Disclaimer/Author's Note: I don't own the Degrassi characters and I don't own Degrassi. There is an OC in this story, Alice, and I created her. Her character I don't know much about, I only know Adam's side of the story not Alice's so if I got it wrong feel free to correct me! I can't say I completely understand Alice's story. Adam's, sure, 'cause it's mine too. But Alice's story isn't mine. If I got it wrong, I apologize! Ha this is a mysterious disclaimer but by now I'm sure you've figured that Alice is the opposite of Adam! =) Also, I switch from POVs often but that's just 'cause I'm a writer experimenting with new creative ways to write. (ooh…and sorry there's not more of Adam, I'll do the next chapter in his POV. And Fiona and Declan coming soon!) :D

Chapter 2

"Jessica, over here!" the voice said. A five year old wearing a black skirt and a too large black hoodie frowned and stared at the floor. "Jessy! Smile for the camera!" Jessica just frowned. It looked better that way.

She bounced up and down, staring at the sky. Stared at the woman with the big black camera.

"Jessica!"

Thunder roared heavily in the sky, crackling with the crash of rain silently to the mostly empty streets, the pale yellow lightning, falling silently, the assassin king.

"Jessica!" (He was the assassin king, the assassin king sitting through the storm. Sit it out, and the rain will stop falling down eventually.)

Jessica ran away. Not away away, just for a while away. Ran and ran, barefoot. She smiled manically and kneeled down to make shapes with brown mud. She splashed it on her face and giggled: a brown mask of doom to hide tears poorly hidden.

"Jessica!"

Her mother's voice faded away into the distance. (And he didn't hear her anymore when his mother called her name. The assassin king takes no prisoners.)

"Are you sure?" Claire asked. "She seemed to know what she was talking about."

Adam stood beside Claire, staring up at the sky. Eli shifted from foot to foot. "She's just crazy, Claire. I don't know. It doesn't mean anything, okay? Let up on it." He didn't mean to sound so mean and angry. But that was just the way he dealt with shit. Push everything down and fight back with biting, caustic comments. Eli, Goth boy here to save the world. Armored in a healthy dose of cynicism and anti-patriotism. Eli looked at Adam: he was silent, not taking part in the conversation. Eli wondered if Adam recognized it in Eli's face. Either way, he decided not to comment. No one needed to know.

"Alright. I'm here, if you need to talk, though," Claire said.

Eli nodded.

"Let's go to class, okay?" Adam said, breaking the awkward silence. "We're all going to be late."

They went their separate ways, Adam to his class, Claire to her class, and Eli to his class. They were all in different classes, except for English. Eli remembers when he and Claire did the Romeo and Juliet project and Claire wanted to be in a relationship with Eli. Eli still thinks about that. He told Claire it was Julia that was holding him back and that was true. It was. And even though Eli and Claire are sort of together, it's still kind of bumpy and they aren't really sexually active (thank goodness Claire's the "wait till marriage type", even though Eli's the "anti-marriage type", but he figures they'll work something out later).

He figures he's thrown any possible friendship with Claire or Adam away. After all, this far into their friendship, and still secrecy? Claire may be a saint and all but if Eli's a saint of anything he's the saint of secrecy. Julia, pack rat, yadda yadda yadda, with two big secrets down and one left to go, how can they hate him for keeping it secret? (although it must be cruel, two is better than one, right? Solidarity, show support for your brothers, man! Right? But Eli can't help wanting to be stealthy. Sure, he's a well-known non-conformist. But he doesn't want his non-conformity to be wiped away by something bigger that basically erases him, he's different so it's okay, you can break the rules, we'll let you if you prove yourself and let us pathologize you, but we'll still tell everybody else to shut up and be good little boys and girls. You want to be different? Then you won't get any toys for Christmas (but that's okay, we don't need your gendered toys).).

"Hey you," a voice said.

Eli stood at the corner of the staircase, a shadow falling over the left side of his body. He turns around and sees the red headed girl.

"Do I know you?" Eli said sarcastically.

"I don't know. Do you?" the girl said. A strand of her red hair falls in front of her left eye. She's vaguely familiar.

"Not that I'm aware of." It wasn't really a lie. Eli didn't know her, at least. But he was always Eli. Even then.

"Oh come on," the red head said. She paused, staring at her black flats. She turned to face Eli. Studied him closely. "You never answered my question. Can I get a name at least?"

