Authors note: firstly, I must apologise for the delay. Sorry. Second, I'm SO sorry for leaving [insert name] for Mr. and Mrs. Torres. When I wrote that part, I told myself I'd look up their names later. I ended up finishing the chapter and posting it right away so yeah, rectified that in this chapter.

Thanks to: mini cupcake sweet heart, megg and AliceHeart for taking the time to review. Here, without further ado: Chapter 4.

"Alli Bhandari what on earth are you wearing?"

Ali and Clare were walking to class together. Ali was in a button up blouse and mini skirt. Clare was wearing flared baby blue jeans, a black tank top, and a violet sweater.

"Dear conservative Clare, welcome to the 21st Century." Alli laughed. "Population: evidently everyone on the planet but you. The shirt isn't even that low. Besides: a girlfriend should be allowed to dress up every once in a while to keep her boyfriends on his toes. Don't you agree?"

"I suppose but do you have to show off all of your assets to the entire world because of one outfit and one boy who is already totally smitten with you?" Alli opened her mouth to retort but Clare threw her arms but excitedly. "Ding ding: we have ourselves a winner. The correct answer is no. The female populous does not have to demean itself in order to appease the male populous. Drew should be happy enough about just having you in his life as more than a friend at all."

"You totally would notbe saying that if you actually had a boyfriend." Alli stopped herself right there, immediately regretting her words. "Clare...I-I'm so sorry. I didn't mean it the way it came out."

Clare stared at Alli. "Then how did you mean it, Alli? After all, you're the one out of the two of us that decided to stay friends with Miss Boyfriend-Stealer herself. Maybe you can get her to explain what it is that makes her better girlfriend material than me." Clare paused. Alli looked really upset. "I'm sorry, that just really hurt, Alli. I still for the life of me can't figure out what made Jenna so appealing to KC that he would want to break off the good thing that he and I had together."

Alli swallowed hard. She happened to have many thoughts on the subject of KC and Clare (as well as some first-hand knowledge behind KC's decision) but she didn't want to upset Clare further, so she merely shrugged. They walked up another flight of stairs, walked down a narrow hallway and into their classroom. They shoved their books into their desks and Clare turned to face Alli. Clearly she was waiting for an answer. "Didn't some philosopher say that: in order to move on with one's life, one cannot focus solely on the past?"

"I don't think it was said quite like that but yes, Buddha said 'do not dwell in the past; do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment.'" Alli stared blankly at her. "What? At least if you're going to bother quoting someone, you should be trying to quote them right."

Alli rolled her eyes. "Clare, it's not like the guy is around to be offended. He's kinda dead and buried."

"Eww don't talk to me about death. I hate the thought of decomposing bodies rotting underground in boxes or bodies being burnt and the ashes scattered in memoriam. It's just too creepy."

"I didn't know you didn't..." Clare shook her head. "It's ok Clare. Let's talk about something fun like...what we're going to do this weekend. We should totally have a girly day and then go somewhere at night. Above The Dot?"

Clare looked unsure. "I'm actually sortof supposed to be home all weekend in case my sister calls. She's coming to visit either this weekend or the next. My parents have two parties they need to be at, so I'm stuck with telephone operator duty."

"Wait, Darcy's coming home? That's...uh...great Clare." All didn't look very thrilled.

"Ok, I know that look and I know that tone. Why is it bad that my sister is coming home? I haven't seen her in like three years."

Again, Alli was hesitant and then careful with her answer. "You've changed a lot since she went away. I just don't want her to wreck anything in your life. I don't think I'm going to introduce her to Drew, if that's ok with you."

Clare couldn't believe her ears. "Why would she wreck my life? What does Drew have to do with any of this? You are not making any sense, Alli. Do you know something I don't? If you do, I'd appreciate it if you'd do me the courtesy of telling me instead of being all cryptic."

"There is no 'big secret' Clare! I just don't like your sister. There's something about her. I couldn't figure out what it was before she left but maybe, now that she's back I can figure it out. I'm coming over after class today."

"No Alli, you're not." Clare angrily turned to face the front of the class.

Alli was flabbergasted. She tapped Clare on the shoulder repeatedly to no avail. "Fine, be that way. See if I care."

