumped up and started kissing Eli, knocking him over on the bed. With the taste of himself still on his lover's lips, Eli grabbed at Drew's ass, pulling him closer. Suddenly, Drew started fiddling with his belt. Eli kicked his pants off as his athletic lover shed his too. Lying on his stomach, Eli felt Drew get over him and push his erect penis into his ass. Within seconds the jock was deep inside his artistic lover and they were both moaning. Eli mused to himself how Julia certainly couldn't compare to Drew in this respect. He supposed that she could have strapped one on but still, no one could compare to the passionate way Drew held him when he was inside of him.

Just the way his arms wrapped around Eli told him that the act of love making was far more spiritual than just sex for Drew. Eli knew that Drew had dated Bianca who was notoriously easy but beyond head, he'd never slept with her. He'd also dated Alli but he'd cheated on her way to quickly for them to have become lovers. Of course Katie was part of Clare's virgin club, so again, Drew hadn't seen any action. Eli mused over the fact that none of them would ever know just what they'd missed out on.

As Eli's mind wandered, Drew was quickly building towards his climax. Moaning louder and louder, Drew finally shoved himself deep inside of Eli and released. Waves of pleasure rippled over his sweat covered body before he finally collapsed on top of his beautiful lover.

"I love you more than I ever thought possible," he romantically whispered into Eli's ear.

Without feeling the need to say it back with words, Eli reached back and took a hold of Drew's hand, intertwining their fingers together. Carefully, Drew slid his penis out of Eli so that he could turn to face him. Gently their lips met before both boys drifted off to sleep.

Then:

"Your father told Eli that you were gone, as in having already been released and waiting in the car, but he mistook it for you being dead," Julia's stepmother Helen O'Leary explained from the edge of the makeshift bed she'd snuggled down into on the sofa.

"Really?" She asked as her eyes grew wide. A wave of shock rolled over Julia as she imagined how her boyfriend must have felt hearing that news. Julia knew that Eli was a big emo baby at heart and had often compared their love to Romeo and Juliet, one of his favorite Shakespearian plays. She wondered if the silly boy had gone home and started scouring eBay for auctions selling hemlock or deadly nightshade. Although in a lot of pain where the bruises had started setting in, Julia suddenly felt her emotional state lift. When Eli found out that she was not dead, he'd fall all over himself apologizing.

Then her dreaded stepmother crushed her spirits by telling her, "Kid, you really know how to pick them. The first thing out of that loser's mouth was; it wasn'tmyfault.Shestartedthefight."

Julia's jaw dropped but her stepmother kept her cards close to her chest and didn't let her pleasure show on her face. For the longest time Julia's father had wanted his daughter away from that awful boy. She slept at his house on a regular basis and rubbed it in that he had a comfy double bed. No father wanted to know that his daughter was sexually active but Eli Goldsworthy was a poetry spouting pussy on top of the rest. He swore that his daughter had only chosen the boy to aggravate him.

Since she was already a wild child neither of them dared to forbid Julia from staying at Eli's house. With her streak of spitefulness, Julia was likely to get herself intentionally knocked up by the kid. Both of them had decided to just grin and bear it until she grew tired of him. Then the accident happened. Since Eli had accidentally interpreted Julia's father having meant that she'd died as opposed to having been treated and already released, Helen had expanded upon it and had come up with a scheme to not only get rid of the unwanted boyfriend but also get rid of Julia too. Privately, she'd convinced her husband to manipulate Julia into believing that Eli hadn't cared that she'd died. With her predisposition to anger, Julia would write him off. Just for good measure, they'd send Julia to live with her mother in Vancouver. For Helen it would be a win/win situation. Now she just had to sell it to her troublesome stepdaughter.

"He said what?" Julia asked right on queue.

In her Itoldyousovoice, Helen happily told the black haired girl, "You little prince was more concerned about his own skin for having gotten you killed than he was over your death. Did you think he'd be heartbroken? Isn't true love grand?"

"Eli thinks I'm dead and doesn't care?" She asked in disbelief.

"You said that he said some pretty awful things to you at the park?" The older woman asked. When Julia nodded, Helen shook her head with the slightest amount of sympathy and told her, "A boy doesn't say that kind of stuff unless he means it, dear." She'd purposely kept a measured amount of coldness in her tone so that Julia wouldn't think that she was being too nice and see through the ruse. Right then Julia's father came in. Seeing his daughter and realizing how easily her life could have ended by that car, he smiled gratefully.

"Daddy, did Eli really start going on how he wasn't to blame for my accident?" She asked, still suspect of the stepmother she hated. When her father gave her a deep frown, Julia's hopes sank.

"He was more afraid that I was going to hurt him than anything else," Harry O'Leary lied. "You really picked a winner with that one. You know, pumpkin, no father wants to think of his little girl in bed with a boy."

"Dad!" Julia cried.

"Honey, it's a simple fact," he said with a slight chuckle in his voice that helped soften her posture too. "But if this boy didn't have the least bit of concern for you. He thought you were dead, for Christ's sake. If Helen was in an accident, the only thing I'd be thinking about would be if she was alright, not worrying if I was going to be blamed for something." Nearly crying, he told her, "Eli didn't even ask if you suffered. The little bastard might as well have said, betterherthanme."

