A/N: Well, this is it, the first chapter of For Everything A Reason. I hope you all will enjoy it, read it, and keep up with it because I know I am going to have a blast writing it. There is a lot in store for this and the best part? It's going to be extra long and broken up into volumes. This is the beginning of volume one. Also, a few things will be different in this story like the fact that Adam only exists as Gracie right now. This is before Adam came out to anyone other than Drew as trans* and therefore, he's still living as Gracie. This is set at the very beginning of season 10!

The bell rang loudly in the various class rooms of Degrassi Community School. Drew Torres, one of the new students that had come to the school to begin his sophomore year, got up from his desk and grabbed his books before shoving them into his bag. As he walked out into the hall, towards his locker, he noticed several students were at a complete standstill amidst the busy halls. "What the heck is going on down there?" He asked himself, trying to see over the other students that had crowded around near his locker.

Drew managed to shove past them as he overheard one of the boys slam the other against a set of lockers. "Did you think I would let you get away with punching me, faggot?" The taller, auburn haired boy shouted at the smaller guy leaning against the blue lockers. Watching as the smaller boy was punched in the gut again was the last straw for Drew. He could feel the adrenaline pumping through his veins, his hands growing ice cold as the anger and adrenaline set in.

"Come on, get up you little fruitcake. I dare you," The taller boy exclaimed.

"Yeah, kick his ass - Fitz - but not too hard. He might enjoy it," A muscular brown haired, blue eyed boy called out from the crowd before laughing loudly as he watched this Fitz guy pounding on some smaller kid.

"Hey! That's enough," Drew exclaimed, tossing his book bag down next to his locker as he shoved past a couple of students to break up the fight. However, Fitz had already hit the guy again busting open one of his lips. A second hard punch to the side of the face left Drew's eye bruised, which immediately made him wince. The pain was enough to make him want to give up but he refused.

Drew grabbed the guy from behind, as the guy turned to face him Drew balled up his fist then hit him as hard as he could with a right hook, only to be pulled back by the guy's friend. "Oh it looks like the little fag here has a boyfriend, everyone!" The more muscular boy exclaimed, Drew narrowed his eyes then punched the guy holding him as hard as he could to knock him down as the smaller guy went after Fitz again.

"Alright, break it up! Everyone in the halls - get to where you're supposed to be - as for the four of you, you're going straight to the office. Pronto!" Mr. Simpson exclaimed, grabbing hold of Fitz and Drew by their shirt collars as the others followed behind to the office.

"So, tell me again just what you all were thinking when you came up with the brilliant idea that fighting was going to solve everything?" Mr. Simpson exclaimed angrily, he was getting tired of the nonsense beginning with all the fighting that had taken place since the year before, and now there was already a fight taking place on the first day. "Fighting on the first day of school - especially for those of you that are new here," Mr. Simpson turned to look Drew in the eyes, "is one of the dumbest things you can do and the best way to get on a list of students that will potentially get kicked out." Simpson continued in his lecture.

"Since I do not have time to sit here and lecture the four of you all day I will give you each your punishments and send you on your way," The principal stated, furrowing his brow as he got out the pink detention slip pad and a pen.

"Wait, hold on, before you do that these two jerks sitting next to me were bullying that kid over there. I jumped in to stop this - Fitz guy here from hurting him any more than he had. He was calling him a fag and stuff, too, and I wanted him to shut his mouth but then that one next to him decided to interfere," Drew said as he pointed to the more muscular, blue eyed guy next to him with the diamond studs in his ears.

"Mark, Owen, is that true?" Mr. Simpson questioned as he filled out the pink pad, pulling off two slips of paper before reaching down into the desk. Little did Fitz and Owen realize, Mr. Simpson's brother was gay and he wasn't about to tolerate someone using vulgar hate filled language against another student that may be gay.

"Squealer over here needs to shut his damn mouth." Owen stated just loud enough for the principal to hear him, which lead Simpson to stare him right in the eyes. "Snitches get stitches, asshole," Owen whispered as he leaned in to whisper in to Drew's ear. Drew furrowed his brow in reaction to the words, he most certainly wasn't afraid of these two guys.

