A/N: Main POVs: "GT", Jenna, and Clare.

Two Weeks Later

"Jordan."

"No."

"Tory."

"No."

"Ooh maybe something Italian…..Lorenzo!"

"Nope."

Sighing, his girlfriend continued looking through a baby book for a new name for him but GT didn't like any so far. None of them felt right. However he knew he couldn't keep going by his initials. That also didn't feel right.

"I'm making it my mission as your girlfriend to find you a new name. It'll be the most important project I'll have this school year," Imogen declared. GT scooted closer to his girlfriend on a bed.

"An admirable mission but I think you should put it on hold for now as we do something more fun," he said before leaning in for a kiss. His girlfriend closed her eyes before their lips met in a tender, passionate kiss.

It turned into a full makeout session within a minute.

GT helped Imogen get her sweater off before pushing her down on his bed, their tongues rolling against each other. They roamed their hands all over each other's bodies, groping each other's intimate areas. Him and Imogen had discussed sex recently, and after discussing each other's sexual history (they were both virgins) and googling what sex would look like for two people with vaginas, they both were ready to do at least some experimenting.

As they started getting intense, GT forgot which house they were in until he heard someone clear their throat while he was struggling to unhook his girlfriend's bra. They broke apart quickly, and when GT saw who it was, his face paled.

It was Drew standing in the doorway of his bedroom, and his older brother had a look of confusion on his face.

The next morning at school, Jenna walked over to her locker to see that Clare was already getting books out of her own locker. Narrowing her eyes at her former friend, Jenna walked up to her locker and silently opened it up, refusing to acknowledge Clare's existence.

K.C. cheating on her was bad enough but for one of her best friends to be the person he was cheating on her with was even worse. And they had been doing it for months.

Jenna slammed her locker roughly, and was pleased to see Clare jump in the corner of her eye. After locking it, she grabbed her bag and made her way down the halls. After spending the whole summer crying about what K.C. and Clare did to her, there were no more tears left, only anger. While walking past a board, she saw posters for the dance later this evening. She was going with Alli since they were both single. Her best friend wanted them to go hunting for cute boys together but she wasn't sure if she was ready to date again.

She thought she was so in love with K.C. that she lost her virginity to him only for him to cheat on her with one of her best friends and get her pregnant. A part of her hated herself for getting an abortion but she knew she was far too young to be someone's mom. It wasn't something that she ever saw herself doing but she made the right choice, especially after she found out K.C. cheated. What kid deserved to be born in that kind of environment? After that, she figured she needed to stay away from boys after a while. She was too scared of them being like K.C.

She was too deep into her thoughts to pay attention to where she was walking until she bumped into someone and dropped her books. "Shit," she swore as she kneeled down to retrieve her books, only for that person to grab them for her.

It was Jake Martin, who flashed her a smile as he stood up, handing her stuff back to her as she stood up as well. "Sorry," she apologized sheepishly.

"No big deal," he shrugged, and that small action caused her stomach to flutter.

Giving her a final nod, he walked past her and Jenna turned to watch the back of him with a smile. Jake Martin was a grade above her…and he was really cute. He seemed to be an easygoing, chill guy.

Maybe that was what she needed after K.C.

In homeroom, Clare read a book while everyone around her was chatting amongst themselves. Thankfully she was no longer the topic of everyone's conversation these days.

The various conversations around her were either about The Shep being temporarily forced to take a short leave of absence for sensitivity training or of the dance that was happening tonight. Having a date wasn't required but pretty much nobody wanted to go to this dance by themselves.

She wasn't going because nobody in her grade was interested in taking the Hester Prynne of grade nine out and quite frankly, she wasn't interested at this point. Focusing on boys instead of school got her into a lot of mess and it was time for her to fix her priorities. Relationships and boys were a folly. The next four years were going to be her preparing for Columbia University and nothing more.

As Clare turned the page of her vampire novel, a rose was dropped onto her desk. She looked up and saw that it was Luke Baker, who looked down at her with a charming smile.

"A rose for the most beautiful girl in grade nine?" He asked. "Who would hopefully allow me to take her to the dance tonight?"

"Unfortunately no," Clare rejected swiftly before taking the rose. She didn't realize that it was actually real before she accidentally cut herself on a thorn. "Thank you for the rose though."

