A/N: Hello all! So this is my second one-shot and I'm hoping that you guys will enjoy it. It's a pretty interesting subject. I mean Shelby reading a romance novel? Not something you usually get to read about. ;)
I give a big thank you, a virtual hug *Hug!* and a cookie (:) to I'mTheGirlWhoLearnedToFly! She was a superduperawesomesauce editor for this fic. SO THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH FLY! Or shall I say…my contact from Asia! XD
Finally, for any fans and/or followers of my story, Forget Me Not, I have a poll posted on my profile for you guys! I won't state what it is about right here so just go to my profile and answer it already! Wait…read this fic first. No…go answer the poll. No—this could go on for hours so I'm just going to say, DO BOTH! ;D I will close it in one week (or so, it depends on how much votes I've collected) and then I will post the next chapter of FMN! So the more voters, the happier I'll be, the faster the chapters will come! Well actually, it depends on JJ—everything depends on her.
Well anyone who's actually kept up with my rants is very patient. I commend you. Too bad I'm not as patient.
Disclaimer:
Shelby: What? Now you've made read romance novels? What's up with you?
Me: I'm sorry Shel, it was a very tempting idea. And it's not that bad. I mean, there are a lot of good romance novels out there.
Shelby: Not the one you made me read. I mean that was down right depressing. Romance novels in general are depressing.
Me: You say that now but wait until you read this other one I have.
Shelby: You can't make me.
Me: Actually I can. I can make you do anything as long as I state that this overall book series and ALL of the characters belong to him.
Shelby: But you haven't done that yet…
Me: I was getting to that until you rudely interrupted me. Now as I was saying, Mark Walden, aka. the Supreme Overlord, owns everything in this story—
Shelby: Except for the disgusting so-called romance novel that I was FORCED to read by a fangirl who wrote this in an hour!
Me: Yes, except that. Thanks for helping me Shelby.
Shelby: -_- Just get to the story already.
Me: Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you: Shelby Reads a Romance Novel!
Shelby sat at her stark white desk, peering mindlessly at her blank computer screen.
Where is Brand when I need her?
Suddenly Laura Brand came skipping through the door.
"Laura, where have you been? Oh, whatever, come and fix my computer! It shut off and I can't get it to turn back on again," Shelby said in panic.
Laura came over and sat at the desk. She flexed her fingers and tried inserting a few lines of code. Shelby, to pass the time, peered at her nails and bit her lip in anticipation. Finally Laura's brow furrowed in frustration and she turned to Shelby.
"I'm sorry Shel, but it looks like you've exceeded your monthly limit. It's no surprise, I mean it's near the end of the month, but we haven't had THAT much homework. What have you been using your minutes on?"
Shelby's face turned a shade of bright red, "Um...I'd rather not share, if that's okay."
"You weren't using the spy equipment that I set up in the guys' room, were you?" Laura gasped.
"Well, it had to be used for something," Shelby said with a small smile, "Let's just say that Wing looks really hot with his shirt off. Plus, I got some good blackmail shots of Otto."
"Oh my gosh! You have to show them to me," Laura said, giggling.
"I will, once you hack through the limit," Shelby said hopefully.
"I've already tried. I can't get access," Laura said regretfully.
"Great! What am I going to do now? The computer was my only source of excitement."
"Says the girl who's attending a school for villains," Laura muttered.
"Well when I'm not doing all that villainous stuff, I have to have some sort of entertainment."
"Water polo isn't enough for you?"
"Nero shortened their practices to Wednesdays only," Shelby said angrily.
"Shame. I didn't even get the notice."
"Well, now I have nothing to do for the next week!"
"You could try a book," Laura suggested.
"What? You mean like read a book? Outside of school?" Shelby asked, shocked.
"Um...yeah. I do it all the time."
"Yeah. But you're a nerd," Shelby pointed out.
"I am not—" Laura paused thinking, "Actually, yes, I can be nerdy at times."
"Well, where can I find a book?" Shelby asked.
"I just got a couple of books this morning from the library. If you want, you can read one of them." Laura gestured to a large mountain of books that sat on her bed.
"That's a couple?" Shelby gaped.
Laura shrugged, "It's been a slow day. I've read most of them, so go ahead and choose one. I'm going to the lab with Otto, so I'll be gone for the rest of the afternoon. See you at dinner!"
