And we're back…again. I know it's been pretty chaotic and the long stories were back for just a few weeks before going on hold again so I could move. But I did move and long stories are back now and there won't be another short story month or one shot week until July.
May and June calendars have been added to the DeGrassi Saviors website, the mobile calendar will be updated later this week.
I've also added 17 upcoming stories to the list on my profile pages. Yes I was able to plot 17 new stories for us all to look forward to! For now enjoy tonight's chapter and the return of Swirling Storm Inside.
Ch. 26 Empty Cans and Walls of Graffiti
(JEFF)
"You heard anything yet?" Dallas asks me.
It's Sunday and a bunch of us are at Hamburger Hippo hanging out, mostly talking about Halloween but Dallas and I have both been trying out for the DeGrassi Ice Hounds. No one else really knows about the Ice Hounds and we're not really supposed to say anything so we're keeping it vague.
"Not yet," I shake my head.
"Isn't that your girl outside?" Dallas comments pointing out the window and I see Clare getting out of a car and walking in.
She sees me as soon as she comes in and saunters over; she sits in my lap and kisses me before I can ask what she's doing here. Dallas is amused and slapping my shoulder playfully and a couple guys are whistling.
"Hi what you are doing here? Who dropped you off?" I question reasonably sure no one she knows would drive her here and let her be dropped off with me.
"I felt like coming and Johnny brought me," she replies with a bit of a shrug.
"Sweet," I grin tightening my arms around her a little.
"Johnny has some stuff to do he'll be back to get me in a few hours. I think we should go back to your house where it's a little more private," Clare comments eating one of my fries.
"My parents are home my house is not going to be private," I reply and Clare pouts.
"No one's home at my place you can go there, my parents are out of town," Dallas says.
"Thanks but I don't want you walking in on things," I respond picturing Dallas coming in as we're doing carnal things. Not to mention it might be weird trying to have sexy time in his room. "Let's get out of here I think I know where we can go to be alone," I tell Clare.
We wave to the others and leave getting in my car. We can't really go to my house but we can use my dad's detached workshop, he and my mom are working on their bathroom and retiling the floor so we should be safe from anyone coming in there. There's not much in the workshop but there is a sofa and that's probably all we need.
"I thought you didn't want to come home because your parents were home," Clare remarks when we get to my house.
"I don't but my dad has a workshop in the back with a sofa," I tell her and she smiles.
We go through the gate and sneak into the back and the shed. The sofa is a little dirty but I put a canvas down which is a little cleaner. I barely open my mouth before Clare pulls me down and snatches my lips. We stay mostly dressed and have a fast fuck on the sofa. And then we leave my house to go get something to eat.
"So did things not go well with Fitz?" I inquire while we're eating fast food in my car.
"No things went great with Fitz our date was good. He's not my boyfriend though we've been on one date and I felt like coming here today," she replies.
"So how much longer do you have?" I question.
"A couple more hours I guess, Johnny said he'd call me when he was ready to go. Let's go do something," Clare says finishing her food.
"Do something like what?"
"I don't know what is there to do in Guelph on a Sunday?"
"We usually hang at Hamburger Hippo but there's bowling and mini-golf, the mall and stuff," I reply.
"We could call Dallas and see what he's doing."
"So me and Fitz competing for you isn't enough you?" I question.
"I didn't say I wanted him to compete for me I said we could go see what he was doing. If you don't want to play with others why don't fuck again in the back of your car," she says.
"You're ready to go again?"
"Yep, you're not going to argue are you because Fitz knows me well and he took an awful lot of convincing before he would make love to me."
"I don't need any convincing but let me park somewhere more private than this," I comment and she smiles. I drive a little bit to a more wooded area where we're not likely to have anyone happen along while we're having sex. We crawl into the back and she's on top this time.
"That was fun, definitely got some cardio today," Clare says when we're done and she's crawling into the front again.
"Yeah I think I've had more of a workout than at a normal hockey practice," I comment getting back in the driver's seat.
