So after that, rather… interesting weekend, I could barely wait to see what Clare had to say to me! I dropped off my English paper to her on Sunday, and her mom gave me a…look. I don't know, I'm just a teenage boy who wears mainly black who drives a hearse. Nothing out of the ordinary there! But I just hope that her mom doesn't hate me as much as I'm beginning to not be so fond of her, always ruining our plans together. Always.
So, I ran into Adam in the hall. He was checking himself out in the mirror. Interesting. I haven't talked to him since Friday, might as well, huh? "How's the man in the mirror?" I paused. "Have you asked him to change his ways?" He hasn't listened to Michael Jackson? Well, I usually never do either, but it seemed like a good time to say it, right?
"What?" He just looked at me dumbfoundedly. Wow. I find it interesting that every time I tell him something, he usually never gets it. Hah.
"Michael Jackson?" He still couldn't comprehend? "Forget it." He just shoved some things in his locker, didn't seem so thrilled. Did I do something? I hope not. I would hate to have to mend ANOTHER friendship. But frankly, I don't think I could win over Adam with a song and a few kisses. I'm pretty sure it doesn't work like that…Hah. Ok, STILL no response? He told me he was taking recreation last week. "So, what's exciting in the world of recreation today, Art?"
"Ballroom dancing." EWW. That's disgusting.
Hey! It's Clare. She came to me with a 'joking mad face' and a little bit of a…smile? I honestly couldn't tell. "Oh boy." He rolled his eyes, being unaware that Clare was behind him.
"It shouldn't be THAT bad, at least I get to dance with a bunch of cute girls!" Oh, naïve Adam and his ladies… There's really no other cute girls here, other than- Should I even say it?
"No, Oh boy!" I looked at Clare, coming nearer and nearer to me. Adam looked behind him, seeing her. Hah, this should be interesting.
"I edited your story last night. I don't approve of this Clare Edwin character." HAH. I HAD to put her in my story.
"She's an ingénue."
"No, she's a floozy! Change it!" She shoved the papers to my chest. Hah. I knew she'd have fun reading it! I raised my eyebrows at her while she stepped away to catch the bell. She politely smiled, as I backed up to talk to Adam.
"You two give me the runs." HAH. Nice Adam. He knows what's going on between us two. Or, he should at least. If not…then that's a shock, cuz I thought we made it obvious!
"I think it's entertaining." To both HER and ME, and EVERYONE ELSE. Hah. I don't know, I have fun messing with her head, but charming her at the same time. He sighed, picking up his bag, knowing it was time for him to dance. "Have fun dancing with cute—wait, are there even cute girls in remedial gym?" Seriously, I'm pretty sure there's no one SLIGHTLY attractive. But it's better that way, so then I only have to worry about impressing ONE girl, instead of 15. Not that I was ever a 'ladies man,' but I've always had that…charm inside me. You know, the one that Clare stole from me when she kissed me? Hah. But I stole it from her MANY other times. Hah.
"Bianca." EWW. "Hey, ya gotta admit she's hot!" EWW.
"Sure, it a scary SUV, hit and run, club district kind of way!" EWW. I'm still stuck on the fact that he thinks that she's PARTIALLY attractive. EWW.
"Well, there's something there." EWW.
"Wow, look at you, all machismo." HAH. Oh Adam, and his…inner manliness. It makes me laugh. I walked off, knowing that I had to get to class, still raising my eyebrows in shock. Hang on, I still have to get this thought processed through my mind: OH MY GOD! ADAM THINKS BIANCA IS HOT! EWWW EWW EWWWWWWW EWWWWW! GROSS! Ok…now that THAT'S over with, time to get into school mode!
Next Day
I met Clare in the hallways, as I usually do, our classes aren't too far from each other's during 4th period. I caught her eye, as she looked at me wide-eyed. "Eli. ELI. ELI!" She walked as fast as she could without running, following the rules, of course.
"Clare, Clare, Clare! What's with all this…excitement?"
"I'm confused."
"With what, gender?" I'm so oblivious of what she's thinking about.
"Here, walk with me, it's a…it's that type of story that no one should hear." Oh no. Honestly, I don't wanna hear about her…feminine issues.
"Ok, let's go to 'our' lunch bench." She nodded, as we proceeded. I willingly opened the door for her out the Degrassi halls. She was panting of her news. What can be THIS bad? She already knows about her parents, I'm not hitting on any other cute girls, I HATE suspense. So much.
"Ok, I was walking in the hall, and…and…" She was clearly hesitant, looking down at her hands.
I grabbed her cheeks with my hand, and tilted her head to align with my eyes, "Clare." She stared in my eyes, waiting to see what I had to say, "Spit it out."
"Ok…Well, I was on the way to my locker, and Adam was at his. I wasn't sure of where I was going at the moment, so, I accidentally ran into him." She looked around herself to see if anyone was around. "So, he turned around, and he had tampons spilled everywhere on the ground." TAMPONS? WHAT? She took in a breath, "So, I went down, to help him pick them up. Then, Owen, and Fitz came out of the bathroom, and he- Adam just blamed the spilled tampons on me, so I played along, seeing as Owen and Fitz looked like they were going to do something, or accuse him of something." She gulped. This story is…confusing. "So, after they left, he took a few with him, and gave me a look of…I can't even describe." I sat there shocked, in awe.
