It's been a while. Exams 0_o. Here's some BabyDrew and BabyAdam to make up for the delays. Woo!

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Chapter 10 – Superheroes

September 2002

Drew was ready to start 2nd grade. He had his new backpack, a fully equipped pencil case and enough notebooks to make a whole room full of paper airplanes and treasure maps.

But best of all was the lunchbox.

As soon as Drew saw it in the mall, he had begged Mom for it; blue with a red handle and emblazoned with the Superman logo on the front. It was cool, it was heroic, and it came with a matching thermos. It was the most perfect lunchbox ever.

So of course Gracie had to get a matching Batman one.

If Drew was being fair, he would probably just accept that Gracie probably didn't pick her lunchbox because she was copying, but because she loved Batman. She had a large collection of the comics and could through read them faster than Drew despite being a grade younger She always chose Batman when they played superheroes. She even got a remote controlled Batmobile for her last birthday. But Drew saw the Superman one first!

Mom bought them both despite Drew's protests of unfairness. Now both luncboxes were sitting the kitchen counter filled with sandwitchy goodness. Drew found himself glaring at them huffily as Mom fussed over Gracie's pigtails.

"And you'll be a good girl at the big school today, won't you Gracie?" Mom said as she tightened a ribbon on the end of Gracie's hair.

"I promise." She said enthusiastically.

Mom smiled and tilted her head in Drew's direction.

"And you'll take care of your sister on her first day, won't you Drew?" She said in a much sterner tone than the one she used with Gracie.

Drew nodded sulkily. Mom didn't smile.

"Won't you Drew?" She said again, in a much firmer tone.

Drew sighed.

"Yes Mom, I'll take care of Gracie." Drew said exasperatedly. This time Mom smiled.

"Good," She said as she finished Gracie's hair and got onto her feet. "In that case, have a great day at school. Both of you."

She grabbed the lunchboxes off the counter and gave then each to Drew and Gracie along with a kiss on the cheek.

Drew grabbed Gracie's free hand and led her out the front door.

"I have some rules that you need to follow," Drew said as he took Gracie down the path to school. "First of all, you don't cross the street without me, ok? Secondly, you can't come up to me at recess – you need to make your own friends. And lastly, you meet me at the swings after school so I can walk you home. Got it?"

"But what if I don't like any of the other kids?" Gracie asked. She had gotten in trouble with playing too rough with the other girls before. Drew couldn't see what the problem was; Drew and Gracie play fought all the time and they never got yelled at for it.

"Well… just try to like them." He said as they waited to cross the street. "Remember to look both ways."

"I know," Gracie said pulling at Drew's hand. "Do I have to hold onto you the whole time?"

"Yes," Said Drew firmly. "I'm your big brother, I have to keep you safe. It's my job."

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May 2010

Mom and Adam left early on Monday morning. They had to have a long talk with the Principal. Drew would have to walk to school.

The walk wasn't so bad. It gave him plenty of time to think. How would the rest of the school react to Adam? People would say something about it - a grade 9 girl leaving school on Friday and returning as a boy on Monday wasn't a common occurrence – but would they say cruel things? Would Adam be able to handle it?

Drew pondered this as he absentmindedly kicked a soda can along the sidewalk; he imagined that some the girls would be mean about it, that's what girls do, but the guys would probably exclude Adam completely for not being a real guy, and that would probably hurt a lot more than stupid name calling.

As he reached the school gates, Drew took a breath and realised that he would just have to wait and see what was going to happen

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September 2002

Drew realised he had told Gracie to stay away from his at recess, but when he saw his sister sitting at the bottom of the jungle gym, hugging her legs with her head buried in her knees, he knew that something was very wrong.

"What's wrong Gracie?" He asked kneeling down beside her.

"They took my lunchbox," She said, trying furiously hard not to cry. "They said it was a boy's lunchbox and I wasn't allowed to have it."

"Who said that?" Drew asked. Gracie pulled anxiously at her pigtails.

"Just some kids in my class" She said, blinking back tears.

Drew pulled Gracie up.

"Show me who it was." Drew demanded.

Gracie fidgeted, trying desperately hard not to look at anything or anyone.

"I can ask Mom for another lunchbox, it's ok." She insisted.

"No it's not," Drew yelled. "No one messes with my sister."

Drew grabbed Gracie's hand and pulled her toward the direction of a large group of first graders. He had planned to ask them if they knew anything about Gracie's lunchbox, but when he got to them he didn't need to ask. They were rummaging through it as Drew approached.

"Hey. Give my sister back her lunchbox." Drew shouted as Gracie made her best attempt to sink into the ground and disappear.