That got Clare's attention. She whirled around in her seat, facial features contorted angrily. "You don't think do you? Just because at this particular moment in time you life happens to be working out does not mean that the same goes for everyone else. There is life past the end of your nose; feel free to look for it."

"Clare I..." Alli didn't know what to do. Sometimes Clare got lost in a though or an idea and couldn't be talked out of it. Alli did mean one thing she said though; she didn't trust Darcy at all. "What can I do to make you not mad at me?"

"I'm not mad, Alli. I have moved beyond mad. I am just composed with a dose of barmy. That's probably the best way to describe my state of being." Clare sighed. "If you can explain where this distain for my sister came from, you'll be right back in my good books. No qualms whatsoever. Why don't you like her?"

Of course I was really hoping she'd just forget about that. Now what am I supposed to say?

"What no witty comeback? C'mon Alli, talk to me."

"I just heard rumours, ok?" Alli snapped. "People said stuff. I know she's your sister and all, but some of the stories...they sounded pretty truthful, Clare. I just...don't know how much you should trust her."

Clare arched an eyebrow. Alli's story had developed so many holes that it could pass for Swiss cheese. And then in one fell swoop, she figured it out. "Are you...jealous of the relationship between Darcy and me?" It was the only logical conclusion Clare could concoct.

Hells bells, how in the world did she figure that one out? Alli wondered. She didn't want Clare to know so she laughed. "Me? Jealous? Don't kid yourself, Clare. I like you better now that you've moved away from all the holy garbage that possessed you when your sister was still around."

"Holy garbage? Do you see me insulting your beliefs, Alli? I don't think so. Just because you don't agree with them, doesn't mean you have to trash talk them. I think I'm going to just..." Clare stopped. She couldn't exactly go anywhere, but she certainly didn't have to listen to any more of Alli's negativity.

Alli could tell that she'd hurt Clare again so she shook her head. "No look, that's not what I meant. I'm not trying to insult you. It's just...fine, yes. You were right. Maybe I am just a teensy bit jealous."

"Just a teensy? Really? In the same amount of time that it took you to come up with that silly story, we could have been talking about other things that actually matter. You're kindof ridiculous sometimes, Alli."

"Whatever Clare. What's done is done, just please don't ditch me, ok? That's my one request in all this. Redevelop your bond or whatever, but don't dump me." Alli pleaded.

Clare put her hands on Alli's. "I wouldn't dream of it." The two girls giggled.

Principal Simpson walked into the classroom and a hush fell over the students. "Thank you for your attention. As usual, I get to be the bearer of bad news. Your teacher was involved in a car accident this morning. Uh that being said, homeroom is cancelled for the rest of the week. We will be working on finding a semi-permanent sub for the next few weeks. Use this block as a study period or just sleep in. Please don't make too much noise when you are going out into the hallway." The class stared at him, shocked into complete silence. "What are you waiting for? Go on."

The students filed silently out of the classroom and stood around in the hall. Once they were all out, Mr. Simpson walked down the hallway and out of sight. "Now what?" Alli whispered.

"Now we go study like Simpson told us to." Clare stated matter-of-factly.

Alli rolled her eyes. "Can't you lighten up just this once? I mean, we have a whole period off. When does that ever happen at Degrassi? It doesn't. Let's go for a walk around and see what we can see." Clare shrugged. "One way or another, Alli was going to find a way to keep them from studying. "Perfect. Off we go."

They walked down two flights of stairs and wandered from hallway to hallway. Alli nudged Clare lightly in the ribs as she stopped walking. "Ow, what?" Alli pointed at the end of the hallway. There, near the emergency doors was another large group of students standing around, no teacher in sight. Clare spotted Adam and waved. Adam waved back. "I wonder what's going on with them."

Adam looked at his classmates and then walked over to Alli and Clare. He looked grim. "My teacher got into some sort of accident or something. Simpson told us that homeroom is cancelled for the rest of the week." Alli and Clare stared at him, slack jawed. "What's wrong with you two?"

"It's just that...our teacher was in an accident too. A car accident. This can't be a coincidence, it's way too suspicious." Clare was getting totally weirded out.

"So what now?" asked Adam.

