Disclaimer: Not mine!

A/N: Hey you guys! I'm so sorry it's taken me longer than usual to update. Normally, I pride myself on updating daily but my internet has been totally spazzy, making it absolute impossible to get online. On top of that, my computer itself is on it's last leg and was refusing to open a word Document. Anyway, I think I've got it all fixed up now so we should be back in business. So yeah, here's Chapter 15. If all goes according to plan, this is going to be the third to last chapter which means there's only two chapters left of the story. Don't worry though because I expect they'll be long and eventful.

I'm sure you guys are eager to read this chapter so I won't bore you any longer with a long beginning author's note. There will be more at the bottom though :]

Happy reading!

CHAPTER FIFTEEN: AFTERMATH

"Adam!" said a distant voice. "Oh my god! Are you okay?" I blinked; Clare's and Eli's faces came into focus. Then so did everything else.

I was sitting on the floor, slumped against the lockers. My stuff was scattered all around me…Books, pens, papers, 'feminine hygiene producsts' and a couple of comic books—They were all disheveled, broken and beat up from getting trampled on by all my passing peers. Now the hallway was deserted once more save for Clare, Eli and myself.

"I think it's dead," said Eli solemnly, as he picked up one of the comic books and the front cover fell off, soon followed by a couple of the inside pages.

"What happened?" said Clare, her voice shaking. She took my beanie from off where it sat, perched on my shoulder. My flannel shirt was still torn open so I grabbed the two sides and held them closed with my hands, holding on so tightly my knuckles were turning white. I felt some moisture leaking from my eyes and shut them tight in a vain attempt to hold them in but the tears fell anyway.

Had that just happened? Or had it all been some sick dream? How long had I been sitting here?

"We've got to get him home," I heard Clare say.

"No," I said, the word getting stuck in my throat. I didn't want Drew or my mom to find out about this—They would pop a gasket.

"We'll take him to my house," said Eli firmly, his voice showed no sign of his usual joking tone. "My dad's out of town". Clare bend down and began pilling all my stuff into my backpack while Eli pulled by beanie back over my head and zipped up my hoodie to cover my torn shirt. Then, together, they lifted me up and walked me all the way out to parking lot and piled me into Morty.

On the ride over to Eli's, I was still in complete shock. I sat with my head against the window, as Clare and Eli spoke to each other in whispered tones. They thought I didn't notice when they kept stealing worried glances at me.

I couldn't believe they were ditching school for me…Well, I couldn't believe Clare was ditching school for me. Clare never ditched; Eli, on the other hand, was far more inclined.

Once we were inside Eli's house, Clare immediately went to fix me something to eat while Eli led me to the bathroom with a change of clothes. I didn't even need to ask—He somehow knew I was dying to get out of these clothes. In the bathroom, I splashed some water on my face—I was beginning to come to. I changed into Eli's old Dead Hand shirt and a pair of jeans black skinny jeans. I look my belt from my own blue jeans and fastened it around the pair Eli lent me.

I took a quick glance in the mirror. Normally, I would have laughed at how emo I looked in Eli's clothes but I really wasn't in the mood—I didn't know if I'd ever be in the mood to laugh again. Right now, it seemed unlikely.

I wandered slowly out of the bathroom and into Eli's kitchen. Having been here so many times, I knew the way. I could hear Eli and Clare talking quickly in hushed tones before I even reached the threshold. They stopped abruptly the minute Clare caught sight of me in the doorway—this gave me the impression they'd be talking about me.

"You look pale," said Clare, pulling out a chair from the kitchen table. "You should sit down". I took a seat because I didn't feel like contradicting her.

"Here, man," said Eli gently, placing a cup of water in front of me. Then he and Clare took seats opposite me. I already didn't like where this was going. I had the feeling I was about to be interrogated.

I pulled the water towards me and looked at the cup in my hands; The cool glass felt nice against my hot skin of my hands. We were silent for a minute before Clare spoke.

"Adam, what happened?" she said softly—There it was. The interrogation starts. I took a slow sip of the water. Eli and Clare waited patiently for me to finish. It was dead quiet except for my drinking. I couldn't even hear the sound of anyone breathing.

Then Eli realized that I had no intention to answer.

"You told her?" he pushed a little bit.