Acting upset over his daughter's uncaring boyfriend's lack of concern, Harry started crying. Helen did her best to keep the grin that was tugging at the corners of her face from spreading. She had to hand it to her husband. He was pretty believable.

"I never want to see him again," Julia said as tears filled her eyes. Eli might have been a poseur but she always thought that he loved her. Obviously he only cared about himself. At first she's wanted to have him come running to her when he found out that she was alive but now she just couldn't stomach the thought of ever seeing him again. "I wish I could let him just go on believing that I was dead," she muttered.

"Well, we've talked about you spending some time with your mother in Vancouver," Harry said suggestively. With a shrug he offered, "What if you finish off the school year out there?"

A wicked grin grew across Julia's face.

Now:

It was only the second day of school and Drew Torres was already looking forward to the weekend. Since he was up for captain of the football team, he'd spent his whole lunch period meeting with the coach. Now it was the end of the day and he was back in the locker room, getting ready for practice.

Drew was already half changed when KC walked into the locker room and started getting undressed. He nodded a friendly hello and KC smirked. "So, what did you and your new best friend get up to yesterday?" The tall slender boy asked with a hint of jealousy in his voice.

"Wefuckedeachother'sbrainsout," Drew thought to himself. The thought of shocking his friend and teammate brought a grin to Drew's face. "Oh, we just hung out," he said instead. "We listened to some of Eli's records. Did you know he collects vinyl?"

Of course KC didn't know Eli collected vinyl records. "Other than the fact that he writes mean spirited plays about his exes and crashes hearses into walls, I really don't know much about the guy," KC said casually. When Drew looked over at him in surprise KC just smiled an ironic smirk back as if he thought that he was funny.

"Why are you so down on the guy?" Drew asked in a tone that told his friend that he wasn't cool with him picking on Eli. "He's never done anything to you, has he?"

"He just rubs me the wrong way," KC said with an unconvincing tone in his voice. The truth was, KC had no good reason to dislike Eli Goldsworthy beyond his reputation for being an outsider. Still he felt the need to support his weak point of view and said, "He's a freak, Drew. You of all people should see that."

"What does that supposed to mean?" Drew asked.

"It means, you're normal," KC said. "No offense against your brother or anything, but you're mega popular and probably going to be captain of the football team. Eli is obsessed with death. He's a weird dude that rides a hearse. Did you read that story he got published? I'll bet you that by your ten year reunion he'll be in jail for murdering someone."

"You know, you're way out of line, man," Drew said fighting off the urge to punch KC in the mouth. Shaking his head, he said, "You don't know the first thing about the guy. Eli is one of the most talented kids at this school. My brother has good taste in friends."

Drew crammed the rest of his clothes into his locker and slammed it shut.

"Why are you all sticking up for him?" KC asked as Drew started walking away. He wondered what his friend wasn't telling him.

Eli was standing at the bus stop when Julia walked over. "What, no coffee date today with Mr. Blue Eyes?" She asked with a sneaky grin growing across her face that told Eli that she had more than just snarky comments on her mind.

"What do you want, Julia?" He asked, already tired of the game.

"What makes you think I want something?" She asked with the same knowing grin plastered across her blood-red lips. Ever so innocently she said, "So yesterday, I was on the bus. You know, the one that goes past your favorite coffee shop? Of course you know the one I'm talking about. You and Mr. Popularity got on my bus together. Of course you were too distracted by his dazzling smile to notice me at the back."

Eli realized that if Julia had been on the bus yesterday afternoon, then she was alluding to him flirting with Drew. Instead of acting guilty, Eli acted casual. "I guess I didn't notice you," he told her. "I'm tutoring that guy in English this semester."

Yeah, right," she laughed. "Is that what you kids are calling it these days? So, when did you switch teams, Elijah? Was it after losing me? Did my supposed death drive you into the arms of men?"

Eli laughed as if amused by the outrageousness of her assumption. "Really, Julia? Losing you drove me into the arms of men? And you said I had a flair for the dramatic. I don't know what you think you saw but Drew is just a friend."

"A friend you were centimeters away from locking lips with," she laughed sensing that he was bluffing. She'd watched the flirtatious way he'd acted with his friend the day before and there had definitely been a sense of familiarity that went beyond simple friendship.

If he wasn't so concerned for Drew's reputation, Eli would have just told her that his love life was none of her business and let her say what she wanted. He couldn't just screw over Drew like that, so Eli laughed dismissively and told her, "Get over yourself, Julia."

Right then the bus pulled up and Eli got on it, leaving his ex standing alone.

KC got up and brushed the dirt off his uniform. That was the third time during practice that Drew had tackled him so hard that he'd ended out on the ground and he was starting to get pissed. As Drew walked back to the starting line, KC ran up behind him and shoved him.

Drew went to the ground and KC yelled, "What's your problem, man?"