"We go outside?" suggested Alli. "Oh come on you two, it's too nice a day to be staying cooped up in here." Adam and Clare shrugged. They couldn't argue that fact considering the weather networks had been predicting heavy rains only for the majority of the weekend. They made their way around the school and headed out the front doors. "Ahh, the great outdoors." Alli grinned as she walked over to one of the nearby picnic tables. Adam and Clare followed suit.

"That sounds like a very unAllilike thing to say. Aren't you scared about bugs getting into your clothes?" asked Adam.

"Ew, Adam don't be gross." Said Alli as she made her 'yuck' face.

Adam laughed and gazed beyond Alli. He was looking at a particular girl who, as she walked towards them, seemed to have her eyes on Clare. He glanced at Clare who didn't seem to notice or be bothered by the attention that she was getting. "That chick is staring at you, Clare." Adam pointed and Clare looked behind her and smiled.

Alli turned around to see who Adam was talking about. "Oh great."

Sure as shooting, Darcy was making her way towards the trio. "You know guys, usually when you're trying to cut class; you're supposed to leave school grounds. Not stay on them. Too easy to get caught." She walked to Clare's side of the picnic table and the sisters hugged each other. "Since you've save me the trouble of trying and possibly failing to pull you out of class, do you want to go on a lunch date with me, Clare Bear?"

"She has an exam today, Darcy." Alli interjected. "You wouldn't want to put her academics in jeopardy for a stupid little lunch date would you?"

Darcy was stunned by Alli's tone. Before she could explain herself, Clare intervened. "I'd love to, Darcy. Let's go right now." She stood up, grabbed hold of her sisters arm and they walked away.

Alli looked crushed and Adam didn't know what he was supposed to do. "Sisters are so evil, Adam. You and Drew should be beyond thankful that you don't have them around to ruin your lives." Adam flushed and looked at the ground. Alli was fuming.

"So that was Clare's sister? It's kinda funny; I didn't even know she had a sister."

Alli's eyes narrowed. "That's because she ran off to Kenya to build a school or some garbage."

Adam could've called Drew. There's no sense in both of us being out of class. I can handle this. He decided vehemently that pursuing the topic further would be totally pointless and nothing he could say would be of comfort to Alli. He tried to think of something they could talk about, something to distract Alli. Other than Degrassi, Drew and Clare, he and Alli had literally nothing in common.

"May I join you two?" It was Eli. Alli refused to look at him, so he went to Adam's side of the table and sat down. "It seems like there's some sort of teacher crisis/epidemic going on around here. My homeroom and three others got cancelled this morning."

"Hence the two of us being absent. from class." Alli stood up. "I'll see you two later." She ran back to the school before the boys could say a word.

"Ok…what exactly did I say to piss her off?" Eli didn't look particularly concerned, just very confused.

"That's her natural charm coming out to play, of course." Adam replied, grinning. "She's just annoyed at Clare. Or Clare's sister. She might be annoyed with both of them, actually. I really don't know."

"Whatever. She's Drew's problem, not mine." Eli paused. "Sister?"

Adam shrugged. "Ask her the next time you see her, man, I don't know."

"Hmm, odd." Eli mused. "So about that kiss…"

Adam began to sweat. Didn't that turn out to be a dream? How did he know… "Uh what kiss are you talking about exactly, Eli?" he asked nervously.

"The one I intend to surprise Clare with this afternoon, remember? I want our date to be practically perfect in every way."

Adam burst out laughing. "Clare! Of course, right. Did you just quote Mary Poppins?"

"I'm a cube. I have more than one side, Adam. And yes Clare. Who else would I be talking about?" Now Eli looked interested.

"I-I just…I mean there are tons of other girls in this school right? The year has barely begun. Logically, why would you want to tie yourself down, now?"

"You bring up an interesting point. I would like to see, however, where things with Clare might lead. I suppose if it didn't work out, then maybe I could see about other options." Eli smirked. "What about you, Adam? Is there anyone in particular you have your mind set on, among other things?"

Adam shook his head quickly. "Just, you know: playing the field, keeping my mind open and clear of clutter and drama, and allowing my options to stay wide open." He laughed. "Besides, if my mom found out that both Drew and I had girls, she'd flip right out."

