AUTHOR'S NOTES: A huge thank you to Aakira who is the ultimate beta reader.

Getting down teenage Shawn took a bit of work. I figured there was some point where he turned from charming underachiever to jaded smartass and it took a lot to get him that way. His later teen years were not pretty psychologically and I am going to do my best to tell how he was made into the lovable psychic we all know.

Enjoy the first chapter! I hope you like this story as well as the last one everybody!

I do not own Psych in any way.

Made This Way

"You should be happy! You're the one that made me this way..." - Shawn Spencer

Chapter 1- Submission Impossible

Santa Barbara August 1992-

"Shawn! Wait up!" Gus called after his friend, jogging to catch up with him. Shawn stopped and waited until Gus was within ten feet before he started walking again. "Hey!" The other boy whined.

Sighing, Shawn finally stopped so Gus could catch him. It was their first hour at Leland Bosseigh High School as freshmen and Gus was already a nervous neurotic mess. Shawn had rushed ahead after getting their schedules because if he heard any more whining from his best friend he was going to scream. "What Gus?"

Panting, Gus held up a finger to signal "one sec" while he caught his breath.

"Look what happens. We miss one summer of baseball and you get out of shape." Shawn smirked. Shawn had been way too busy this summer with his dad to even think about going into sports and Gus didn't want to play baseball without him.

Standing up straight again, Gus defended himself, "I'm not out of shape Shawn! I just ate. You know I get winded after I eat."

Shawn rolled his eyes. "Okay fine." He knew he wasn't going to win that argument with Gus. His friend had more excuses up his sleeve than Milli and Vanilli put together. Changing the subject, he noticed the paper in his friend's hand and craned his neck to see what was on it. "Hey, what classes do you have?"

Gus pulled the paper closer to him before Shawn was able to get a glimpse and memorize it. He was apprehensive about showing it to his friend. "Why do you care?" He asked evasively.

"C'mon Gus, you don't need to be embarrassed. Remedial classes are just a way of catching up to the rest of us." Shawn knew the statement would piss Gus off just enough to get him to show the schedule. He didn't understand why his best bud was being so secretive.

Glaring, Gus spat out, "I don't have remedial classes Shawn! See?" He held up the paper.

Shawn looked at it. Besides a couple classes they shared in the morning, most of Gus' schedule consisted of advanced placement courses that Shawn figured were most likely the his parent's doing. "Man! We only have two classes together? That isn't fair! We need to stage a revolt!" Shawn turned to storm towards the office before Gus stopped him.

"Quit it Shawn!" Gus scolded. "My parents wanted me in these classes. They give extra credit and I might even be able to skip a grade if I take enough of them." He smiled proudly.

Shawn looked at him in horror. "Skip a grade!? That means you'll leave me behind! This is the worst thing ever!" Now Shawn was whining too.

"I'm sorry Shawn, there's nothing I can do. I tried to talk them out of it but you know how they treat me..." Gus lowered his voice, mocking his father. "We hear you son." His voice returned to normal, "Then they do whatever they want anyway." He felt bad at the hurt look on Shawn's face and tried to cheer him up. "We still have the first two classes together, and we can see each other after the other ones."

Shawn looked up from his pout. "Yeah I guess." The bell went off signaling the five-minute warning before class started. "Let's get going."

The usual spring in Shawn's step had vanished. He felt like Gus was abandoning him, and until that moment, he'd never realized how much that hurt. If Gus continues in all those advanced placement classes we might be in a completely different grade! Then we'll never see each other!

With all the training Henry had been forcing on him lately, the only time Shawn had to hang out with Gus was when he dragged him along on one of his dad's expeditions. While going over how sucky life would be without anyone to talk to, a thought occurred to Shawn. If Gus passed the classes, he would be getting the extra credits for advanced placement. If he didn't pass, they wouldn't be split up. An idea began to form.

When they were almost to the classroom, Gus looked over at Shawn expecting that he would still be upset about the news. Gus was more than a little disturbed to see the wide and mischievous smile plastered on his friend's face.

Santa Barbara October 1992-

It had already been almost five weeks and Shawn figured his plan was going perfectly. On nights when he knew Gus had a test, he made sure to find some way to rob him of sleep or interrupt his constant studying. The best, in Shawn's opinion, was probably the night he was digging in his closet and found his old Walkie Talkie and remembered the mate was still stuck in Gus' wall. He didn't know for sure if the trick would work, but he pulled out the old "Wilting Flower" ghost shtick and made spooky noises for about ten minutes. Afterwards Shawn figured he had freaked Gus out enough to make him lose at least a couple hours of sleep and went to bed himself thinking of victory.

Unfortunately for Gus, the batteries were barely functioning on the Walkie Talkie after two years in the wall, and all he heard were the words "Wilting Flower" followed by squealing sounds of the Walkie Talkie dying. It sounded a lot like pained screams and moans of a wandering ghost to the terrified boy. This went on for about an hour until the batteries finally died out completely. Gus' parents found him the next morning stuffed in the corner of the room clutching his He-Man pillow. He hadn't slept a wink all night.

