Disclaimer: I don't own Boy Meets World or "America" from West Side Story.

A/N: Thanks for the reviews MalikaiDragonSlayer and Satan's Little Demon!

Chapter 10

The sound of singing drifted from Cory and Eric's room. Cory stopped just outside his door, not sure what to make of it. Cautiously, he opened the door. Eric was singing.

"Life can be bright in America, if you can fight in America. Life is alright in America, if you're all white in America,"* Eric sang. He took in a deep breath to continue.

"What are you doing?" Cory asked from the doorway.

Eric threw the music down onto his bed behind him. "Nothing. What are you doing?"

"Come on, Eric. I just heard you singing. Since when do you sing? Besides, isn't that from a musical or something?"

"So? Maybe it is." Eric waited for Cory to back down, but he just stood there with his arms crossed. "Oh, alright. I kind of sort of agreed to try out for West Side Story."

Cory burst out laughing.

"You're so dead." Eric jumped up off his bed and ran towards Cory.

Cory screamed and promptly ran out of the room.

SHSHSHSHSHSHSHSHSHSH

Shawn sat against the wall with his arms wrapped around his bent legs. He got to go home today. At the moment, he was almost too tired to care. He did get some sleep each night, but the cold, hard floor made that difficult. The situation itself didn't exactly help matters either.

What was he going to do? They said something about testing him. What kind of test? He didn't exactly have the best track record with tests. He shuttered just thinking about what would happen if he failed this one.

"Shawn." Shawn looked up to see Eddie standing right in front of him. "Sid wants to talk to you."

"Sid?" Shawn asked.

"The leader."

Shawn stood and followed Eddie over to the rest of the gang. He looked around at them. Some were smirking as if he were the punch line to a joke. Others were looking at him as if they would like nothing better than to start fighting him right then and there.

"Kid," Sid said. "I think we can all agree it's time we stop playing around here."

Shawn swallowed hard. "What do you mean?" He hoped his voice wasn't as high-pitched as he thought it was.

"We all agree it's been good having someone to do the grunt work around here, but if you're really gonna hold up your end of the bargain, you've gotta do more than that."

Shawn looked around at the gang members. Their smirks seemed to get bigger. "What do I have to do?"

"We have a client that needs a little reminder that we aren't a loan service. We expect payment quickly, or there are consequences. You're going with Lukas and Patch to remind him."

For a moment, Shawn thought his lungs shut down. He forced the air in and out of his lungs until he was able to speak. "No," he said softly.

"No?" Sid asked. He and the others started laughing. "That wasn't a request."

Shawn gulped in a breath. He kept his voice as steady as he could manage. "I don't care. I'm not doing it."

"Did everyone hear that? He's backing out on his end of the deal. You know what that means, don't you?"

There was that laughter again. The tattooed muscle man—he thought that's who Sid referred to as Lukas—moved closer and closer. Shawn started backing up before he realized it was futile. The whole gang was closing in on him. The cage was growing smaller by the second. He flinched and closed his eyes on instinct. He tensed up in anticipation. He was so sure the blows would come any second.

No. He wasn't going to give them the satisfaction of seeing his fear. Slowly, he opened his eyes and stood his ground, looking back at them defiantly. A strong hand gripped his shoulder from behind. It took all his will power to keep from jumping. He met Lukas's eyes. He refused to look at the fist raised and ready to fly his way.

"Wait," Eddie called out.

Everyone stopped moving and looked at Sid to see how he would handle this. Sid looked eerily, almost deadly, calm. "What do you want, Hunter?"

"Even I couldn't handle this kind of thing so soon after joining. Give him some time to get used to it. He'll toughen up."

Shawn could have hugged Eddie right then and there for buying him time if the situation would have allowed for it.

Sid stared hard at Eddie. He glared over at Shawn briefly before sending it back at Eddie again. "Fine. But he better toughen up quick."

The gang members all backed off. Shawn's eyes followed Lukas's fist as he lowered it.

"Get him out of here before I change my mind." Sid waved his hand dismissively as he turned his back on them.

Eddie walked over to Shawn and led him out of the warehouse, only making a small detour to give Shawn a chance to grab his bag. Neither boy said a word as they walked out to Eddie's beat-up red '86 Chevy. It wasn't until they were nearing the trailer park that they broke the silence.

"You're running out of time. I can't keep stalling for you forever." Eddie spared Shawn one quick glance before shifting his eyes back to the road.

"I know." Shawn looked out the window. It was a nice change getting to see nature pass him by after spending a weekend staring at the dilapidated walls of the warehouse. "What should I do?" His eyes never moved from the window.

"Toughen up fast."

They had reached the trailer park. Shawn could see his old trailer from there. He tore his eyes away from the window to look at Eddie. "Do I have any other choices?"

"Yeah."

"What?"

Eddie put the car into park before turning to look Shawn directly in the eyes. "Toughen up faster."

*Lyrics from "America" by Stephen Sondheim, featured in the movie version of West Side Story.