None of the kids dared answer back to a 2nd grader, but made no attempt to hand over the lunchbox either.

"Now!" He said, "Or I'll get a teacher."

The 1st graders rushed to return the lunch box and it's contents back to Gracie and quickly scattered. Drew felt something run into his side and looked down to see Gracie hugging him tightly.

"Thanks Drew," She said, grinning widely. "You're the best brother ever."

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May 2010

Drew didn't hear even a whisper about Adam until the beginning of study period just before lunch when Marc took his usual seat next to him.

"Dude, have you heard what they're saying?" Marc asked frantically. "Is it true?"

"Is what true?" Drew replied, preparing himself for what he imagined would be an onslaught of questions and ridicule.

"You're sister's going around dressed as a boy," Marc whispered. "I heard that the teachers are saying we've to call her Adam. What's up with that?"

"She's… he's got something called Gender Identity Disorder." Drew replied, just loudly enough so that the people listening would be able to hear every word he was saying. "It means that he looks like a girl, but he had a guy's brain. It's a real thing dude."

Marc leaned in closer, and hushed Drew.

"Don't you know what this means?" Marc hissed.

Drew knew exactly what it meant. It meant that Gracie was gone, it meant that there was this new person called Adam, and it meant that things were going to be different from now on.

But Marc seemed to have a different idea of what it all meant.

"I dated that," Marc said in the most aggressive whisper Drew had ever heard. "I dated a girl and them all of a sudden after we went out she's a guy now. What do you think people are going to say about that; what they think it says about me?"

"It doesn't have anything to do with you," Drew said. "Or me. Gracie wasn't even really a real person, because it was Adam on the inside. He only went out with you because he was trying to be-"

"I didn't date a guy!" Marc shouted. "Don't you ever say that!"

Drew stayed silent, fearing that anything he said would make Marc further enraged. Marc's breathing began to calm.

"I didn't date a guy," Marc repeated, this time quietly, but it was somehow more threatening sounding that it was when he was yelling. "I didn't, I-I… I was tricked. It tricked me – I didn't know it was some sort of he-she!"

"Hey watch it, you're talking about my brother, man." Drew said, his voice beginning to get louder, he was very aware that everyone in study hall was listening in. But Marc wasn't listening to Drew, his eyes were distant and his face was hard. Drew suddenly felt afraid.

"It tricked me," Marc said again, his voice flat. "It tried to make me look like an idiot."

Drew wanted to punch Marc for saying those things about Adam, but he couldn't move. He had become completely frozen; all he could feel was his heart thumping aggressively in his chest. It was beating so hard it hurt. And then Marc said something that made Drew's heart stop beating altogether.

"I'll teach it to try and trick me."

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September 2002

It took Gracie almost a minute to notice that Drew was in the kitchen watching her.

"What are you doing?" He asked as Gracie tried to hide a plastic bag behind her back.

"Nothing!" she said quickly, but Drew was not convinced. He grabbed the plastic bag off her and looked inside. There was a sandwich with the crusts messily cut off, a banana and a juice box.

"What are you doing?" Asked Drew, genuinely perplexed at his sister's actions.

Gracie pulled her hair behind her ears, "The other kids in my class said they'd take my lunchbox if I brought it in again. I don't want them to be mean to me."

Drew began to pace angrily. He paced a lot when he was mad, it made him feel like he was doing something. "We have to tell Mom what's going on."

"Please don't tell Mom!" Gracie pleaded. "I don't want to make it worse."

Drew stopped pacing, couldn't come up with anything to say and started pacing again. What did the other first graders have against Batman? Granted he wasn't as cool as Superman, at least Superman had real powers and didn't have to use gadgets to be treated like a superhero, but Batman was still a superhero – even if he did need a little extra help to be one. Drew had to deicide – what would Superman do in this situation?

Drew sighed deeply.

"What if I take both our lunchboxes to school," Drew said. "And then at lunchtime, you can come sit with me and we'll eat lunch together."

Gracie's face lit up. "You would do that? Really?"

"Sure," Drew shrugged. "What are brother's for?"

Gracie ran to the cabinet to rescue her Batman lunchbox, smiling all the way.

That afternoon (and every afternoon to come until Drew reached middle school) Gracie and Drew sat together at lunch and ate their matching sandwiches from their matching superhero lunchboxes and Drew knew that if Superman were watching he'd be very proud.

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May 2010

Drew wasted no time in running towards the English class that Adam was supposed to be leaving for lunch. But when he got there, Adam was missing.

"She's not been in any classes today," one of the girls told Drew. "I think she's still with the guidance counsellor."