"She couldn't just be happy for you?" Eli interrupted.

"That's not in her nature. Her philosophy is that 'nothing should get in between you and good grades, especially not something as pointless as a girlfriend. She actually makes me really mad sometimes." Adam heard the all too familiar sound of his mother's favourite pair of high heels clicking on the cement, walking towards him and Eli. "Speak of the devil and she shall appear." He turned to face her. "Hello mother."

She stood right in front of him and crossed her arms. "What are you doing out here?"

"Homeroom was cancelled." Adam said simply. "What are you doing here?"

Audra Torres was short in terms of stature but her cold stares and cut-throat personality more than made up for the lack of altitude. She grabbed at Adam's shirt collar but he batted her away. "Don't act so tough, Adam. You know deep down what a pathetic excuse for a human being you are. Does your little friend here know about all your secrets? All the crap you've put me through."

Eli tried to get between them but Mrs. Torres wouldn't allow it. "You shouldn't talk to you son like that. It's no wonder he wanted to run away."

Mrs. Torres took her gave off of Adam and turned angrily to Eli. "You think I'm going to listen to you?" They have names for kids like you: freak, aberration, abomination, despicable, evil. They have books and TV shows too. The general conclusion is that you all need to be thrown in padded cells and reprogrammed."

When no words came out of Eli's mouth, Adam shoved his mom lightly. "Get out of here, now. Get away from him, get away from me, and get away from my school. Go home, get drunk and go cut yourself. That's what you're good at, right? Get back on your pathetic pity train. No one wants you here."

"You think you're so tough. You think you can just run off without telling anyone in your house? You are poorly misinformed. You live under our roof and you will respect our rules." Mrs. Torres looked angry.

"I think I'd rather have to live on the damn street than live under your roof for one more second." Adam muttered under his breath.

"Well that can certainly be arranged." Mrs. Torres gave Adam a quick smack on the back of his head and then she began to walk towards the school. "You have 24 hours to get your belongings out of my house. After that, they are going to charity." And with that final blow, she left Eli and Adam standing in stunned silence.

"Adam, are you going to be ok?" Eli put his hand gently on Adam's shoulders, as they sat down in unison.

Sobbing silently, Adam looked at Eli. "What am I doing to do? She wasn't supposed to kick me out; she was supposed to…oh I don't even know anymore. I just want her to care about me." Adam stopped. That was it. If she'd just stop being so god damn critical of me and just care, we'd get along just fine! He thought.

Eli didn't know what to do. He hadn't seen many guys cry. Adam was leaning forward, still sobbing, so Eli draped his arm further across Adam's shoulders. Adam closed his eyes and instinctively moved closer to Eli. "Calm down, Adam. Everything is going to be just fine. She can't just throw you out, you're her son. Deep down, you know she loves you, right?" Eli sounded so concerned and sincere.

Adam inhaled and exhaled slowly. "She doesn't love me. She's never loved me. She loves Gracie and there is nothing that I can do about it." Adam didn't even notice what he had said. Nor did he seem terribly concerned about the look of confusion on Eli's face.

"Adam…who is Gracie?" Adam pulled away from Eli slowly. "Adam?"

Adam was stunned. Oh shit. "Uh…" was the only sound that managed to come out of Adam's mouth. Eli's look of complete astonishment pretty much said it all. Adam had dug himself a nifty little verbal hole and there wasn't a whole heck of a lot he could to do dig himself back out of it again. He sighed and looked at Eli, whose expression had begun to soften.

"Look Adam, whatever it is, you can tell me. Keeping secrets never ends well for anyone."

He couldn't keep it in any longer. "I'm an FTM!" he blurted out, as he stood up suddenly.

Eli was dumbfounded. "Adam, what are you talking about?"

Adam rubbed his eyes and looked at Eli. Both boys blushed ever so slightly. "Did I sleep-speak again? I really should be on some kind of medication for my outbursts." He tried to laugh it off. "That was pretty weird, huh? I'm sorry if I scared you?" Eli was not buying what Adam was selling.

