Disclaimer: I do not own Degrassi or Marco or Ellie. Hehe.
Chapter 3: A True Friend
By lunch time Marco was exhausted. He got his lunch and plopped down at a table by himself. He didn't really feel like setting with the "preppy" crowd today, he had a headache and he needed to think.
A little bit later, Ellie came and sat down beside him. "You have to let me copy your algebra notes before 6th period," she said.
"Yeah. Sure, whatever," Marco replied. He was clearly preoccupied.
"What's wrong?" asked Ellie with one of her oh-so-perceptive glances.
"Ahh--nothing," said Marco, "I'm just a little down in the dumps." Suddenly Marco adopted a totally different attitude and tone of voice. "But enough about me, girlfriend. Let's talk about you. Sooooo, how are things with you and Sean?"
Ellie wasn't fooled for a second. "Drop the "gayboy" act Marco and stop trying to change the subject. I want to know what's wrong. Did you have another dream?" Ellie was the only one who knew about his dreams.
"Yeah," Marco admitted.
"The same one again?" asked Ellie.
"Yes," said Marco, "what really bothers me about it is that my Papa is not really like that. I mean sure he's homophobic and he's loud and he's totally out of touch with my feelings, but he would never physically hurt me. I mean, he loves me and he's just not that kind of person."
"I think the dream is really about your fear of your parents finding out that you are gay," said Ellie, "I mean you are not really afraid that your father is going to hit you with a baseball bat. But you are afraid that he's going to completely overeact and not love you anymore."
"Yeah, that's kind of true," said Marco.
"It's also about control," said Ellie.
"What?" asked Marco.
"Well didn't you say that in your dream you thought that your father and the guy you were with were plotting against you?" she asked. Marco murmered his assent, "Well it sounds like you feel trapped between two things that you have no control over: your family and your sexuality. Believe me, I know the feeling of losing control better than anyone."
"That makes a weird kind of sense," said Marco, "but when did you become a little psychologist?"
"It's not a big deal," said Ellie, "I've just been reading up on dreams and listening to my therapist for once."
"Did you do that for me?" asked Marco in surprise, "Awww...you're a true friend Elle." Ellie blushed. Then he began to tease her, "I feel all warm and cuddly inside."
"Shut up," said Ellie. "So have you talked to Dylan about this?"
"No," said Marco.
"Well, I'm sure that he could be a great friend too if you let him," she said, "and a great boyfriend."
"I just don't want to tell him that I've been dreaming of being in bed with another guy." said Marco.
"I'm sure he'd understand," said Ellie.
"Besides," said Marco, " I like to be cheery when I'm around him. You know, keep him happy."
Ellie shot him a look. "Just think about it okay?" she asked.