It's not easy love, but you've got friends you can trust,
Friends will be friends,
When you're in need of love they give you care and attention,
Friends will be friends,
When you're through with life and all hope is lost,
Hold out your hand cos friends will be friends right till the end

Friends Will Be Friends – Queen

As the family left the hospital, Gaby was a bit like a hyperactive squirrel. She was zipping around the other three, bouncing to and fro, bubbling with a joy that she had not shown during her last weeks in Grottoes.

While outwardly she appeared to be the same person she'd seen in the mirror every time she had, since arriving here, inside she truly felt like a different person. Not so much different, as free. Free, yes that was it. No more hiding or dissembling; no more having to worry about who she was wherever she was.

********

Elsewhere, things were not quite so rosy.

While Gaby and her family were leaving the hospital, back in Grottoes, Brit and Deb were in their room, having been ‘sentenced' to house arrest while their parents discussed things – most notably their punishment.

“We're in deep doo doo..” sighed a worried Brit.

“What's this ‘we'? Okay, so I didn't stop you, and went along with telling the ‘rents that Gaby was a girl, but this was your idea and you know it! When mum and dad start talking to the others and figure this out, I'll get punished for not saying anything.” Deb sighed, but then, her anger at where things had gotten came out “But, you'll be lucky to see the outside of this house before you turn 18.” Then, pausing to think about it, and sounding a bit fearful, “I'm not so sure that mom was kidding about sending us to school as boys for as long as Drew had to be a girl here.”

“It was just supposed to be a harmless joke; you know that. I never thought...”

“That's just it Brit, you never think,” her sister interrupted. “For you, it was a prank. You know that all you care about is how funny the prank is to you. I can't think of one time where you gave one whit about how much it might have hurt the target. Come on, how do you think Gabs felt when you wouldn't even hang around her in school because ‘she' was a lesbian? She went along with everything to try and make sure that we didn't get into trouble for not telling the ‘rents that Drew was a boy, then at school you go and make her a complete social outcast with all of the kids in your year by ‘outing' her as a lesbian. How do you think she felt when you wouldn't even hang around her in school or even talk to her because ‘she' was a lesbian? Do you really think she didn't notice that you never went out with your friends because you'd have to include her? Well, she did! I know that she overheard you talking to Casey more than once and that she wasn't wanted. Did you even think or care about her feelings or were you more interested in being part of the ‘in' crowd and getting on Casey's good side?”

Deb's voice has risen a fair bit, and while she wasn't shouting at her sister, her voice could certainly be heard throughout the house.

“Somehow you decided that having Drew BE Gaby just wasn't enough for you. Nooo, instead you set her up to be discovered or hurt too many times to count. Were you just bored or something?” Deb paused then, “You know? Since we took Drew to the hospital and talked with Dr. Maggie, I've been thinking about this Valentine's dance. The more I think about it, it looks like one more attempt to put Gaby into a situation, one that THIS TIME, maybe she couldn't get out of.”

“What? I-I don't know what you mean,” Britney whined as she tried in vain to back away from her sister.

“Don't pull that crap that on me! I saw all you were doing to get mom to make her go to the dance. I also heard that ‘certain arrangements' had been made to make her change her mind about boys ‘one way or the other'. Now, we both know exactly what that means, don't we?

“Sis…” was all Britney managed to get out before Debbie angrily interrupted her.

“Don't ‘sis' me! You know damn well what the boys are like.”

Britney's squirming, under her sister's anger became more pronounced.

“Did you even stop to think what would have happened if some of the boys did discover her secret?” Deb paused a moment before continuing, “She'd have been lucky if all they did was kill her.”

“Stop it!” Britney tearfully pleaded as she held her hands over her ears so she wouldn't have to listen to any more.

Forcefully grabbing her sister's hands and holding them away from her head, Debbie continued as if Brit's plea never happened. “When we took Drew to the hospital, the only thing you were really worried about was your little scheme being discovered when Mom started talking to people! It's as if he was just a new toy for you to play with, when it was convenient.”