Within seconds the muscular jock was back on his feet and on the offensive. "No, what's your problem?" He yelled back.

Drew Torres wasn't the guy you wanted to pick a fight with. Over the spring he'd nearly been beaten to death by several gang members and had responded by learning to fight back. For a time, it had become Drew's obsession. By the time he felt safe again he'd built the skills to take down adult men in brutal cage fights. One of the few good results from his relationship with Katie had been her helping him to learn to control his power. With Katie's help, Drew had grown to project his confidence without needing to show his strength. Now he only used what he knew to defend himself.

Having seen his friend in action, KC stepped back and put out his hands in a gesture of surrender. Just then the coach blew his whistle and hollered for them to break it up. "Torres, Guthrie, showers. Now. The rest of you, let's run it again."

Drew shook his head in frustration before he pulled off his helmet and started towards the locker room. KC ran to catch up with him. "Drew, wait up," he shouted.

"What is it KC?" The short haired athlete asked with aggravation in his voice.

"You're obviously pissed at me. I want to know why," KC asked as he pulled his helmet off too. "Is it because I badmouthed Goldsworthy?"

Drew stopped and turned to him. He'd had enough. "Do you want to know why I don't like you ragging on Eli?" Drew asked with a fire burning in his eyes. "It's because I'm in love with him, okay?"

KC stopped in his tracks as Drew continued to the locker room.

As Drew towel dried his hair, KC walked around the corner. He looked at his friend sheepishly and asked, "Dude, were you serious out there?"

Drew pulled his blue polo down over his head and told him, "It started right after prom. We spent the whole summer together."

"Are you gay? He asked, still in disbelief. The two of them had spent the better part of the last school year competing over different girls. "What about you and Bianca? And Alli? And Katie? And…"

Before he could finish, Drew interrupted saying, "I'm not gay. Well, not in my heart anyway. It's hard to explain. There's just something about Eli and me. He gets me in a way none of the girls I've dated have. I get him too."

"Girls never get guys, dude," KC said.

"You've got a point," Drew laughed. "But, have you ever wondered if there was that one person out there that was perfect for you?"

"Your soul mate?" KC asked. "You really think that Eli Goldsworthy is your soul mate, Drew? I know you care about the guy, so I'm sorry if my putting him down offended you but the guy doesn't have a soul. Come on. I mean, you've seen some of the things he's done."

"And I've seen some of the things you've done," Drew pointed out. "And what about the things I've done? KC, you don't know him like I do. There's something so beautiful inside him that he doesn't show anyone."

"You really are in love with him," KC said in realization. "Wow. I just wouldn't have expected you like guys. I'm cool with it, you know. I mean, Drew, you know that I'm your friend no matter what, right?"

"Thanks man," Drew said feeling relieved. "I appreciate knowing that. And for the record, I don't like guys. I like a guy. KC, you don't know how good it feels getting this off my chest."

"Who else knows?" He asked.

"Only you," Drew confided. "My parents, even my brother doesn't know."

"Really?" KC asked raising an eyebrow. "What about Eli? Who has he told?"

Eli walked down his street to his house worried about how he was going to handle Julia. Her telling everyone that she'd seen him kissing some guy on the bus didn't bother him. If it wasn't for his concern over Drew, he'd tell his friends himself and steal her thunder. He just couldn't do that to Drew. Still, with Julia knowing about them, the situation was about to get out of hand.

Walking into his house, Eli saw both of his parents there. Cece smiled and told him that there were going out for burgers in case he wanted to change first. Eli frowned and nodded.

Bullfrog picked up on Eli's dark vibe and asked, "What's wrong, son? You look upset." Eli had been better for months but he still feared his son would relapse. After Eli told them about Julia's return from the dead, Bullfrog's anxiety over his son's fragile emotional state had doubled. Granted, he was happy that the poor girl hadn't died like everyone had thought and that his son didn't have to continue living with the guilt of having contributed to her demise however she had betrayed their entire relationship in lying to Eli. It was unforgivable and had to have shaken his son's faith in everything he knew. "Is everything okay?"

"Dad, Cece, there's something I need to tell you guys but I don't even know how to start," Eli said feeling reluctant to shatter their image of him. Eli didn't understand this himself. How could he expect anyone else to understand?

"You know you can tell us anything, baby boy," Cece said as she gestured for him to sit. "What's on your mind?"

"I don't know where to start," Eli mumbled stalling for time as he tried to build his courage. "You met my friend Drew, of course."

"Of course, nice boy," Bullfrog said. Drew had spent the better part of the summer around the Goldsworthy household. He was always polite and had a friendly smile on his face.

Eli swallowed hard and said, "I'm glad you like him. Drew is really important to me." He bit at his lip and repeated himself in hopes that they'd understand his point without him having to say the words himself. Eyes to the floor, he said, "He's really important to me."

When his son looked up at him, Bullfrog realized that his son was finally having the talk that he'd been expecting all summer. He glanced over at his wife and gave her a grim smile before looking back at Eli. "We know, son."

The expression fell off the dark haired teenager's face. "You know?" He asked in surprise.

