Dates

Chapter 3:

 

Two weeks has passed and K.C. had returned to his normal self and back at school. Darren had become very close with Adam and they are now best friends. Adam continued to keep his secret about him from Darren. However, it is becoming more and more difficult hiding his secret from him as the days goes by.

Courtney walked down the school hall to class when she heard a voice behind her say “Hi”. She turned her head to the right and saw that Eli was walking alongside her. She noticed that he had a new piercing on his ear.

“Why are you following me?” she asked.

Eli smirked. “Why do you think I’m following you?” he asked back.

“Because everywhere I turn, you’re there.” She answered.

Eli rolled his eyes. “Don’t think so highly of yourself sweetheart. I’m not following you or anything I’m just going the same direction you are going”. Eli didn’t like girls that act like everybody would die to be with them. He wasn’t that kind of guy. Even though he liked Courtney he wasn’t going to wait around for her to like him back. Courtney could see that Eli was feeling annoyed with her so decided to change the topic.

“Marley and I decided to start a band together. I’m going to play the piano and she’s gonna be the lead singer. We already got K.C. to play the guitar but we don’t have a drummer. I heard that you’re a great drummer and I was wondering if you want to join the band with us”. Courtney waited for a response.

Eli shrugged. “Sure. If it means I’ll spend more time with you” he flirted.

 Courtney blushed. She stopped walking when she reached her destination in front of her class door. Eli stopped with her. “Well, here is where I stop. I’ll text you the days when we have band practice”.

“Okay…” Eli said. Courtney smiled and stepped into her class but halted when Eli told her to wait and holding onto her arm so that she stops and letting go of it afterwards. “I...I was thinking...um” he cleared his throat. Eli was acting nervous. Courtney had never seen him act this way. “Today I was wondering if you and I can go somewhere and do something together.”

Courtney grinned. Eli was asking her out on a date. She wanted to jump on him and give him a big hug but she wasn’t the type to get all that excited. It was Marley. Instead she remained composed. “Sure...I’d love to go out with you”. It was Eli’s turn to grin.

“Great! I’ll pick you up around 6. I’m late for class. Got to go now. Bye!” Eli told her and ran down the hall to his class.

Courtney kept her huge grin as she ambled towards her seat and sat down. Marley was sitting on her right side and K.C. was sitting on her left.

“What’s up with that huge grin on your face?” K.C. asked.

“Yeah, people are looking at you like your crazy and I’m beginning to think that”. Marley said. Courtney continued grinning. She had a feeling in her heart she couldn’t explain. It was like she was on top of the world. She was feeling butterflies in her stomach. She knew Eli was giving her this feeling but she wondered why. They have only spoken to each other for a couple of weeks since her first day of school and she didn’t really like him at first but as days go by she found herself developing strong feelings for him. She wouldn’t say it was love or anything but she knew that those feelings were strong and she wanted nothing more but to show Eli how strong her feelings are for him and she was going to do it today when Eli and her go out on their first date.

“Helloooo Courtney. Are you listening to us?” K.C. said waving his hand in front of her face to get her attention.

“Huh?” Courtney said finally coming back to reality. “Oh sorry K.C. I was just lost in my thoughts”. Courtney smiled. Eli was all she had thought about after entering the room.

“You were thinking about Eli weren’t you?” Marley said with realization. Courtney stared at her wondering how she could have known. “I saw you two talking before you walked in here with the goofiest smile I have ever seen”. Marley answered reading her thoughts. Courtney told her friends that Eli asked her out and she said yes. Marley couldn’t hold her excitement. She congratulated her and wished them best of luck. Courtney thanked her.

“What about you?” K.C. asked Marley curiously “Do you have any plans for tonight?”

Marley shook her head.

“Great! I don’t have any plans later do you want to hang at my place today?” He asked with a lot of hope. Courtney knew K.C. had a crush on Marley but she knew where this was going. Marley wasn’t in the mood to do anything today with anyone besides Darren. Despite the fact that he has been spending most of his time with Adam and not her. At the same time, she didn’t want to disappoint K.C. so she told him that she would think about it and get back to him. Marley didn’t see it but Courtney saw the disappointment and sadness in his eyes but he hid it with a fake smile.

“Ok” K.C. said keeping on his fake smile.

 

 

Adam ambled down the hall with his Jansport bag on one shoulder when he felt a hand on his back. “Out of my way nerd!” he heard a male voice from behind him say as he pushed him to the floor. He looked up and saw Trent and Jake walk passed him. He then saw Darren run towards him.

