"So I'm not a real man. I'm 'a little bit of both'. Fuck you Fiona. Fuck you," Adam Torres thought as he got the hell out of his... what even would he call their fucked-up little fling?... his, well, his manipulative alcoholic bitch ex-girlfriend's house. He sprinted as fast as he could down the street, running as fast as he could to keep the demons at bay. He somehow ended up at Clare's house.

It was always Clare that he could count on to calm him down.

Grabbing his phone from his pocket, he quickly dialed Clare's cell number and waited impatiently for her to answer.

"Goddammit Clare, answer your phone. Answer your phone..."

After three rings that seemed to last forever, her comforting voice was on the line. "Hey, Adam, I thought you were at Fiona's."

"I was," he choked out. "I'm in front of your house... can you let me in?"

"I'll be right there," she said with a nervous tone in her voice, and within seconds she opened the door and pulled the smaller boy into her arms. "Adam, what's wrong?"

"She... she... she... she only wanted me because she thinks I'm a girl. She doesn't want me to be her boyfriend, Clare. She wants the convenience of being straight when all she really fucking wants is a girl. She wanted to have sex with me, Clare. I told her I'm not ready for it. I told her no, I'm not a girl and I refuse to do it. And she just told me she likes me because I'm a little bit of both. I'm not, Clare… she fucking hurt me…" Adam's voice broke into tears as he realized how stupid he'd been.

"What was I even thinking? I knew no one would want a fucked up boy like me. No one will ever do anything other than use me. I'm stupid. I'm so fucking stupid…"

"Oh, Adam…" Clare whispered, throwing her arms around her best friend. "I don't know what I can do for you…"

"I don't want pity, Clare… I want to burn. I need to."

"Adam Torres, if you even think about that, I'll… I'll… I'll tell Simpson. And then Simpson will tell your mother and your mother will do all sorts of things," Clare threatened wildly, not realizing how stupid of an idea it was to say this.

"Clare, what the hell?"

"I'm just scared for you, Adam! I just… you're my best friend, and I love you!"

Adam paused for a second to take all that in. "Wait… you love me?"

"Yeah…I …I do. I've loved you for a long time. In a different way than Eli. I mean, I love Eli… but… you're so different. And I don't mean that because you're transgender," she quickly amended, seeing a look of anger on Adam's face, "I meant that you're actually caring. You give me space when I need it and you ask what's wrong. I mean… I don't know what to do. I'm in love with Eli, but I do love you."

"Wow… I guess… Clare, I don't even know what to say. I've got to go. Bye," Adam muttered, shocked. He almost flew down the stairs and pushed his way through the door, running until he reached his house.

He sat in his room for a few hours that night and just… thought. "Clare likes me. Clare likes me."

Stranger things had never come up in one day for Adam. He turned off his lights and lay in bed, knowing that he wasn't going to sleep that night.

"Clare likes me… she likes me."