When Jason reached Adam's room, he was amazed to find the bed already made and no sign of his brother. He walked downstairs and was greeted by his mother.

"Where is Adam?" he asked no noticing any sign of him in the house.

"He is out on the beach," His mother answered.

"How is he acting?"

"The same," Laura said with a sigh. It was obvious that the stress was taking a toll on his mother as well. It gave her great pains to see her family in so much torment.

"Well, I will go and get him so we can go to the school and get back here," Jason said walking towards the sliding glass doors.

"He said that he was going to stay here and that you could get everything, but I think he needs to get out," Laura said with a frown.

Jason just shook his head and walked to the beach to find his brother. It was not hard to find him either. He was sitting on the beach by the surf making dribble castles, something he did when he was upset or really needed to think about something. Jason walked up to him and stood in front of him.

"Let's get going so we can get back. I do not want to leave Mom alone that long," Jason to his brother. It was then that he felt the chill of the fall breeze. Even though he was wearing a sweatshirt and jeans, the chill cut through like a knife.

"I thought that you could get it for me," Adam said not even looking up at his brother. The chill did not seem to affect him even though his arms were red since he was wearing a short sleeved T-shirt and an old pair of Levi jeans. Jason had to grin when he thought about the jeans. It made their mother so mad that they could afford to get them each new jeans, but Adam preferred to go to the thrift stores and get the old worn in Levi jeans. He wondered if he would ever see that person again.

"You need to come with me. Mom does not want me going by myself and plus Alyssa was hoping to see you too," Jason said, starting to shiver from the cool wind.

Adam made a face and then realized that it had been awhile since he had seen Alyssa. He did not want to hurt her feelings or see his brother go anywhere alone right now so he got up and followed his brother to the van.

The brothers went to the office and picked up their work first. Everyone acted really funny when Adam picked up his work. He could see them exchanging glances and whispers. Jason also noticed this and quickly herded Adam out of the office. It was about lunchtime so Jason thought that they could meet with everyone in the cafeteria. Kara said that they would meet with them there since it would be easier than having to drive to the Steer Inn. The gang usually did not eat in the cafeteria, but sometimes they did to make things easier. So after putting their books in the van and glancing around to make sure they did not notice anything, they made their way to the cafeteria.

When they went through the doors, they noticed the table full of friends. Chuck, Craig, Kara and Alyssa were all waiting anxiously. Jason walked over and kissed Kara. She returned the favor with a hug and a smile. Adam went immediately to Alyssa and sat down beside her. He gently kissed her on the forehead and brushed her long hair back from her face.

"It is so good to see you," she said with a smile. She reached out and held his hand. The group started to discuss the school happenings, not even calling attention to what had happened. Jason had already told Kara who told everyone so the meeting would not have to be wasted catching up.

"Still going to Homecoming?" Chuck asked, opening the baggie that held his Cheezy Poofs.

"Would not miss it for the world. How could we leave these two beautiful ladies home?" Jason said cuddling Kara up close to him.

"I just want to see Adam dressed up," Chuck mumbled in between bites. Everyone chuckled at that as Alyssa hugged Adam affectionately.

"Me too. It will be the first time I have ever seen him dressed up!" She said with a wide smile. Her eyes sparkled with the excitement of the upcoming dance.

"That goes for us too! We might actually see it snow here in Emerald Beach that day," Craig came back with a laugh.

"Do you have dates yet?" Jason asked. He glanced over at Adam. It appeared that Adam was starting to come to life a little bit. He was listening quietly, but seemed to be in better spirits.

"Well, Craig did have one, but he had to change his plans," Chuck spoke up. "I guess we are going together now."

"Remember to pick me up at seven and don't be late honey!" Craig teased back and the rest of the table grinned at the pun.

"I couldn't be late for my sugar plum!" Chuck fired back.

"So who did you ask out?" Jason asked. It was then that the table went silent.

"What did I say?" Jason asked noticing the abrupt silence.

Everyone looked at everyone else to explain. Finally Craig spoke up. "I asked Sarah Chandler to the dance, but I kind of canceled on her."

"Why? You have been waiting to ask her out for a long time now." Jason replied in a confused tone.

"Well, let's just say that she is not a good of a person as she looks," Craig said as he sipped on his Pepsi.

"I know why," Adam spoke up. The table became silent. "Guys, I am not stupid. I know what they are saying. I can see their stares and hear their whispers." He then looked straight at Jason who was by now totally dumbfounded by his brother's outburst. "Sarah and Rachel are friends."