Drawing a breath, she continued “For your information, Drew already figured out that you and Maddy had set this whole thing up before they ever left England” She took another breath, and noticeably forcded herself to relax. “Don't worry sis, you won't take all the blame. I'm going to go and tell Mom and everything … starting with telling them about Drew being a boy and how I stood by and let you go ahead with this ‘harmless joke', as you call it. I'll have earned their anger, but that'll hurt a damn sight less than knowing I let you and Maddy put Drew into a coma and did nothing!

“Apparently, the only peace Gaby had was either when she was with Jules or on her bike and you seemed to have managed to make sure you took that away from her too.” At Brit's blank expression, she spelled it out for her. “Since she's in the hospital, it's not likely that she'll make her big race in Atlanta with Erin now, is it?”

Britney first thought she'd get a little sympathy with her sister, but now she wanted to be anywhere but here. Debbie literally had her backed against a wall as she lectured her sister.

“Way to go, sis. You happy now?” Debbie sarcastically demanded as she leaned menacingly close to Britney's face.

Seeing she really wasn't getting through, and, perhaps just realizing it for herself, “Chrissakes Brit, do you realize that Drew's parents could probably have Maddy, us and everyone else involved charged by the police? There's no way any of us could say we didn't put Drew in danger! You didn't think of that, either … did you?”

Getting no apparent reaction out of Brit, Deb shook her head, and closed the door as she left the room. She squared her shoulders and went down the stairs looking for her parents to come clean.

Behind her, Brit was far from the care free person her sister thought she'd left. What Deb had mistaken for indifference was, instead, bewilderment. She was emotionally shaken and as her sisters words sank in, tears began to dripp down Britney's face, she began to see that everything had gone so wrong. It was just a joke after all. No one was supposed to get hurt.

Only problem was, no one was laughing this time. The unwitting subject of her little prank was now in the hospital in a coma. As Britney sat pondering the last few weeks, she recalled it wasn't totally her idea and began to figure that she shouldn't be made to take all the credit. Maddy had e-mailed her weeks ago, just after the trip to Grottoes was announced, and hinted they bring Gaby to Grottoes and leave Drew behind. She' jumped at the idea, not just because it would make things easier with the ‘rents, but because it sounded fun. As she thought that, she realized that while Maddy may have had the original idea, taken the idea and ran with it. Only, she wasn't having much fun with Gaby calmly adapting to any situations they imposed upon her. So of course, she and Maddy, with the willing help of Em had upped the ante. They had started to look for places and situations where they could increase the chance that Drew could get ‘discovered'.

Both Maddy and Em knew all the right buttons to push when it came to Drew. The three of them had been friends for so long that Drew was ‘easy pickings'. However, as ‘Gaby' skated through every situation she'd been put through, the three of them just became more determined to carry out their plans.

Though, as she thought about it, Maddy and Em hadn't really been pushing so hard. Most of the push was hers, as much as the other two had willingly helped when they knew about things. Britney knew this time she had truly gone too far, and the full weight of all she had done was just beginning to sink in. The more she thought about the Valentine's Dance, the more she began to appreciate the serious consequences that Drew would have to face, once he was discovered. She'd grown up with many of the boys in school and she knew what they were like when it came to gays. Just thinking about it caused her to visibly shudder.

She then started to think about the wonderful times they had all had on the Warsop trip. Then she started comparing that with Gaby's Grottoes experience. Relatively speaking, it was more like a nightmare than the wonderful trip it was supposed to be. The trips couldn't even be compared, really.

The tears were running faster now, looking for the world like little rivers running down her face.

What have I done? Is Deb right? Have I just been using Gaby as a play toy? She thought about this for a while. How did it get this far, and go so wrong? It was just a silly little, harmless joke. Drew seemed okay with Gaby in Warsop, why should it be different here? Fool mom and dad for a few weeks and tell them later that they actually had a boy staying here the whole time. That's all it was going to be. What went wrong?”

“Maddy!”The name suddenly popped into her head.

“She kept upping the ante. Playing ‘mind games' with Drew as she called it and like an idiot, I kept trying to top her .

Why did she want Gaby here the whole time anyways and what was all that crap with Sam? Was she trying to make him jealous or was she pushing for something else? I know there was the whole cheer thing, but I think we could have come up with a story to cover that somehow.