"We should probably get back to Hamburger Hippo, Johnny will probably call soon. It was fun though next time I need a really athletic fuck I'll find a way to come back."
I'm tempted to tell her that I'm trying out for the Ice Hounds and could be living in Toronto in a couple of months. However I don't know if she knows about the Ice Hounds and I may not make it onto the Ice Hounds.
"You know I'll be up at Christmas break and maybe after that," I tell her as I begin driving again.
"Christmas is two months away a lot can happen in that time," she remarks.
"Yeah like you could be Fitz's girlfriend by that time."
"Maybe, he'd have to ask me first and I might not yes even if he does. And if I was Fitz's girlfriend when you came out?"
"I'm not afraid of competition, I thrive on it," I grin.
We get back to Hamburger Hippo and pretty much everyone is still here and a few other people have shown up. Dallas grins when we come in and gets up so Clare can sit down.
"So what have you two been doing?" Dallas asks in a slightly teasing tone while wiggling his eyebrows.
"Wouldn't you like to know?" Clare replies with a coy smile.
We sit down with everyone and Clare stays for a bit but Johnny calls after about half an hour and says he's on his way. Clare waits until she sees Johnny's car and then kisses me goodbye before she leaves.
"So what were you two doing?" Dallas asks when Clare is gone.
"Something I hope to be doing a lot more of with her soon."
(DREW)
"Clare went out with Johnny and we need to talk," I tell my brothers when Spinner gets home from work. Usually our house is full of people but right now it's surprisingly quiet, everyone is out or busy doing other things which means they are not at our house.
"Is this about the camping trip?" Spinner asks and I nod.
"Yeah I found out some things that are kind of disturbing."
"Like what?" Adam questions.
"Like she feels like she was a mistake because Mom died giving birth to her. She feels like she's not worth anything so nothing she does matters because she's not even supposed to be alive. She feels like she deserves to be with someone that doesn't treat her well and isn't going to make anything of their life. She feels this huge hole because she never knew mom and she doesn't feel like she should even be here and she's slowly killing herself with the choices she's making."
After enlightening my bothers about the things I learned from Clare on our camping trip I watch both Adam and Spinner just deflate. It's like watching them get shot the way they double over and just kind of collapse. They're faces are horrified, Adam looks like he might cry but I know how they feel.
"Where is she?" Spinner asks and his voice cracks a little.
"She went out with Johnny," Adam replies.
"Did she say she's slowly killing herself?" Spinner asks.
"No but after talking to her and listening to her and the way she talked about whether it was Fitz or Jeff, and thinking about the things she does it just makes sense. I'm not even sure if she realizes she's doing it but she gets herself into all these dangerous situations and doing things like she's just trying to feel something or give herself a purpose or fill that hole I'm not sure," I reply. Spinner and I are both looking at Adam and he notices.
"What? Don't look at me I don't feel that way, not like she does. I feel the same hole for not knowing Mom but I don't blame myself for Mom dying. I guess I was born first or maybe just struggling with being transgender took over anything I might feel for being responsible for Mom's death. And I had no idea she felt that way. I thought the rebellion was just about being the baby and the only girl."
"So what do we do?" Spinner questions.
"I have no idea, just remind her that we love her and she is worth everything to us. Spend a lot more time with her; send her out with the girls more. I honestly don't know. I tried talking to her and confronting her about what she said and she just refuses to talk about it, she gets very defensive. If we talk to her I feel like it could just make things worse," I reply, I've been trying to figure out what to do since she told me.
We're all silent while we ponder what to do about Clare. We all have the same worry, I can see it on their faces, worried that she's going to go too far one day or get herself into a situation she can't get out of.
"Why do you three look like someone died?" Paige questions when she comes home.
"We're just thinking," Spinner replies.
"Uh-huh," Paige replies coming over and kissing Spin before she walking back to their bedroom.