Phase two of Shawn's plan included destroying any and all homework belonging to Gus that he could lay his hands on. This didn't last too long because he could only 'accidentally' throw away, crumple, rip, or burn Gus' homework so many times before his friend started to get suspicious. From then on, Gus hadn't let him anywhere near his assignments, not even to borrow it for himself. This plan, as good intentioned as it was, put a huge strain on their relationship.

The suspicious behavior was not lost on Henry. He'd overheard one too many conversations containing the words "Shawn", "homework", and "completely ruined".

One afternoon during one of Shawn's weekly police ride-alongs that had started the summer before, Henry decided to ask his son about it. "Shawn, you and Guster have been arguing about school a lot lately. Care to tell me what's going on buddy?"

Shawn tried to think fast and work up a plausible excuse, but apparently, he took too long. His dad cut him off the moment he opened his mouth.

"Don't even try to lie your way out of this one Shawn. Cut the BS and tell me the truth for once," Henry ordered sternly.

Sighing in defeat Shawn admitted what he had been doing. "Gus is in advanced placement at school. If he gets good enough grades and enough credits, he says he'll be able to skip a grade."

Getting the point Henry added, "And you're afraid that he will leave you behind?"

"YES!" Shawn stated angrily. "How could he do that to me? It's so unfair!" He slumped in the seat and pouted. Shawn's eyes flicked to the side, "That guy just ran a stop sign," he grumbled.

Henry turned on his lights and proceeded to pull the car over. While doing so he kept talking, "Shawn, Gus isn't doing anything to you. He's taking the opportunity presented to him and running with it. He's doing his best, and what do I always tell you?" Henry asked as he unbuckled to leave the car.

"Always do your best." Shawn mumbled.

"That's right. Now wait here, our conversation isn't over." Henry paused and then asked, "Call in the plates for me would you?"

Shawn nodded and watched his dad ticket the driver. "This is Detective Henry Spencer's car. Could you run California plate five, Lima, Victor, Foxtrot, eight, eight, three. Over." Shawn spoke into the handset "Hey there, Shawn." The operator greeted him. "Out on your weekly ride?"

Shawn recognized the operator as Lindsay. She was a pretty woman who always waved to him in the station. "Yeah, he has a guy stopped right now."

"Okay, give me a moment while I run that for you."

As Shawn waited he thought about what his dad said. He started to feel bad about what he was doing to Gus. Shouldn't he be happy his friend was doing well? Lindsay came back with the results, interrupting his thoughts.

"Shawn, tell your dad right away that this guy is wanted in connection with a few robberies in San Francisco. He may be armed," she warned.

"Got it!" Shawn unbuckled and sauntered up to his dad calmly, trying not to arouse suspicion from the perp in the car.

Henry noticed Shawn's approach. "Shawn I told you to stay in the car." The person in the vehicle had been acting a bit shifty and he didn't want his son to end up getting hurt.

"Sorry Dad, I just needed to stretch my legs! I get bored sitting in the car." Making sure the perp in the car couldn't see what he was doing, Shawn tapped his dad's gun and widened his eyes. He hoped his dad would understand what he was trying to tell him.

Getting the point, Henry played along with Shawn's excuse. "I'll stop somewhere in a little bit. Now get back in the car like I told you!" Once his son returned safely to the car, Henry pulled his gun. "Get out of the vehicle now!"

Luckily for Shawn, the arrest was just enough make his dad to forget to talk to him afterwards. It did give him some time to think though, he decided, he was being a bit unreasonable and would stop sabotaging Gus. He would have to think of something else to keep Gus from leaving him behind. He just didn't know what it would be.

Two weeks later, Shawn's relationship with Gus had improved again since he had given up on the plan to sabotage his friend. The boys had just come home from school and were going to spend the afternoon playing video games in Gus' room in a rare reprieve from police training with Henry.

"Dude, I get to be Mario!" Shawn called climbing the steps to the Guster's house.

Gus whined, "Shawn, you always play Mario. I always get stuck playing Luigi."

Smiling slyly Shawn stated, "If you're sick of Luigi you could always play the princess. I promise I'll go easy on you man. You know I would never hit a lady, even with turtle shells." Shawn received a punch in the arm for the comment. As they entered the house, both of Gus' parents were standing in front of the stairs waiting for them. Neither looked happy.

"What's wrong Dad?" Gus asked, puzzled.

"Your mid-semester grades showed up today young man. Do you expect us to turn a blind eye to this?" Bill held up his son's report card.

What have I done!? Shawn chastised himself. He started to panic that he had completely ruined Gus' chances of advancing in school, ruined his future because he was being selfish. Shawn looked at the report card to see how badly he messed up, and was suddenly confused. The only thing he saw was a card full of A's and one lonely B in AP Math.