"What's holding you back? You and I have gotten close at our friendship club meetings," he pointed out.

It was true. After Luke defended her to the other club members and pressured her into welcoming her back, they developed a nice friendship. Clare could admit that she

had some feelings for Luke, he was handsome, kind, and took their faith seriously but a few things were holding her back.

"I'm focusing on only school after K.C.," she answered, then narrowed her eyes, "And I can't go out with someone that is bigoted towards others for their beliefs.

"The Mo thing is over and done with. I prayed to God every day for forgiveness and I'm truly sorry," Luke replied a little irritably

"The fact that you did it at all is concerning. Jesus wants us all to respect others' beliefs even if we don't agree with them," Clare said critically, "And then there's how you treated Connor."

"I apologized to him for that too, but why should you care? He abandoned you like the rest of your friends," Luke pointed out.

"Even if I ignore all of those things, your sister is my new best friend," Clare argued. He rolled his eyes.

"So I'm supposed to stay away from any girls I like because Becky is friends with them? That's stupid and you know it," he replied. "Look Clare, I know we're meant to be together. God made us meet for a reason, do you really want to ignore the signs He has given us?"

"No, but some signs aren't always from God, they're from the devil," she countered.

"So I'm evil to you? A sign from Satan?" He asked her with a frown. Before she could clarify that it wasn't exactly what she meant, he stormed off.

Feeling bad, Clare looked down at her desk, not even bothering to continue with reading her book.

Drew didn't speak to him at all this morning, not even in their mom's car.

GT couldn't say that he was surprised, but still hurt all the same. This is why he didn't even want to pretend to come out as a lesbian because of how his family would react. Drew was the one he was closest to, so his silence stung the worst.

His phone buzzed in his pocket as the English teacher showed a video in class. It was a live tape recording of a university production of Romeo and Juliet. GT looked to make sure the teacher wasn't paying attention before pulling his phone out to read his new message. Him and Imogen had been texting each other back and forth all day about this situation with Drew.

"Friendly reminder that if your family doesn't accept you, screw them!" Imogen texted him. He smiled.

Imogen was looked upon as a weirdo by pretty much everyone, but she was the perfect girl in his eyes. She was gorgeous, adorable, and easily accepted him being trans as if it was no big deal. When they were together, she didn't have any high expectations other than them having fun. It was relaxing compared to the daily anxiety he felt around his family.

He wasn't a fool. He knew that no one in his family would accept him being trans. If he came out to them, he would probably be homeless within an hour.

"Are we getting ready for the dance at my house or yours?" Alli asked her as they put on their practice uniforms together in the bathroom.

"Yours if your parents wouldn't mind," Jenna answered as she put her hair in a high ponytail.

"They're too concerned with the fact that Sav is dating a non Muslim girl behind their backs to care about me. For once it feels good to be the ignored child because I can do whatever I want!" Her best friend replied cheerfully .

"Awesome," Jenna said as they stepped out together and into the gym where the other Power Squad members were practicing. She started doing stretches, lifting her foot up to her waist as her and Alli walked.

Ever since Marisol had been put into a coma, the atmosphere at practices were different. Now that one of the best members wasn't around for the time being, Holly J put more pressure on everyone to do better to compensate. It was rough, and Holly J herself wasn't the nicest captain.

She laid down on a neon green pad while Alli laid on a red one next to her. They continued to do stretches as Holly J approached them, eyeing her critically.

"Looks like you put on a little weight there Middleton, I think it's best you remain at the bottom of the pyramid now," the older girl sneered before walking away. Alli glared at her.

"Ignore her. You look fantastic," Alli assured her in a whisper, but Jenna knew Holly J was right. The weight she gained during her brief pregnancy hasn't gone away yet. Her practice uniform was tighter on her than normal and there was still a roundness to her face.

It made her feel shitty. She didn't want to be seen as fat.

"She's not wrong," Jenna replied grumpily as she reached to touch her toes.

"She is wrong," Alli argued firmly, "Despite deluding herself into thinking she runs the school, no one actually likes Holly J and she knows it so she's mean to everyone. I bet she doesn't even have a date to the dance because no guy would want to touch that."

"I mean we don't have dates either, Alli," Jenna reminded her.