“Are you alright?” Darren asked concerned as he extended his hand towards him. Adam took it and he helped him to his feet.

“Yeah I’m alright. Thanks for helping me up.” Adam smiled. He was glad Darren came when he did.

“Why do they keep treating you like dirt?” Darren had noticed that Trent and Jake have been bullying Adam for some time but doesn’t know the reason for their sudden interest in treating Adam badly. Adam began to panic at his question. Trent and Jake probably knew his secret since that was the only reason they would start bullying him. It was either that or they were just being popular jerks. He didn’t want to tell Darren his secret because he knew if he found out he wouldn’t want to be his friend anymore. He knew from experience. He had lost a lot of friends because of this same secret back at his old school. Some of his family members even stopped speaking to him as well but Darren was too important for him to lose.

“I don’t know” Adam said slowly while thinking of a good answer “They probably just love tormenting people.”

“Well I think this is a very serious issue that needs to be dealt with. You just can’t let them continue bullying you. I think we should talk to the principal about this.” Darren suggested keeping a serious look on his face. Knowing Darren Adam knew that he would react this way but knowing Trent and Jake he knew that if Darren report them to the principal his secret would be all over the place and there would be no way to stop it.

“Darren I’m going to be okay.” He reassured him “Please don’t make things worse than they already are. Please.” He pleaded. Adam waited for a response. It was like Darren was debating whether to let it go or not. A minute has gone until Darren finally gave in and told him that he would let it go but if he ever sees it happen again he would report it to the principal. Adam felt relieved and gave him a grateful hug which caught Darren by surprise. Darren was shocked by his sudden outburst but didn’t dwell too much on it and hugged him back. After they had finished their hug Darren asked him over to his house to work on their chemistry project they have to hand in soon and Adam happily agreed.

“Great let’s make it a date then okay.” Darren said. A huge smile crossed Adam’s face and he nodded in agreement. At that time the bell rang. “Ok I got class now…see you at my house. Bye!” Darren said and ran down the hall to his class.

 

In his room Eli was getting ready for his date with Courtney. He decided to dress formal so he wore a black suit with a black tie to impress Courtney when he picks her up at her house for their date. He was in front of the mirror when his twin sister, Brianna walked in.

“And where are you going dressed like that?” she questioned him. Eli kept his eyes on his reflection in the mirror and told her he was going on a date. Brianna laughed like it was the funniest joke she had ever heard and collapsed on his bed. Eli rolled his eyes. Brianna was annoying him. “With whom?” she asked still laughing with tears forming in her eyes.

“With Courtney” he answered. Brianna stopped laughing the minute she heard Courtney’s name.

“WHAT! You cannot go out with Corney. It would ruin my reputation at school!” Brianna almost yelled. Eli didn’t care what his twin sister taught about Courtney. He was going to go out with Courtney and nobody was going to change his mind. He ignored her and walked out of the room with Brianna following him. “Are you even listening to me!?” He walked down the stairs with Brianna not too far behind. She was still yelling at him but he continued ignoring her.

“Mom! Dad! I’m leaving now. I’ll be back before it gets too late. Bye!” He called out to his parents who were sitting in the living room watching a comedy film.

“Eli you can’t do this!” Brianna was now angry.

“Goodbye Brianna.” He smiled at her and kissed her on her cheek. He opened front door, walked out and shut the door quickly behind him before Brianna started protesting again.

 

Courtney sat in front of her room’s mirror pondering whether she should put her long blond hair into a ponytail or keeping it straight when her phone rang. She got up and picked up the call. It was Marley. “Hey Marley! What’s up?”

“Hi! Getting ready for your date now?”

“Yeah. Do you think I should wear my hair in a ponytail or should I keep it straight?” She asked. She wanted Marley’s advice knowing that she probably had more experience in dating than she did. Marley told her that she should keep it straight since Eli had seen her with a ponytail many times before. Marley’s right, she thought and decided to take her advice and kept her hair straight. “Thanks Marley! Now what’s the real reason you’re calling me?” Courtney heard Marley sigh.

“I was wondering if I should tell Darren about my undying love for him. I mean soon Darren would want to find a girlfriend and I just don’t want it to be too late when I tell him.”

“What about K.C.?” Courtney asked.

