Author's Note: So, I was watching some movie on television today. I believe it was called "Quints." Anyway, Jake Epstein was in it. He was really really young. I've realized that I've been seeing him, Daniel Clark, and Lauren Collins in a lot of movies lately. Don't even get me started on Life With Derek. I still can't believe Tim was on it. Oooh, boy, Gothic boy, he was. Anyway, sorry to ramble on here. Enjoy the chapter.
"She just works a lot," said Daniel, trying to defend his mother. "We just don't have a lot of money, as you can see. It's the whole divorce thing."
Rebecca nodded her head. "I understand," she said.
"It's just kind of embarrassing," he said, closing his bedroom door. "She's fine out there; don't worry," he referred to his sister. "I mean, your life is the total opposite. Besides, if you need your dad, he's in school with you."
That was true, Rebecca realized. "I'm just glad you're understanding about this whole thing. Not judgemental. Not like other people I know," he said, rolling his eyes.
"Of course not," said Rebecca uncomfortably, trying to make the bad thoughts leave her brain. He kept explaining how happy he was to have met her. He said that she her life seemed so perfect, but she wasn't spoiled enough to have a problem with his.
"Daniel," said Rebecca, frowning. This seemed like as good of a time as any.
"Yeah?" he asked, sitting next to her on the small bed.
"I…my dad," she started, "well, he just really thinks you're a nice boy," she finished lamely. Well, that was absolutely perfect.
Daniel raised his eyebrow. "Listen, Rebecca…what are you talking about?" he asked, laughing. He knew something strange was going on.
Rebecca turned her head as a knock sounded on Daniel's bedroom door. Saved again. "Come in," said Daniel quietly.
Daniel's mother was an attractive woman. Rebecca hadn't paid much attention to her before she left, but when she walked into Daniel's room, she realized that she didn't look anything like her son. While Daniel's hair was light her, his mother's was a sheer black, long and straight, flowing down her entire backside. Her eyes were a yellowish green, and the only aspect that seemed to mar her beauty was her look that said she was constantly exhausted, her eyes almost shutting while she spoke.
"I brought home some food," she said, attempting to smile. "You're Rebecca, I presume?" she asked.
Rebecca nodded, holding out her hand. "Nice to meet you."
"You too," said Daniel's mother, shaking her hand. "You guys eat. A.M.'s asleep, and I'm about to go to bed as well." She kissed her son's cheek. "Night."
Rebecca and Daniel walked quickly into the kitchen, starved. "What have we got here?" Daniel asked, opening plastic bags.
"Who cares? I'm starving," said Rebecca melodramatically, practically diving for a piece of fruit.
Rebecca, once the apple was in her mouth, calmly chewed. Her stomach had been not so quietly complaining for hours about her need to eat. She briefly wondered if Daniel had to go through this sequence almost every night.
"Oh," said Daniel, getting up from the table suddenly. He walked into the living room, which was pretty much attached to the kitchen, opening a drawer on the table by the couch. After a bit of looking, he found what he wanted.
"Here," he said, walking back into the room, and handing Rebecca a five dollar bill. "This was for, you know, lunch."
Rebecca held up her hand, pushing the money away. "No," she said. "It's not necessary."
Daniel shook his head. "I'm not taking money from you," he said, pushing the money back into her hand.
Rebecca felt the need to let a slight laugh out. "You think I need five dollars?" she asked. "It's not a big deal."
Daniel looked upset. "Becky, if you're trying to help me…or whatever, don't mention how much better off you have it," he said. "I just need to pay you back."
Rebecca sighed, taking the money, and pocketing it. She decided if it made him happier that way, she'd just do it. The smile he gave her proved that she'd done the right thing. "Thanks," he said.
She honestly thought he was crazy, but then again, when had she met anyone sane? "Look, it's getting late," she said, finishing off her apple.
Daniel nodded. "Ten," he said, agreeing. "You're so lucky you're an only child."
Rebecca thought it was wise not to mention there was a baby in her family's future. She nervously reached her arms out to hug him. She hoped he wasn't too dumb to understand the gesture. He obviously hadn't been awake enough to notice her feelings for him.
Thankfully, he returned the hug whole-heartedly. "I'll see you tomorrow," she whispered into his shoulder. She so didn't want to let go.
