Welcome to my new story, I hope you enjoy it.
This is an A/U semi fix-it story. I change families a little, mostly our main family the Torres' have the edition of Clare, there is no Edwards family. Jake and Glen live in Toronto and Jake is already attending Degrassi.
Everything else you need to know is in the story itself.
Ch.1 No Gods or Heroes
(CLARE)
"YOU KIDS ARE GOING TO BE LATE," Mom hollers up the stairs Monday morning.
"WE'RE COMING," the three of us yell back.
I grab my backpack and leave my room just as both my brothers leave theirs. Drew waves his hand so I can go downstairs first. Adam follows and Drew brings up the rear. Mom smiles when we come downstairs, and then does her usual inspection of how we're dressed and presenting ourselves.
"Have a great first day kids. Adam if anyone finds out or gives you trouble, you call me right away," Mom asserts. She does so as she fixes his hair, and he scrunches his nose.
"He'll be fine Mom, you met with Principal Simpson before we even transferred. All of his teachers got letters," I comment.
"Besides, I'll be there, you think I'd let anyone mess with my younger sibs," Drew remarks.
Mom smiles and hugs us all before we go out to Drew's car. Adam lets me have the passenger seat and Drew drives us to school. Mom and Dad gave him the car this summer, a reward for keeping his grades up all year. A feat he accomplished with a lot of help from me and Adam, but he does usually drive us around. It's not that Drew is dumb; he just doesn't hold concepts he can't relate to. He's great with sports, cars, girls, kids, movies, and things like that. Academic pursuits just don't seem to stick, not long term anyway, yet Mom keeps forcing him into university track courses. It doesn't help that she works for the school board and is often at the school meddling. At least she was at our school in London, I doubt anything will change here though.
We left London after Adam came out publicly as Adam, he was born Gracie. Drew and I weren't shocked and were very supportive. It's not as though we knew all along Adam was Adam, but there were signs that he wasn't happy, that he was not a normal girl, and more than a tomboy. Mom and Dad didn't understand but were supportive and fiercely protective. Kids at school were not, they made things pretty bad, so when the school year ended Dad got a job in Toronto and we moved.
"I'm going to find the football sign-ups," Drew remarks when he parks the car in the Degrassi lot. Adam and I simultaneously roll our eyes, of course, the first thing Drew does is look for football sign-ups. I'm sure next he'll find the cheerleaders, or they'll find him. He's never had an issue attracting the opposite sex.
"Let's figure out where our lockers are and get to class," Adam says.
"Okay," I nod.
We follow Drew into the school, I can already see the girls checking him out. Adam and I easily find our lockers but have nothing to put in them. We wander a little bit in finding our homeroom but manage to find it. The teacher looks up when we come into the room and smiles, getting up from her desk.
"You must be Adam and Clare; I was very impressed by your writing samples. I'm thrilled to have such talented twins in my class this year. You'll be a little younger than most of the students as this is a grade eleven class, but I don't suspect that will be a problem?"
"No Ma'am," Adam replies.
"Oh, I'm sorry, I'm Miss Dawes. Well, as the first ones into class you have your choice of desks."
Adam and I choose desks next to each other in the second row. Mom did push to get us both into this grade eleven university track class. It didn't take much though; we were in an advanced program in our last school. Degrassi doesn't have an advanced program, but the principal had no problem letting us take advanced classes if we thought we could handle it. We knew that we could, unlike our brother, academics come easy for us.
Miss Dawes gives us our textbooks and we begin flipping through them. I don't look up until someone else comes through the door. A boy with dark hair and piercing green eyes. He grabs a textbook and sits at the desk just in front of me. He turns in his chair to look back at me and shoots me a sexy smirk. I smile, biting my lip, my twin audibly groans. Now that he's made a noise the boy looks at Adam and catches sight of Adam's binder.
"You're into The Goon?" Asks the boy with the smoldering smirk.
"I love The Goon, drew this myself," Adam says proudly.
"It's his favorite thing, you should see his room, The Goon and Dead Hand posters are almost all he has on his walls," I comment.
"No way, Dead Hand is my favorite band, their lyrics are so deeply poetic. I'm Eli, just started here this year."