At the Cheer Competition, Maddy and Em kept pushing Gaby until she finally broke. I couldn't believe that she would just walk away from the Cheer Squad, particularly after they had just won, but then again, looking at what we've put her through over the past few weeks I guess I really can't blame her.

Who am I kidding? I could've stopped any time, and not kept going with Maddy and Em. But I didn't. I just kept at it. I have nobody but myself to blame for my problems right now. Then, she thought about Drew some more, and that he was in the hospital, Not that my problems amount to squat compared to Drew's.

I put someone, who considered me, a friend in the hospital! What kind of a person does that make me? Am I really a conniving bitch? She sat, thinking about what the previous weeks and her actions said about her.

Then, realizing she was thinking more about herself than Drew, I've messed things up so bad for Drew, and to some extent Jules, too. I wonder if there's anything I can do to make things better. I know there's no way to fix things, I just hope Drew gets better. She decided, then, that no matter what her parents decided her punishment would be, she would find some way to fix things; maybe not for Drew, but in general. And, she'd learn to be a better person. Starting with, No MORE PRANKS, PERIOD!

Brit slumped back in her bed, deep in thought, silently crying.

Elsewhere in Grottoes, things were not a whole lot better.

Ally and Bern were also having a hard time coming to grips with things. They were feeling very guilty about what had happened and were talking through all of the things that they knew Gaby endured during her time in Grottoes. Although they weren't guilty of anything except perhaps being normal teens and oblivious to much that was going on around them, they still felt some measure of responsibility.

“Bern, we messed up.” Sighing, “We really let Drew down. Standing around and watching this happen to him while back in Mr. Woods' office, the day the Foresters found out about the Cheer Comp, we promised Drew that we'd look out for both him and Rhod if they would be Gaby and Em for the competition.”

“Yeah, I know. I was having so much fun doing stuff and getting to know the kids here that I didn't pay attention to what was going on with Drew. I guess, since he never complained, until the end, I just assumed he was having as much fun as the rest of us.”

“Me too. He did seem to be okay. I mean, I had no clue that he had no one else besides us and her biking friends here … that is until we all started comparing notes the last day or so. I thought that Brit and Deb would've been including them when they went out with their friends, like we have with our hosts.” She paused, thinking, “It sounds like Deb did include Jules, but by the sounds of it, I don't think Brit was including Gabs. I just don't get it. They seemed such good friends in Warsop.”

“Yeah,” Bern returned.. “I just don't understand Maddy and Em. Honestly, the way they treated Gabs at the Competition is unbelievable. You sure that's not the only time they've done it? I mean, she had to be really stressed just keeping up Gaby, not letting Brit and Deb's ‘rents find out about Drew and all. Having those two taking a go at her every time she turned around was just plain cruel.”

“Yeah, a lot of times. I told Em ‘good-bye' at the comp, because of how she's treated Gabs and I on the trip. I feel like I just don't know Em or Rhod anymore. Rhod was Drew's best mate, and Em should know exactly what Gaby's going through, but that doesn't seem to matter a tic. I tell you Bern, I'm done with both Maddy and Em.”

Ally started to cry, but she knew in her heart that this was what she needed to do. The way she saw Gaby being treated by Em had shown a side of Rhod that Ally really didn't like

“Bern?” she sniffled “Why was everything okay at home, but it wasn't here?” It's not Gaby that's changed. She's the same person we knew at home, it's us that've changed. It's like none of us were willing to stand out from the crowd be her friend for fear we'd get treated bad.”

She paused, realizing what she'd just said. “That brings us back to the question, why didn't any of us notice what was happening to us and to Gabs?”

“I dunno. I guess we all got so wrapped up in the experience of being here in America and trying to fit in with the families and the kids at AHS that I think we kinda forgot who our real friends are. I know that we'd never leave Drew or Gabs out from stuff at home, but we did here.”

Bern sighed heavily. “I admit that I didn't think of Gabs very often when we were going out, whether it was with the gang, the kids here or even host events. To be honest, it makes me sick knowing that I did that. I just wish I knew what we knew after talking with Dr. Maggie, and Mrs. W. Until then, I hadn't really put together some of the stuff Mad and Em had been putting Gabs through.”