"Maybe we should talk to everyone but Clare. Well almost everyone we'll need to get Clare out but if we talk to everyone, or most everyone in our group then we don't have to talk to Clare. We've always watched her and been protective but we didn't know any of this. We thought she was being rebellious and seeking attention but if we all know that she's got these other motives and feelings are influencing her choices then maybe we can stop her. Maybe we can anticipate and approach her differently and Drew is right spending more time with her and showing her that we want to spend time with her might help. It sure as hell can't hurt," Adam says.
"Yeah good idea, the sooner the better let's figure out how to get Clare out of the house and everyone else here so we can tell them. In the meantime stay with her, just watch her and make sure she's always with one of us," Spinner says. Adam and I nod and then Clare comes in and we all look at her.
"What?" She asks.
"Nothing," we all reply together and she twists her face at us.
"Something is going on," Clare says with suspicion in her tone.
"What did you do with Johnny?" Adam asks changing the subject.
"We went to Guelph," she replies.
"You mean you went to see Jeff," I comment.
"Maybe," Clare responds before walking back to her room.
"I'll go stay with her," Adam says disappearing down the hall.
"How could she have felt that way all this time and we've been totally clueless? How could we not know our baby sister felt like she shouldn't even be here?" Spinner exhales.
"I don't think she even knew she felt that way until she told me. I think it's the first time she's ever voiced it and realized that's what she was feeling."
"Yeah well I know she thinks camping was some form of punishment but I'm extremely glad I made her go. If we hadn't we might not have known she felt that way until it was too late."
(LUCAS)
"Wow you look incredibly incredible," I whistle when I pick Mia up for Jay's Halloween party. She's dressed as a witch but not an ugly warty green witch she's dressed like a good witch. Her dress only goes to her knees and it has a deep neckline. It starts as black and transitions to deep blue at the hem. She has dark blue heels and her hair is up bat barrettes in it and she has this stunning makeup.
"Well thank you and you look very handsome," she grins. I dressed as a twenties gangster.
"Thank you, come my mistress of the dark we have a party to get to," I comment.
I take her hand and we go to my car. I drive us to Jay's and go in, I know the door won't be locked and it looks like we're the last one's here. Maya and Adam came as Mickey and Minnie Mouse, Spinner and Paige are a doctor and his sexy nurse; Sean and Emma are both vampires. That appears to be all the couples costumes, Drew is dressed as a knight and Bianca is Cleopatra, Jenna is dressed as an angel and K.C. is in a fireman costume. Owen is dressed in a karate uniform and looks a little like The Karate Kid and Johnny is dressed like a Goth. Tris isn't here because he's at a Halloween party with his boyfriends. Zig is wearing black clothes and a leather jacket and put his hair into a Mohawk. Fitz seems to be wearing nothing but his normal clothes and little devil horns stuck to his forehead somehow.
I don't see Clare anywhere but she must be here, last night after the game Clare went with Maya and Jenna to Maya's and the rest of us went back to the Mason's. That's when Adam, Drew and Spinner told us that what Clare told Dew on the camping trip. It gave us all a new perspective on Clare and it wasn't necessarily a good one, her behavior made a lot more sense but we were all worried that she'd just go too far. So I knew there was no way her brothers would let her go to a different party. I see that I'm right when she comes out of the washroom dressed as a devil; she's got a long red dress on with a frayed bottom that looks a little like flame. The dress goes to her ankles but has two large slits up the side so most of her legs are exposed. There's a black sash around the waist and a rubber chest piece that looks like flame, and it has long sleeves with frayed ends. She wears a red wig that's long and has black heels.
"Hi Lucas," Clare grins hugging me and then she looks at Mia, "you must be Mia. Lucas was right you are very beautiful."
"Mia this is Clare," I introduce them.
"It's nice to meet you Clare," Mia smiles and Clare hugs her.
"Hey Lucas," Fitz says coming over to Clare.
"This is my demon Fitz, this is Mia," Clare grins.