"Mine?" Eli asks.

"Of course, who else's?" the red head says.

"Oh I don't know, maybe you wanted Jessica's," Eli said mockingly, even though it was risky to bring Jessica up.

"Har har," the red head says. "So you do know Jesssica?"

"You called me Jessica, remember? Never said I knew her, but obviously you wanted to talk about her," Eli said. He paused. "You never told me your name."

"Eli," Eli said.

"Eli?" the read head asked.

Eli nodded. "Eli."

"So are you Jessica's brother, Eli?" the red head asked.

"Wait a minute! You know my name, now you need to tell me yours," Eli protested.

"Not until you tell me if you knew Jessica," the red head said.

Eli was quiet for a second. He raised his left eyebrow and his face twinkled with mischief. Honesty can be deceptive.

"Yes, I knew Jessica," Eli said.

The red head pouted. "How did you know her? Was she your sister?"

"Tell me your name first," Eli said.

"Fine," the red head grumpled. "Alice."

"Alice. Pretty name. It suits you," Eli said.

"Now tell me how you knew Jessica," Alice said.

Eli put his hands on his hips. "Hmmm…I don't think so," he said.

"But you said…" Alice said.

Eli just smiled.

"Tell you what. Meet me later at the Dot and we can talk more if you want," Eli said.

"No thanks, Eli," Alice said.

Alice still couldn't put her finger on it. She grew up around Jessica. After middle school, Jessica disappeared. Julia and Jessica, always holding hands and kissing. The tough dykes, waging a war against a patriotic, cissexist society. Alice just wanted in. After all, she wasn't even Alice then. She didn't remember Jessica having a brother. Then again, she wouldn't know either because Jessica barely talked to her. Jessica was a little outsider, avoiding the boys and girls. Then in middle school, Jessica was always clinging to Julia, and they never talked to anyone else. They certainly wouldn't talk to a boy, no, they couldn't let a boy into their lesbian feminist club. We're all queer, you know. Queer to the bone, anarchists, so why don't we let everyone in?

Eli abandoned that club. Julia didn't want to, and they fought about it. And then Julia died. And it was Eli's fault. For existing. Julia died. Okay, maybe it wasn't the argument that killed her, but they were long due for a break up anyways. Eli misses her sometimes. She's dead either way, but, you know…there's this tiny part of him that's glad she isn't with anyone else.

Don't get him wrong, he's still an anarchist. It's just, Julia never really was. Or maybe Julia was just too in love with Jessica, the ghost girl who never really existed. Maybe. Maybe.

Meanwhile, Fiona and Declan are standing outside Degrassi Community School, behind the dumpster, staring into each other's eyes. For a while Fiona had an eye for Adam, but it got annoying that he kept calling her princess. You know, she's that crazy chick; she doesn't want to be called princess. She's insecure too, sometimes, because her ex abused her and she drank and the kids at school made fun of her for all that. It's like she's supposed to be royalty, and that makes her popular, so she must agree with the popular kids. Right? You know there's the idea that princesses are too weak to take care of themselves, which Fiona doesn't particularly like either, but that's not what grates her the most.

She respects untouchables way more than she respects royalty.

Part of her wants Adam. The rest of her wants Declan. After all, what better ingredient to love is there but for it to be forbidden? Fiona was in love with it. More with the idea of it than Declan himself, but oh well. Declan didn't need to know that.

She leaned in and kissed Declan on the lips.

"Fi! I thought we were done with this," Declan grumbled, pulling partially away.

"Shut up and kiss me, brother of mine," Fiona teased. She smiled, the left corner of her mouth turning up into a Joker's grin. 'You are the love of my life,' she thought to no one. She hasn't met the love of her life yet, but personally she finds love a tad bit overrated.

"But it's wrong!" Declan said.

"Declan, silly," Fiona said, placing a finger on his lips. "It's only wrong 'cause they tell us it's wrong. We ain't doing anybody any harm."

Fiona leaned in and made out with her brother, passionately. This time he didn't pull away.

After all. They're not hurting anybody.

To be continued….

ahahahaha…well, please review! They'll be more of Alice in the next chapter and, like I promised, the next chapter will be in Adam's POV! The more reviews the sooner it will get here! This chapter gives away too much…but I don't got nothing else now so this is it I guess, so much for keeping up the mystery.

~Kaden