Disclaimer: I do not own these wonderful characters, I just like to play with them :)

A/N: Here is chapter four! I'm really popping out these babies, aren't I? Well, what can I say? I'm having fun writing them. Thanks to everyone who reviewed, and don't forget to keep 'em coming! :) I thoroughly enjoy hearing from you guys. P.S. When I reread the previous chapters I noticed a few typos which I hadn't caught before so sorry about that. I'll try harder to fix those. Now without further ado...

CHAPTER FOUR: ADVANCED ENGLISH

The next day at school, I was glad to see that Andrew seemed to have forgotten all about what Fitz and Owen had done—Or at least, let it go like I'd asked him.

That morning, I found myself scanning every hallway I walked down for signs of dark, red hair or bright green eyes but had no luck. Admittedly, I felt a little dumb but I couldn't help it.

"Wow, what happened to you?" said Eli, joining me at my locker like he did every morning.

"What?" I glancing in the mirror stuck to my locker door, making sure the bruises on my shoulder and arms didn't stick out from my shirt collar or sleeves. I was right when I'd guessed that I'd be covered in them. When I cleaned myself up yesterday, I discovered more bruises, mostly on my left side, running all the way up to my shoulder. I had a few on my hip and down my leg and there were some here and there on my stomach and both my arms too. It looked sick and was a pain to hide from my mother. Luckily, I'm not one to wear shorts or t-shirts, so no one finds it odd when I'm completely covered up.

"You look horrible," Eli explained. "Like the walking dead…And coming from me, that's saying something". I laughed and he flashed me his impish grin but I could tell he was beginning to get a little worried.

"I'm fine," I lied, my arms, left side and the bump on the back of my head still throbbing.

"Still not sleeping?" came Clare's voice as she appeared on my other side.

"I slept fine," I told her, and this wasn't a lie. For the first time in what felt like months, I'd slept fairly well—Considering my body was covered in bruises…I mean, I hadn't had the nightmares, anyway. I glanced at Clare who didn't seem entirely convinced but seemed to decided it was better to let it go. "Are we going to English or what?" I asked, slamming my locker door shut a little too forcefully. The sound made my heart jump—Great, Fitz and Owen gave me Post Traumatic Stress…

"And what did the Pigs represent in George Orwell's Animal Farm?" Ms. Dawes asked the class at large.

Clare's hand, along with a few others, went up in the air but before Ms. Dawes could call on anyone, Principal Simpsons came through the classroom door accompanied by the very person I'd been waiting all day to see.

"Hi, everybody," he said, smiling warmly at the class. "This is Natalie Ford, guys. It's her second day here at Degrassi but her first day transferring to the advanced class. I trust all of you will make her feel welcome". He gave her an encouraging look and bid everyone adieu.

Natalie stepped forward just enough to hand Ms. Dawes a piece of paper.

"Welcome, Natalie," she said, taking the paper and gesturing for her to step father into the room. "Why don't you tell us a little bit about yourself?"

At these words—But only for a split second—Natalie looked moritified and I couldn't help but laugh a little bit. However, she regained composure instantly.

"I'd rather not bore everyone with the details," she simply, giving a little smile.

"Alright then, just take a seat. We're discussing the symbolism in George Orwell's Animal Farm," said Ms. Dawes kindly.

Natalie looked at the only empty seat, a rickety chair no one wanted at the front of the class. It was immediately to Clare's right. As she made her way over to the seat, her eyes found mine watching her. She smiled at me and her brows furrowed a little bit as she mouthed, "You okay?"

I nodded and found myself grinning, what I could only imagine was, stupidly. Realizing this, I looked away, cleared my throat and adjusted myself in my seat but when I looked back at her, she was seated and her back turned to me.

I sighed quietly and grimaced, absent-mindedly tracing the lining of my beanie with my fingers. Real smooth, Adam, I thought before trying to redirect my attention back to Animal Farm.

When the bell rang, I piled my books into my bag, feeling oddly self-conscious. I shook the feeling off and stole a look in Natalie's direction, she was talking to Clare.

Clare glanced at me, and catching me watching them. My eyes traveled towards Natalie who followed Clare's gaze and found me. Natalie and I locked eyes for the quickest nanosecond but I panicked and looked away quickly. Like an idiot, I ducked, bending over and pretending to be incredibly interested in the zipper of my backpack as I closed it up—and hoping, in vain, that they hadn't seen that weird display. What has gotten into me?

Pull yourself together, man.

"Adam!" called Clare. Yep, they'd definitely seen me.

I was double over in my seat, face near the backpack on the ground. At the sound of Clare's voice, I sighed and shut my eyes…preparing myself… then, I came up for breath.

"Hey, Clare!" I answered, through a tight mouth, trying to smile nonchalantly. Her and Natalie were coming my way.

"This is Natalie," she said, "She just moved here".

"We've met," I informed her. "Hi, Natalie".

"Hi, Adam," said Natalie.

"Oh," said Clare, sounding happy "Great".

"Glad to see you're still function after yesterday," Natalie told me.

"Yeah," I said, smiling but my eyes shot nervously in Clare's direction as I hadn't told her or Eli about yesterday's incident and I wasn't sure I wanted them to know. Not just yet, least.

"What happened yesterday?" asked Clare, looking puzzled, as was to be expected—Clare never missed anything.

"Nothing," I said quickly, "Nothing happened yesterday". I shot Natalie a pleading look, hoping she would back me up.

"Natalie?" Clare turned to her new friend. Natalie was looking at me, brows furrowed at the look on my face.

"Adam took a major face plant yesterday," she lied impressively, not taking her eyes off me. "Gotta learn to keep your laces tied, buddy".

"Yeah," I said, laughing with relief. "I'll try".

A/N: That's it for chapter 4, what do you guys think?