Disclaimer: I do not own Degrassi or any Degrassi characters.
Waking up in the morning was always a struggle.
It wasn't the actual waking up that was a problem as Adam was somewhat of an early bird.
It was getting ready that was the issue.
He tried to stall the trip to the bathroom, the trip to the mirror, as much as he could even though he knew eventually he would have to go.
The only thing worse than having to hold your bladder in the morning is to have to face yourself, naked and bare.
Or at least Adam thought so.
After 15 minutes of just relaxing in silence he knew he had to or else he would wet the bed and be late.
He quietly grabbed some clothes and walked to the bathroom.
Walking in, he was immediately filled with dread.
It was sort of ridiculous. Every day he did it, yet each time it still felt like he jumped into a Harry Potter book and was walking straight into a dementor's cave.
Getting it over with as fast as possible seemed to be the best option for today since it was the first day of school.
The thought of school made him silently groan and momentarily forget about his other problems for a moment. Everything was just crashing on him today, huh?
Deciding he stalled enough, he glanced into the mirror and instantly self-hate grew inside him, rising like bile in his throat.
Nothing about him was right.
Where was his flat chest?
Why did he have breasts?
Where was his hair?
Why was he so smooth?
He finally shook himself out of it and tore his eyes away. It was insanely hard not to punch his reflection as he walked past the mirror to use the shower.
When he actually got into the shower he closed his eyes and got the job done as fast as he could. The less time he had to be completely bare and touch his flawed body, the better.
Right after getting out a few minutes later, he immediately searched for where he threw his clothes.
He ended up grabbing a blue and black plaid shirt, a light gray undershirt, baggy jeans, and his binder.
As he started to dress he thought about when he actually got his binder.
A year earlier, after saving up the money needed, he asked Omar in privacy if he could buy Adam one of the binders online with his credit card. Adam didn't have one and at that time he respected both Omar and, shockingly, Audra enough not take theirs even though he would pay it back in cash.
At first Omar was resistant but after having a talk with Adam, he gave in.
Adam respectfully paid up and told Omar thank you, but never spoke about it again. Neither did Omar.
Drew's voice suddenly interrupted Adam's thoughts when he shouted through the door,
"Adam! Get out! Believe it or not I need time to sculpt the beauty that is-"
Adam opened the door, effectively cutting Drew off.
"Try not to use the whole gel bottle this time, Slick." Adam muttered as he walked past Drew and down the stairs.
After passing by Audra to get into the kitchen, he poured himself a glass of orange juice and grabbed a piece of toast.
He would've liked to have just skateboarded to the school but he knew that Audra wanted to drive them. It was too much effort to argue about this with her, and subsequently Omar too, so he didn't say a word and barely even looked at her.
When Drew finally finished, it was 7:39 a.m., about 20 minutes until school started.
"Come on guys," Audra said as she directed us to get in the car.
He sat up at the front with her since Drew already hogged up the backseat with his bags.
The ride was quiet and they got there surprisingly fast.
Adam was getting out of the car when he heard Audra whisper to Drew, "Be careful. Watch out for your sis-..brother."
He just grinded his teeth and walked away even faster from the car.
What a way to start the morning..
Adam started climbing the stairs when he thought to actually take a look at the school.
It was a pretty big, average looking building he decided after glancing at it briefly.
The student body was even less interesting.
Looking around he only saw the same stereotypical jock, nerd, and cheerleading cliques that haunted his old school and the schools before it.
At least he didn't have to worry about anything happening around here.
With that in mind he walked into the building to go find his schedule and get this day over with.
Biology Honors 1st Period
Lovely. Work in the morning.
How did he even get this class? His class average was absolutely not honor level..
He found the class right after the bell rang.
Really?
He walked in fast, hoping to just slip into the room. Unfortunately, luck was not on his side.
"Ahem."
Adam turned toward the voice and saw a balding man, who most likely was the teacher, looking at him with a look that could only come off as "I saw you".
Want a cookie?
He didn't want to get into trouble on the first day so he didn't say anything and just stared at the male teacher.
Since Adam wasn't saying anything the teacher broke the silence by asking him, "And who might you be?"
Adam was tired of standing around ane being looked at like a zoo animal so he answered curtly, "Adam Torres. Can I go sit down now?"
The man narrowed his eyes at Adam for a moment then nodded.
With that Adam walked down the aisle and sat in the last row behind some guy with pumpkin orange hair.
After another "ahem" from the teacher the class reluctantly averted their attention back to him.
Since it was the first day, they weren't really doing anything except covering the rules of the classroom.
Adam was even starting to relax until he heard the teacher, who he now knew was Mr. Morris, tell them that they were going to use the last 35 minutes of class to get to know each other.
Half the students seemed to think the same thing:
Are you kidding me?
OoOoOoO
The entire class ended up getting into a circle so close they were all touching.
"We are going to play a game." Mr. Morris told them.