Mia greets him and we make our way around the room greeting everyone else. She's heard about all these people so she's finally putting a person to the name. While we're talking to Spinner and Paige the door opens again and Manny Santos walks in dressed as a slutty witch, I heard that Jay ran into her and invited her to the party. Jay goes over and greets her, introduces her to everyone else and they get a drink sitting in the corner of the living room to talk. After a while they disappear into the back and they don't return.
"So Lucas says you're studying marketing at U of T," Johnny says sitting down with us.
"Yeah I like it marketing is a little bit of everything he told me you were in the literature program. Are you liking that?" Mia asks.
"Yeah books have always been big for me. How are you liking Toronto?"
"It's great so far, well aside from getting held up in the laundromat. But that also brought me Lucas, he saved me and I never would have met him if I hadn't been there that night," Mia says kissing my cheek and Johnny smiles.
"He's definitely lucky to have found you," Johnny quips and I shoot him a look. "Lucas is great I don't know what we'd do without him," Johnny adds and Mia gives me an admiring smile.
We talk to just about everyone for a little while and Mia gets to know them a little bit. The only people we don't talk to are Jay because he went into the back with Manny, and Clare and Fitz who at some point vanish and never return. I do hear from Adam that Fitz took her home.
"I had a lot of fun tonight, your friends are great. You know I don't have school tomorrow and you don't have work, maybe I could come over tonight," Mia comments with a grin when we're back in my car.
I don't even reply just smile and start driving to my place. Almost as soon as we're in the door Mia kisses me. I pick her up into my arms and take her to my bedroom. We get out of our costumes and make love for hours before falling asleep together. We make breakfast together the next morning and she stays with me most of the day just chilling at my place. She does have school tomorrow and I have work tonight so I take her home in the afternoon. I have a little while before I need to be at work and I need to eat so I call Jay and see what he's up to.
"Hey Lucas."
"Hey what are you doing? Wanna grab some dinner with me before I head into work?"
"Yeah sounds good," he replies. We agree on a place to meet and I just head there and grab a table and Jay joins me when he comes.
"So you disappeared pretty quickly last night," I comment when he sits down.
"Yeah I guess I missed my own party but Manny wanted to go back my room almost as soon as she got there. It was a great night but she was gone when I woke up this morning and I haven't heard from her. I'm feeling a little used but I was used in a good way at least. You seemed really happy with Mia last night, for the little bit of time I saw you anyway," Jay remarks.
"Mia is amazing, she's sweet and smart and so incredibly beautiful I think I'm falling in love already," I grin just thinking about Mia.
"It's about time you found someone good," Jay smiles.
"I feel like I'm walking on air, I'm telling you I'm going to marry that girl."
(CLARE)
"Another bad dream?" Spinner asks when he finds me on the sofa early Halloween morning.
"Fitz was snoring," I reply. Fitz has been sleeping in my room since Friday night. On Saturday we went to Jay's Halloween party and hung out a couple hours before coming back to my place to be alone for the rest of the evening. Actually Fitz has hardly left my side since Friday night, actually everyone has been very attentive to me since Friday night and my brothers have been very attentive and wanting to spend time with me since I came home from Guelph last weekend. I think Spinner knows I'm not a virgin anymore and he's making them all watch me even more closely, although he's still letting me spend a lot of time alone with Fitz.
"You want to come to The Dot for breakfast?" Spinner asks and I nod.
I got to my room and grab my clothes and what I need for school. I guess I wore Fitz out because he doesn't even stir. I get dressed and ready in the washroom and then leave with Spinner. He starts the coffee and I help him with opening the café a bit before sitting down to eat breakfast. Spinner talks to me while he finishes opening, asking about Fitz and school and other things. When I know school is open and Spin is busy working I leave and walk to school. I go into my locker to put away books then sit on the steps just inside and wait for people to get there.
"Hey Mason you want to come to my Halloween party and Trick-or-Treat in my pants?"
The crude comment comes from a boy on the soccer team who is also in a couple of my classes. I give him a twisted smile and reach for his belt.
"The only thing in your pants is mini and I don't do mini. Now you and your moron friends get out of my face," I reply.