"I'm Adam, this is my twin sister Clare, we started here this year too, along with our brother Drew. He's in grade eleven," Adam introduces us.
"Aren't you two? This is a grade eleven class," Eli remarks, cocking an eyebrow at us.
"Grade ten, we were let into the class," I explain.
"Impressive," Eli smirks again.
Then the bell rings and we all jump, other kids quickly begin to filter into class. After the second bell Miss Dawes begins class, handing out textbooks to anyone that doesn't have one. Then she welcomes us to class and goes over the syllabus for the semester.
"Row's one and three take a look at the person sitting behind you, they will be your editing partner for the year. You will edit all of each other's work before turning it in," Miss Dawes comments. Eli looks back at me with another smirk and I bite my lip. There's a boy sitting in front of Adam, he looks back at Adam and nods politely.
Miss Dawes gives us our first assignment that she wants turned in by next Tuesday. She gives us the rest of class to begin researching and outlining. Everyone works pretty quietly until the bell rings for second period.
"See you guys around," Eli smiles as he saunters out of class.
"Well, I'm off to remedial gym," Adam sighs as we walk out of class together.
"Adam, you know you can't do regular gym, not yet," I remark.
"Yeah, doesn't mean I have to like it. See you for lunch," Adam replies with another sigh as he walks off.
Second period is the only class that I don't have with Adam. He has remedial gym and I have art. It takes me a little while to find the art classroom, but I finally do. There's already several kids in here and most of the easels seem to be taken, I take one of the few that are still open. As soon as I do a boy with chestnut hair and freckles takes the easel next to me. I glance at him, but the bell rings and Miss Dawes comes in.
"I was very happy to see you in two of my classes Clare," Miss Dawes smiles.
She tells everyone to choose an easel or work at a table. She talks about art and the power of art and then gives us our first assignment. Drawing basic 3D shapes in charcoal or pencil, there's a list of them on the whiteboard and we have to draw them all but can use the paper space however we wish. I choose charcoal and begin to draw, concentrating on my work and mostly tuning out the rest of the class until a voice close to me makes me jump.
"Can I borrow your eraser?"
"Sure," I reply, picking up the eraser and looking at the source of the voice. It's the freckled boy that took the easel next to mine.
"Thanks," he grins. He takes the eraser and brushes his fingers against mine as he does. He grins at me and then looks at my easel. "That's really good, they actually look like shapes."
"Thanks, my brother Adam is better at drawing, but I do okay."
"I think it looks great, better than mine. You must be new; I would remember a girl as beautiful as you last year," he comments. I can feel my cheeks blushing and intrinsically bite my lip.
"Yeah, we moved this summer, my brothers and I just started here. I'm Clare," I reply, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear.
"Fitz," he replies with a charming smile. I on the other hand scrunch my nose at the odd name. He kind of chuckles and shakes his head, "It's a nickname, because my last name is Fitzgerald."
"Oh, then what's your first name?"
"Mark, but everyone, even my parents, call me Fitz," he responds.
"Fitz please get back to your assignment and stop bothering Clare," Miss Dawes censures.
He grins and winks as his way of saying "see everyone calls me Fitz", and I can't help but giggle a little. Fitz does go back to his own easel, but I can see that he keeps glancing in my direction all through class. Every time he does I find myself biting my lip. He doesn't say anything else however as Miss Dawes circles the room and looks at everyone's work. She offers praise or advice depending on how you are doing. She has us stop 10 minutes before class ends to clean up. When the bell rings and I leave class Fitz comes over and puts his arm around my shoulders.
"So, got plans for lunch? I could show you around Degrassi," Fitz offers.
"Uh, yeah, meeting my brothers for lunch."
"We c…"
"Hey Sis," Drew calls cutting Fitz off. We both turn around to face my oldest brother.
"Hi Drew, this is Fitz, he's in my art class."
"Yeah, he's in my math class, why is his arm around you?" Drew asks furrowing his brow.
"Drew," I groan, rolling my eyes.
"Just offering to show your sister around. You know I don't see the family resemblance," Fitz remarks looking between us.
"Long story," Drew says, taking my arm and pulling me to him, effectively pulling me from Fitz's arm. "Come on we need to meet Adam," Drew remarks as we begin to walk away.
