Chapter Three: She Told Me Everything

Author's Note: Yay! I'm so happy you want to read Chapter Three! So, how awkward did I leave things last time? So awkward. I know. But it's kind of hard to not be awkward when you just found out your first love has switched genders. It's just an awkward situation. That doesn't really go away in this chapter, but we learn more about what happened between Gracie and Dahlia, and about Dahlia in general. Leave a review, let me know what you think, and what you'd like to see more of! Enjoy!

"Hey... Hey!"

Dahlia was snapped out of her daydream with a whisper and a nudge from her lab partner. She shook her head, trying to get rid of the memory of what had just happened, and looked over at the girl sitting next to her.

"Where did you just go? We need to be figuring out the chemical properties of...whatever this is." Clare said, carefully placing her goggles over her eyes.

Dahlia smirked and stared at Clare.

"What?" Clare asked.

"Nothing. You just look oh-so charming in those goggles."

"Oh, okay then, Blondie, you put them on, we'll see who's charming!" Clare laughed

Dahlia laughed and put her goggles on, jokingly fluffing her blonde curls. "Do I look all right?"

"Gorgeous, darling!"

The girls laughed hysterically at each other's goggles until the advanced chemistry teacher came over to tell them to be quiet.

"So what made you move to Toronto?" Clare whispered as she adjusted the dials on the Bunsen burner.

"That's a very long story," Dahlia smiled.

"People always say that, but it never takes as long as you think." Clare said.

"...I guess the short version of it is that I came to dance. Where I'm from, there isn't a lot of opportunity for a dancer. And since dancing is the only thing I've ever wanted to do, I thought I should go somewhere that could be made possible."

"Wow, your parents must be very supportive of your dream."

"Well... I live with my grandmother. But yeah. She is. She's really awesome." Dahlia smiled.

The bell rang, and the girls continued talking as they packed up their things and headed out into the hall.

As they were doing so, Adam and Eli were packing up their things from English class and heading out into the same hallway.

"Wow. Oedipus had a really screwed up relationship..." said Eli with a shudder.

"Is there any other kind?" Adam said, glancing over his shoulder.

"I guess not." Eli laughed. He stopped in his tracks to take a look at Adam. "What is up with you today? You look like you've got the FBI out for your head. Who are you hiding from?"

Adam faked a smile. "The FBI. Good one, Eli. I've got to get to History, so I..."

His sentence trailed off and he froze. Was that Dahlia walking down the hall and laughing with Clare?

"Eli! Adam! Hey!" Clare called, waving and smiling, taking Dahlia's hand and pulling her towards them.

Shit. Shit, shit, shit. No.

Adam tried to think of a way to get out of this. Where was the nearest exit? He could say... he could say he was sick! Or something. Oh god.

"Eli, this is my new friend and lab partner, Dahlia Davis. Dahlia, this is my boyfriend Eli."

"Nice to meet you Dahlia." Eli said, nodding at her.

"Adam, this is Dahlia."

Why couldn't he move? Move, feet. Move! At least say something...

"Hi." he said, trying desperately not to make eye contact.

"Hi, Adam. Nice to meet you." Dahlia said, glaring at him with more hatred than he ever thought she was capable of.

Adam looked at Eli and Clare who looked simultaneously confused and afraid.

"Whoa." Eli said. "Have... you two met?"

"No." Dahlia said. "I don't know an Adam." Her smile came back as she turned to Clare. "We should get going to Drama class."

Dahlia walked away, and Clare gave Adam her 'we'll talk about this later' look before following.

"Dude. What the hell." Eli said

"It's a very long, complicated story, Eli."

"I've got time."

Adam sighed. Eli was his best friend. He'd confided in Adam about his dead ex-girlfriend. This couldn't be worse than that, could it?

He took a deep breath, and as they walked to History class, he told Eli everything.

After class, the lunch bell rang, and Clare was waiting outside the classroom door. She stood with her arms crossed, giving Adam the exact same look of hatred Dahlia had given him an hour ago.

"Whoa, there, Clare. Calm down. Adam told me everything. It's not as bad as you think." Eli said, rubbing Clare's arms.

She shook him off and turned to stand face-to-face with Adam. "Actually, Dahlia told me everything. So maybe it's worse than you think, Eli."

"Well... there are two sides to every story Clare. And Adam's our friend, we don't even know Dahlia."

Eli's loyalty never ceased to amaze Adam.

"She was in love with him. Then he left with no warning and didn't even tell her where he was going. She spent the last year thinking of every possible worst case scenario." Clare said "Adam... please tell me that's not true. Tell me you didn't do that."

Clare looked so heartbroken, like he'd somehow betrayed her trust. He couldn't lie and say he hadn't left without telling Dahlia where he was going or why. He had. But it was so much more complicated than that. Things were never as simple as they seem.

"I did, but Clare, you have to understand why...I- "

"I don't want to hear it Adam. That's all I wanted to know." Clare shook her head and said to Eli, "If you ever did that to me..."

Clare walked away, and Adam and Eli were left standing awkwardly in the hall.

Clare couldn't believe that someone she'd trusted could turn out to have done something so horrible in his past. The thought of someone you're in love with just up and leaving one day with no warning... She couldn't help but think of what would happen if Eli did that to her. The thought made her eyes sting with tears, and she had to turn into the washroom to calm down.

"Hey... are you okay?"

Clare looked up to see Dahlia drying her hands with a paper towel.

Clare wiped her eyes and nodded. "Yeah, I was just thinking about what you said."

"Oh, I'm sorry, Clare, I didn't mean to make you cry!" Dahlia reached out and took Clare into a hug. Clare hugged her back, silently apologizing for the actions of her friend.

The door opened and Dahlia gasped and pushed Clare away. Clare turned to see a tall, thin, hauntingly beautiful, black-haired girl dressed in all black. The girl's dark eyes were made even darker by the look of pure loathing she was giving Dahlia.

"What... is this?" Bridget said, pointing at Clare.

"I... That's... we're just friends, Bridget. She was upset, I just - "

"I don't remember telling you that you could make friends, Dahlia."

"Okay. I'm sorry. Clare, you should probably go."

"Yes, Clare." said Bridget "You should probably go."

"No." Clare said "I'm not going anywhere. Who exactly do you think you are to push Dahlia around like that?"

"I'm her girlfriend."

Clare gasped and looked at Dahlia, who was a deep shade of red, and staring at her feet.

"Just go, Clare. Please." Dahlia whispered.

Clare looked from Dahlia to Bridget and back again, and decided that staying wouldn't do much good. Maybe they would work things out on their own. She walked slowly out of the washroom into the hallway. As soon as the door closed behind her, she heard a sharp noise from the washroom.

Bridget had slapped Dahlia.

Clare's eyes widened and her heartbeat accelerated. For the first time in a long time, she felt absolutely helpless.