In a good-natured laugh, Eli's father explained, "This summer Drew slept over almost as often as Julia used to."

Cece nodded in agreement and added, "And, not to weird you out, we had a pretty good idea what was going on when you turned up the music."

When Bullfrog laughed Eli felt a measured amount of relief and let out a sigh. "So you're not mad or disappointed?" He asked.

"We'd never be angry at you for being who you are, son," his father explained. Putting his hand over his own heart he told his relieved son, "As long as it comes from here, Eli, you'll never disappoint either of us. Every parent sees in their child all their own unrealized hopes and dreams. You're mother and I thank our lucky stars every day that we have a son as wonderful, caring and as talented as you, Eli. No parent could be prouder than either of us and nothing could ever change that."

Eli felt the tears welling up in his eyes as his father talked and he only hoped that he could live up to deserve that faith. "I've wanted to tell you for so long but I just didn't know how to say that I'd fallen for a guy. Drew is popular and kind of concerned with his reputation, so we've kept this low key."

"He knows that he's going to have to face it, right?" Bullfrog asked. "I mean, he's serious about being with you, right?"

"Oh, he's serious," Eli said. "After today I think he's going to have to face this sooner than later."

"Did something happen?" Eli's father asked.

"Yesterday, on the bus," Eli explained. "We didn't realize that anyone was watching us but Julia was there. She saw Drew flirting with me."

A look of surprise crossed both their faces. Ever since the day before when Eli had told them how Julia had allowed him to believe that she'd died that fateful April night they'd both lost all respect and compassion for her. Their son had nearly died himself in the wake of her supposed death. Not only had it been immature of her but it had also been spiteful and heartless.

"You and Drew can't let her hold this over your heads," Bullfrog said realizing that someone as vicious and spiteful as Julia would enjoy exposing his son's secret.

Suddenly their conversation was interrupted by the sound of the doorbell. Cece got up to answer the door and returned a moment later with a sheepish looking Drew. Eli smiled as he stood up but he could see that there was something on his lover's mind.

Bullfrog got up and said, "Me and Cece will give you boys some privacy."

A look of confusion washed over Drew's face as Eli's parents left the room. It didn't take a rocket scientist to guess that Eli had told them the truth. The mood had been heavy but both of the dark haired boy's parents seemed supportive and open-minded. He couldn't imagine that they'd disapproved of their relationship. A flash of panic washed over Drew and he wondered if Eli was going to break it off. How could he handle it if he did? Loving Eli had made Drew into a different person. A better person.

"What's happening?" Drew asked.

"You might want to sit down," Eli said with reluctance in his voice.

Drew sat as Eli started to explain his conversation with Julia earlier that afternoon.

Then:

Eli sat with his knees tucked up close to his chin on his bed in the dark. It had been nearly three weeks since Julia had died and he'd barely ventured out of his room in all that time. His parents had tried to help but there was nothing anyone could say. Eli had been banned from Julia's funeral and since she'd been cremated there wasn't even a grave for him to visit. All he could think of was their last conversation. Julia had died angry at him and thinking that he didn't love her. He'd never get the opportunity to tell her that he was sorry.

It was just this kind of randomness in life that had made Eli reject the concept of god in the first place. How could a god exist only to let things like this happen? Life had always been tough for Julia and then just ended like that. What was the point of it? Eli could see that, in the end, all your actions were meaningless because no one gets out of life alive. As he'd sat alone in the dark the past three weeks all he'd been able to think of was the hopelessness of existence. He was certain that it had been in his inability to handle this pointlessness that man had created god in the first place. If he hadn't questioned the fantastic leap of faith required to believe in a god before Julia's death, then her premature demise had surely cemented it in him now.

A knock at the door pulled Eli out of the loop of memories surrounding their final conversation that he kept replaying in his head. Cece poked her head in and smiled grimly at him. He didn't feel like seeing anyone and did not fake it for her comfort. "Come on," she said. "We're going for a ride."

Without the energy to argue, Eli slid off his bed and followed his mother out of his bedroom. Outside the hole he'd been hiding in, the world was bright and alive with spring blooming around them. Cece led her son out to the car and they got in. Eli's eyes took a little adjusting to the brightness of the sun as his mother drove toward the intersection four blocks beyond the park where her son had the fateful fight with his late girlfriend.

Where are we going?" Eli asked feeling an anxiety building in his chest that made it hard for him to breathe. When the car passed the park he started begging for her to stop. With the world closing in around him, Eli cried, "Mom, seriously, where are we going? I want to go home. Please. Let's just go home, okay?"

Cece parked the car just shy of the intersection and said, "You can't lock yourself away in your room, Eli. You wasted your whole spring break and you're two weeks behind in school. If you don't snap out of this, you're going to end out repeating the grade."

"I don't want to go back there," he said. A car drove through the intersection and he winced as if seeing it strike the girl that he'd loved so deeply. He imagined her body flying over the hood and crashing up against the front windshield. "All those kids there know that I killed her."

"You didn't kill Julia, baby boy," Cece said feeling her heart break for his loss. "It was a terrible accident but you weren't responsible."

