Disclaimer:
We don't own Peter, Sophie, etc. We're not using this for money. Yatsa, Yatsa, and Yatsa.
-*-*-
Many
Years Ago
-*-*-
Shelby
Merrick picked up the phone, "Yeah?"
"Shelby?"
"Whatta
ya want, mom?"
Mrs.
Merrick paused, "I just called to say we're moving out of the house. I wanted to know what you want me to pack
from your room."
"Just
a few things. The things on my desk, my
yearbooks, my CDs, and the video Jess made me for my birthday. And the clothes that are in the very first
drawer of my dresser."
"Okay. Is that all?"
"Yep."
Shelby replied, annoyed. She wasn't in
the mood to talk to her mother.
"Do
you want to talk to Jess?"
"Not
now."
"So
there's a problem with her now?"
Shelby
was mad now, "Look. I'm supposed
to be in with Peter and then I'm on Kitchens, so I'd like to get off the phone
NOW."
"Alright."
"Tell
Jess I said I miss her." Shelby said as her sudden rage subsided.
"Sure. I'll talk to you later." She hung up."
-*-*-
Mrs.
Merrick walked into her eldest daughter's room, holding the cardboard packing
box in her hands. She set it down on
the floor where the bed used to be, and looked around. She walked over to the desk and picked up
the stationary set, followed by the gel pens, and the only book Shelby had ever
enjoyed. Mrs. Merrick placed them into
the box and went into the closet for the yearbooks. She picked them up, and put them in the box as well.
As she walked back to the desk to grab some other things, she noticed one yearbook that she had missed. It was Shelby's second grade class, and it was open to the L's.
"Dear lord."
The picture of a little girl stared up at her. The girl wore a sad smile, and her eyes although staring at the camera seemed dull. The name Daisy Lipenowski was printed on the page beneath the picture.
Mrs. Merrick picked up the book and ran to the phone. She dialed a number, and waited for someone to pick up.
"Horizon High."
"I'd like to talk to Mr. Scarbrow."
-*-*-
Sophie looked at Peter, shocked, "How is that possible?"
"I don't know, Soph."
"Does it say they attended the same elementary school?"
"No."
"Then how?"
Peter shook his head, "The only thing I can think of is that Daisy's father covered it up for some reason." He sat back in his chair, "Mrs. Merrick is sending it up here, and I'll talk to Daisy and Shelby when they see it. It's probable they weren't in the same class, so they wouldn't have met."
"Maybe."
-*-*-
2 Days later
"Mail call!" Sophie exclaimed as she walked into the girls' dorm, "Juliette."
Juliette took hers, and looked at the address before opening the letter like a starved animal finally getting food.
"Daisy." She handed Daisy the letters, before handing a FedEx box to Shelby.
"What is it?" Shelby asked.
"I don't know."
Shelby laughed, "Well, that's a first. You didn't look to see what it was. How ya' know I'm not getting drugs?"
"Because your mother sent it."
"Touché." Shelby opened it cautiously, and pulled out the book.
Daisy looked up, "What is it?"
"It's my second grade yearbook." She flipped it over and opened the back cover. She laughed at the names of old friends listed there.
"Whatcha lookin' at?"
"Old friends. Scottie, Julie, Gus, Ra-Man, Daze, and Kath."
"Ra-Man?"
Jules looked up suddenly, "How'd you know Ra-Man?"
"He was my friend. He was in my class."
Daze and Jules looked at each other, "Who was your teacher?"
"Mrs. Robbins."
"Oh my god." Daisy breathed.
Shelby looked at them, "What?"
"The students are listed alphabetically, right?"
"Yeah."
"Go to the L's."
Shelby flipped the pages until she reached the L's, "And I'm looking for what?"
"Me."
Surprised, but curious, she looked until she found Daisy's picture, "So you went to my school. Interesting."
"Look at the teacher listed."
Shelby looked underneath Daisy's name in the book. Mrs. Robbins was listed as her teacher.
"That's strange. I don't remember you being in my class!" She said, shocked that Daisy had been in her class. Then she looked at Jules. Jumping, Shel began to flip the pages, until she reached W. "Juliette E.-A. Waybourne. Mrs. Robbins." She flipped the pages once more, "Scott Barringer. Mrs. Robbins. Katherine Ann Cabot. Mr. Stevens. Teacher aide to Mrs. Robbins. Auggust Ciceros. Mrs. Robbins." And finally she moved the pages to the F's, "Ezra Friedkin. Mrs. Robbins."
The three girls looked at each other, and then to Sophie, who just stared back at them.
-*-*-
Peter looked at Sophie, "What do you mean, the cliffhangers were in the same class?"
"I mean that we were wrong, Peter. Not only were Daisy and Shelby in the same class, they were in the same class with Scott, Ezra, Auggie, Jules, and Kat was a teacher aide."
"How could we not know this!" Peter exclaimed, jumping up and hitting his desk. He was more then angry – not at the parents or the kids, but at himself for not figuring it out, for not doing a better search in their records.
-*-*-
Shelby sat on the dock as night began to fall. She remembered. Always had. She'd just never said anything. What difference would it have made.
"Shel?" Scott called, softly.
"What?"
He looked toward where her
voice had come from and headed in that direction. He settled down beside her, took the book from her hands, and
opened it to a random page. It flipped
to the page of the candid shots the high school kids had taken.
Shelby chose to look over at that moment and saw one photo she'd forgotten about. A group of faces, smiling and happy, stared up from the page, unaware of their future, just having fun playing kickball during recess on the…
"First day…" She murmured.
Shellie
Merrick stepped off the bus, her little sister Jessie following her closely.
"Let
go of me, Jessie." Shellie whined, and then noticed one of the other kids from
their block, "Look, there's Kristal. Go
bother her."
Jessie,
happy to see her friend, gladly ran from her sister, tired of Shellie's
attitude.
Shellie
sighed, knowing that Jessie didn't deserve her attitude, but she didn't know
how to react. Walt came into her room
last night. And he did something she
couldn't tell her mom.
Slowly;
reluctantly, Shellie made her way into the red brick building. She hopped up the concrete stairs, and
pulled open the door, before heading down the hallway looking for room 16.
"12…13…14…15…"
She whispered to herself, and stopped in front of room 16. "Okay, Shellie, breath." She pushed open the
door, and looked at the students already there.
Scott looked up at his girlfriend, "Shel? Shel, ya' losing it on me?"
Shelby looked at him, "No. I'm just thinking." She sighed, "Do you remember?"
"Always." She leaned onto him as the sunset.
-*-*-
- TBC