"Out" – Part 4
Summary and additional notes in part 1.
Author's Note: Thanks for the reviews guys! Lol at how many of you were grossed out by Brandon! I think that's not cool either :D
Disclaimer: I do NOT own Degrassi. (I'm not even Canadian!)
4-
The next day he went to grab food with Katie. As they waited in line to order burritos, she turned to him.
"Sorry for being such a jerk yesterday," she said. "It was just unexpected. I didn't mean to be immature about it."
Adam sighed. "No harm, no foul."
"Really?" she questioned. He nodded. "Good, because I really like you."
She paused and Adam gave her a look.
"No, not like that! I mean, I think you're cool," she winced.
Adam laughed. "I get what you're saying," he assured her.
Katie let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. "Good! Because I was not hitting on you! You're married and I'm not that type of girl!"
When they returned to the break room, most of the crew was there. Brandon, John, Shelley, Eric, and Natalie greeted them.
Adam sat down and began eating. He was starving. A few minutes later Jose joined them and took an empty seat next to Adam.
"I was cheerleader," Natalie readily admitted.
They were talking about their experiences in high school.
"I can see that!" Brandon teased. She smiled graciously.
"I was student council all the way," Shelley told them. "I was president senior year!"
They all smiled.
"It fits!" Jose laughed. He looked at Adam. He was dying to know more about him but he didn't want to be obvious. Instead he turned to Eric. "What about you?"
Eric smiled and pushed up his glasses. "I spent four years immersed in comic books! It led me to where I am today, but I was total geek for them."
Adam laughed and nodded in agreement. "I hear you, man."
Jose raised an eyebrow. "Somehow I'm not buying it."
"You were a geek?" Natalie questioned. Adam was conventionally handsome and he had a nice build. He seemed like he would have been popular. Perhaps he was a late bloomer?
Adam looked up. "Well, yeah… sort of."
"Which one is it?" Katie asked amused.
"I've always been a comic book aficionado. And the first two years of high school I was definitely a geek—"
"You?" Jose shook his head. "You seem like you were homecoming king in high school."
Adam gave him a wry smile. "Actually I was."
The table broke out into a mixture of laughs and groans.
"No offense dude, but being homecoming king nullifies being a geek," Eric stated. He went dateless all through high school because he wasn't popular, whereas winning that title was based on popularity!
"Yeah. I hate you a little right now dude. You were popular back in high school, you married a rich girl, and I saw the picture of her on your desk – she's hot!" Brandon decried.
Adam shrugged. He paused, debating whether or not to hold back about his past, but he decided he was going to stay true to who he was. "High school was a strange time for me. It was filled with highs and lows. The last year ended on a high, but the first two years I was trying to avoid getting the shit kicked out of me every day."
Jose furrowed his brows. "You were bullied?" It wasn't what he was expecting to hear.
"Hey, you certainly got the last laugh," John said focusing on the positive. He couldn't feel that sorry for the guy knowing how things ended up for him.
"I don't get it. Why did they have it in for you?" Brandon asked confused. The vibe he got from Adam was that he was a guy's guy. He probably played sports in school. He was in good shape so obviously he worked out. He was a dude. Dudes are usually accepted in high school, not targets of bullies.
Adam's heart thumped wildly in his chest. No matter how many times he disclosed his status, he still felt nervous every time. He plastered on a grin and shrugged. "You get targeted when you're different. I'm transgendered."
He said it in a casual tone so it took a few seconds for it to sink in. As predicted they immediately stared at him, searching for any hint of femaleness, before pulling their eyes away upon realizing it was rude.
"Wait? So you're going to become a woman?" Brandon asked. His eyes were wide.
Despite himself, Adam chuckled and shook his head. "No. I'm not a male-to-female transgender." He had no desire to live as female ever again!
Brandon laughed. "Okay, I was freaking out a little there," he admitted. The dude had a smoking hot wife and was set for life. Why do anything that would mess up that situation?
Eric, Katie, Shelley, and John sent him pointed looks. Jose rolled his eyes. Brandon could be a real idiot sometimes.
"I'm a FTM. Female-to-male transgender," Adam explained.
Brandon swallowed hard. Why did he always end up putting his foot in his mouth? Maybe this was a joke or something? He glanced around. Everyone looked so serious. Too serious. He glanced at Adam again. It was obvious that the dude across from him was not born a girl!
"Very funny. You had me going there for a moment," he laughed. "Which one of you put the new guy up to this?"
"Wow," Katie said in disbelief. "Brandon, your stupidity astounds me." He displayed a complete inability to read the temperature of the room.
Adam had a tight smile. "I'm not joking, dude."
Brandon blinked. He had a millions of questions but he recognized it was probably best to shut up. In his head he replayed all his interactions with Adam. There was nothing that suggested he wasn't born a guy. He had seen him use the urinal for goodness sakes! Seconds later someone else took the heat of him.
"But you were voted homecoming king?" Natalie said slowly. Before this moment Adam had been added to her list of hot men she harmlessly fantasized about. She didn't know how to feel about this development.
He nodded. "Yes, I was."
"And they knew?" The question slipped out before she could stop herself. She looked away sheepishly.
He slightly chuckled. "Yes. I've been out since I was 15. I don't keep my past a deep dark secret."
When he heard the word 'out', Jose smiled. He understood what Adam was doing on a level no one else at the table did and admired his courage. It took three years before Jose addressed his sexuality at work. During that time he omitted references to partners or dates. He had been out in every other aspect of his life for years, except at work. It had been painful and stifling to stuff himself into a glass closet. Adam had been here for four days and he decided not to go that route.
"Clearly," Jose smirked. Adam smiled in response. "So, from being bullied to homecoming king. How did you manage that?" Jose asked moving the conversation along.
"I went to a few high schools, before transferring to one called Degrassi my sophomore year. Within months everyone found out and it sucked for a long while. Eventually things died down and by junior year it was old news. I was free to be myself. People got to know me and once they did they didn't really care. I joined the basketball team and was president of our GLBT club in the same year," Adam told him.
"Wow, that's pretty incredible," Katie commented.
"Yeah, talk about two things that don't usually mix," Jose quipped. At his high school the jocks were hostile towards anyone on the margins.
John fidgeted. He didn't want to rock the boat, but there was something he was itching for clarification on. "So… does like, everybody know? Your in-laws and all?" As he understood it, the Coynes were old money. It was hard for him to picture this news going over well.
"Yes, they all know," Adam nodded. "Even Mr. Bennington."
This broke the tension and caused much needed laughter.
.
tbc
Reviews are lovely :D
To the folks I cannot directly PM:
FTM Anon – Yeah, it's disturbing especially since public restrooms are always a mess *cringes* Thanks for the review!