Gus felt sick to his stomach. He had gotten a B! He had never gotten a B. "Mom, Dad, I can explain." Gus knew some of it was Shawn's fault for distracting him, and apparently his parents knew too. He was afraid of what was coming but also knew there was nothing he could do to stop it.

"You are grounded Burton. I am very disappointed in you." Bill admonished his son. "No more video games or hanging out with Shawn until your grades improve." Gus looked at his friend in distress.

Shawn's face scrunched. "But Mr. Guster, it was just a B."

Gus' eyebrows shot up. He knew Shawn had said the wrong thing. Bill looked at the young man angrily, "Just a B? Just because you are okay with mediocrity doesn't mean our son has to be." He pulled Gus further into the house and away from Shawn. "Let's go young man." Turning to Shawn who was still standing at the threshold in complete shock, he glared. "You know the way out Shawn."

Finally able to move again, Shawn glanced at Gus' mom and saw the sad but determined look on her features. Shawn could tell she and her husband had discussed this before he and Gus had shown up. Nodding and turning around, Shawn trudged down the two sets of steps to the curb before looking back. He kept hoping that Gus would rush after him saying his parents changed their mind, but it never happened. His stupid idea had cost him his best friend.

That night when Shawn didn't come downstairs for dinner, Maddie realized that something must be wrong. Ascending the stairs and gently knocking on her son's door, she called out, "Goose, dinner is ready." Hearing no answer, she walked into the room. Shawn lay curled up in a ball on his bed hugging his pillow. He didn't move as his mom came in the room and sat down on the edge of his bed. "Shawnie, what's wrong?"

Shawn sniffed, trying to clear his sinuses. He had been crying for the last hour since leaving the Guster's. If it had been his dad coming into his room Shawn never would have given away that he had been emotional but his mom was a different story. He was suddenly very glad that his dad was working late. "The Gusters don't want me hanging out with Gus anymore."

"Oh, baby. Why not? You guys have been friends for so long." Maddie couldn't understand why this would happen so suddenly.

Turning around to face his mom he explained, "Gus is taking classes that will let him skip a grade if he passes. I was dumb and thought if I could sabotage his grades, he wouldn't leave me behind. I know it was dumb, but... I didn't want to be alone." Shawn suppressed a sob. "They got his grades back today and he got a B. His parents knew it was my fault and they told me that I was mediocre."

Maddie was suddenly very angry. How dare they!? She thought spitefully, then her psychologist training kicked in and she rationalized that they were only angry and worried for their own son. "You are not mediocre Shawn. You deserve to have Gus as a friend and you know you made a mistake right?" Shawn nodded, wiping away tears. "I will see what I can do to talk to them," she promised.

Shawn appreciated his mom's help but knew it would be in vain. "It won't matter anyway. Gus is going to leave me behind. I spent weeks trying to lower his grades and he got a flipping B! A B Mom. It's useless." He grabbed his pillow and pressed it against his face, screaming into it. His mom had taught him to use this coping mechanism whenever he was angry.

Grabbing the pillow, Maddie pulled it away from his face. "There is something you can do Shawn." He looked at her hopefully. "You're a smart boy. Have you ever heard the phrase, 'If you can't beat them, join them'?"

Shawn nodded, starting to get where his mom was going with this.

Maddie smiled. "Join him Shawn. You know you can do it. If his friendship means that much to you, get into those classes and skip a grade with him. I will help you but it's up to you how much you want to try. You have to ask yourself if Gus' friendship is worth fighting for." She laid her hand on Shawn's shoulder and rubbed it a bit. "You could also show that cranky Bill Guster a thing or two about mediocrity while you're at it." She was happy to see her son smile at the remark. Realizing that the ball was now in Shawn's court, Maddie rose from the bed. "Come down and eat when you are ready hon."

Shawn watched as his mom walked out and closed the door behind her, leaving him in darkness again with his thoughts. Could I really do it? Shawn didn't have to ask himself that because he knew if he actually applied himself, he could. He had spent so much time fooling others that he'd almost fooled himself into doubting his own intellect. His mom was right. He would have to make the choice to save his friendship with Gus. Wiping all traces of tears away, he punched his pillow repeatedly in frustration. Once he was worn out, he sat up and stared at the door, contemplating going and getting something to eat. As he stood, he realized he'd been curled up in his room crying about not being able to see his friend. He rarely if ever cried about anything. If he actually felt bad enough about the situation to cry, it must be important to him. Gus' friendship was important to him.

Walking down the stairs into the kitchen, Shawn paused at the doorway. His mom looked up, gave him a smile, and grabbed his plate, placing it into the microwave. "You feeling better now Goose?"

Nodding and taking a deep breath, Shawn asked, "Mom, what do I have to do to get into AP classes?"

END NOTES:

A motivated Shawn. Who knew?

This was my way of trying to get past the age differences in the series while staying as canon as possible. :)