Chapter Two: Nothing Can Hurt Me at Degrassi

Author's Note: Thanks for coming back for Chapter Two! This one takes place at Degrassi, after Adam has pretty much come out as transgender. If you don't understand what happened between the Dahlia-Gracie kiss, and the beginning of this chapter, never fear! It'll all be explained, just keep reading! Enjoy! Oh, and by the way: the uniforms-and-metal-detectors thing isn't happening in this story. That storyline would take away from this one. Okay go!

As Adam walked through the doors of Degrassi Community School on his first day of Grade 10, he felt a little bit strange. Something was different about walking through the doors this year. Did he feel older? No, not really. Did he feel smarter? Nope. He tried to remember the feeling of walking through the doors last year. At first, he'd been scared because he was the new kid, and that's never fun for anybody. Then, he'd been scared that people would find out he was biologically female. Then, when they found that out, he'd been scared of the comments and bullying he had to put up with almost every single day.

This year... there was no fear. Everyone at Degrassi had pretty much gotten used to the fact that he's transgender. Even if they didn't understand it, or like it, it had ceased to be interesting to them. There were other things to talk about, like KC and Jenna's baby. For the first time in what felt to Adam like forever, he felt safe walking through the doors of Degrassi. There was nothing past those doors that could hurt him.

He walked into homeroom with a confident swagger, smiling at everyone and talking to friends he hadn't seen all summer. He got his locker assignment, and went to put his stuff away. He turned a corner and saw Eli and Clare making out against the lockers.

"Seriously, guys? School hasn't even started yet!" he laughed.

"Adam!" Clare squealed, running over to give her friend a hug. "I feel like we hardly saw each other this summer! How have you been?"

"I've been great, thanks, Clare! It looks like you have too! You have a bit of a tan!" Adam said with a laugh. He looked over at Eli, who was leaning against the lockers with his signature smirk. "Wish I could say the same for you, Mr. Goldsworthy. I see you're as ghostly as ever."

"Yeah, what can I say, the vampire look works for me." Eli said, and Clare blushed for some reason and looked at her feet. "I've missed you buddy! Meet at the Dot after school?"

"Sure! I'll meet you guys there!"

The morning bell rang, and Adam smiled as Eli and Clare held hands and walked away. He put his things in his locker, and then tried to choose what to do next. He had a spare first period, so he decided to wander around to see if anything interesting was happening. He walked around a bit, had to switch directions once to avoid Bianca and Fitz, and ended up outside the Auditorium, where he spotted Dave staring in the doorway.

"Dave! What's up, dude?"

"Shhhh!" Dave whispered, putting a finger to his lips. "I'm trying to watch hot girls dance, here, okay?"

"Oooh hot girls!" Adam whispered, leaning around the other side of the doorway to peek in.

Two tall, thin girls were on stage, dancing in tank tops and flowy skirts; one girl in all black, the other in all white. The girl in black had dark skin and long, pin-straight black hair tied back in a bun. The girl in white had fair skin and masses of blonde ringlets cascading down her back. They were too far away for him to see their faces, but he could tell they were beautiful. They moved to the music more gracefully than anyone Adam had ever seen. It was like art; Adam was mesmerized. He knew nothing about ballet, but he knew that these girls were unbelievably talented. They leapt through the air as easily as they took a step, they twirled endlessly without getting dizzy. He hadn't seen anyone dance like that since...

Since Dahlia.

Adam's heart skipped a beat. The girl was tall and thin. She was wearing all white. She had long blonde curly hair – longer than he remembered, but it had been a over year since he'd seen her.

Dahlia. At Degrassi.

The music suddenly stopped, and Adam snapped out of his memories. He focused on the stage again and the girl in black was grabbing the wrist of the girl in white.

"I told you to work on your fouetté turns! You haven't been working on them! What have you been doing instead of working on your fouetté turns? What could possibly be more important?" the girl in black demanded.

"I... I have been working on them, Bridget, I promise. They're just really difficult..." the girl in white looked at her feet.

The girl in black – Bridget – kept yelling at the girl in white as Dave nudged Adam with his elbow.

"This girl is intense. I'd hate to be the blonde girl right now. I wonder why she just puts up with that." Dave said.

Adam was wondering the same thing. Dahlia would never have put up with that. Dahlia was a leader, a shining light. She was happy, she glowed, she was proud of herself, she believed in herself. Maybe he was wrong, maybe this wasn't Dahlia after all...

"God, Dahlia, I honestly can't deal with this. I'll meet you after school and we'll work on this more. I've got to go get ready for class. You clean up." Bridget snarled.

Adam's heart skipped a beat once again. This time his freeze-up was apparently noticeable.

"Dude, are you okay?" Dave asked. "You look a little tense."

"Yeah, I just... I'm fine." Adam said, trying to shake it off.

"Okay... I've got to go get ready for Chemistry now. You coming?"

"No, um... my locker's the other way, actually." Adam lied.

"Okay. Catch you later!" Dave smiled and walked away.

Adam stared at the girl in white. At Dahlia. She was cleaning up Bridget's mess; something he could tell she was used to. God, she was gorgeous. She used to be awkwardly tall and freakishly skinny. Her hair used to frizz out so much that she looked like an electrocuted lion. But now... she was long and lean and graceful. Her hair was more like a mermaid's than a lion's. She was breathtaking. Literally. Adam kept finding himself forgetting to breathe.

He wasn't sure when he had started walking towards her, but sometime during his mesmerized trance he had made his way up to the stage. Dahlia hadn't noticed him yet, but he stopped walking anyway.

He wanted to say something. But he knew he couldn't. She wouldn't recognize him. That would break his heart. Even if she did recognize his face... how could he explain the way he was dressed? The way he was? What was he supposed to say, "Hey Dahlia. Long time no see. I'm a guy now."

He sighed, and turned to leave.

"Hey there!" Dahlia called. "You didn't happen to see us dancing just then, did you?"

Terrified of the consequences of turning around, Adam stayed facing the door to answer her. "Umm... yeah, actually. I may have caught the end."

"Oh... how did...umm... what did you think?"

Adam wanted desperately to turn around, to hold her in his arms and tell her she was the most amazing dancer he'd ever seen.

"It was really good," is what he actually said.

"Oh... okay. Thank you." She answered, and he heard her moving around, cleaning again.

He couldn't stand it anymore. He turned around and walked up onstage. Degrassi was a small school. They would eventually have to meet. Better she find out from him now than from Chantay's gossip column later. He walked right up to her and looked her in the eyes.

He thought it might take a minute to register. He thought she might have some trouble placing how she knew him. But as soon as her eyes met his, Dahlia gasped and stumbled backwards.

"Gr-Gracie?" Dahlia stared into Adam's eyes. He stared back, and saw all the pain he knew he'd caused, and knew he'd see plainly on her face if he ever saw her again. It was the exact look he'd been avoiding when he left a year ago.

"Actually, Dahlia... I... I go by Adam now."

"You... you're..." Dahlia shook her head, trying to make sense of this. "You're a boy."

Adam's heart was pounding steadily, even as it was breaking.

"Yes. I am," he said.

She stared into his eyes, searching for the answers to the million questions she had. She found nothing there, so she looked at the floor.

"I can't... this is a lot for me to process right now, Grac – Adam." Dahlia said, still staring intently at her shoes. "I'll see you later."

She picked up the iPod dock and clothes Bridget had left behind and walked quickly into the wings of the Auditorium.

Adam was left standing alone on the stage. He took a deep breath as the feeling that nothing could hurt him at Degrassi slowly drifted away.