"She knows," was all I said.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ two weeks later^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

CLARE'S POV

Adam's pretty torn up. I wish there was something I could do to help him but every time I try, I'm afraid I'll just make it worse. He's in pretty bad shape. He won't talk to Eli or me about what happened. But all I know is that now, Natalie's been avoiding us like the plague and Adam won't talk about it. He says she knows.

I guess she didn't take it well when he told her. To be honest, I thought she'd be more understanding. Natalie never struck me as someone with prejudices like that. Which is why I'm surprised that she won't even look at us anymore.

"Are you okay?" I asked Adam softly at lunch. It'd be two weeks since we'd discovered Adam where I'd left him two hours earlier; I'm surprised a teacher didn't spot him. That was the same day that Natalie stopped hanging out with us.

"I'm fine," he said, looking down and fingering a loose string in his beanie. I could tell he tried to smile to drive his point home but it came across like a forced grimace, proving that he was anything but.

"You should eat something, Adam, you're going to get sick," I insisted. I'd noticed that he'd been eating very little lately. He also looked very tired, sort of like he used to before we'd met Natalie. He didn't fall asleep in class but…

"You look like the walking dead, man," said Eli, he paused for a laugh. When it didn't come, he continued seriously, "You've got to get some sleep".

"I'm sleeping just fine," he lied unconvincingly. I studied his face. He had dark bags under his eyes and his skin was pale, even the usual light in his green eyes seemed to have faded. Natalie must have really done a number on him.

And this is pretty much the same conversation we'd had over and over again for the past two weeks. I just wish that Adam would just tell us what had happened, so maybe we'd know the right thing to say. But it was no use asking him, like we had every day the first few days, because I was certain he wouldn't talk.

"Hey Clare, mind giving us some guy time?" asked Eli suddenly.

"What?" I asked, snapping out of my worried reverie. "Why?" I didn't want to leave. If they were going to talk about what happened, I very much wanted to be there. I could help!

"You just don't get us guys, Clare-Bear," he said in a semi-joking tone, flashing me one of his charming smirks and, of course, I was a goner.

"Alright," I said, getting my stuff together. "I have yearbook after school so I probably won't see you guys until tomorrow". I stole one more concerned glance toward Adam, "Call me if you need anything," I told him softly, putting my hand on his back. He nodded wordlessly.

"See you tomorrow," said Eli, giving me an appreciative look. He'd made a bit of a joke about why he wanted me to leave but I guess he really wanted to be alone with Adam.

I walked into the school and decided I'd get all my books for homework ready to go so I wouldn't have to stop before yearbook when the bell rang.

Walking towards my locker, I glanced down one of the passing hallways and saw Natalie, fumbling inside her own locker, obviously looking for something.

This is my chance, I thought. I'd ask her what happened; perhaps she'd be more willing to tell me—Woman to woman. Changing my course, I approached her with the intention to calmly make conversation and soothe her into talking to me about Adam.

But when I got to her, she turned to me and said, "Clare!" looking very surprised. All of a sudden, my thoughts flashed to Adam, how miserable he was, how much pain he was in and I got angry. My loyalty towards him got the better of me.

"You know, Natalie, I thought you were different," I said angrily. My eyes narrowed and my tone was quite bitchy.

"I'm…sorry?" said Natalie, looking at me as if I was crazy.

"How could you do that to Adam?" I demanded. "I thought you liked him. He's a great guy and if you can't see that, then….well…then you're a… a horrible person!"

Okay, not the best insult but cut me some slack, I don't do this often.

"I don't mean to be rude Clare," said Natalie slowly. "But what the hell are you talking about?"

Nice one, Natalie. Go ahead, play dumb—

"What am I talking about?" I said, pretending to think about it. "Well, let's see…He's about this tall, has reddish-brown hair, green eyes, a bit of a baby-face…Does that ring a bell?"

Natalie's face fell and she turned back towards her locker.

"That's what I thought," I sneered, perhaps for the first time in my life. "I thought you were better than this". Natalie said nothing so I continued. "I didn't think you'd care, I thought you could see passed all of that—I really thought you saw Adam for who he really is and liked him for it. I was convinced you were good for him, I can see now that I was wrong".

"You don't know anything," Natalie muttered, still not looking at me.

