Adam and Eli had become close friends. The best of friends. Adam was a FTM. A female-to-male transgender. Eli was emo. They were different. Their only other friend was Clare.

"Eli!" Adam called from the other side of the parking lot.

Eli turned and waved then continued talking with Clare.

"What do you mean, Adam looks better as Gracie?" Eli demanded of his female friend.

"I mean, I can compare with Gracie, but I can't with Adam," she replied.

"Whatever," Eli sighed. "I like Adam and Adam likes Adam. All that matters is his happiness, right?"

"I guess," Clare shrugged.

Adam approached them. "Hey," he said with a smile.

"Hey," Eli smiled back. "How's your mom dealing with the whole 'Goodbye Gracie' thing?"

"She's been doing a lot better since I got Drew in on it," Adam responded.

"That's good," Clare said sweetly.

The bell rang, so they ran inside to their homerooms. Each of them was in a different class. Especially since Clare and Adam were in grade ten and Eli was in grade eleven.

The lunch bell rang, so they all got together again. Eli was walking between them, watching Adam carefully so that he made sure Fitz didn't get to him. Eli was caring, despite what others thought about him. Not only did Adam hate Fitz, but Eli did too. Clare chose a table farthest from Fitz and his crew, so they all sat.

"What are we going to do?" Eli asked. "We can't keep running from Fitz forever."

"I know, Eli," Adam snapped. "In due time, I'll confront him, but I can't really do it now."

"Then, I will," Eli growled as he stood from the table.

"No, Eli!" Clare and Adam whispered.

Eli ignored them and walked to Fitz's table.

"Look," Eli snarled as he approached them. "You can't keep screwing up other peoples' lives just because you feel like it!"

Fitz stood from the table. "Oh, really?"

"Yeah!" Eli raised his voice and the cafeteria suddenly became quieter as everyone turned to watch the bully and the emo.

"And who's gonna stop me?" Fitz demanded.

"We will," someone called from the other side of the caf.

Eli turned to see Drew and the rest of the football team. He looked back at Fitz.

"Are you done messing up Adam's life and my life and everyone else's lives?" Eli smiled.

Fitz then pulled his fist back and hit Eli Goldsworthy in the jaw. Eli lied on the floor, writhing in agony as Fitz kicked him in the side. Then, everything went black.

Eli's Point of View

I spent almost a week in the hospital because of internal bleeding. Fitz ruined my life once before. I had no intention of letting him do it again, but that's what you get when you stand up to him.

The door opened and Adam and Clare walked in.

"Hey, Eli," Adam smiled.

"Hey, Grasshopper," I replied.

"Are you feeling okay?" Clare asked as she sat on the edge of the bed.

"My insides hurt, but I guess I feel better," I sighed.

Clare looked close to tears. The strange thing was that Adam did too. Guys normally didn't cry, especially Adam.

"You didn't have to do that," Adam sniffled. "You didn't have to stand up to Fitz for me." "He had it coming to him," I managed. "Since he makes everyone else's life a living hell, he should see what it feels like in jail or even just after-school detention."

"He had to go to military school," Clare told me quickly.

She then seemed mad at me. Had she liked Fitz or did she just not like that I got someone in that much trouble? Adam walked over and sat on the other side of the bed. Clare stood and stormed from the room. She seemed kind of stuck up all of a sudden.

I looked at Adam and he said, "She's upset that someone in our school was so bad they were sent to military school."

"She seems kind of…moody," I hesitated.

Adam took my hand in his and sighed, "She worries about you, Eli. You should've seen the look on her face when you got punched. It was even worse when you were on the floor, unconscious. I swear I felt my heart break in half at the look in her eyes. Then, the tears started rolling down her face and made it even more heart-wrenching."

I hung my head then looked at Adam's hand, which was still holding mine. He retreated quickly and walked to the other side of the room.

"If it worried you that much, why didn't you make a bigger effort to stop me?" I blurted.

"Because we were afraid you'd take drastic measures to make sure Fitz paid for what he did," Adam sniffed. He wasn't looking at me, so I was assuming he was crying. "I have to go," he cried as he ran out the door. I was so confused. What the hell had happened?

I stretched a little to watch him run down the hall, but I had to lie back down because the agony felt as if were in my blood and coursed from limb to limb. My heart began to speed up then slow down continuously and rapidly. I closed my eyes and, before I knew it, I was asleep.

I was walking down the hall of Degrassi. None of the lights were on. I was alone. Then, I heard a shattering sound in the caf. Instinctively, I ran toward the noise thinking, What the hell was that?

I blew through the doors to find Adam curled up on the floor, sobbing, as Fitz taunted him and beat him. Clare was lying against the wall. Her eyes were open and her face was expressionless. I tried calling out to them, but no sound was escaping my lips. It was like I was a ghost. Wait….Was I a ghost? Had I died?

I shot up, breathing deeply, which hurt my insides. There was Adam, Clare, and Sav sitting in the chairs on the other side of the room. Clare hurried and sat on the edge of my hospital bed.

"You were talking in your sleep," Clare sniffled. She moved closer to me, wrapped her arms around me gently, and cried, "I thought you weren't going to wake up until then."

"I'm okay, Clare," I whispered. "Just had a bad dream. That's all."

She pulled away and wiped her eyes, nodding. Adam stood in unison with Sav and walked to the bedside.

"You're lookin' good, man," Sav smiled weakly. "How're you feeling?"

"Better," I replied. "Thanks."

Sav nodded as Adam sat on the other side of the bed. I lifted the back of the bed a bit and managed a sitting position. It hurt my intestines a little, but I stayed.

I talked a bit with Clare and Sav before they left. Adam stayed with me, though.

"So," I began. "What have I missed since I've been out?"

"Well," Adam began as he brought his legs up and crossed them to face me. "Bianca finally left me alone, Fitz is in military school for the rest of the year, Clare got back together with KC-"

"What?" my voice broke.

"Yeah," Adam said excitedly. "Jenna just wasn't who KC thought she was, so he got Clare to go out with him again."

"Dammit," I muttered.

"You like her," Adam smiled.

"No I don't!" I exclaimed quickly, my eyes widening.

"Yes you do," Adam nodded. "You really like her."

"No I don't!" I squeaked uncomfortably.

Adam poked me, so I caught his hand. He was on his knees by then. He moved forward and our lips met. Then, in my mind, he became a she. Adam retreated, looked into my eyes, jumped from the bed, and ran out. I smiled a vague smile, lied the bed back, and sighed. I sighed a little too deeply, though, because my ribs started to hurt a little. I closed my eyes and went to sleep. Adam was definitely my type of girl.