"If I hadn't fought with her, she would have never been in the mindset where she didn't see that car," he protested.

Smiling grimly she asked, "So, what are you going to do? Lock yourself away in a room for the rest of your life?"

"I can't hurt anybody else that way," he muttered. "I just love her so much."

"And you always will," Cece promised. Brushing her fingers through his thick dark mop of hair, she compassionately said, "I know it's going to be difficult but Julia is gone. She loved you and she would have wanted you to get on with your life without her."

"I don't want it to," he said as the tears blurred his vision. He looked over at her and said, "I wish it had been me, mom. The fight was all my fault. It should have been me. I can't go back to that school. Everywhere I look will just remind me of her."

"Just bear with it for the next month and in the fall your father and I will transfer you to the community school across town," she suggested. "You have your license. We'll get you a car so you can get there and back."

Now:

It was a bright beautiful morning and Eli was in high spirits as he walked down the hallway to find Drew already waiting at their lockers. Seeing him approach, the muscular athlete grinned too and started toward him. Julia stood watching with a devious grin that worried Clare as she watched Eli approach. She'd already heard enough to know that the girl had a chip on her shoulder where it came to their mutual ex. Eli was finally happy and emotionally healthy. Clare really didn't want to see Julia's vindictiveness ruin that. She planned to say something to her until she saw the expression drop off the black haired girl's face. Clare turned to see what she was looking at and her expression dropped too.

"Hey babe," Drew said before leaning over and kissing Eli in front of everyone. Several students stopped and watched in surprise but the two teens went about their business as if there was no audience watching.

"You ready for today?" Eli asked.

"Looking forward to it," Drew replied. "Walk you to your class?"

"And who said romance is dead?" Eli asked with a crooked grin growing across his face.

As they walked to class, Eli and Drew talked about ordinary things and ignored their surprised peers around them. In deciding to go public a weight had been lifted off both their shoulders. Since he'd stayed so late at Eli's house the night before deciding upon their plan, Drew still had yet to tell his family. He wasn't looking forward to it however by the time lunch rolled around his brother would certainly know. He wished he'd had the opportunity to tell him himself but Adam had stayed at Dave's house for dinner the night before and got in extra late.

As they got to Eli's first class, Drew said, "I'll see you at lunch," before continuing to his own class. Running to catch up, Marisol called out to Drew and got his attention. The two of them shared first period. He stopped and waited for her, saying, "Oh, hey Marisol."

"Hey Drew," she said with a curious grin. "So I just heard the oddest rumor."

"Really? I love rumors," he said guessing at her point.

"Did you just make out with Eli Goldsworthy in front of his locker?" She asked with a probing chuckle. "It's a little early for April Fool's jokes you know."

"Eli and I are seeing each other," he said without shame.

"Seriously?" She asked, unable to hide her grin. "Wow, I didn't know. I guess half of power squad is in for a letdown."

"I guess they are," he shrugged. "So did you finish the homework?"

On his way into English class Eli found an impressed looking Julia sitting on his desk, waiting for him. As he approached her, Julia slowly clapped and said, "Bravo, Goldsworthy, Bravo. I almost forgot how cocky you always were at calling my bluff at poker."

"Except this wasn't a game, Julia," Eli said with ice in his tone. "This was someone's life. Drew Torres deserves a hell of a lot better that being a pawn in some twisted game you think you're playing with me."

"You're mixing your games of strategy, lover," she laughed as she hopped off his desk.

"You know, Julia, when I first saw you I was so happy that you were alive but now I sort of wish I'd never found out," Eli said with a distance in his green eyes that bothered her. "I'd rather live with the guilt of thinking I'd killed you than have to see what a monster you truly were."

As Eli's words stung his ex, Adam walked in and glared at him. "So, is it true, Eli?" He demanded as he walked over to Eli's desk. Obviously someone had already told the younger Torres brother about his relationship with his older brother. "Are you and my brother… together?"

Eli hesitated before explaining, "Drew really wanted to be the one to tell you, Adam…"

"Is it true, Eli?" Adam demanded. He could see in his best friend's face that it was. Bitterly, Adam shook his head. "Why my brother, Eli?"

"Can we talk about this after class?" Eli asked as he noticed that half the class was staring.

Adam looked around at their peers and asked, "What? The attention bothers you for a change?" Several of the kids looked away in embarrassment. "So, nothing to say for yourself? He's my brother, man. You're supposed to be my best friend."

Eli got up and pulled Adam out into the hall. "What do you want me to say, Adam?" The dark haired boy asked his friend. "Me and Drew just kind of happened. Neither of us planned it."

"How long?" Adam demanded as the bell rang.

"Adam," Eli started. "We really need to get into class."

"I asked how long," he repeated. His blue eyes were intense with anger as he glared at his green eyed friend. Although Adam and Eli had been through a lot together and he truly loved the guy, he was pissed as hell that he'd gone after his brother. Drew was the hero in his family where he was the troubled one. Drew was the one their parents could count on to just be normal and here his best friend had gone and made him into an outsider too.