Everyone at the table looked down. Craig did not say anything at first, but then felt that he needed to come clean with his friends. "Adam is right. She came to me saying some really bad things about Adam. She knew that Jason and me were best friends and she expected me to abandon that friendship. I told her no way and that was the end of that," Craig responded.

"I am so sorry Craig," Jason replied. He had also noticed the stares from some of the other students, but he did not want to call attention to Adam. He was hoping the Adam was so lost in his thoughts that he would not notice, but Adam had noticed. Adam felt like he was some type of monster sitting there in the cafeteria, but he knew that he had friends that believed in him for some unknown reason.

"Don't you be sorry, if she is like that then I do not want to be around her," Craig said with a stern voice. Then he turned and looked at Chuck who was still stuffing his face with cheezy poofs. "But that is okay. That just gives me more time to get to know this adorable stud muffin." The whole table laughed as Craig reached over and pinched Chuck's food stuffed cheeks. Chuck looked at Craig like he was possessed and tried to lean away from Craig.

"I heard that Chuck has his eyes on another person," Kara chimed in. Chuck looked at her with bewilderment. "I heard that Chick likes Lacey Hutton."

"Where did you hear that?" Chuck muttered. His face did tell the tale though. Kara had hit on a nerve.

"I have reliable sources," she said with a smile.

"Reliable sources that have too much time on their hands," Chuck mumbled back.

"Well then I guess you are not interested in what Lacey had to say then. Too bad," Kara fired back, sipping a drink of her milk with a straw.

Chuck almost choked on his cheezy poofs. After he was through coughing and sputtering, he glanced back at Kara. "What did she say?"

Taking full advantage of the situation, Kara leaned forward and just smiled at him with that "I know something that you don't know look". After a minute of pleading, Kara finally said, "She is coming to the dance with her two friends and she is hoping that a certain someone will ask her to dance!"

"I can't dance!" Chuck said almost in a whimper.

"Sure you can," Alyssa spoke up.

"If Jason doesn't mind, I will teach you after school so you can impress her," Kara said wanting to help her now nervous friend. Jason nodded in agreement. "Would you like to join me Alyssa?"

"That would be great," Alyssa said. She was going to go and visit Adam, but he wanted to wait and see what his father found out. He did not want anyone around him too much for fear of something happening.

It was then that the first lunch bell rang to signal the end of the senior high lunch period. The group of friends cleaned up their area and started to walk to the cafeteria exit doors. Adam seemed to be in better spirits as he wheeled Alyssa to the elevator that was on the other side of the cafeteria doors. Maybe all that Adam needed was time. But his thoughts were interrupted by a disturbance behind him. He saw his brother lunge forward and fall into Alyssa's wheelchair. Then before neither Adam nor Jason could react to the situation, he saw a set of hands pull Adam up and slam him against the wall.

Adam was still in a daze when Jason saw Robert Martin, Rachel Hartley's boyfriend, cock his fist back for a roundhouse hit. Jason immediately went into action to defend his brother, but a set of hands grabbed him. He knew that with Adam's past health problems that a blow to the head may hurt him even more. He had not had any seizures in a long time, but now with just one stupid mistake he could have a seizure or suffer even more damage. Jason looked over at the rest of the gang, but everyone was being held back from Adam, except for Alyssa who was trying to turn around to see what was going on. He felt helpless and hoped that Adam would gain himself back enough to defend himself against Robert. Bystanders were starting to yell out "fight". Jason hoped that they would get the attention of the teachers on duty in the cafeteria.

"Now you are going to pay for what you did, Retard," Robert said as the first blow hit Adam on the side of the head. Jason expected Adam to fight back. He knew that Adam could take this boy who was only about 5'10 and lanky, but Adam was not fighting back. He simply stood back up and faced his attacker.

"Go on ahead if it is going to make Rachel feel better. I deserve it," Adam said with an even tone. Jason's mouth dropped and he started to fight to get free from the hands that held him back with all of his might. It was apparent that Adam was not going to defend himself against Robert and he did not seem to care that he could be hurt. Chuck, Craig, Kara and Alyssa showed the same stunned look on their faces. As Adam stood there leaving himself wide open for the kill, Robert took delight in the free shots that he was going to get in. Soon an all out brawl took place. Everyone was fighting to get to Adam, while Robert's group of friends held them back.