“What about K.C.?” Courtney forgot that Marley doesn’t know about K.C’s crush on her yet and she cursed herself for almost letting it slip.

“Uh…why don’t you talk to K.C. about it? I’m sure he would give you some great advice seeing that he is a guy and all.”

“Don’t you think that would be kind of weird?” Courtney heard her doorbell rang.

“Got to go Marley. I think Eli’s here.” Marley wished her good luck on her date before hanging up. Courtney ran downstairs to the front door before her parents could get to it and opened the door. There stood Eli looking as handsome as ever. The way Eli had dressed made Courtney feel underdressed.

“Hi gorgeous.” He said and gave her a rose from his garden. Courtney’s favorite. She grinned when she took the rose from him. “You look beautiful.” Courtney’s grin grew wider because of his compliment. She never would have thought that Eli would be so romantic.

“Thanks. You don’t look too bad yourself.” It was Eli’s turn to grin.

“Ready to go?”

“Yeah. My parents know that I might be late today.” She said as stepped out and closed the door behind her. “Where are we going?” She was curious.

“It’s a secret.” He said and winked at her.

 

Darren heard a door knock on his door and got up from the couch to open it. He was home alone. His mom and dad were both surgeons and they were working late and his older sister had an important interview related to her famous career as an environmentalist. He opened the door and saw Adam. He was expecting him.

“Hi! Come in!” Darren greeted him and Adam stepped in. Adam looked around. He was marveled at the place. It looked like a mansion. Adam concluded that Darren’s parents were probably rich and they could afford anything that Darren wanted.

“Wow! Your house is big man.”

Darren chuckled. “It’s not that big. My family is not here so we got the house to ourselves. Let’s go to the living room and talk about the project we have to hand in.” He guided Adam into his living room and they both sat next to each other on the couch. Darren picked up a text book that was on the table in front of him and opened it when Adam stopped him.

“Can we like do something else tonight?” Adam was eager to do something else with Darren that was not related to any school work.

“Like what?”

“Like…um…how about we get to know each other better. You can ask me a question and then I could ask you a question. That way our friendship can grow stronger.”

Darren lifted an eyebrow in curiosity. “O…k…what do you want to know?”

Adam thought of a question to ask him when a question came up in his mind. “What are your favorite colour, movie, TV show, song and author?”

Darren laughed. “Wow! That’s a lot!”

Hearing Darren laugh brought a smile to Adam’s face. “Because I want to know everything about you Darren.”

“Okay well...my favorite colour is blue. My favorite movie is Forrest Gump. I love watching Glee and I don’t really have a favorite song and author”

Adam was astonished. He didn’t know that Darren would watch Glee. He didn’t look like a person that would. “You watch Glee?”

Darren nodded. “Yes I watch Glee. I love the message they bring out and I also love the singing. What about you?”

Adam sighed. “My favorite colour is yellow. I love watching Avatar and Star Wars. I love any song sung by Katy Perry and I don’t have a favorite author. Other question…do you have any pets? I love pets especially dogs. I have a pet dog at home. His name is Shaggy. I should introduce you to him.”

“Well to answer your question I don’t have any pets and I don’t think me meeting your dog is a good idea.”

He shrugged. “Why not?” Adam asked. Darren told him he was allergic to dogs. “Oh…”

“My question…” Darren said changing the subject. “Why did you leave your old school to come to Degrassi?” Adam told him his dad got a new job so his family had to move here.

“Can I ask a question now?” Adam asked nervously.

“Sure.” Darren answered wondering why Adam was acting so nervous all of a sudden.

Adam tried avoiding his eyes when he asked his next question. “Are…are you single?”

Darren scrunched his eyebrow. “Yes…I’m single.”

Adam grinned. He was relieved but he didn’t want Darren to notice so he looked down on his lap avoiding any form of eye contact. “Um…why did you talk to me in the cafeteria back then?” Adam was now fidgeting with his fingers and Darren was wondering where all of this was going.

“Well you looked sad and I wanted to help you make you feel better.” It was what Darren always does but unbeknownst to him Adam was thinking something completely different with what Darren had said. Adam looked up and stared into Darren’s eyes. There was something in Adam’s eyes but he couldn’t tell what it was. Adam couldn’t control himself anymore. He leaned forward and to Darren’s surprise he kissed him.

 

Writer’s note: Sorry I took too long. I was busy with school. Please continue with the reviews and tell me what you think about the characters so far.