"Since prom," Eli mumbled. Adam's expression turned to shock. "Drew felt responsible for what happened to you and I was there for him."

"My brother was vulnerable and you put a move on him?" Adam asked, his eyes filled with horror at the thought of it. "You couldn't mess with Clare, so you decided to make my brother gay?"

Shaking his head, Adam went back in the classroom and Eli followed. Mrs. Dawes watched them both enter and shook her head. Of course she'd heard the gossip going around the school this morning too but she was not pleased that it had now invaded her classroom.

"Nice of you two to join us," she said in her usual exasperated tone of sarcasm. Eli Goldsworthy was one of the most talented and creative students she'd ever taught but he was also one of the most troubled. She respected his ability however could not excuse him disrupting the rest of the class, so she added, "I'll see both of you after school so we can talk about what the bell means."

As Mrs. Dawes started her lesson, Adam glared over at Eli for a long moment before finally looking away. Eli felt bad having sprung this shocker on his best friend as he had however he was very hurt by his reaction. When Adam had first revealed his transgender secret, Eli had been immediately accepting of him. When Eli had started dating Clare and Adam had lashed out, teaming up with Fitz to make fun of his friend, again Eli hadn't held a grudge and had come to Adam's aid when the bully had turned on him. Now suddenly Eli wasn't good enough to date his brother?

For both Eli and Drew the rest of the day progressed at about the same pace. Naturally, Eli hadn't been too surprised when Fiona had been supportive of him in French class. After English class ended, Adam took off without waiting as well as Julia. Clare walked over while Eli was packing his books into his backpack.

"Is everything alright, Eli?" she asked. She realized that the little part of her that held out hope that there might still be something between them had cried when she'd seen him kiss Drew in the hallway that morning. The brilliant writer had truly moved on as he'd promised that he had and she'd missed her opportunity with him. "Do you want to talk or anything?"

"Clare, I wanted to tell you about Drew and me before everyone else found out but us going public was a last minute decision," Eli explained. "Julia saw us on the bus in a compromising position and we couldn't let her start a bunch of gossip."

"I understand," she said honestly. "Is this what you want, Eli?"

"It is," the dark haired teenager said with confidence. "Drew gets me on a level that nobody ever has before. What we had was special. It was amazing, Clare. I wouldn't trade the memory of it for anything. But the truth of it all was, you were right. We weren't right for each other. I was frightened the whole time we were together that I was going to lose you and I made it happen."

"We did have something special," she admitted. A part of her was jealous of Drew and wished she could take it all back. "Maybe I wasn't always as supportive as I should have been. You're really sensitive, Eli. Believe it or not, that was one of the things I loved most about you. I'm happy for you."

Eli grinned at her and they started down the hall together. There'd been a time that all he'd wanted was to hear Clare say those things so that he could keep hope in his heart that he'd get another chance with her. Now all he wished for her was that she might find the same happiness he had.

The cafeteria was already packed when the two of them walked in. Drew was sitting with his friends and nodded a hello while continuing with his conversation. Although Eli felt the conversation level drop as soon as he entered, he ignored it and sat down with his lunch. Fiona and Clare both sat with him and they talked about the play that drama club was putting together.

Jake walked over and Eli invited him to join them. It might have been Eli's guilt but the tall boy seemed saddened by the news as he sat down. As Jake sat Fiona got up to get a bottle of water. Since Clare could see that her stepbrother had a lot on his mind, she went with her.

"Is everyone treating you alright?" Jake asked once they were alone.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Are you okay with this?" Eli asked in return. "I wanted to tell you but this just happened. I didn't plan to fall in love, Jake. I swear it."

Jake nodded but didn't address his feelings out loud. He hadn't been the same since his affair with Eli. Something inside of him didn't want anyone else. For a boy with as many troubles as Eli Goldsworthy, he was a hard person to get past.

Drew glanced over and saw Eli talking with Jake. Of course his lover had been up front about what had happened between the two of them but he wasn't worried or insecure. Drew had had a day filled with everyone he knew wanting the low down on his love life too. He had been surprised because most of his friends had also seemed supportive. Of course he'd already told KC the day before but it had been Owen's lack of anything derogative to say that had surprised him the most. Many of the other guys on the team had been around the year before acted cool too, adding to his relief. Maybe it had been the fact that both Riley and Zane had been great athletes or maybe the fact that they'd been really well liked but the stigma that Drew had expected hadn't materialized yet. Although Drew still didn't consider himself gay, he hadn't clarified the point when one of his other team members came out to him in the locker room. The boy had made him feel like some sort of role model when he'd said that if someone as cool as Drew could accept himself, than he sure the hell could too.

Again, it had been Adam that had been less than accepting of the whole situation with Drew too. Before sitting down to lunch he'd tried to talk to his younger brother in the radio booth but Adam had rebuffed him.

"So, I hate to bring it up," KC started, "But what did your parents say?"

Drew looked sheepishly at the table and admitted, "I haven't told them that I'm dating a guy." He'd avoided telling them after he'd returned from Eli's house the night before because he really hadn't known how to approach it.