"Ok, Adam? Enough. Sleep-speak or no sleep-speak, you sounded pretty convincing just then. And now? Dude you called yourself an FTM, as though I'm supposed to know what this is. As your friend, I could encourage you to go down one of two paths: make up some bull-shit story so we can move on and pretend that this never happened, or you could just tell me the truth." El paused. "No pressure, ok? I'm fine with you either way. I, myself, would go with the former."

What could telling Eli do? He says that he's ok with me either way, so that means that I can trust him with my secret. "You swear you won't tell anyone if I tell you something that is totally, completely, utterly private?"

Eli grinned. "Sounds like you've got something really juicy saved up for me. But sure. A promise is a promise. I will not tell a soul."

"There you guys are!" Adam and Eli turned to see Clare and Darcy walking towards them. "I should have known that where one of you goes, the other follows." She laughed. "Eli, Adam, this is my sister, Darcy." They boys nodded, Darcy smiled.

"Excellent timing Clare. Adam was just about to tell me…" Eli looked at Adam who was making a slashing motion at his throat. "He was just about to tell me that we are probably going to be late for class if we don't get up and leave now." They stood up. "Nice to meet you Darcy. Will we be seeing more of you around campus?"

"I'm kindof already graduated. If you swing by Clare's after school you'll definitely see more of me." She winked at Eli.

"Great. Let's go Adam." Adam and Eli walked back into Degrassi.

Clare was grateful that he wasn't fazed at all by Darcy's forward flirting. "Darcy, what are you doing?"

"Trying to be friends with your friends. What does it look like?" Darcy asked, innocently.

"It looks like you're trying to flirt with my friends."

"Quit being so paranoid, Clare. They're like…five years younger than me, right? That's just gross."

"They're my age, Darcy. Not that I want you trying to date them but…" Clare was getting flustered. "Just leave them be, ok?"

"Does my Clare-Bear have a crush on a boy? Ohh it looks like I came home just in time!" Darcy squealed with delight. "So, which one are you into? Tall, dark, and brooding with a killer smile? Or short, sweet and too cute to boot?" Clare gawked at her sister. "Ok what? Do I have salad stuck between my teeth or something?"

"No. Darcy…I don't want to talk about boys, ok? You just got home. Let's talk about you. How was Kenya?"

"Kenya was…good. It was good. Listen Clare; do me a favour, ok? You can't tell mom and dad that I'm home yet. Give me…two more days, and then we can tell them together."

"Cause that doesn't sound suspicious or anything." Darcy gave Clare a look. "Ok I won't tell. Any particular reason?"

"I just…have some things I have to take care of now that I'm home and I don't want mom or dad to be worrying." Darcy poked Clare's cheek. "Don't worry. I'm a big girl, I can take care of myself."

"So you never did tell me how long you're staying for."

"I'm planning on making this a pretty permanent stay. As long as everything goes my way for the next two days, you will be seeing a heck of a lot more of me around here. Isn't that great Clare?" Darcy smiled.

"Yup. Great." Clare smiled back.

Darcy gave Clare a quick hug. "I have an appointment I have to get to but I'm glad I got to see you. I've missed you, Clare."

"I've missed you too, Darc. See you for dinner later this week maybe?" asked Clare.

"Definitely." Darcy waved and walked towards the parking lot.

Clare watched her drive off and then she walked up the front steps and into Degrassi.

"SO!" a shrill voice scared Clare nearly out of her skin. It was Alli. "Wow, I'm sorry Clare. I didn't mean to startle you."

"It's fine, Alli." Clare kept walking.

"Are you not going to tell me how your lunch date went?"

Clare turned around. "Why should I? The last thing you said to me was that you hated my sister. Why should I share my morning with you? You only care because you weren't there."

Alli pouted. She was starting to get upset again. "Clare what do you want me to do?"

"I just…want you to leave me be for the day. We'll see how I am when classes are over for the day, ok? Until then just…just don't talk to me." Clare's hair fell in her face as she turned to walk down the hallway. Alli didn't see the single tear slip down her cheek.

Left standing alone with her best friends' distain for her quite apparent, Alli walked to class alone.

"So do you have short term memory loss or what, Eli?" Adam asked, laughing. He and Eli were walking to class together.

"So I almost slipped up. Big deal. So what was it you were trying to tell me?"

And that is the end of that. I hope I did not disappoint!