"Oh, I don't, do I? I know that after all the time you've spent getting to know Adam, you threw that all out of the window the minute he told you he was Trans," I said fiercely. "I didn't know you were so ignorant".

"The minute he told me?" she repeated incredulously. "Clare, he didn't tell me anything".

"Wha-at?" I blinked, completely confused now. Natalie slammed her locker, and turned in my direction which gave me a chance to get a proper look at her—Her expression was calm but there were soft tears in her eyes.

"I don't care if Adam's a girl, a boy or a…" she paused, searching for the right words. "…A mutant, cartoon monkey from Mars—He'd still be this, awesome, amazing person".

"Then wh-why…?"

"He lied to me," she said honestly.

"Look, I know it took a long time but it's really hard for him to tell people," I said, calm for the first time. "You should've seen what happened to him last time people found…"

"He didn't tell me anything, Clare," said Natalie again. "Fitz, Owen and Bianca did".

"What do you mean?" I asked and I was sure I wouldn't like the answer. Natalie looked hesitant but proceeded to tell me what had happened with the bullies in the hallway.

"That's barbaric," I said, putting my hands over my mouth. "I can't believe…" I trailed off. Because I could believe it, they were horrible, horrible human beings.

"I could care less about all the stuff they said and all the 'proof' they tried to show me," she continued. "I couldn't care less if he's 'really a girl' but when I asked him about why his grandma called him 'Gracie', he made up this story…" She stopped, blinking back more tears. I put a hand on her arm. She took a deep breath. "When I found out it was a lie, I just felt like an idiot…But a lot of things started to make sense. All of it, in fact".

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^later^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

ADAM'S POV

I'd never understood why guys got so down about girls. Sure, I liked them just as much as the next guy but I never got majorly depressed if one didn't like me back. I had bigger problems. Like when I was crushing on Bianca, she found out I was an FTM and thought I was a freak. Sure, it hurt (more because I didn't want people to know) but I didn't get too bummed about it. I just moved on. This time, it was different. Since the disaster with Natalie, and Fitz, Owen and Bianca, I haven't been able to do anything but mope. I've lost my appetite to the point where I'm barely eating and the nightmares have come back, so forget about sleeping. The funny thing is, I always thought it was ridiculous when people in movies said they couldn't eat or sleep or smile after a break up but I totally get it now—And Natalie and I weren't even 'officially' together.

I know it must be hard for Eli and Clare to deal with a wet blanket hanging around them all the time. And believe me, I wish I could just get on with it but I can't. I feel numb. And every time I think I'm starting to get over it, I get this image in my head of the look on Natalie's face when the bullies called me 'Gracie'…I wonder why, out of the stuff they did, that's the thing that pushed her over the edge.

If I'm going to be completely honest, I'm not entirely surprised that Natalie hates me now. Somehow, I saw it coming.

"Dude, what happened?" said Eli, the minute Clare left the table and was out of ear shot.

"Nothing," I lied automatically—this was my usual answer.

"Bullshit," said Eli. "You've been saying the same thing for two weeks now, all the while acting like you're 5 years old and your dog just died".

"Well, I'm sorry I'm bring you down," I said, rudely but felt a twinge of regret a minute later. I'd been pretty on edge for the last two weeks.

"Don't be stupid," said Eli. "I don't care about that. I just want to know why you're hurting". I didn't say anything, I didn't even look up. "I know something happened when you told Natalie and it can't be that she just wasn't cool about it…you wouldn't be this torn up if that was the case".

It's true—I hadn't told Eli or Clare about the incident with Fitz, Owen and Bianca. To be honest, it's not that I don't want them to know. It's just that what they did was completely humiliating. I felt so violated. Every time I think about it, I cringe. And telling them, well, I'd have to relive it and that's not something I'm willing to do right now.

"I said nothing happened, Eli," I said dispassionately. There was sudden rustling that made me look at Eli. He was rummaging inside my backpack. "Hey—What're you—?"

He pulled out the comic book I'd brought to school today to read while waiting around for Drew and his tutoring appointment. It was a rare issue #1.

"Be careful with that!" I said, feeling as though this was the first time in a while that I cared about something. Eli ignored my exclaimation, jumping up so he was standing on the bench. "I'm serious!" I said, looking up at him.