"Just tell them it was down between Eli and Bianca," Owen shot over with a humorous shrug and grin to match. "Even I've got to admit he's the better choice."

Half of Drew's friends laughed too. Nobody's parents wanted their son showing up with a girl like Bianca on his arm. When Drew had been dating her, last spring, his mother had muttered about needing a tetanus shot after shaking the girl's hand. Remembering to occasion, Drew laughed too. His mother had been less than keen on helping Bianca even now however she was testifying against the man that had nearly killed both of her sons, at one point or another, so she had to be civil to her.

Julia knocked at the glass door to the radio booth, getting Dave's attention. She pointed at Adam and Dave nudged his co-host. "Dude, some Goth chick is looking for you," he said.

The younger Torres brother looked up and Julia smiled at him. "Julia? What does she want?" He hopped up and opened the door for her. "Hey, what's up?"

"It's nice to see you too, Adam," the gothic beauty said with a wicked looking smile splitting her face. Taking him having opened the door as an invitation, she walked into the booth.

"Yeah, sorry," Adam stammered. "It's nice to see you and all but what's up? Dave and I are in the middle of our show."

"I just thought maybe it's time you and I become friends," she said.

Adam could see that this girl approached life as if she was playing some sort of a game. He'd already seen that she'd treated Eli like a discarded toy that had been good for one last use in the way she'd allowed him to think that she was dead. Judging by part of the conversation Adam had overheard her having with Eli before he'd confronted him in English class, she obviously knew that her ex had been screwing his brother too. Adam had gathered that Julia was in the middle of some game and Eli had convinced his brother to willingly humiliate himself to rob her of the victory.

"Do you want to be my friend because I'm a sexy, cool guy to be around?" Adam asked. "Or is it that Goldsworthy is dating my brother?"

Teasingly, she ran her finger across his cheek and said, "What's life without a little mystery, Adam?" Another evil looking grin cracked across her lips, exposing her perfect, white teeth. "I couldn't help overhearing that you don't approve of my ex seducing your brother either. Face it Adam, we both know that Eli Goldsworthy is bad news. I got lucky but who knows what he'll do to your brother before he's done. At the very least, Drew is in for a broken heart."

"Why do you care?"Adam asked, mistrustful of her. "You don't even know my brother."

"But I do know Eli," she said with a shroud of seriousness growing across her face like black clouds rolling into a clear blue sky. With a serious tone in her voice Julia explained, "He's not a good person, Adam. Where regular people have a soul that tells them right from wrong, Eli is empty. Everything he does is for his own amusement. Behind that pretty face is a monster. You don't even know the kind of head games he played with me while we were together. Drew seems like a good guy. I don't want to see Eli ruin him like he did me."

"I've got to get back to the show," Adam said, walking the bitter girl back to the door. "I'll think about what you said."

"Yeah, of course," Julia said. Pulling out a pen, she jotted her number across the palm of Adam's hand. "Call me sometime."

Adam sat back down and exchanged a few funny jabs with his co-host, all the while preoccupied with what Julia had said. He wanted to believe that everything that Eli's ex had said had been out of bitterness but there was a nagging bit of doubt in the back of his mind. When Eli had snapped last spring, Clare had accused his friend of having crashed his car into a wall and nearly killing himself as a simple act of manipulation. She'd also claimed that Eli had been out to harm Jake and badmouth her with his play. Adam had pretty much been caught in the middle of it. In his defense, Eli had stopped taking his medication but the simple fact was that it had been Eli himself that had allowed those situations to get out of hand.

Adam knew that he should have more faith in a long term friend over some girl he'd known all of two minutes but the truth was Eli could be toxic with the people he claimed to love. Drew was Adam's brother. It was different than sitting back and watching two friends fall in and out of love. When Eli went psycho next time it would be his own brother left broken in his wake. Adam knew that he couldn't allow that to happen.

"Wow, I thought you had to invite a vampire inside in order for her to come in," Dave laughed as he pulled his headset off. The next song had started and his co-host was miles away. He looked over at the other boy and asked, "Hey, Adam, are you okay?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah. I'm fine," Adam answered.

"So that's Eli's not-so-dead ex?" he asked grinning again. "It looks like somebody is getting ready for the next Twilight movie a little early."

"Yeah, she's kinda out there," Adam muttered. "I guess she'd have to be to have dated Eli though, right?"

"You know that's not what I meant," Dave said, hoping he hadn't struck a nerve. Although Adam was good friends with the odd emo kid, he'd always had a sense of humor over his friend's antics. Dave realized that today it had struck close to home for his friend and co-host when rumors had started circulating that Eli and Adam's brother Drew had become an item. Dave had done his best to avoid the subject however the conversation Adam had just had with Vampirella sort of confirmed it.

"I know what you meant," Adam said absolving his friend of any fear he might have had over having insulted him. "And I'm sure you want to know if it's true too."

Stammering, Dave said, "Look man, I know it's none of my business."