"Are you finished, Owen?" He questioned, Owen then grew quiet as he looked out the window in Mr. Simpson's office, crossing his arms over his chest. "Now, Andrew Torres and Elijah Goldsworthy - you're both getting three days of after school detention for fighting. As for Owen Milligan and Mark Fitzgerald, the two of you have five days of out of school suspension followed by five days of detention during school. If the two of you act up again after this; you could be expelled so stay out of trouble," Simpson stated handing the boys their blue slips. He then handed Drew and Eli the pink slips and told them to go straight to detention, after calling their parents to inform them they would need to be picked up later than usual.

Drew couldn't believe it, he was actually going to detention on the first day of school for fighting and his step-mother had to be notified. She was so difficult on him as it was so he knew he was in for being grounded for a month. No matter what the reason was for fighting. Plus she was a member of the PTA and the school board; that only meant that the school would be watching over Drew and his sister Gracie like a hawk.

Later that afternoon, once detention had started Drew pulled out one of his notebooks and began to do his homework. He ran a hand through his hair as he tried to think of how to do the math problems on his worksheet. However, once he started to work on his worksheet he quickly realized that the Eli kid he helped out earlier was looking at him. The other boy looked away rather quickly once he realized Drew was looking back at him. "Uh, are you any good with math? I kind of suck at it and I need help," Drew spoke up, hoping that the other would help him.

"Why did you decide to help me?" Eli questioned, his eyes narrowing as he looked bitterly back into Drew's soft baby blue hues. Drew looked away quickly, his fingers tapped at the wooden top of his desk. "Answer my question. Why did you decide to help me?" the other demanded, throwing Drew off-guard for a moment. Drew sighed softly before turning back to face the other guy. He grabbed his book then walked to the seat next to Eli, as he sat his stuff down he thought about how he would answer Eli's question.

"I can't tell you that," Drew replied honestly. He knew what would happen if Eli knew what Gracie had told him over the summer. However, he knew that alone was his reason for defending this guy. It was worth the black eye and the busted lip, for sure. "There's a reason but I can't tell anyone that reason. It would break the person's confidence and my promise to them," Drew added, shrugging his shoulders slightly as he spoke.

"Alright," Eli responded nonchalantly, his green eyes looking up at the clock. They still had fifteen minutes of sitting in the detention room with one another until it was time to leave. "It sucks that you can't tell me your reasoning for jumping those guys just to defend me but - uh - thanks, I guess?" he added, his eyes glancing down at the worksheet in front of him. After that, Eli grew completely silent so that he could work on his health sheet.

Drew took the hint and decided to do his work later on that evening; assuming he would be grounded anyway for getting into so much trouble on his first day. Time passed by slowly in the silent classroom but soon enough the two boys were ready to leave. "Alright, you both can go now!" Ms. Oh stated as she poked her head in the door to give the boys permission to leave. Drew nodded his head, grabbing his stuff then shoving it in his bag as he walked out of the classroom followed by Eli.

"So, are you one of those football player types or something?" Eli asked, smirking as he spoke once he caught up to the older Torres. Drew nodded quickly.

"I was thinking about trying out but now - I don't think I'll be able to play for the team so, I guess I could give it a shot next year." Drew spoke softly, he hated that he would have to put off playing football for a whole year - seeing as how that was his favorite sport. "Oh well, I guess I can use my time to improve my skills then maybe I can become QB one," Drew continued. Eli nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, I had a feeling you were some sort of jock." Eli commented, laughing quietly as the two walked through the halls together. "You have that look about you, I guess you could say." Eli added, glancing over to Drew as the two walked down the almost completely silent hallway; Drew was dressed in a plaid long sleeve blue button up with a white t-shirt underneath, khaki cargo shorts, and sneakers. He was definitely one of those preppy jock boys and all Eli could think was how typical this guy was.