Drew didn't bother to correct her pronouns as he sprinted to the guidance office. He arrived just as Miss Gordon, the counsellor, was leaving for lunch.

"Where's my brother?" Drew asked between breaths. "I need to see him."

"Adam's having lunch in one of the classrooms," Miss Gordon said gently. "Just until the teachers can explain his situation to the students. We don't want any of his classmates to be misinformed – for Adam's sake."

"Yeah, yeah that's great Miss Gordon." Said Drew impatiently. "Can you just tell me which class room?"

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Drew ran as fast as he could to the 3rd floor music room where Miss Gordon said Adam was having his lunch. He hoped he got there before Marc or anyone else did.

But when Drew got to the classroom, nobody was there. Not even Adam.

Drew leaned against the piano as he tried to get his breath back. Adam had been in the music room, his things were lying under a desk, but there was no sign of where he was now, or of he was in any danger.

Then he heard the crowd yelling.

Drew grabbed Adam's backpack and followed the sound the voices. He found them at the far end of the east corridor; a crowd of perhaps two-dozen students from grades nine and ten. Drew forced his was through to see Marc towering over Adam in a corner. As far as Drew could see Marc wasn't hurting Adam, but Drew didn't care. He grabbed Marc by the collar of his shirt and threw him against the lockers with as much force as he could muster.

"What the hell do you think you're doing to my brother?" Drew roared, pushing Marc as far up against the lockers as he could.

"What brother?" Marc spat. "You mean you're messed up he-she of a sister?"

"Shut up!" Drew yelled "You have no idea what you're talking about!"

Drew pushed Marc further into the lockers, if that was at all possible, and prepared to punch him when the crowd of students scattered.

"Hey!" A voice from behind Drew bellowed. "Break it up boys."

Drew felt the hand of a teacher he didn't know push him away from Marc. Drew looked over at Adam, who was still in the corner. His lip was bleeding, his shirt was ripped and he was shaking. Drew ran over to his brother.

"Are you ok? What did he do to you?" Drew asked, too frightened to actually touch Adam in fear that Adam had more injuries that Drew couldn't see.

Adam nodded. "I'm fine. He grabbed me and I tried to get away and fell to the floor. That's how-" he trailed off and pointed to his bloody lip.

The teacher was taking Marc away with him. Marc turned around and stared at Drew and Adam.

"Next time freak." Marc shouted. "I know where you live!"

As Marc was escorted away, Adam sunk to the floor, as if his knees gave away from under him. Drew sat beside him and gave his brother the backpack he recovered from the music class.

"Did he try to hurt you?" Drew asked, "Because if he even tried to hurt you I'll-"

"No." Adam said, clutching the backpack tightly against his torso. "He grabbed my arm and starting saying 'why are you dressed like that' over and over again. Then he started pulling at me saying 'what are you hiding under there, huh?' and I tried to pull away. I fell and hit my face on the floor. Then he ran me into the corner and you came along."

"You shouldn't have left the classroom Adam." Drew scolded.

"I had to go to the bathroom-"

"-I don't care, you could have been hurt," Drew said. "What if I hadn't been there to help you?"

Adam got up, slung his backpack over his shoulder and wiped the blood away from his mouth.

"What if you hadn't?" Adam yelled. "So I got into a fight, what's the big deal? You get into fights all the time!"

"Well that's different." Drew said, getting up from the floor.

"How is it different?" Adam asked angrily.

"Because-" Drew started. "You know why."

Adam's eyes narrowed. "You know what. Just leave me alone, ok? I don't need you, I can take care of myself."

And with that Adam started to walk away

Drew tried to call to him. "Where are you going? Adam?"

But Adam didn't respond. He just left Drew there, feeling completely powerless.

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I have to admit – a freakin' love writing baby Torres bros. But Drew's wrong – Batman is waayy cooler that Superman.

I mean think about it:

Looking at Superman, it's pretty obvious that he's a superhero – he can fly, he has laser eyes and he was stop bullets with his eyeballs. Batman isn't biologically a superhero, but he's a superhero on the inside, and if it means that he has to use gadgets and pimped-out cars in order to save people then so be it. In the long run it makes him more interesting and much more heroic since he has to work twice as hard to prove himself to be a superhero. He ignores the haters and follows the path that he knows he needs to take – even if it is the tougher one. Luckily Superman is a totally supportive broth- uh, friend (even if he does steal all of Batman's crushes.)

I think I may have lost my train of though there…

- I had a Ninja Turtles lunchbox when I was a kid – it was pretty boss (my favourite was always Donatello.)

- Join us in Chapter 11 – in which the Torres family have to make some big changes in order to ensure Adam's safety.