"Because we have each other! Holly J doesn't have anyone because even her friends hate her. And when we show up to the dance in the hottest outfits, cute guys will be fighting for the chance to dance with us, don't worry about it," Alli declared just as Jake entered the school gym. He walked over to the bleachers to grab a book before quickly leaving, but not before giving her a warm smile.

Jenna blushed as she smiled back, and her best friend took notice.

"What's going on between you and Jake?" Alli demanded from her.

"Nothing, I bumped into him earlier and he helped pick my stuff off the floor," Jenna answered as her stomach fluttered at the memory. Jake really had a gorgeous smile.

"Ooooh, love at first bump," Alli teased, "I think we found your new boytoyyyy."

Jenna blushed deeper at the idea. 'I'm not ready for another boyfriend after K.C.,' she tried to tell herself.

Jake was really cute though and he seemed so sweet…

At lunch, Clare wasn't really paying attention to what Becky was saying. She knew it was something about the musical Jesus Christ Superstar. She remembered desperately wanting to see that show as a child, however she couldn't find herself to be interested in talking about it with Becky because her thoughts were currently on her brother.

Becky would probably hate her if she knew she liked her brother. Their friendship would be over because of the awkwardness. It was another big reason why she could not date Luke even if she liked him. After losing Jenna, Alli, and Connor she couldn't afford to lose another friend.

"Clare!" Becky shouted, causing her to snap out of her thoughts. She looked up from her sandwich to see that her friend was pursing her lips.

"I'm sorry, what were you saying?" She asked, more alert.

"I was saying that you should come to the dance with me later but I see you aren't interested," Becky answered critically.

"No, it's not that. I just have a lot on my mind lately," Clare replied defensively.

"Like what? Is something troubling you?" The other girl asked.

"You could say that," Clare answered cryptically. Becky's eyes turned sympathetic.

"Well, God is always willing to listen and offer some comfort. I hope He can help you….well, no. I know he will," Becky replied confidently.

Clare gave her a sad little smile. Her new friend was so sweet and innocent.

If only she knew what she was really thinking about.

Outside the school, GT was eating lunch with his girlfriend and their band mates. Things between all of them haven't been fun since Eli left the band after him and Mo fought, and despite Mo claiming he didn't care, he had been bitching nonstop about Eli throughout the lunch period so far.

"Look at that dumbass, he really is willing to throw away everything for that miserable bitch," Mo snarled as everyone looked over to Eli, who was listening to music together with Julia from his iPod while they ate a pizza together. They were sharing a pair of earphones; Eli had the left earbud in his left ear while Julia had the right one in her ear.

"They're so sickening," he continued to complain bitterly.

"Are you sure you aren't in love with Eli?" GT asked dryly as his brother came over to him. He instinctively tensed.

"Gracie, we need to talk," Drew ordered, "Now."

GT looked over to Imogen, who glared up at Drew like she wanted to bite him. He sent her a look to silently tell her that he could handle this on his own. Getting up from the table, he followed his older brother over to a corner where no one was around.

"What do you want?" He asked despite knowing damn well what Drew pulled him aside for.

"What the hell were you doing with Imogen last night?" Drew demanded.

"Making out with her. Was about to score second base with her if you didn't rudely interrupt us," GT answered in a snarky manner.

"So what? You're a lesbian now? You do know Mom and Dad won't approve of that, right?" Drew reminded him.

"Same as they won't approve of you dating Bianca but what they don't know won't hurt them. We can agree on that, can't we?" GT reasoned.

"How are you so casual about this? How is this even happening? I always knew you were weirder than other girls but I didn't know you were gay," his older brother ranted, saying the last word as if he was saying something disgusting like the word feces or mucus.

'I'm not gay. I'm just a guy that was born in a different body than most guys,' GT wanted to say, but knew he couldn't. He wasn't ready yet and if this was how Drew was acting while thinking he was a lesbian than he would be screwed if Drew found out he was trans.

"There's nothing wrong with being gay, Drew. I like girls, what's the problem with that? Who is it hurting?" He argued in frustration instead.

"You're already making me look bad enough as it is when everyone makes fun of me for having you as a sister. You being a lesbo is just going to make things worse for me," Drew replied coldly, narrowing his eyes before storming off.

GT looked back at his brother, feeling numb at their argument. He knew that Drew wasn't going to take it well.

However the urge to cry over it was strong.