As Gracie stood outside, her arms crossed over her chest as she watched from both directions trying to figure out if her mother was ever going to show up, or if her step-dad would be the one picking up her and Drew. She was already annoyed, seeing as how she had to stay after school as long as Drew though she wasn't being punished. At least she had tried to behave herself, right? The thin, pale blue eyed girl moved to sit down on the step in front of the school as she looked out into the parking lot, thinking that her parents would arrive at any moment. "Could they be more slow?" She questioned out loud, grabbing the attention of a curly haired girl standing a short distance behind her.

"Excuse me!" A kind yet soft voice greeted Gracie from behind, causing her to turn her attention towards the other person. She looked behind her and saw an icy blue eyed, curly-haired brunette standing next to her. "Mind if I wait with you? You are waiting for a ride home, right?" She added, Gracie nodded her head with a small smile.

"Yeah, my brother got into trouble earlier today and so I've had to wait for him to get out of detention so our parents could pick us up. Who are you?" Gracie answered, furrowing her brow a bit because the other girl looked very familiar.

"I'm Clare Edwards." the other girl greeted before realizing where she had seen the other girl before, "You're the new girl in biology with me, right? Second period?" Clare asked.

"That's me! If you're in Mr. Betenkamp's class and I'm pretty sure you are," Gracie responded, Clare beamed then shook her head 'yes' as a reply.

"Yeah, I am in his class. Where did you move from?" Clare questioned again, her tone laced with curiosity as she spoke.

"Ann Arbor, Michigan." Gracie stated.

Seconds later, Drew and Eli walked out the doors of the school. Drew didn't even bother to speak to Gracie since he was following Eli out to the picnic tables to sit and wait on either one of his parents to arrive. The older Torres sighed heavily as he thought about the lecture he would be listening to on the ride home and once he got home, as well. "How much trouble do you think I will be in?" Drew questioned, giving his friend a look before smirking at the other boy.

"I...don't know but I probably won't be in trouble at all when I get home. Hopefully your parents will cut you some slack since you defended me when I was being pounded on by Fitz," Eli replied, Drew looked down at the table as he twiddled his thumbs. He was starting to get nervous because he knew just how much of a mama bear his step-mother could be.

"I bet I will be grounded for the next six weeks," Drew spoke softly, he was mostly thinking out loud when he spoke the words but he knew Eli had heard him since he was making a face. "What's with the expression?" he asked.

"It's not right for you to be punished like you were the bully here. You weren't. I guess your mom is one of those tiger mom types, eh?" Eli replied.

"Yeah. Definitely," Drew admitted with a nod, his crystal blue hues locking with Eli's jade green orbs. That's when Eli realized this boy he had been talking to had the most beautiful eyes he had ever seen. How did he not realize that sooner?

Drew snapped out of his daze when Audra pulled up behind him in the parking lot inside the silver Dodge van she had been driving since the family moved. "ANDREW TORRES! Get in this van, right now!" Audra exclaimed angrily as Gracie climbed into the back of the van to get buckled in.

"I've gotta go," Drew stated, cringing as his step-mother yelled for a second time as she honked her horn. "See you tomorrow," Drew added, however his friend was still in somewhat of a daze himself.

"You know - you have pretty eyes," Eli thought out loud and it then hit him that he had just uttered the words. Drew raised his eyebrows, the comment threw him off guard and now was not the time to try to think of a reply.

"ANDREW! RIGHT NOW!" Audra yelled.

"I'll see you later okay?" Drew stated, his words slightly rushed as he turned to walk to the car.

"I hope so," Eli muttered under his breath as he watched Drew walk off.

Drew got in then buckled himself up in the backseat. The whole ride home, all Drew could think about was the fact that Eli had said he had pretty eyes. So, did this confirm the fact that Eli was gay and that it wasn't just an assumption by the bullies at school? Why did Drew even care about that to begin with? And how would he go about speaking to this guy at school the next day, if the guy was hitting on him?

He couldn't even focus on the fact that his step-mother had decided to ground him for the next six weeks as he predicted. Still, there were so many questions running through Drew's mind but the biggest one of all was one that would have to be answered over time. And that was, why did he like the compliment Eli had given him so much?