'What's wrong, Denise?' Vanessa asked, sitting down beside her foster daughter.

'Nothing,' Denise answered.

'Aw come on,' Vanessa said, 'You have barely spoke to us ever since you got home from soccer training, and by now you've been sitting on that cough staring at the wall for at least half an hour now. Even Sebastian noticed something's up.'

'It's a very inspirational wall,' Denise stated.

'Don't try to fool me, you little girl!' Vanessa pointed to Tobillo, who just jumped on Denise's lap: 'Tobi is also worried, and dogs are never wrong!'

Denise didn't reply, just stared in the distance.

'Listen, honey,' Vanessa said, 'I hate to see you like this. It almost makes me miss the old Denise, who yelled at us and constantly slammed the doors. I love you honey, and so does Lin, and so does Sebastian, and even Tobi loves you! You're a part of the family! We want to see you happy, and we want to help you! When will you accept us?'

Denise broke down sobbing, and Vanessa immediately pulled her in a hug, letting Denise cry in her shoulder.

'What's wrong, honey? Did something happen at school?'

Denise shook her head: 'It was yesterday...'

'Your date!' Vanessa exclaimed, 'Did he hurt you?!'

Denise had never seen Vanessa look like she was about to murder someone, but her looks nows proved that she was well able to.

'No, no,' Denise quickly said,'It's just-' Her voice trailed off, and she stared into the distance.

'What happened, honey?' Vanessa said worried.

'He was nice. We watched a movie,' Denise said, 'But then he got drunk. I had fallen asleep, and he brought me to his bed. There I woke up. He wanted sex, I said no and left.' She paused for a bit, then continued: 'It's just, I don't feel quite happy. I don't really love him anymore, I don't think I ever did.'

'If you never loved him, why did you start dating him in the first place?' Vanessa asked softly.

'I-' Denise started, but she stopped, realising she didn't know the answer to that. 'I- I guess I wanted to impress my friends,' she said, and then she added bitterly: 'Well I don't need to impress them anymore!'

'Why not?' Vanessa dared to ask. Denise seemed in an absurdly talkative mood today.

'Because I fell out with them,' Denise explained, 'I became friends with the girl they had been bullying for years. Well, they did not take that lightly.'

'Wow,' Vanessa said, 'Sounds like you've made the right decision not to be friends with them anymore. And about Nick, you should break up with him.'

Denise nodded: 'I know.'

'And now we're talking, is there any other love interest?' Vanessa asked with a mischievous smile.

Denise got red. 'No,' she lied.

'Yes there is!' Vanessa laughed, 'Who is it?'

Denise blushed: 'I'm not going to tell you!'

'Is it that that girl?'

'What?'

'The bullied girl you became friends with,' Vanessa explained, 'Is it her?'

'What?! Wh- W- Why would you even think that?' Denise said, blushing even harder.

'So that's a yes,' Vanessa stated. She stood up: 'I should get back to work.'

'Vanessa?' Denise asked.

'Yes?'

'Is it okay?' Denise looked down.

'What?' Vanessa asked, not understanding what the girl was saying.

'That I like a girl,' Denise explained.

'Oh.' Now Vanessa understood the girl's problem. She sat down: 'Of course that is okay. It's human to love a person, whether that's a man or a woman.'

'Will Lin accept me?' Denise asked, still unsure.

Vanessa laughed: 'I believe Lin has more gay friends than straight friends, and he hasn't skipped a Gay Pride Parade in years. You really don't need to worry about him. He will most definitely accept you the way you are.'

Denise smiled a bit: 'Please don't tell him. I don't want him to know it yet.'

'If you don't want me to, I won't tell him.'

The next morning, Denise was bloody nervous () when she walked into the school. She immediately walked to Nick and his friends.

'Nick? We need to talk.'

Nick turned around. He looked worried, and like he hadn't slept for two days. He seemed to know what was coming, but he said: 'Okay. Let's find a quiet place.'

They walked to the parking lot. When they got there Nick immediately started talking: 'Babe I'm so sorry! I was drunk and acted stupid, I should not have done it, it's all my fault, I'm so sorry I-'

He was interrupted by Denise hushing him: 'Shh, it's okay. You already apologised like three times yesterday.'

'It's just...' Nick said, 'I would never have raped you, okay? I was upset you didn't want to have sex, but even drunk, I would never have raped you. I know it seemed like it but-'

'I know,' Denise interrupted him, 'I have never been scared of that anyway. It's something else I want to talk about.'

'Oh,' Nick calmed down, 'Then what is it you want to say?'

Denise sighed: 'I just... I don't truly love you. We're too different. This was all new to me. It's not like you're a bad guy, but we're just not meant to be. You need some girl who is as popular as you are. Someone who lives in that same High School world. Someone like Fé. I need a calm, loving person who can help me get back the love I lost during my life. You don't even know what happened, let alone what I need to regain my happiness. You're nice, but we're a million worlds apart. This will never work out.'

Nick looked down: 'I understand what you mean. I've been feeling the same lately. Still, I'll always love the mysterious girl at the cheerleaders' table.'

Denise chuckled: 'And I the boy who actually noticed me.'