Hours later, the dance was well underway and Jenna couldn't help but feel good at the positive atmosphere. The music was fun and light, the disco ball made the lighting for the event colorful? and everyone was having a good time. Her and Alli took a break from dancing to eat food.

"Look I think those boys are checking us out," Alli squealed to her while pointing to two attractive guys who were staring at them from across the gym. They were twins, that Jenna remembered. Their names were David and Daniel and they were on the junior football team.

With K.C.

"I think we should stay away from the jocks," Jenna declared, feeling uncomfortable.

"I wish Johnny was here, but he probably thinks dances are stupid," Alli replied sadly as she took a sip of punch from her cup.

"Going to a dance would require him to shower, probably," Jenna replied dryly before taking a bite of her chicken tenders. Alli had recently developed a crush on this senior named Johnny DiMarco who looked more greasy than her brother Brandon after working on his car. The guy gave asshole vibes yet Alli somehow didn't see it.

Her friend rolled her eyes as Dave Turner, a black kid in their class, came over to them with a confident swagger. His eyes were on Alli.

"Good evening, ladies. Miss Bhandari, would you make my night and let me take you on the dance floor?" He asked Alli flirtatiously.

Alli looked at him with slight disdain in her eyes. Dave flirted with a lot of girls in their grade but he liked Alli more than any of them, but her friend found him irritating due to how immature and clownish he was.

"I'm tired of dancing at the moment," she answered in disinterest. Dave sucked his teeth before walking off.

"You couldn't dance with Dave just once?" Jenna asked Alli.

"He's such a loser, Jenna! I'm trying to move more in with the popular crowd and Dave Turner is definitely not going to be apart of that crowd any time soon," Alli answered while folding her arms on the table.

"So why are you into Johnny DiMarco then?" Jenna questioned. Her friend was just about to answer when K.C. came over to them.

"Hey Jenna," he greeted politely. She immediately got angry at his presence.

"Don't talk to me," she snapped before getting up and quickly leaving. "Wait!" He called but she didn't look back as she aimed to get away from him as far as possible. It led her out of the gym and down the halls where the Boiler Room was. She opened the door so she could hide from K.C. until he got the hint.

She didn't expect Jake Martin and his friend Mo Mashkour to be smoking and giggling together. The smell of marijuana was very strong.

"Eli Goldsworthy? More like Eli Shitsworthy is what he should actually call himself," Mo joked before slapping his knee and laughing loudly while Jake clapped his hands stupidly. Then they both finally noticed her.

"Hey you want some of this?" Jake asked her as Mo offered her the blunt in his hands.

Jenna didn't know what to do.

Coming to the dance with Becky was a bad idea.

Clare sat on a stairwell with tears in her eyes, crying. She had tried talking with Alli, but her former friend rebuffed her coldly, saying that they couldn't talk right now. She knew that Alli had valid reasons not to speak with her right now considering how close she was with Jenna, but Clare still found the situation unfair in a way. They were friends way before either of them were with Jenna, and Alli hated Jenna at first. Now she cut her out of her life for the other girl.

Clare gripped the skirt of her blue dress as she struggled not to shake. Some days it hit her harder than usual that Becky and Luke were the only kids in grade nine who didn't hate her at the moment, and even then she still felt lonely.

"Clare, what happened?" She heard Luke ask gently. She looked up to see him standing above her. The light in the hallway cast a beautiful glow on his golden hair. He sat down next to her, and in those blue eyes of his, she felt some comfort.

"I feel so alone," she answered, her voice slightly cracked, "Every day I'm reminded that no one wants anything to do with me because of what I did with K.C."

"Not true, I want everything to do with you," he declared, "Even despite the great sin you committed. Because you're attoning for it and that's what matters to God. And me."

Clare looked at him, unsure if he was being genuine. She was shocked when he then leaned over and kissed her on the lips. She didn't stop him because she wanted this, even if she was scared of the consequences.

He pulled away from her and waited for her response. Clare herself was at a loss of what to do for a few seconds before she made a decision.

She grabbed his face and pulled him into a deeper kiss.

In another wing of the school, GT was walking around with Imogen, who was looking for something.

"What are we doing out here again instead of dancing to Boom Boom Pow?" He asked her.

"We're looking for ghosts! Spooky season is upon us my dear!" She answered cheerfully.