“You and me both. I'm so angry with the two of them I could just spit! I mean, Mad has done her best to mess with Gabs' brain. She's nice to her – like back when we were home - when it's just the gang, but when anyone else is near, it's like she's a different person and she does her best to push Gabs as far away as possible without any concern about her feelings.”

“Then we have sweet, innocent, little Em…” Ally vented with all the sarcasm she could muster. “I'd love to see how she likes what she's been putting Drew through.”

“You can always go up to her at school and give her a big fat kiss, tell her it's over, and walk away. See how she likes being branded a lesbian,” Bernie playfully tossed out.

“Hmmm … I like how you think,” Ally mischievously replied as she stared off into space and thoughtfully wagged her finger. “Naw … hell can freeze over before I do much talking to either of them.”

“Ever notice how comfortable Em was hiding her secret? I mean, she never said anything to me about it, but she changed with all the other girls after PE and nobody said anything, so she had to have done something and I know Gabs still had to use the privacy stalls to change. If Em was such a good friend to Gaby, you'd have thought that she would've helped her out and shared the secret of her secret.”

“You know you're right!” Bernie sounded as if they just made a huge discovery. “She was able to change with all the other girls around and there weren't any raised brows or anything. She certainly couldn't do that at home.”

“Yeah. Back home, most of the time, she was racing Gabs to the loo after cheer practice, to change” Ally quipped.

“That means that she had to find a way to do it here. And keeping that from Gaby is pretty low. I bet you Mad knows how Em did it. The two of them have been pretty chummy since coming here. Why she didn't say anything to Gaby.”

“I'd like to…” Ally's anger started to boil over when Bernie stepped in.

“Chill, girl. I know exactly how you feel about not talking to them, but let's just try and be civil to them for now. We've only got a week to go. If you feel you need to end it with Rhod, I won't blame you, but that's for you to decide. You know you'll have my support – I think she's been an absolute cow as well.”

Bernie watched Ally visibly take control of herself. “I'll still be civil to Maddy, but just barely. But, you know, I have a sick feeling that she planned this whole thing.”

“Watcha mean?” She responded, her anger at least temporarily under control.

“Like how come Brit never told her ‘rents that Drew was a boy? We both know Maddy was e-mailing Brit all winter…”

“Yeah,” Ally thoughtfully agreed.

“…And who pushed ‘Gaby' to be on the Cheer Team? Maddy and Em that's who.”

“Hmmm … I'd forgotten that.”

“And Remember Sports Day last year? When Maddy didn't have a partner for doubles, it was Gaby that showed up.”

“Putting it like that, it almost sounds like Maddy's actually been trying to turn Drew into Gaby or something. That's actually kind of creepy!” Ally replied with a small shudder.

“What I can't figure out, is why she's so mean to Gaby if she's trying to get Drew to become Gaby. That doesn't make a lot of sense. Unless she is just playin' mind games for shits and giggles. At least, that's what I'm beginning to think, anyway,” Bernie theorized.

“That makes way too much sense,” Ally agreed. “And, it kinda puts a different light on what Em's been doing, doesn't it?” She paused, then “I still don't like what Rhod's done and I've already told him I'm stepping back. And, the more I think of it, I'm not defending Em in any way..it's possible that Maddy could've been pulling Em's strings just as well, I guess.”

“We saw how she tormented Drew with Sam, so messing with Em isn't too much of a stretch. I still feel like shite for not stepping in when she was doing some of that to Drew, though.”

“You're not the only one,” Ally quietly lamented.

Over at Miss Bell's house, two of the adults were piecing together some of what had gone wrong. Fran and Jessica were having a frank talk the previous weeks events and where they had all gone so wrong as to end up putting Drew into the hospital. Both were feeling guilty for not stepping in more firmly.

“Jessica, I don't know about you, but I had no idea that things were this bad for Gaby. I knew she'd finally had enough at the Cheer Competition, but to have pushed her to this? Anytime I asked her about how she was doing she would simply say she was fine and would carry on until the end of the trip and from what Jules has intimated, this trip was just the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back.”

“What do you mean?”

Fran thought about things she'd seen back in Warsop and what Jules had told her.“Apparently, some stressful things had been going on for some time back at home. I feel so terribly responsible for this whole mess.”

“I thought it was Maddy and Em?”