"Problem Clare?" Owen asks and I see him at the bottom of the steps with Tris.
"Nothing I can't handle," I reply standing up and pushing my way past the guys.
Tris stays with us until his boyfriends come and then he leaves us. It's not long after that Drew and Bianca show up followed by Adam, Maya and Fitz. K.C. comes but says Jenna isn't feeling well and she stayed home and no one can find Zig. Adam leaves messages with Johnny and Sean that Zig isn't at school.
"Did you have another bad dream?" Fitz asks when we're sitting in class.
"You were snoring and it woke me up early," I reply.
"Sorry you could have kicked me out the bed," Fitz apologizes.
"I like having you in my bed anyway it wasn't that early," I shrug.
Since it is Halloween almost all our classes are Halloween themed. There's no dance or anything at the school tonight but a few people are having Halloween parties. Aside from that it's a normal day at school and Drew, Owen and K.C. have football practice after school.
"No one has heard from Zig and he's not picking up his phone so we're going to split up and look for him," Tris tells me.
"We'll take Tris and drive around between here and downtown," Zane says.
"Fitz and I will start walking the ravine," I volunteer for us.
"I'll take Adam and Maya and drive around the neighborhoods in the other direction. Lucas and Johnny are already out looking and Sean, Jay, Owen and K.C. will join the hunt if we haven't found him by the time they're done with work and practice," Bianca tells us.
We split up and start on the hunt, the last time someone went missing we found K.C. badly beaten and barely alive in an alleyway so we're all worried. Fitz and I walk from the school down to the ravine. We know a lot of the kids that hang out down here and we ask if anyone has seen Zig but no one has. There's also miles and miles along the ravine so we just keep walking. We see a lot of kids but no sign of Zig. We've already heard from the other's that Zig isn't at any of our places or his.
"Maybe we should start calling hospitals and police stations," I sigh when we reach an old railroad bridge along the route. You can tell that kids hang out here because there's empty beer cans and empty cans of pop strewn about and graffiti on the walls. I sit down on a crate feeling defeated and Fitz also looks worried.
"Let's rest a minute and keep going, we won't be able to call hospitals from here," Fitz says. We sit there for a moment but when we hear a group of footsteps approaching Fitz stands up.
"Well now what have we got here?" A black boy with sharp features approaches us at the head of a pack of other boys. I don't recognize him but apparently Fitz does.
"Back off Vince," Fitz growls.
"Easy Fitzy boy you're in our territory just what are you two doing here and who is this cutie?" Vince asks flipping one of my curls.
"Stay away from her," Fitz growls stepping between us.
"He your boyfriend?" Vince asks me.
"He hasn't asked me yet."
"Well then I think you should come with us we'll give you a real treat for Halloween," Vince grins.
"Sounds like a fun gang bang," I respond sarcastically, "but we're looking for someone."
"Feisty, I like you," Vince grins eyeing me up and down with a grin.
"We need to go," Fitz insists.
"What's the rush Fitzy? Worried your girl will like me better than you?" Vince laughs.
"Like she said we're looking for someone," Fitz replies clenching his fists and stiffening up.
"Well who are you looking for maybe we can help?"
"Our friend Zig Novak," I inform them and Vince gets this slightly malevolent grin on his lips.
"Yeah we know Zig, he owed me something and we collected last night," Vince replies and I feel a cold chill go through me with this reply.
"What the hell did you do to Zig?" Fitz snarls taking a step toward Vince and getting out his switch blade.
Vince never loses his smile but he grabs Fitz by the shirt and shoves him into the cement wall. At the same time Vince pulls a gun from his waistband, he cocks it and holds it under Fitz's chin. My heart is pounding and I'm terrified that I'm about to watch Vince shoot Fitz.
"MARK!" I scream fearing for his life and it feels like time freezes in this horrifying moment.
Is that a truly cruel cliffhanger? The update next Saturday will pick up from here, we'll find out Fitz's fate and what happened to Zig. There might be some more Lucas and Mia as well.