DISCLAIMER: I do not own anything pertaining to Degrassi.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: So, I've been watching Degrassi forever and am so thrilled they're implementing a trans character, and such a likeable one at that! Bear with me, as I'm watching Degrassi in the states and have only seen a few Adam-sodes (You Don't Know My Name Pt. 2 is airing tonight), so I'm still getting his character down! Please read and review as you feel compelled, I feel especially strong about doing this storyline justice! Rated T for language and content for now, more to come soon!
He's still not sure how this all happened, or why, but if Fiona doesn't show up soon, Adam is going to fucking kick himself for being at the brunt of another prank he should have seen coming.
Since starting his sophomore year at Degrassi, Adam had found himself in one of two positions on a daily basis: at best, invisible. At worst, bully fodder. Some ups had included the Dead Hand Reunion Show, finding friends in Eli, Sav, and Clare, and watching that asshole Fitz be – at least temporarily – put in his place. Still, he couldn't help but crave a life more similar to those of his peers: one with weekends surrounded by friends at the skate park, working a crowd of fans from behind his bass, and ideally, having a girlfriend to sit with at lunch and text after school, or whatever all the other guys did with their girlfriends. He had never gone on so much as a date and what he knew about relationships could be written on the grip tape of his board.
Which is why when Fiona Coyne walked to the back of their science lab and asked baggy-jeaned, sweatshirt-clad Adam to work on an optionally group project with her out of everyone in class, he kind of forgot how to talk for a second. Fiona was easily one of the top 5 eligible bachelorettes in school with her model-esque looks and style, money to support her every whim, and brains to back it all up. In a word, she was classy, and as far as Adam was concerned, the only class he had was whatever was on his schedule.
So now he sits, continuing to glance at Fiona's now-smudged phone number that she had impeccably written on the back of his hand the day before, to reassure himself that this is actually real. He knows, however, that until Fiona shows up, he's definitely not out of the woods. He tries to distract himself from a nagging fear that she may have come to her senses, or that the rumors about her were true and he was just the subject of one of her quick-fleeting whims.
Right as his bottomless pit of fears is about to pull him down for good, Adam's saving grace appears in the form of a 5-foot-7 sun kissed skin brunette whose wavy locks frame her face as if she were a carefully-staged photograph in moving, human form. Starting at a pointed, heeled toe, Fiona's legs appear to go on for miles, and Adam quickly glances up her top half to eliminate feeling even more nervous – and short. Past her well-fitted short-sleeved cardigan with a cinched waist, Adam finally makes eye contact with the captivating beauty and with a soft grin and tilt upward of the head, Fiona walks toward him, hips accentuating her rhythmic strut.
"Hey," he says a little too eagerly with a goofy smile and squeak to his voice that completely obliterate the keeping it cool mentality he had internally vowed to maintain. He clears his throat and tries again. "How's it goin'?"
"I'm in need of a caffeine fiximmédiatement," Fiona replies, propping up on the barstool next to Adam, "I got a late start this morning. Be flattered that I sacrificed my daily espresso to be here on time."
Catching a glimpse of Fiona's flirtatious smile, Adam feels a weight in his stomach that somehow seems more good than bad. That was flirtatious, right? he wonders before hearing an instant replay of Eli's pre-date (or… pre-date?) pep talk in his head.
"Come on, dude, pull yourself together. A girl will almost never tell you straight up that she's into you, which means, A. you need to keep an eye out for flirting signs, and B. you need to man up and let her know you like her, just not in so many words," Eli had said like it was he who single-handedly penned The Book of Love. Adam figured his best friend must have noticed the daunted and near-nauseous look on his face because he rolled his eyes and elaborated. "Okay, she can at least stand the sight of you since she asked you to work with her, but playful teasing, lots of smiling, hair fixing, those are definite signs of flirting. Touching for no reason – BIG one. If she laughs at your lame-ass jokes – ask her to marry you!" After pausing for the laugh he knew would come, Eli left Adam with, "Just relax, man, you'll be fine."
Adam recalls thinking how it was easy for his brother from another mother to say all of that. After all, it was clear that Eli had some brooding yet witty charm thing going on that had him at the receiving end of various starry-eyed female gazes, making Adam feel invisible in comparison. As much as Eli was his bud, he envied him all the same.
Hearing Fiona order some fancy drink he couldn't even pronounce snaps Adam back to reality and he decides it's time to take the second part of Eli's advice to heart – man up. He quickly reaches into his wallet and pulls out the six dollars he has leftover from his own coffee and pushes Fiona's hand, which is holding her credit card, aside, hoping that the surge of heat that rushed to his fingertips hasn't also consumed his cheeks in a blush.
"I got it," he offers, quietly congratulating himself for being so smooth. It's kind of funny when he thinks about it, since Fiona likely has a self-generating money tree in her backyard and he literally just pulled out his bottom dollar. Now he's just hoping it pays off.
Things are looking good when Fiona genuinely thanks him, and as Adam waits for the cashier to give him his change, he figures he should keep the flirting up while he's doing well. "You're welcome, even though your idea of 'on time' is pretty comical. We were supposed to meet, oh, 20 minutes ago?" he jests with faux annoyance.
In likewise fashion, Fiona feigns insulted shock with just enough of a curved up mouth to let on that she's kidding before letting out a mock scoff. "Easy for you to say! Contrary to popular thought, girls don't wake up looking perfectly put together. It takes time. We can't just throw on a hat and go," she says with a grin, running the brim of Adam's sideways hat through her fingers and then letting her hand pass over his shoulder on the way back down.
Smiling, playful teasing, and unnecessary touching: three of Eli's flirtation criteria all in one fell swoop! Adam wishes he could be excited, but instead, he feels nauseous. In what should have been a harmless joke, he's reminded of how little Fiona knows, and probably will ever know about him, and it dampers any shred of confidence he has going. He breaks eye contact, slumps forward, and rummages through his backpack, all but mumbling, "K, let's get started."
Fiona is as perceptive as she is book smart and her brow furrows in confusion. "I'm sorry, I didn't offend you, did I?" she asks, and Adam wants so badly to look into her sympathetic eyes and tell her the truth. Knowing he can't, however, he lies by saying that he's fine and just really wants to get the project over with.
It's no use, he reminds himself, dismissing the foolish notion of a normal life he had entertained earlier. He reinforces to himself that he isn't just some normal guy, and thinks once more of all the things Fiona would never know about him; that the name on his birth certificate was not the name he went by. That it took him 2 hours, minimum, to get ready in the morning, and it was not in fact as simple as throwing on a hat, jeans, and sweatshirt. That despite all his efforts, prayers, wishes, and the way he presented himself at school, Adam Torres was biologically female.
Yeah. Any life resembling normal didn't stand a chance.