"See you Fitz," I call turning my head to look back at him. Adam finds us and we walk to the cafeteria together. The three of us eating together at one end of a table.
"How was your brainy homeroom writing class?" Drew asks, still chewing his first bite.
"Good, Miss Dawes is nice. A boy was flirting with Clare, and they're editing partners for the semester," Adam comments.
"Eli smirked at me, you two are soul mates, you both love The Goon and Dead Hand," I retort and Drew smiles.
"I've got football tryouts after school, won't be over until 5 or so," Drew comments.
"We can hang out and do our homework or go to the café on the corner, what's it called?" Adam asks.
"The Dot, it's a weird name but it's a nice café," I reply.
"Okay, I'll pick you two up from The Dot when I'm done with football," Drew nods.
We finish lunch talking about our mornings and the people in our classes. Drew mentions Fitz having his arm around me, and I roll my eyes. Drew leaves us as soon as he's done eating. Adam and I use the washroom and meet up again to get to our civics class.
"You two must be new, I'm Alli Bhandari," says a girl as we barely step in the room. She's sitting in a cluster with some other students. "My brother Sav is vice president this year, he's a senior, he's nice but most of the seniors are trouble. I should know, I dated one last year. Johnny DiMarco, biggest mistake of my life, he was such a lying, deceiving ass. Anyway, this is my best friend Jenna and that's her boyfriend K.C. they've been dating on and off since last year, total dr…"
"Breathe Alli," one of the boys censures her when Alli doesn't stop and then he looks at us, "I'm Dave, this Wes and Connor," Dave finishes the introductions without telling us everyone's life story.
"I'm Adam, this is my twin sister Clare, we moved over the summer. Our brother Drew is in grade eleven," Adam says.
It's about all we have time for as the bell rings and the teacher begins class. Unlike Miss Dawes, Miss Cosnell jumps right in, no going over the syllabus or telling us what to expect. When the bell rings Miss Cosnell asks to speak to Adam, I look at him and he shrugs. Neither one of us said a thing at all during class. I wait just outside but she has him close the door so I'm sure she's talking to him about being transgender.
"What was that about?" I question when Adam leaves the room.
"She's the LGBTQ+ advisor and there's an LGBTQ+ club at the school, first meeting of the year is tomorrow at lunch," Adam says as we begin walking to our last class.
"That's great, you should go, everyone in the club will surely accept you and you won't have to hide," I smile.
"Yeah I told her I'd be there," Adam grins back.
When we get to last period we see that most of the kids from our civics class are in here. We take desks in the second and third row, Adam sits by K.C. and I sit next to Alli. Adam and I both love science and the teacher is Wes' uncle which is kind of cool. When the bell rings Adam and I visit our lockers and then walk to The Dot.
"I've seen you two in here before," says the boy behind the counter. He's muscular with dark blonde hair, there's another boy behind the counter. Tall and slight with bleach blonde hair.
"We came in this weekend, our family moved this summer," I reply. We came to look at the school this weekend and see how the drive was from the house. We stopped in for coffee on our way home.
"Cool, everyone calls me Spinner, and this is Peter. We own and run this place together, including the club upstairs," Spinner tells us.
"I didn't know there was a club upstairs," Adam remarks.
"Yeah, Above the Dot, it's all ages but we only open it Friday and Saturday nights and school breaks when school is in, open all summer though. It's all ages but 99% of the patronage is Degrassi students," Peter explains.
"That makes sense since you can see the school from here," I remark and Spinner grins.
Spinner asks what we want and we order drinks and a snack, then we find a table and sit down. We start on our homework and don't look up from it until someone else sits at our table. We both look up to see that it's Eli and he gives us a smirk. He's got an iced coffee, and he begins talking to Adam about the last edition of The Goon, something I know nothing about so I pretty much stay quiet. Even though he's mostly talking to Adam from the corner of my eye I can see him glancing at me every so often when he does I'll look up and he'll smirk again.
"I have to get home, you two need a ride?" Eli questions. He's been with us for over an hour doing homework and talking to Adam.
"No, our brother will be here to get us soon," Adam replies.