"People died at Degrassi?" He asked her in horror. He knew that bad shit happened here regularly but not on that level.

"I only know of the boy that killed himself in the early nineties, Claude Tanner," his girlfriend answered as she turned around to face him before grimly pointing at the boys' bathroom. "And that's the bathroom he did it in," she revealed.

GT looked at the bathroom, feeling uneasy. Drew had mentioned to him before that he didn't like going inside this specific bathroom because it gave off bad energy. His brother always went to the boy's bathroom on the second floor when he could. If this was the reason why…

"Im, I'm not really in the mood for seeing ghosts right now," he said before beginning to walk away. Imogen ran in front of him to stop him.

"You don't want to see if the rumors are true? I've been trying to find this ghost for years and I haven't been able to yet," she pleaded.

"No, baby. Let's go somewhere else," he demanded as she pouted. He grabbed her hand and began pulling her along when they accidentally bumped into Drew and Bianca.

Drew glared at him and Imogen before walking past them, with Bianca looking at Drew in confusion at the sudden hostility he was displaying. When they were out of earshot, Imogen looked at him to make sure he was alright.

He really wasn't, but he wouldn't give his older brother the satisfaction of seeing it.

Jenna was very lightheaded but also on air. She was also constantly giggling.

"You…okay?" Jake asked her slowly in concern as she bounced wildly to Wannabe by the Spice Girls. Even in the Boiler Room she could hear the loud music from the gym. She loved this song!

"I'm feeling awesome!" She cheered as she spun around repeatedly. She accidentally tripped and fell. She felt Jake catch her in his arms.

"Woah there, don't want you to fall and hurt yourself," he said, but she only threw her arms around his neck and hugged him. She liked how tall he was. She continued to giggle as she buried her face in his surprisingly firm chest.

"Jake, you're so sweet. Every girl needs a guy like you," she complimented him.

"Thanks," he replied. She pulled away from him and decided to do something super bold. Reaching up on her tippy toes, she kissed him before quickly pulling away.

"Um…um…alright," Jake said in shock as he looked over to Mo, who didn't know what was going on. She honestly didn't either but she didn't care. She was acting on instinct now.

Jenna simply giggled once again, laughter refusing to stop bubbling inside of her.

Clare showed up to school the next morning while locking arms with Becky.

"Clare, you seem to be absolutely glowing! You must have had a great time last night!" Becky assumed excitedly. Clare smiled warmly at her.

"You could say that," she replied as they walked down the halls. After her and Luke kissed, she went back to the gym and spent of the rest of the night with Becky, feeling on air. Maybe with Luke, who seemed to be less problematic than K.C., things would be better for her. He was a follower of Christ and other than the instances of bullying at the beginning of the school year that he was really sorry for, he was a morally upstanding boy with a great, stable family. She needed that right now.

Becky just couldn't know that they were dating. Yet.

"See I knew it was a good idea for you to come to the dance! You should learn to trust me more!" Becky replied just as they walked past Luke at his locker. Their eyes met, and Luke gave her a flirtatious smile.

Clare averted her eyes away from Luke before Becky could notice, but she couldn't get rid of the blush on her cheeks.

In the cafeteria, Imogen continued to look for the perfect male name in a baby book while GT was still feeling miserable over Drew. Once again, his brother refused to speak to him this morning. It was probably going to be a permanent thing. It pained him because as dumb as Drew was sometimes, he loved his brother.

Every name his girlfriend threw at him, he rejected until one name finally stuck out from the rest.

"Adam?" Imogen suggested with a raised eyebrow. Something clicked in his mind. The name was so simple, so old, and not the most creative but for some reason it fit.

"I like Adam," he replied, looking at her in realization. He didn't want his new name to be something super unique and complicated. He wanted it to be simple and blunt, just like how simple it was to come to terms with him being actually trans instead of a lesbian. So Adam was perfect.

"Adam Torres…you know, it actually rolls off the tongue well," Imogen said, holding her chin in thought.

"Yeah…it does," he agreed with a smile.

Gracie Torres was officially dead along with any traces left of that identity. Gracie was a facade, an illusion to what he really was and it was time to let go of her and be reborn into someone else. Adam Torres was who he actually was and now he could finally embrace it.

Adam felt another obstacle crumble in his journey to accept his real identity and it felt so freeing.