I'm still confused. Wow. "Are you sure they were tampons?" She timidly nodded. "What could he need them for?" She shrugged in confusion, as I was STILL in confusion. "I don't know, a nosebleed?" HAH. Yeah…I don't think it works like that. And SHE should know that too. We were both speechless for the brief second.
But oh, look who showed up right on time…Ohh, that's not very good timing! It's Adam. So many questions fill my mind right now. Why does he think Bianca is hot? Is he gonna try to get with her? Why does Adam need tampons? Is he doing a dissecting project with it or something? This isn't even remotely close to reality. "Hey." Adam had a frightened apologetic face on him. "Thanks for covering, Clare. That wasn't cool of me." Adam just looked at us, it looked like he wanted to spill something.
I glanced over at Clare to see her twiddling her thumbs, shy to speak, "So," she looked in my direction, I'm thinking to avoid eye contact with him because of the awkward encounter. Personally, I just-I'm just REALLY confused. "What exactly-was I covering?" She looked anywhere BUT his eyes. Adam took a breath, which pretty much told me that he didn't want to say anything. As much as I wanted to know what was going on, I don't mind not knowing, if it means sparring the embarrassment, even though both Clare and I wouldn't laugh. He just kept looking at us. Switching eye contact between Clare and I.
"You don't have to explain," I told him, "It's not our business." I slightly shrugged, and told Clare, as she agreed, but I could tell curiosity is creeping through her mind. Mostly because I could feel her pulse through her leg. Our legs were 'accidentally' touching. But it's not really time to think about that right now.
Adam took a step forward, "It's ok, I wanna tell you." He took a seat across from us. He put in his sincerity face, "Ok, I'm a guy…100% dude." Yeah, I know that, Adam. He took a gulp. "But…I was born in a girl's body." … Interesting. That's insane! I mean, him crushing on Bianca was WAAAAY worse than THIS! This isn't even THAT bad. It's just different, and all things different surely bring me closer to the Goth society. I'm just not weirded out. But…I just don't exactly know what to say in response. I could feel Clare's pulse growing faster and faster. I'm not entirely sure, I think she just doesn't know what to do. And she ALWAYS knows what to do. "I'm an 'FTM', A female to Male transgender…" I saw his face cringe at the statement. Well, now I KNOW for sure the secret, I can just say that I'm not exactly sure why anyone would make a big fuss over this. It's just one's way of wanting to live their lives! Adam was looking a million miles away. I kept seeing Clare at the corner of my eye trying to get my attention. Clare was just so overwhelmed with shock. I didn't know what to say. Let's just say all of us were stuck here. "Questions? Anything…Go ahead." Adam was clearly very…worried of our responses.
I spent this whole time trying to figure out what I would say in response. "So…does that mean you're gay?" Clare just suddenly blurted out during this awkward silence. Making it more awkward.
"No, well, I like girls, but since I'm a guy between the ears, that means I'm straight…At least, I think so…" He was clearly uncomfortable saying all this, but we were kinda the only two people here who wouldn't make a big fuss over it.
I didn't want him to think I was mad, or irritated by him, because of my non-responsiveness. Truly, it really doesn't matter to me, it SHOULD be the same…but there is ONE thing that's stirring through my mind. I'll just take it one step at a time. "…Cool." I looked over at him, and saw his expression light up a million more times. I looked over at Clare, her face delighted that I probably made his day 100 x's easier. "So…how long have you known?" One of the many questions swimming through my head.
"Since I was 4, 5. I hated wearing dresses, and having long hair." Adam looked over at Clare, we both knew she had something to say. She always does. Hah.
"Well, how do you know you're not a tomboy, or a lesbian?"
"I just know." I like how Adam was very confident of himself, telling this secret to us. I'm glad that he feels as if we're close enough as friends to tell us this deeply buried secret.
"Are we the only ones who know, besides, your family of course?" I'm pretty sure we're the only students here who know. After all, we're his two closest friends.
"Well, Simpson knows, and he sent out letters informing every teacher. Except for that stupid ballroom guy that called out my girl's name. The WORST." He rolled his eyes.
Wait, one more question from me. "Hold the phone! Does this mean that I can't let one rip in front of you?" HAH. I just had to ask. I saw Clare roll her eyes. HAH. I hope she knows I was kidding. I would NEVER do that in front of HER!
"Eli, I'd be insulted if you didn't!" He clenched his fist together for a dap, which I returned to him, smiling at the humor. HAH.
"You guys are fowl."
"You're just jealous!" I threw back at her, HAH. I know that she wants to laugh, badly.
"Fine, whatever." She looked down, and grabbed her neck, I heard a slight chuckle come out of her! HAH. I love laughing. Adam was smiling, laughing, after that rather heart stopping moment. I'm SO glad that I've earned a truly intriguing friendship with him.
"Oh…you two." Adam let out. Yeah…I know, us two!
Clare looked at me, and smiled. I returned her the smile, and we both shared a quiet moment with no speech for a millisecond before turning to look to Adam. Adam got up, knowing the bell was seconds away from ringing. And 3…2..1. No ring. *RIIIIIIIIIIING!* Ok, there it is! And all three of us merrily walked into the school together, as friends. Clare and I, maybe more, but we were still all together. A bond that would never be broken.