An awkward silence ensued while they all waited, sandwiched between each other, for him to give them some instructions.
Adam couldn't care less. His glare got him some extra room and he wasn't as uncomfortable as the others.
About two minutes later Mr. Morris spoke again, "Nevermind. I will give you 30 seconds to pair up. Whoever is left, I will pair up myself. Go!"
Everyone started scrambling around like chickens that lost their heads. Adam took a moment to laugh before looking around to see if there was a semi-normal person in the bunch.
Finally he spotted someone in the corner that didn't look too bad.
He walked over towards the short girl and waited until she looked up from her nails.
"Partners?" Adam simply asked.
After giving him a look over she nodded, right in time before they would've had Morris choose someone else for both of them.
After Morris paired up the last of the straggling kids he turned towards the rest of them and clapped.
"Good! Now you're going to learn more about your partner. At the end of class I'm going to pick 3 random groups to present what they've learned tomorrow so don't waste this time! And…start!"
I looked at my new partner expectantly, waiting for her to ask me a question. She didn't say anything for a moment, just biting her lip and fiddling with her hands. Adam decided to go first instead of most likely waiting until the end of class for her to finally say something.
"So what's your name?" Since he didn't even know her name, he went with that first.
This seemed to snap the girl out of whatever day-dream/mood she was in.
"Alli Bhandari. What's yours?"
"Adam." He answered and watched her write his name on a piece of scrap paper.
They continued with some basic questions like "Where are you from?" and "Do you have any pets?"
It was kind of funny when they got to the pets question. They found out that both of them had really strict parents and started sharing stories until the bell rang.
Huh. That was fast. At least they didn't get picked.
"It was really nice meeting you!" Alli said as she began to walk towards the door.
"Yeah, you too." Adam said as he held the door for her. Hmm..one person I don't hate. Nice.
Adam was about to try to find his next class when he heard his name being called.
He turned around automatically and saw Alli walking quickly back to him.
"I was wondering," She started saying before getting pushed by some kid's backpack. Adam's hand immediately settled her before she could stumble and waited for her to continue.
"I was wondering if you would want to sit with me and my friends today at lunch?"
Adam was about to correct her grammar then decline when he realized if he sat alone and Drew saw him, Audra would definitely find out and give him a rough time. Plus Alli wasn't that bad. In fact, she was pretty alright. Smart too.
"Alright." He eventually said.
She grinned up at him. "Great! I'll meet you by the cafeteria entrance!"
"Kay." He mumbled before setting out to find his next class.
He reached the room right when the bell rang.
His next classes went mostly the same way, but without the "Let's get to know each other!" part which he was pretty happy about.
They basically went over the rules of the classroom and what they should expect they will be doing this quarter.
It wasn't very long until the lunch bell rung and Adam followed the mass of students.
When he got to the cafeteria it took him a few minutes to locate Alli.
"Hey!" She called out to him as he walked over.
"Hey." He said back and walked in with her. "Is the food good here?"
Alli grimaced. "Not especially. Most people go to the Dot instead."
Adam decided he would look into it once he saw what they were serving. He safely went with chocolate milk, apples, and some vanilla pudding.
After they got their food, Adam followed Alli to her table.
There already was a blonde girl sitting at one side so Adam sat across from her and Alli slid in with her.
It was awkward for a minute before Alli introduced them.
"Adam, this is Jenna. Jenna, this is my lab partner Adam."
"Hey." Adam nodded to Jenna.
"Hi." Jenna said back quickly before turning to Alli. "Where is everyone else?"
Alli rolled her eyes while she opened her water. "It's the first day. People get confused."
There was another pause before someone said anything else.
"What grade are you in?" She asked, turning back to Adam.
To be honest, Jenna was already annoying Adam and he checked his watch again before answering.
"10th." Seven more minutes. "You?"
"Same."
Awkward silence filled the air for a few moments before Adam got up.
"I'm going to try to find my next class. Nice meeting you."
After Alli told him they should do it again tomorrow when everybody was here, Adam promptly left.
He actually made it to his next class, Advanced English, before the bell rung which put him in a considerably better mood.
Unfortunately that was the only class he made it to on time the entire day.
"So how were your days?" Omar asked over dinner.
"Fine." Adam said. He was actually being honest too. It wasn't as bad as he thought but still wasn't all that good either.
"It was great! They have a killer football field and-" Adam tuned out the rest of Drew's monologue and tried to remember if he had homework.
He did, but not too bad. He only had to write a 5 paragraph essay for his English class about his summer.
He tuned back at the end and asked if he could be excused.
He didn't wait for their answer and instead just got up to put his dishes away then head to his room.
When he was done with his homework he got ready for bed.
He wasn't really tired but he was definitely bored enough to try to sleep.
He tossed and turned for a half hour thinking about what tomorrow might bring.
Before he fell asleep Adam decided on one thing.
Vanilla pudding tasted good with apples.
Good, bad, awful? Let me know.
~S.