"Yeah," he said, prying himself away from her. "Bye, Re…okay, Becky," he corrected, seeing her glare in his direction.
Rebecca walked outside, Daniel following closely behind. "You're not walking, are you?" he asked once they'd gotten out into the hallway.
"Oh, no," she said. "I'm going to call my dad's friend to take me home." She smiled, hugging him again. She was never going to get enough of the close contact with him.
Rebecca picked up her cell phone, dialing Ellie's number quickly. Daniel insisted on waiting out in the hall with her until he made sure she was getting picked up. She didn't feel right explaining to Ellie why she wanted to be picked up by her with Daniel right there, so she hoped that Ellie would not ask too many questions.
"Hello," Ellie asked, confused. She probably recognized the number.
"Hi, Ellie, it's Becky. Listen, can you pick me up somewhere if I give you directions?" she asked. Rebecca knew she was making it seem to Ellie as though she was in some dangerous place, and that her father had no idea of where she was.
"Anytime," she said.
Rebecca gave her the directions, and then hung up the phone, and Daniel realized that he was allowed to go in now. Before walking down the stairs, Rebecca waved good-bye. "Good-night," she said sweetly.
"Night, Becky," he said, closing the door.
Rebecca waited patiently for Ellie in the chilly weather outside of the apartment building. She wasn't looking forward to the conversation they had to have.
Ellie's car pulled up, and Rebecca got in immediately. Ellie looked worried. "Does your dad know you're here?" she asked, as Ellie shut the door.
"Yeah," said Rebecca.
"Then why—"
"Ellie," Rebecca interrupted, "I need to talk to you, and you can't tell my dad any of this."
Ellie started driving again as soon as Rebecca was belted in. "What's wrong, honey?" she asked, concerned.
"Last year," Rebecca started, running her finger up and down the cold window, "I had some friends, namely Elizabeth, Anthony, Kenny, Jennifer, Michelle, and Annie. I was also relatively liked by many people."
Ellie looked extremely confused, but she nodded along with what Rebecca was saying. "I started dating Anthony…and things got bad. I mean, he cheated on me…but that's totally beside the point. I'm over that."
"Mhmm," said Ellie, obviously waiting for the bad part if that surely wasn't it.
"Well, before I figured out what he was doing, he and my other friends had been to the house loads of times, and I trusted him…so I told him about dad," she said, licking her lips nervously. Did Ellie know what she meant?
"That he's gay," she knew without asking.
"Yes. Well, I told him," said Rebecca, "and he said he was completely fine with it, right?" she said, her words becoming quicker.
"Right," said Ellie.
"Then, I found out about his little escapade with Brianne Schect, and I broke up with him, right?" she said. Ellie wasn't sure if her words could be coming out any faster, which made her worry. Rebecca talking fast meant she was going to have an emotional breakdown. Of course, Rebecca was naturally a quick speaker, but she'd only been known to spit out her words as hastily as she was currently when she was about to cry.
"Right," said Ellie again.
"So, then he's mad that I break up with him," she rolled her eyes, "or something stupid, and he goes telling everyone about me and how my parents are gay and everything, but not only that, he makes up all these lies about what they do and how they are and all that stuff. Then, he starts a rumor that the reason I dumped him was because I'm obviously a lesbian."
"I see," said Ellie, taking a deep breath. She was hoping to be done with such drama, but she would be there for Rebecca any time she needed, of course.
"Right," said Rebecca, sounding upset. "So, then, I don't care what he thinks, but my idiotic friends decide, not only to believe him, but also to avoid me because I'm obviously in love with each and every one of them because Anthony told them something along the lines of that. Therefore, they abandoned me." Rebecca took a moment to bring her hand off of the window, looking seriously hurt.
"So, they don't talk to me all summer, and I don't tell my parents, of course," she said, looking down at her legs. "I don't want them to feel so bad, and think they ruined my friendships or something because you know dad would. He'd feel awful. I also didn't want to hurt them, so I just didn't say anything, pretending that my friends weren't repulsed by me."
Ellie looked sympathetically at the wheel. They were just down the block from Rebecca's house, and she really didn't want to go in to see Marco after all of this.