“But, I was the one who asked her to be Gaby for the competition. You know that she'd tried resigning from the Cheer Squad before we even came over.” Fran let out a long sigh. “To make things worse, she told me, two or three days in, that Brit and Deb hadn't told their parents that Drew was a boy. I could have stopped it then. But by then, everyone at AHS thought she was a girl, and I honestly thought, at that point, it might have done more harm than good to try and set everyone straight.”

“That IS possible, given what all has happened.” rejoined Jessica.

“You saw how the other students were treating her when they thought she was a girl and the rumors about her started passing around? Now imagine what sort of target would have been painted on her back if we'd then told everyone she was really a boy?” Fran continued making her point.

“Mm-hmm. You have a point. Unfortunately there is a lot of intolerance here regarding the LGBT.” replied Jessica. “And at best, with the Cheer Competition she'd have been looked upon as some sort of weirdo, if they'd have even let her compete.,” Jessica admitted.

“Why didn't any of us notice that all she had was her biking and school to look forward to? I can only imagine what it felt like to come on a trip like this, what with her mum in the hospital and then having to be a girl the whole time she was here. Those are stresses an adult would quail at, let alone a teenager.

The more I think about it, the more I'm beginning to think that Jocelyn Walters was right. Each of us had our own self-serving excuses for letting things happen. We were willfully blind about what she was going through, because it let us have what thought we needed by only allowing Gaby on this trip. We all took advantage of Drew's good nature.”

Sighing, “Maybe you're right,” Jessica remarked.

Fran suddenly sat up straight, “I just thought of something, Jess…”

“What's that?”

“Maddy and Em were putting Gaby in situations where her secret could be uncovered, right?”

“From what we've learned in the last couple of days, I'd say that was true.”

“Then why wasn't Rhod worried about being discovered? If Drew could've been discovered in any one of those situations, you'd think it would've been the same for Em. But, that doesn't appear to be the case. I think it's high time we paid a visit to him and find out why HE wasn't worried about that.” Fran paused a moment, “I also want to know why she didn't share this information with Drew.”

“Ummm. I don't think we need to ask HIM that question. I need to make a few calls to make sure, but I think I know why Em wasn't worried. As to why she diddn't share this with Drew; I've no answer. But, since she could pass as ‘one of the girls' in the locker room then somebody helped her with some awfully good prosthetics.” Jessica paused, “You can think of the other things you want to ask Rhod and enjoy your wine. I'll make those calls I mentioned, then we can go and see Em.”

“Anything you can find out …” A frustrated Fran raised her glass in acknowledgement. Then, to herself, “What the hell was Maddy thinking?” She sat back sipping.

Jessica went out to the kitchen to make her calls in privacy. As she punched in the number, she tried to think of some way to delicately bring up what she needed. As there was no answer on the first number she dialed, and not wanting to leave a message, she dialed a second number.

The other party picked up after a single ring, “Hello?”

“Hi Mary, it's Jessica. I was looking for Sandy, and nobody answered on her line. By any chance, is she there?”

“Oh, hi Jess. I think she's and Em are downstairs. Would you like me to get her?”

“If you would, please … and would you mind not telling her who's calling? I don't want Em to know I'm speaking with Sandy … at least not right yet. I'll explain it all to you later.”

Jessica could almost hear the question in Mary's voice, “All right, but I'll be expecting that explanation later.”

“Ohhh, I think we are going to have to have a long talk about a few things.”

As Jessica waited for Sandy to come to the phone, she thought about the questions she needed to ask. She thought she already knew the likely answers. She almost hoped she was wrong, because if she were right it would likely end with Em being sent home immediately and perhaps Maddy as well. She wasn't looking forward to breaking the news to Fran, if she was right.

“Hello?”

“Sandy, it's Jess. Sorry to be cryptic, but are you alone?”

“Ummm, yeah.” Sandy replied, not really understanding Jessica's reason for asking. “I'm in the kitchen, Mom's with Kevin and Em's downstairs in the basement playing a video game.”

“Good. I need to ask you a rather delicate question, but. I don't want you to mention this call to Em right now.”

“Umm-mm, okay.”

“I don't want to get personal, but I'm afraid I need to ask you a question. Did you get some prosthetics for Em so she could ‘pass'?”

