Disclaimer: I don't own Boy Meets World.

A/N: I'm sorry for the long wait. Thank you everyone who kept reading and reviewing. That's what kept reminding me I still had to complete this story. Here's the next chapter. Hope you enjoy!

Chapter 14

Shawn pulled the covers over his head in a futile attempt to block out the sunlight. Memories from last night came rushing back to him. Yesterday evening had been bad enough, then he hadn't even been able to escape from it when he slept. If anything, his nightmare had been even worse. It had started out exactly the same way his evening had, with the gang and the boy. The boy, however, had then morphed into John. The gang kept saying this was what he got for letting the man get suspicious.

Shawn curled into a ball. What was he supposed to do now? He knew John would want to talk about it. There wasn't really any escaping that. Not after last night. He ran a shaky hand through his hair and got up to get ready. A mental breakdown wouldn't solve anything. He'd just have to figure it out as he went along—not that that's any different from what he had been doing . . . .

SHSHSHSHSHSHSHSHSHSHSH

Shawn took a deep breath before walking towards the kitchen area, where John was setting out breakfast. "G'morning." John returned the greeting. Shawn grabbed a piece of toast and made a show of taking a bite before heading towards his backpack. "I hate to eat and run, but I'm running late."

"I've already called Feeny. He's covering my homeroom until we get there. We need to talk."

Shawn knew he should have some kind of comeback to that, but he just couldn't bring himself to say it. He dropped his backpack and dragged his feet back over to the table.

John waited until Shawn sat down. "What's wrong?"

Shawn looked down. "Nothing. Why?"

"Do you remember anything from last night?"

Shawn shifted. "So I had a nightmare. Big deal. Everyone has them."

"That wasn't a normal nightmare."

Shawn looked up. "What makes you think that?"

"You were screaming."

He was? Shawn frowned. Now that he thought about it, his throat did feel a little sore. "I made the mistake of watching Stephen King's It the other day. Normal clowns are creepy enough, but killer clowns are terrifying."

John just stared. He knew the kid was lying. Irrational fears could get pretty bad even for teenagers, but not like this. "I didn't know you were afraid of clowns."

"Well, I am. I thought I was over it, but I guess not." Shawn was starting to get really uncomfortable with how John seemed to be studying him. "I just think they're creepy. Cory's even worse than me with them. His parents hired one for his fifth birthday party. He started crying and ran when it said hi."

"So you had a nightmare about clowns," John said slowly.

Shawn nodded.

John just kept staring. This was going nowhere. "Just finish getting ready and we can go."

If Shawn had stood up any faster, his chair would have tipped over.

John rubbed his eyes.

SHSHSHSHSHSHSHSHSHSHSHSH

Shawn plopped down in his desk chair and slid down, hoping to escape all notice, but Cory turned around as soon as he had spotted Mr. Turner.

"Hey, Shawn, sleep in again?" Cory asked, turning around. He paused when he saw the bruise. "Shawn. What happened?"

Shawn bit back a groan when Cory's reaction caught Topanga's attention too. The two of them looked pretty worried. If the situation were reversed, though, he guessed he'd be the same. Before he knew it, Topanga was standing right beside him and Cory was completely turned around in his seat and staring directly at him. And both of them were waiting for an answer. He sighed. "Look, it's not that big of a deal. I ran into a couple of thugs at the trailer park yesterday. You know how they are."

The two continued to just stare at him. Cory was the first to break the silence. "You never tell the truth right off the bat. What gives?"

"I already had this conversation with John last night. I'm tired right now. I don't feel like going through the whole routine again when I knew you'd just get it out of me anyways."

Cory just kept staring at him like he was trying to decide whether to believe him or not. Shawn fought the urge to look away and met his gaze full on. After what seemed like an eternity, Cory finally gave a small nod. "You're sure you're all right?" he asked.

"Yeah," Shawn said. "I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be?"

"No reason."

"Shawn—"

"Topanga, he says he's fine. He says that's what happened. I believe him. Just let it go."

Shawn let out the breath he didn't even realize he'd been holding. He finally dropped his gaze and missed the look his friends gave one another. But Cory trusted him. He always had.

SHSHSHSHSHSHSHSHSH

"Cory, wait a minute," Topanga said. Their TV Broadcasting class had just ended. All the other students were filing out.

"Sure thing," Cory said before calling to Shawn, "We'll catch up with you later."

Shawn barely missed a beat walking.

Once the rest of the students left, Cory turned fully back to his girlfriend. "What's up?"

Topanga's eyes strayed to the front of the room where Mr. Williams sat at his desk, presumably planning another class period. She would have been more comfortable having this conversation in private, but he seemed to be busy. "I'm worried about Shawn."

Cory sighed. "I already told you. He says he's fine. He says that's what happened. Therefore, he is fine and that's all that happened."

"Yeah, but that's the thing. You said yourself, since when does Shawn tell the truth when first asked? He always starts with some far-fetched lie."

Cory shoved his hands in his pocket. "He said he was tired and didn't feel like going through the usual routine."

"You've known Shawn for years now. Have you ever seen him act like he did then?"

Cory thought back through the years. Shawn wasn't serious very often. "Yeah, when his mom took off with their house."

"But in that time, was he ever fully truthful about anything?"

"Yeah."

"About something serious?"

Cory sighed again. "Once. When he was sure no one wanted him and he got angry. He started yelling about how he didn't need anybody."

"So he yelled," Topanga prodded. It was hard putting words to what was bothering her about Shawn, but they finally seemed to be getting somewhere. She had to keep pushing.

Cory looked at her confused. "Yes," he said slowly.

"He showed emotion—anger."

Cory nodded. "I just said that. Where are you going with this?"

"If you had to categorize Shawn's emotional state this morning when we had that conversation, what would you say he primarily displayed?" Topanga held her breath, willing her boyfriend to realize what she already had.

Cory seriously thought about it for a moment. He had seen a whole range of emotions from his friend over the years. Anger, joy, sorrow, resentment, betrayal . . . . "Nothing. I couldn't say. There wasn't anything."

"Now do you know why I'm worried?"

"Yeah," he said while he looked back up at her, "because I am too."

"We have to talk to him."

"I'll talk to him at lunch about going to Chubbie's after school today. We'll talk to him then."

The bell rang again. They hurriedly grabbed their things to head to their next class.

"Hold it," Mr. Williams called. "I'll write you passes."