"And you know how is hormones are at the moment. If he knew they all hated me, it'd kill him. Anyway," she said, moving on to the rest of the conversation, "billions of rumors then came from that one. Ellie, I don't even want to tell you the things that Anthony was saying I was doing, but what upset me the most was that my so-called best friends believed them. Even when I tried," she stopped, seeing that they'd pulled up in the driveway. She leaned forward to finish what she was saying.
"Even when tried to explain that it was all a bunch of lies, they wouldn't hear of it. Then, I just gave up because, I realized, even if I was a lesbian, they shouldn't have hated it, but I just…I wanted so much to get them back, you know?"
Ellie nodded, still not speaking much of anything but 'mhmm, right,' and the occasional, 'yeah.' She wanted Rebecca to get everything off her chest.
"So, Elizabeth is trying to make things right with me, and I'm more than happy to forgive her. I mean, if the situation was reversed, I—I probably wouldn't have done the same thing, but I'd have been confused," she said, "so I forgave her."
"Good," Ellie said, smiling. Did Rebecca have a reason to bring this up…or did she just need to vent about her previous year?
"Well," started Rebecca, feeling that Marco was going to come out at any moment. Ellie realized, horrified, that she had tears forming in her eyes, "there's this guy," she said, putting her head on her forehead, "and I really really like him," she continued, her voice breaking. "I lost Anthony, and I'm damn happy about that," she laughed a bit, "and most of my best friends…but I don't think I could handle losing this guy, El."
Ellie finally turned around in her seat, placing her hand soothingly on Rebecca's, letting her know she was there for her. "Tell him you like him," she said softly, sounding excited at the idea.
"You sound like my dad."
Ellie chuckled. "He learned from the best," she looked into the house to see that Marco was very clearly in the living room, "or maybe I did."
"Do you think I should tell him?" Rebecca asked, clearly worried. "I mean, like I said, I can't afford losing him."
"Rebecca, if he's that amazing, there's no way you'll lose him," said Ellie, squeezing her hand.
"But sometimes people aren't as you think they are….okay," she said, seeing Ellie's look. "Okay, okay," she repeated, though Ellie hadn't said anything. "I know I should tell him, but not just yet. Which do you suggest first: My parents are gay…or: I'm in love with you."
Ellie laughed. "Love?"
"You know what I meant," said Rebecca, blushing. "I have to go." She kissed Ellie's cheek, opening the car door. She wiped her glistening eyes. "Thank you."
"Not a problem. Any by the way, I suggest the 'My parents are gay' first. That way, if you do happen to 'lose him' as a friend, which I'm sure won't happen, at least you won't have admitted your feelings."
"Good point," said Rebecca, closing the door. "By the way, he wanted to 'ask me a question' this afternoon, but he just let it go. Don't get excited," she warned, catching Ellie's quick smile. "It sounded more of a concerned question than, like, 'I want to ask you out.'"
Ellie's smile faded. "Shame. Anyway, good luck! Tell dad I said hello."
"Will do," she said, walking up the stone pathway to her front door. She threw it open, seeing her dad on the living room couch, falling asleep during a movie that, even though she only caught a second of it, Rebecca could see was extremely cheesy.
"Hey, dad," she said, trying to conceal the fact that she'd almost had a breakdown. He was half asleep, anyway, so it didn't really matter.
"Hey, Beck…" he said tiredly, turning the television off. He woke up almost instantly, remembering whom she'd been with. "How was your day?"
"Good," she said, smiling. Daniel would be okay with it, she told herself. He had to be. He seemed too good to be true. "I'm going to have a brother…" she said happily.
"And I'm going to go to bed," said Marco, kissing her cheek. "Love you."
Author's Note: Please review :) Oh, and Haley Starlight has a little announcement that I'm posting here. She's starting up a Degrassi Role-play thing, and I'm posting this here for…uh extra publicity, I guess lol, and she keeps forgetting to do it herself. If anyone is interested, please send her a message. The parts of Dylan, Ellie, and (unfortunately) Marco are already taken. So, yes, that being said, please review. I hope you liked this chapter! Oh, also, going on a vacation. Not a big deal; just about a two-day trip, so when I come back, I should be updating Anytime is Good, Just Not Now.