"Cool, see you guys in homeroom tomorrow," Eli says.
He grabs his backpack and leaves; he walks to the school and a few minutes later we see an antique hearse drive by. I can't see the driver because of the sun but something tells me that's Eli. Not long after that Drew and what seems like half the football team come into the café. Drew says we have to get home so Adam and I grab our backpacks and go out to his car.
Mom has dinner ready when we get home, surprisingly Dad is already home. Mom asks how our first day was and that is most of the conversation over dinner. After helping clean up I go upstairs to take a shower. Adam and Drew go down to the basement to finish homework.
We're rushing Tuesday morning again and Mom hollers that we're going to be late again. Of course we aren't, we make it to school in plenty of time. Adam and I go straight to class, Eli's already in class and gives us his smirk. Fitz also flirts with me in art class but doesn't walk out of class with his arm around me. Drew picks me up from art and we eat together since Adam is eating with the LGBTQ+ club. Drew eats quickly and says he's going to lift weights in the weight room.
I leave the caf and use the girl's washroom where I find Alli. She tells me not only that she's forming a dance club but that the football team is throwing a tailgate tomorrow after school. Drew's team did that at his last school so I'm sure it was his idea and he'll tell us after school. Adam and I decide to walk home after school and not stick around to wait for Drew to get out of practice.
"Hey Clare," Fitz says as we approach The Dot. He was inside but came out, he's holding a drink in his hand, and I saw him talking to people in the café.
"Hi Fitz, this is my twin brother Adam," I introduce the two.
"With you two I see the resemblance. You walking home? I could walk you, I'd drive you, but my car broke down again," Fitz tells us.
"Sure, you can walk us home," I reply.
"Would you like to go to the football tailgate with me tomorrow?" Fitz asks as we begin walking.
"I'd like that," I smile.
"Are you going Adam?" Fitz questions.
"Yeah, to support Drew," Adam shrugs.
"There will be a lot of cheerleaders there, cheerleaders that would love an adorable guy like you," Fitz comments and Adam blushes.
We spend the rest of the walk talking about school and our classes. We go to the basement when I see Mom's car. Fitz takes us all the way to the door and says goodbye. Adam texted Drew during the walk to let him know we didn't need to be picked up. We start on our homework; help Drew with his when he gets home and eat dinner with Mom since Dad is working late.
The only thing different about Wednesday is the tailgate after school. Fitz picks me up from last period and takes me out to the parking lot when it's time for the tailgate. Adam walks with us but goes over to say hi to Drew. Fitz and I get some hot dogs and sit down to eat. I watch Alli with what I'm guessing is her dance club, and Jenna with the cheerleaders. After eating we get up to walk a bit and Fitz puts his arm around me. His arm is only around me a couple minutes before he gets hit with a football.
"DREW," I holler knowing it had to have been him, and my brother only grins at me.
"He's protective," Fitz comments, rubbing his arm where he got hit.
"Runs in the family," I reply, rolling my eyes.
"Is Adam going to hit me with a football?"
"Adam doesn't have Drew's arm, and Adam would be more subtle."
"So how is it that Drew looks so different than you and Adam? Was he adopted?" Fitz questions.
"Yes and no, Drew takes after our mom, his biological mom. Adam and I take after our father, our biological father. Our biological mom died in childbirth and Drew's biological father abandoned him and his mother when Drew was an infant. Our parents met through a support group for single parents, Drew was two and Adam and I were not quite a year yet. We were three when they got married, Dad adopted Drew and Mom adopted us. We're not biologically related but they are the only family we've ever known, and Drew is our brother."
That's nice, must be nice to have so much family. My dad walked out on us too, but my mom married an asshole, and he has an asshole for a son," Fitz says. He's tight now, his fists clenched, and I can tell this subject isn't something he wants to talk about, so I decide to change it.
"Want to get some dessert? Looks like they have a sundae bar set up," I comment.
"Dessert sounds good," Fitz smiles.
We get dessert and spend another hour at the tailgate before it's time to break down. Fitz takes Adam and I home since Drew has to stick around and help clean up. His car is working again so he's able to drive us. I thank Fitz for taking me and for the ride home, kissing him on the cheek as we get out of the car. Adam also thanks him for the ride before getting out of the car. We go inside and greet our parents telling them about the tailgate before we go down to the basement.