"Well, it's true," Adam said anyway. "Eli confessed it all to me last period. My best friend has been secretly dating my big brother since last spring. And you thought that I was the extent of weird in my family, huh?"

"I've learned my lesson about judging people and situations without putting myself in their spot," Dave said thinking back to some of the misunderstandings the two of them had had. After all that, Adam had become one of Dave's best friends.

"This isn't about my brother being gay," Adam protested. "It's about him being with Eli. I know the guy's my best friend and all but he's got his issues."

"Do you really believe the stuff Vampirella was saying about him?" Dave asked. "I mean, she painted Eli to be a monster."

Adam shrugged and said, "I don't think he's Patrick Bateman or anything but Eli can get out of control when he's off the rails."

"I don't know the guy like you do," Dave admitted. "But I don't see it."

Adam shrugged but said nothing as he watched Eli happily lunching with Clare, Jake and Fiona. He seemed happy but Adam couldn't help question if he was hiding something. Adam glanced down at the number Julia had written on his hand.

As the last bell rang, Adam raced to meet his brother at his locker. He'd avoided Drew all day but finally had a plan. He knew that he couldn't trust Eli and had to do something about his brother's situation. His first step had to be stopping his brother from telling their parents. If he could keep Drew in the closet, he stood a chance of driving a wedge between him and Eli. Just from spending time at his friend's house, the younger Torres knew that Eli had a more open relationship with his parents than he or Drew had with theirs. He doubted that his friend had even concealed his relationship with Drew from them. If Adam could convince his brother to stay in the closet with their parents, it might start a crack between the two of them.

Drew was surprised to see his brother waiting at his locker but he was smiling, so he figured that had to be a good sign. Earlier he'd gotten the distinct feeling that his brother had been avoiding him. Drew smiled back at Adam and said, "Hey, I wanted to talk to you earlier but you were too busy I guess."

"I was freaked out, man," Adam said covering his true feelings. "It isn't every day your big brother comes out of the closet with your best friend, right?"

"I didn't come out of the closet, Adam," Drew explained. "Eli and I are together but we're not gay."

Adam laughed. "Did you hear what you just said?" He asked. Eli is a guy. You're a guy. The two of you are in a sexual relationship. What is that if it's not gay, Drew?"

"You of all people, Adam, should be open-minded about not putting labels on things," Drew said. "I'm in love with Eli. That's a fact. Nothing is going to change that. The thing is, I look beyond the fact that he's a guy and see his soul. That's what I'm in love with."

"Dude, those totally sound like Eli's words," Adam said laughing. "Even at that, when you're kissing Eli, you're kissing a guy. I might be trans and have the wrong equipment downstairs but the idea of kissing another guy is gross to me."

"I was self conscious at first but dude, I really love him," Drew said hoping that his brother could understand.

"That's cool but what are you going to say to mom and dad?" Adam asked with concern for his brother in his voice. "I mean, when I told them I was transgender they put me into therapy. Can you imagine what's going to happen when their other son says he's in love with a dude but not gay? I mean, if I'm having a hard time with labels, what do you think they'll say?"

"I'll just have to find a better way to explain myself," Drew reasoned.

"Drew, don't tell them," Adam said as if suggesting a viable alternative.

"I'm not going to lie to mom and dad, Adam," Drew protested.

"I don't mean forever. Just for now," he said with a shrug.

"Eli told his parents," Drew reasoned out loud. "I need to do the same."

"And they are just like mom and dad, huh?" Adam asked with mock sarcasm. "If he really loves you like you say, Eli is going to know that you're between a rock and a hard place. He's met our parents, Drew. He knows that they aren't like Cece and Bullfrog."

Adam laughed.

Laughing too, Drew said, "Nobody is like Bullfrog."

"I'm just saying, think about waiting," Adam told him. "Eli might be the one but make sure he is before you open a can of worms you can never close."

Adam noticed Eli approaching at the far end of the hall. He slapped his brother on the shoulder and said, "Just think about what I said," before walking away, toward the approaching emo kid. When Eli saw Adam coming closer to him he smiled although his friend did not return the gesture. "You better not hurt him," Adam said as their eyes locked. Before Eli got the chance to respond, Adam had passed him without ever stopping.

"Are you alright?" Eli asked Drew as he opened his locker.

"I just had the oddest conversation with my brother," the athlete said. "And that's saying a lot because we've had some pretty intense conversations about him being a man trapped inside a woman's body."

Eli chuckled. "I know. He doesn't think I'm good enough for you," he said.

"He doesn't understand us," Drew corrected, giving his brother the benefit of the doubt. "He thinks telling our parents is a bad idea."

"What do you think?" Eli asked.

"I love you and I want everyone to know how happy you make me," Drew responded. "But that's what worries me. Am I doing this because it's the right thing to do or am I doing this for me?"

"You know your parents better than I do," Eli offered. "If you want to become more comfortable with us being us together before telling them, then I support you. Can you trust Adam not to say anything?"

"This was his idea," Drew explained. "Personally, I think he thinks we won't last and that's why he thinks I should wait. He'll see that this is right in time.

Without voicing his doubt, Eli just smiled.