Laura grabbed her blackbox and left the dorm room. Shelby walked over to Laura's bed and looked at the array of covers. She randomly picked up a green book and glanced at the cover.
"Quadratic Formulas for Geniuses," it read.
"Somebody has a high self esteem," Shelby muttered.
She tossed the book away, and grabbed a black book and looked at it.
"Hmm, this one doesn't have a title."
Shelby flipped through the first couple of pages. Multiple random symbols filled the book.
"Wow. I'm too lazy to figure this out," she chucked the book across the pile.
Shelby finally found a dark red book that looked relatively normal. The title, written in gold handwriting, was 'Unexpected Love'. On the cover, there was a picture of a gorgeous, pale lady in the strong arms of a shirtless, tanned man. Shelby immediately flipped to the date of publication. 1982.
"Hmph. What would Brand be doing with an old romance novel?"Shelby thought out loud. And with that, she turned to the first page and started to read.
Now judging by this cover, you are probably hoping for a mess of romantic ideas. Well, those who hope, succeed. Now let me tell you a story full of adventure, tragedy and...well...unexpected love...
"What the hell? This is stupid. Whatever." Shelby continued to read.
Seconds turned into minutes. Minutes turned into hours. Shelby was a quarter way through the hefty book when Laura returned from the lab.
"Shelby?" Laura looked down at her friend who was happily engrossed in the book.
William watched silently as Marie's chest rose and fell. Her breath was soft and tranquil as her whole body rested. William knew that he shouldn't be here, but she looked so beautiful that he couldn't resist. Her pale face shone in the bright moonlight. William gently brushed away a piece of hair that fell delicately across her eyes. Cupping Marie's face in his rough hands, he laid a soft kiss upon her shining cheek.
Wow. I wish Wing would do that to me...
"Shelby?" Laura repeated.
Shelby's head snapped up in surprise, "Oh. Brand, didn't realize you were there."
Laura smiled, "It seems you are reading of my books. How long have you've been reading?"
"What time is it?"
"About five."
"Hmm," Shelby thought for a moment, "Around three to four hours, give or take."
Laura's eyebrows shot up, "Four hours? Shel, that's awesome! You must really like that book."
"Eh. It's entertaining."
"I'm not sure if I've read that one yet. I'll read it after you're finished," Laura squinted at the book that Shelby clutched to her hip, to see if it was familiar. She didn't recognize it, but Shelby's hand was covering the front of the book so there wasn't much to see anyways.
"Well, let's get to dinner then," Shelby said.
"Yeah. I want to share with the guys about your sudden reading obsession!"
(o.o)~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
()_()
Shelby sat at the round table, slowly eating her spaghetti. Laura was chatting animatedly with Otto and Wing about Shelby's sudden interest with the book. Shelby zoned out a while ago and was looking longingly at Wing while remembering a part of her book.
"Do you love me?" Marie asked suddenly. She turned her head to William in anticipation.
"Our families—" William began.
"Who cares about our families? If we really love each other, then we shouldn't care."
"Yesterday," William began, "my mother…she threatened to disown me."
William put his head down. He couldn't bear to look into Marie's pleading eyes.
"Oh," Marie said sadly, "I see."
Marie got up from the dusty bench and started to walk away.
"Wait! Marie!" William called.
Marie turned around.
"You still haven't answered my question: Do you love me?" she asked firmly.
"I...I can't," William said reluctantly.
"Then I have to go," she said simply. She walked away without looking back...
How come guys are so oblivious to love? Love overcomes everything!
"What did you say?" Wing asked.
Oh. Did I say that aloud?
"Um. Nothing," Shelby said quickly.
"Are you sure?" Wing asked again.
"Yeah, I'm fine William," Shelby said waving her hand in assurance.
"William...?"
Shit. Cover it up-quick!
"Um. Sorry. Wing."
"Who's William?"
"Nobody."
"Okay..."
"I'm going to go and read," Shelby rapidly got up and scraped off the remaining spaghetti into the garbage (much to Franz's dismay). She then sprinted out of the cafeteria before anyone saw how crimson her face had turned.
(o.o)~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
()_()
Marie went to board the train. She sat up and brushed the thin layer of grime that had collected at the bottom of her long dress. It was her favourite dress, a lengthy emerald one with cream lace trimmings, a beaded bodice and cuffed sleeves. Simple, but beautiful. She would never forget the person who gave it to her. She didn't dare to think of him.