"You tell me what happened now," he said, dangling the comic book. "Or I'll throw it into the ravine".

"You wouldn't dare," I said, calling his bluff.

"Try me," he said, dangerously giving me an evil grin. He made the gesture but didn't let go of the comic. My heart jumped.

"Alright! Alright! Fine! Just sit down, for Pete's sake…" I said. Then on second thought, "Actually, forget Pete…For my sake". Obliging, Eli jumped back down and took his seat in front of me. I held my hand out expectantly for the comic but he just laughed.

"I'm keeping this as collateral," he said, twirling the comic in his hands. I glared at him. "Go on then…" said Eli.

What can I guy do in a situation like this? My hands were tied. So I told him. I told him everything. Right down to the shirt ripping, the bag spilling, everything.

It was a real testament to our friendship that, when I finished the story, Eli didn't laugh or make a single comment. He just looked really angry. There was a short silence during which I swear I could hear Eli's hair burning.

"They can't get away with this," he said darkly, a dangerous flash in his eyes.

Then the bell rang. I got up and slung my backpack around my shoulder but Eli stayed seating at the table, apparently lost in thought.

"C'mon Dark Avenger," I sighed, grabbing his arm and pulling him. Eli finally stood too, handing me my comic and grabbing his bag.

We made our way into the school and were walking down the hall when a distant, woman's voice shouted "Mr. Torres!" I turned to look but couldn't see where the voice had come from.

"Did you hear that?" I asked Eli, but he was still deep in his own thoughts. No doubt plotting Fitz and Owen's long and tortuous death.

"Mr. Torres!" came the voice again, louder this time. It sounded shrill and stern, like a teacher's. Who was calling me-?

Suddenly, Andrew burst through the back doors at a run.

"Mr. Torres! Come back here right now!" shouted Ms. Stewart, the Spanish teacher, walking swiftly behind him.

"Hey little bro!" called Drew as he dashed passed Eli and me, grinning. Despite the fact that he was around the corner in the blink of an eye, I'd caught a pretty good glimpse of his face and was taken aback by what I saw. Drew's lip was split and bleeding, his right eye was swelling up and turning a sickly color, and a little bit of blood was seeping through his light blue shirt on his left shoulder.

…What the hell?

"Andrew—What?" I tried to ask but, like I said, he disappeared around the corner in the blink of an eye.

A/N: There you go! Chapter fifteen. What didja think? :] Review! (=Preview!)

So, we're coming to the end of our story and I just wanted to take this opportunity to say how much I appreciate that you guys read my story and like it. The support and reviews you guys send me is amazing and I thank you guys all so much! Even though it's hasn't been that long, I'm going to be sad to let this fic go. To those who frequently review, I feel like I know you guys and we've got an odd sort of friendship going on-I love writing back to your guys when I send you you're previews and the little convo's we have.

With that being said, I was thinking about writing another fic when this one is finished and I was wondering if you guys would like that. It is so funny how my target has switched so drastically from the beginning. When I started this story, I was writing for myself...I honestly didn't expect anyone to like it very much. But every day when you guys send me kind reviews and nice PM's, well you guys have become my inspiration for writing...Hahah sorry if that sounds sappy or weird. Anyhow, what kind of fic would you guys like to see me tackle next? I think I'd like to put Adam to rest for a little it (definitely NOT for good) but I was thinking maybe I'd try Clare or Eli or something...What do you think? Include it in your review.

Also, I just got an account on a couple of great Degrassi RPGs and wanted to spread the word in case anyone else is interested. Here they are:

1. w w w dot d degrassi i dot proboards dot com -On this one, I play Fiona & Bianca [The people on this one are very nice and it's a lot fun!]

2. w w w dot after - the - lockdown dot proboards dot com -On this one, I play...Who else? ADAM! :) [This one is really unique because it takes place...like the title says...'after the lockdown' when everyone is coming back from break]

Tell 'em Holly sent ya

(-thanks to Charlotte who told me that the links had been taken down.) feel free to message me if the links are not clear.

These are both awesome sites with a lot of great people on them so I encourage anyone who is interested to join up! They are both relatively new so they are a bunch of canons still available or if originals are your thing, that's awesome too!

Until next time

xx,

Holly