(ADAM)
Clare and I are working on homework in the basement, with the TV on, when Drew gets home. He opens the sliding glass door and Clare picks up a pillow and throws it at him. Drew catches it of course but cocks an eyebrow at Clare for the impromptu game of catch.
"I can't believe you threw a football at Fitz," Clare huffs.
"I'm only looking out for my baby sister. Fitz doesn't exactly have the best rep," Drew shrugs. He puts the pillow back on the sofa and sits on it.
"I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself and making my own decisions about who I date." Clare retorts, crossing her arms.
"I know, and I'm your older brother, I am going to be protective and it's my right to pester the guys you date. I did it at our last school too," Drew responds.
"I've had exactly two boyfriends; you have a new girl every few weeks," Clare shoots back.
"You only had two boyfriends because Adam and I did our jobs right," Drew responds.
"Exactly," I nod. Clare groans and rolls her eyes.
"Maybe you should get your own girlfriend and stop paying attention to my dating life, both of you," Clare remarks.
"She has a point, no one knows you as Gracie here Adam," Drew adds.
"Yeah, and I want to keep it that way. I just want to blend for a while, the longer no one finds out the better," I comment. An inadvertent shiver runs along my spine as I remember what happened the last time people found out. Drew doesn't seem to notice but Clae gives me a concerned look and I give her a reassuring smile.
As always we help Drew with his homework. Clare takes a shower before bed; Drew and I stay downstairs watching the sports recaps. I have a nightmare that night though, about why we had to move. I wake up shaking and go into the washroom to splash water on my face. As I'm splashing the water on my face and still shaking the door opens and I know it's Clare.
"I'm okay, I'll talk about it in therapy," I tell her. My eyes are closed and I'm blindly reaching for the towel when Clare hands it to me.
Of course, one look at my sister and I nearly break down in tears. Clare puts her arms around me pulling me into a tight hug. I want to resist, to be tough but I'm trembling, and I embrace her back.
"Can you get back to sleep?" Clare asks and I shake my head. "Come on," she says releasing me a little and taking my hand. We go into her room, and she turns on her laptop. She puts on old cartoons; we fall asleep just before dawn, but her alarm goes off a couple of hours later. Mom has an early meeting and she and Dad are already gone. Clare and I are slow getting ready and we skip breakfast.
"Why are you two so tired?" Drew questions.
"We're fine, but could we stop at The Dot for coffee?" I yawn. Drew twists his face but doesn't say anything and does pull over at The Dot.
"Do you want me to come in?" Drew asks.
"No, we didn't eat breakfast either. We'll walk to school in a bit," Clare comments as we get out of the car.
"Okay, see you at school," Drew says.
We get out of the car and wave to Drew as he drives away. Clare and I go into the café, each ordering coffee and a pastry. We sit down to eat and sip our coffee, both of us tired and yawning. When we're done eating we take our coffee and walk to school. As we begin to approach the entrance, we see a large crowd gathered near the flagpole. As we get closer, we hear muffled cries and recognize Drew's voice, even muffled. We drop our coffee and run over to find him saran wrapped to the flagpole and naked.
"Alright enough, everyone move on, stop staring," Clare commands, shooing kids away.
"Break it up, lets go, break it up," I remark, shoving some kids out of the way.
"EVERYONE INSIDE," Principal Simpson hollers and the other students begin to leave.
"Just relax Torres we'll have you out of there in a moment and we found your clothes," Coach Armstrong says. I met him yesterday at the tailgate.
"Your mom is on the way," Simpson says, and we all let out a simultaneous sigh. Simpson has a blanket, and he holds it up to shield Drew as he gets cut free. "Clare and Adam, you two should get to class, we'll stay with Drew," Simpson commands.
"We'll see you later Drew," I comment, leaving slowly. I'd rather stay with my brother than go to class.
"Someone really tape your brother to the flagpole naked?" Eli questions when we come into homeroom.
"Saran wrap but yeah," I reply.
"I hope he knows who it was, I can't believe someone would do that," Clare huffs.