Marie joined the line of people waiting to get on. Suddenly she heard a voice.
"Marie!" a deep voice called her name.
Marie's pulse started to race. She felt that familiar, welcoming chill that traveled up and down her spine.
"Marie!" he called again.
"Will?"
"Marie," William reached her. He took her hand, "I want to tell you something before you leave."
"What is it?" Marie asked, slightly cold.
"I—"
"Wow, Shelby really is addicted."
Shelby was brought back to earth. She looked up angrily at a smiling Otto. Wing was with him.
"What the hell? Why are you in here? No, howdid you get in here?" Shelby asked, flustered.
"Shelby, you know that you aren't the only one who can pick locks. Of course I cheated. Using the whole tech in my mind thing," Otto pointed a finger at his head, "Anyways, I wanted to see if Laura was true to her word. But I should have known. Laura wouldn't lie about something like this! Isn't that right, Wing?"
"Yes. This is a bit...abnormal," Wing answered with a confused look on his face.
"Shut it, guys. I ran out of minutes on my computer so I'm stuck with this," she pointed at the book.
"Unexpected Love? Why a romance novel?" Wing asked. Otto immediately had a knowing look on his face.
All of a sudden, Laura came through the open door.
"Alright, you lot. Curfew is in two minutes, so beat it," Laura said sternly.
"Fine, but we'll continue this tomorrow morning," Otto said with a smile. He and Wing started to walk out of the door.
"You know, Otto, you really shouldn't be picking on someone who can beat you up," Shelby heard Wing say.
(o.o)~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
()_()
Shelby picked up her hefty dress and started walking up the train stairs.
"Shelby!" Shelby heard a familiar voice call her name.
"Wing? What are you doing here?" Shelby jumped off the stairs and nearly lost her balance while tripping over her lace trimming. Strong hands gripped her waist before she could fall.
"Shelby, I love you," Wing said.
"I love you too," Shelby smiled up at Wing.
Shelby opened her eyes. That was a mistake. Suddenly, she had lost all memory of her previous dream. She groggily got up and splashed water on her warm face. She went to check the time.
5:30am.
Well, I can't go back to sleep now. I'll go finish my book.
Shelby had only one chapter left. She was very excited as she grabbed her book and headed down to the atrium. She snuggled up on her favourite chaise and began to read.
"William, I love you too," Marie said happily.
William laid a kiss upon Marie's lips...
Shelby sat there, peacefully reading the chapter. Finally she was on the last page.
"I want to be with you forever!" Marie exclaimed.
"As do—" William was cut off by a gunshot. He stared down at his shirt. It was stained with crimson.
"Will!" Marie screamed. She desperately looked around for the person who rang the shot.
They were long gone.
Marie turned back to a dying William. His shirt was completely red and his breathing was ragged and frantic.
"Marie," William gasped, "I will always love you."
"NO WILLIAM! DON'T LEAVE ME!" Marie shouted. Tears were rapidly falling down her face.
Marie reached down to kiss William once more. When she came back up, he was no longer breathing.
The End
Shelby looked at the book in shock.
The End? What the hell? That was a terrible ending! In fact, this whole book was terrible.
Shelby marched back up to the room with the finished book in her hand. She stepped through the door and tossed the book to Laura.
"Here. You can read it now. But I have to warn you, it's terrible."
"What?" Laura glanced at the cover, "What's this book?"
"You know, the one that I've been obsessing over. Unexpected Love," she air quoted the title.
"Unexpected Love?" Laura asked, "I never took out that book. I only take out science, math and technology books. I don't bother my time with romance novels."
"Then who—"
Suddenly the door opened and Otto came strolling into the room with a knowing look on his face.
"Finished with my book yet?" he said, "It's almost overdue and I have yet to read it!"
It was a random idea that I came up with in my car while driving to Ikea. Man, I love that place! It's so big! I really want to have a game of hide and seek there. That would be cool.
Oops, off topic. Anyways…
Here's a word riddle thingy. If you figure it out, then you are smart…and you should listen to the magical riddle message thing. Figure out this message: adre nda iewrev ausebec fi ouy od otn, hent…ellw…USTJ IEWREV!
Remember the poll for all of you FMN readers! And if anyone is interested, I do have weekly (or so) updates on my profile. So if you want to see future plans for stories or you are simply bored , then check it out ;)
~Reensie17 (^_^)