Jess could hear the questioning in Sandy's voice,“Yes. I knew after meeting her for the first time that she was like me. When I asked her, she told me all about it. But how did you know? She said she wasn't going to tell anyone.”

“She couldn't have changed with the other girls in gym class otherwise, could she?”

“No that's true. What is this all about Jess?”

“In a minute, Sandy. One more question. Did anyone else know about this?”

“Maddy was with us when we went to get Em fitted. Why?”

”You know Gaby's in hospital, don't you?”

“Umm, yeah. It's the biggest news around here in months. Em mentioned it and it's all the kids in the diner have been talking about for the last couple of days.”

“Did either Em or Maddy happen to tell you that Gaby's name is really Drew … as in Andrew?” She heard Sandy's breath suck in, and knew she'd not been told or guessed. “Without going into details, because of some ‘manipulating', for lack of a better word, he's been put into a position of passing as Gaby for the length of their visit and been living in fear of discovery for the past five weeks because neither of those two shared this information with their friend?”

“She's WHAT?!” Sandy's barked.

“As I understand it, there are some medical issues being checked out back in England because of the way he's developing. However, all of the younger kids from Warsop know about Drew and Gaby as do Brit and Deb. As of this morning Mr. and Mrs. Walters also know. Apparently Brit thought it would be quite the practical joke not to tell her parents that Drew was actually a boy. That in turn forced Drew to pass as Gaby day and night since he got here. According to the doctors, it was too much to expect of a thirteen year old and Gaby just shut down.”

“You're not kidding about this are you, Jess?” Sandy couldn't believe what she was hearing.

“Do you hear me laughing Sandy?” Jessica replied in a deadpan voice. “For the moment I just need to know one more thing. If you had known, would you have made arrangements to help Gaby out as well?”

“Of course I would have! You know I'd never knowingly put anyone in a position to be outed!”

“I certainly thought I knew that, but, given the seriousness of Gaby's situation, I just had to hear it from you,” Jessica softly answered.

“So, both of them knew and never said anything to me. Could they've been simply trying to protect her and not to out her? I mean, that doesn't sound like the Em I've been living with for five weeks.”

“Unfortunately, I can't think of any other explanation for what's happened.” Jessica took a breath and sighed. “Look, I have to go and discuss this with Fran … you know, Miss Cowlishaw. May I have your permission to discuss our conversation with her? I promise it'll go no further than Fran, and it is very important Sandy.”

“I know you wouldn't even ask if it wasn't. I'm not really thrilled about it because you'll probably have to mention why I know this stuff. But, I trust your judgement . I appreciate you telling me about Gaby. I know that had to be a difficult decision for you.”

“It was; thank you.” Jessica hesitatesd, then realized she had to ask Sandy. “One last thing, please don't tell Em about our discussion, for now, please?”

“I can't believe she'd intentionally hurt her friend. But, okay. I'll not tell Em what this was all about, for now.”

“I'm really sorry to ask, you to do that, but I think it's important for now.” Then, realizing that Drew might be returning, “Oh, and I know they only have a week to go, but is there any way to make similar arrangements to help Gaby out?”

“Just let me know.” Came Sandy's quick response. “You know I'd help, if I could. I still can't believe…” Her voice trailed off at the end.

“All right. Thanks again. I need to go and speak to Fran now.”

“Bye, Jessica.”

As she hung up the kitchen phone, Jessica let out a loud audible sigh. What could have been going Em and Maddy's minds. Why didn't they help Gaby when they both knew there was a way that would make her appear more convincing than she already is? No, it's worse than that. It now really appears that they have been intentionally putting her into positions where she could easily have been outed. Best get this over with. As much as I expected this answer, I was hoping I was wrong. It will NOT be fun telling Fran that two of her kids were doing this to a third.

Seeing the corked wine bottle on the counter, Jessica was about to pour herself another glass, when she realized that Fran would probably need it as much as she did. Picking the bottle up, she headed out to the living room, to acquaint Fran with what she'd learned. Why couldn't I have been wrong?

Meanwhile, Fran was sitting in the living room staring into her glass of wine and wondering how things went so drastically wrong. Looking up as Jessica came back into the room. “So, were you able to learn anything?”

Kate Hart 23.05.11 ©2011
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