Hey people! My second attempt at a fan fic! This one is a Princess Bride/Higher Ground combo. The Princess Bride is one of Hayden's fave movies, so I thought this would be a good idea. If you haven't seen the movie, rent it or at least read the book lol. Well, hope you enjoy!

Chapter One: I Shall Never Love Again

Shelby walked into her cabin at Mount Horizon School for troubled teens. She had no idea what had come over her. Today the strangest thing had happened.

She had woken up that morning and done her usual morning routine. The day was perfectly blah until she arrived in the mess hall. Then it took a turn for the worse.

Scott was sitting with Juliette.

Scott was sitting with Juliette.

SCOTT was sitting with Juliette!

And Juliette was sitting there with Scott, a grin on her face.

What was happening here? Scott usually sat with her. Everyone in the school knew he had a crush on her. Everyone had thought it was cute. Except Shelby. She blew him off. She ignored him. She even insulted him. And until that morning he had been okay with it. He had slowly been distancing himself from her and Shelby had hardly noticed until that morning.

"Well," she thought. "Two can play at that game." Then another thought hit her. Why did she care? Why did she care that Scott wanted to spend his time with Juliette? It was his choice, wasn't it? After all, Shelby had always ignored him.

Then why did it bother her so much?

She sat alone at breakfast, trying not to watch Scott with his perfect teeth, sun-streaked hair and strong arms. He was laughing with Juliette. Smiling at her like he had smiled at Shelby. And Juliette was smiling and laughing back. Shelby knew she couldn't take it anymore. She stormed out of the mess hall and went back to her room.

* * * *

"Did you see the green-eyed monster storm out of here?" Auggie said to Scott, laughing.

"What?" Scott said, confused.

"Shelby looked like she was going to hit either you or Juliette."

"Oh." was all Scott replied.

* * * *

Shelby spent the rest of the day trying not to watch the Juliette/Scott combination making eyes at each other. Classes were a snore and free time was not much better. She spent her time in her room, trying to nap but only becoming more and more troubled. She knew that Juliette liked Scott. She had known that since her first day here. But since she had arrived Scott had completely ignored Juliette, preferring to hang around her.

Shelby skipped supper and continued moping around in her room. She fell into a troubled sleep, spending most of the night awake.

It was a very long and very green night.

She awoke at the crack of dawn. The sun was shining and the birds were singing and Shelby felt different. Different about what, you may ask? The truth was, she felt different about Scott. Now she knew why him sitting with Juliette had bothered her so much. It was because she truly, madly, deeply cared for Scott. And now she was too late.

Shelby pulled on her jeans and an old shirt and ran a brush through her hair. She stormed out of the cabin and ran across the dewy lawn. She arrived at the boy's cabin and knocked on the door, hoping Scott would answer.

He did.

His sun-streaked hair was messy and his eyes were tired but Shelby looked away, blushing. He was just too beautiful.

"Scott," She began. "I have something to confess." Shelby took a deep breath. "I have spent the whole night becoming a new person. I stayed up all night because of you. I dreamt of you and the time I didn't spend dreaming I thought of you. I have realized I love you and I would do anything for you. I have loved you since this morning and I hope you can forgive me for being so terribly cold to you but I mean this now and I don't want you to date Juliette. I want to be with you." Then she did something terribly brave. She looked into his eyes. His beautiful, stormy blue eyes.

And he closed the door in her face.

Shelby turned and ran, blinded by tears. She felt stupid and childish but she didn't care. She ran into the forest, to the tree where she always sat and thought. She plunked herself down and cried.

Scott had always been there for her, as dependable as the sun rising in the east. Now the one time it truly mattered he was with Juliette. How could the world be so cruel? She sat in turmoiled thought and self-pity for the remainder of the day. She was there long into the evening. Shelby wondered why no one was looking for her, but she knew that if they wanted to find her, Scott would know where she was. And it was Scott who found her. She knew it was him as soon as she heard the bushes moving. She dried her eyes and tried to look strong.

"Hey," Scott said, sitting down beside her.

"Oh, is that you Scott?" How nice of you to come looking for me." She said sarcastically. "I'm sure that little joke I played on you this morning has troubled you quite a bit. I apologize." Scott just looked at her, her face silhouetted in the shadow. He lifted her chin up and leaned in and kissed her.

* * * *

The days following were a roller coaster ride for Shelby and Scott. They both admitted their love for each other, but kept it hidden as best they could. Still everyone knew something had changed between them, from the way Shelby called Scott stupid with a slight giggle in her voice, the way their eyes met each other's and they knew what the other was thinking and other things too. They were subtly, yet obviously proclaiming their love for each other.

That was why Scott's disappearance hit Shelby so hard.

One morning he had been there, the next he wasn't. People assumed he was sick until Peter issued an emergency. Apparently Scott wasn't in the infirmary or his classes or his cabin. The school sent out search and rescue and a team covered the wilderness surrounding the school for days.

But Scott was still missing.

People began talking about him running away. Away from what? They asked. Shelby blamed herself. She didn't know why it was her fault, but why else would he had left. She had some hope he would be found but he never was. She locked herself in her cabin and would not speak to anyone. The girls deliberately avoided her and only went in when necessary. Nobody disturbed her, for they knew she was a soul in grieving.

A week later she emerged. Shelby was older, wiser and a whole world sadder. Juliette was the first person to come across her. In a gesture of kindness, she put her arm around Shelby's shoulder. Shelby looked at her through clear eyes.

"I will never love again." She said quietly.

And she never did.

Hope you guys liked that. Now if you haven't read or seen the Princess Bride, you won't understand this. Trust me, it will all work out.