"I'm sure the perpetrators will get what's coming to them one way or the other," Eli remarks.
Of course, as everyone comes into class they are whispering about Drew and looking at us. It's not long after homeroom begins that we hear an announcement for all of the football team to go to the gym. No one in this class is on the team, no one leaves but whispers begin again. At least until Miss Dawes tells them to stop.
I spend most of remedial gym watching Bianca, she's far more interesting than the teacher or line dancing. Drew meets us for lunch, he's not eating with the team, and he refuses to talk about this morning, every time we bring it up he says to drop it. In third period Alli is bragging that her dance club is performing at the first football game tomorrow after school. Clare and I are of course going to support Drew.
Mom is here to pick us up, I have therapy after school, and she will drop me off and take Clare home then pick me up. Mom spends the whole drive telling us how she gave it to Principal Simpson and Coach Armstrong this morning. Therapy is good, I like my therapist, he's transgender as well, female to male. It's nice to talk to someone that knows what I'm going through.
Drew and I still have homework after dinner and Clare helps Drew. I sleep better tonight, no nightmare, but wake early and shower before Drew claims the washroom. When we get to school people are still whispering about yesterday. A few tease Drew as we walk inside. At lunch we find out that Drew was not picked as QB1, and we know that Mom will be on the warpath.
When we get to third period Alli is miffed but doesn't say why. Actually, I think it's the first time since we've met Alli that she's been silent. After school Mom picks up Clare and I to come to the football game with us. Mom is pissed that Drew didn't make QB1, but she doesn't say anything to us in the car.
Turns out Alli's dance club is a flop, Sav announces it but it's just Alli up there dancing badly. Dave, Wes and a few others go up to save her and dance around her. Very few people are watching them, most are watching the team warm up or the cheerleaders.
"Should we go help save Alli?" I ask Clare.
"I don't think that can be saved," Clare shakes her head.
Drew may not be QB1, but he does start the game. We find out later that Riley, who did make QB1, is also benched for the next few games for being one of the ones that hazed Drew. Owen is also benched for hazing Drew. Degrassi wins and the team celebrates on the field. We go out to congratulate Drew, the team is going for pizza and Mom takes us home. Mom taped the game and plays it for Dad when we get home. Clare and I go down to the basement and watch TV.
"How was the celebration?" I ask Drew when he gets home.
"Good, but things are going to be tense for a bit I think. Despite my threat Riley went for QB1 and got it. I'm new I have to prove myself. I think me and Riley are good, but not sure about Owen," Drew comments flopping down on the sofa.
"Hang on, what threat?" I question. Drew never said anything about threatening Riley.
"Oh," he says slowly looking at us with guilty eyes, "I found out Riley is gay and may have threatened to out him if he didn't back down from making QB1."
"ANDREW!" I holler at him.
"Drew, how could you?! After everything that happened to Adam last year?" Clare censures him.
"I wasn't really going to, just wanted to scare him. I was QB1 last year, youngest in the history of the school."
"We know Drew, but you know fear isn't the way of getting the things you want," I say.
"I know, I know, are my younger sibs done lecturing now? I think being naked at the flagpole in front of the entire school was punishment enough."
Clare and I drop it but we're still mad at him. We stay up late watching TV and I wake up Saturday to a text from Eli asking if I want to come play video games. I reply sure and get up, Mom and Dad are gone but Drew says he'll take me.
"Hey Adam," Eli grins, opening the door before I can even knock. "Come on in, my parents are out but they'll be back later. Want anything to drink or eat?"
"I've only been up for an hour I'll take anything," I comment and Eli snickers.
"I'm not much of a cook but we've got some frozen waffles and I can make coffee," Eli says.
"Great," I nod.
"Take a seat in the living room, I'll make them. Do you want butter and syrup? Cream and sugar?" Eli asks.
"Yes and yes," I reply.
I sit on the sofa and look around the living room. Looks petty standard for a living room, sofa, large TV and video gaming systems. A sound system also in the entertainment cabinet and speakers around. I see some family photos and various curious and chotchkies on the walls and shelves.
"So," Eli ventures as he hands me my coffee, setting my waffles on the coffee table, "your sister got a boyfriend?"