Chapter 21

Over the next few days, Shelby continued to decline any of her mother's calls and when a postcard she had sent arrived, Shelby paid no mind while Luke read it aloud to her, asking if she could go play, afterwards. She still did not want to go to school, even though Luke had a talk with Mrs. Avery, who hadn't noticed anything, but would keep an eye out. He couldn't help notice how much Shelby was withdrawing again, and only wanted to curl up on her pillow and play her game. Luke thought it would cheer her up when he stopped by the bank to deposit her latest allowance and saw Shelby finally had enough money for her game console.

He sat down on the bed and leaned on the pillows, against the headboard. When he told her the good news, a smile appeared on her face. "How about Sunday, after Lorelai brings you back, we head for the store?"

Shelby nodded. "Yeah," she replied, softly.

"I was thinking, if you don't have enough for a game, I would pay for it?" Luke also suggested. Shelby grew very excited to hear that. "I am so proud of you for sticking with this, kiddo. You did extra good, working downstairs and saving your allowance even when you wanted those other games."

"Ta' ta next ting I wan' to save for," she told her dad.

He smiled. "Is it now?"

Shelby nodded, and scooted closer to lay against his shoulder. She then changed the subject, wanting to show her dad, her team at the moment.

"What happened to Pikachu?" he asked. "I thought he was on your team."

"He was. Pikachu no evolve. I try to use a 'tone to evolve him to Raichu, but ta game no le' me. So I pur him away in ta PC."

Luke nodded, "Oh, so Pikachu got benched?"

She nodded, in return.

"I thought you loved Pikachu, though?"

"I do, bu' Raichu is be-ter in ba-toe." He had noticed the T sound at the end of a word was also hard for her to say, including the end of syllables.

"Raichu's better in battle than Pikachu is?" he repeated for clarity, which she nodded. Luke reached for where Pikachu laid on the bed, nearby, and looked at the toy, "Sorry, pal. Even the best of us get benched," making Shelby giggle.

Jess had walked into the apartment at that moment, and overheard the guy. He stopped to question, "Are you talking to a toy?"

Luke shot up, tossing Pikachu over beside where Shelby was sitting, landing near Maggie the stuffed kitten. "What? No."

"Really? Because it sure looked like it."

He just ignored the boy and turned back to Shelby, to have her go bring him her backpack so he could check her homework folder. Every school day, Shelby brought home papers for him to read and sign, that kept him up-to-date on how she's doing and what they accomplished that day, with comments Mrs. Avery would write. Luke faintly remembered the ol'homework folder. Of course, he remembers bringing it to his mother, more, as there were some days he wouldn't want his own father to see. So far, Shelby hadn't had any bad days, yet and he wasn't expecting one any time soon, if at all. Or, so he thought…

The following day, Shelby left for school with Lorelai, then eventually, followed by Jess. Things seemed to run smoothly through the morning. Luke had to run some errands in the afternoon so he missed the phone call from the school. Still out when it was time for Shelby to get out, he headed straight to the school, parking before sliding out. He looked around for her class, spotting them, but Luke couldn't help notice there wasn't a baseball cap among the many heads. His first thought was, Oh, God, she's back in the cupboard!

Luke headed over and asked one of the other first grade teachers where his kid was. Mrs. Avery wasn't even out there, either. The teacher told him it was Mrs. Avery's day to hold after-school detention and Shelby could have been with her. That was impossible. Luke couldn't see Shelby receiving detention. But he headed inside, anyway, heading for Shelby's classroom. Sure enough, there she was, still sitting at her desk, along with a couple of other kids.

Luke threw open the door, going inside. "What's going on?" he asked Mrs. Avery, who stood up from her desk as all heads were directed towards him. It was a little embarrassing, to say the least. She told the kids not to move from their seats or say a word as she headed for the door, having Luke step outside.

"I called your place and left a message with Caesar. I thought you would have gotten it," she explained.

"I've been out running errands, half the day. What's going on? Why isn't Shelby outside with the rest of her class?"

Mrs. Avery placed her hands, upside down, behind her. She glanced at the floor before looking up at him. "Shelby got into a fight, today during lunch recess."

Luke stared at the woman. "You sure you got the right kid?"

She nodded. "When you told me Shelby might be getting bullied, I tried to keep my eye out for anything of the like. Well, I hadn't noticed any of the other kids picking on her."

"But obviously, someone was," he pointed out. "I mean, she hasn't been wanting to go to school."

"She also hasn't been wanting to go out to recess," she added. "It seems the bully isn't in our class. He's in another class, and has been bullying a lot of the students, including two little boys Shelby hangs around with during recess."

Luke nodded, "Ethan and Alan?"

"I believe so, yes. According to the boys, the other boy bothers them, shoves them, and calls them, names, including to Shelby, and so Shelby finally shoved him, back. The two ended up in a fist fight. Surprised me, actually. Thankfully, one of her friends came and got us, and we were able to break them up."

"Aw jeez." Luke dropped his face into his hands. He lifted his head, apologizing for his daughter's sudden behavior, and explained, briefly, what had been going on at home with not wanting to speak to her mom.

"We were planning on the other kid meeting with Miss Evans, our school's guidance counselor. Maybe it'll be good for Shelby if she meets with her, too."

"She won't talk right away," he pointed out.

Mrs. Avery shrugged. "How ever long it takes, I'm sure Miss Evans can get to the bottom of things. She's very well liked here at this school, among the students and teachers."

"Okay," Luke agreed, unsure, but whatever would help, he was for.

"Detention is over at three-thirty. You may pick her up then."

Luke thanked her before watching Mrs. Avery head back inside the classroom. Taking a really long breath, he then headed outside, to wait for Shelby in his truck. With the parent traffic gone, Luke was able to move closer to the school building.

He waited the whole thirty minutes, thinking of what to do. What would his own father do? Luke never thought to lay down the no fighting rule. Shelby fighting? She was prone to lashing out at others, including towards him, but Madison never mentioned Shelby actually fist fighting someone. That sounded crazy to him. But here it was, and where did Shelby pick it up from? She had to have learned it from someone. Or, maybe it was just because no one else had ever fought back. Whatever the reason, Luke didn't know what to do at this point as several thoughts raced through his mind.

Luke held an elbow on his door, resting his head against his fingers. This probably wasn't a territory Lorelai could help him with as he couldn't see Rory ever getting into a fist fight with someone. Luke definitely couldn't ask his sister as her kid was staying with him because of fighting. Letting out a tired sigh, Luke slouched back in his seat, placing his hands on top of his head, his hat pushed up a bit when it touched the back of the seat.

Eventually, Mrs. Avery brought the kids out in a single file line to wait for the parents.

Luke took a deep breath, letting it out, before opening his door. Stepping out of the truck, he called over to get Shelby's attention. When she looked up, he motioned for her with his head. Shelby began walking towards him, watching her feet as she held onto the straps of her backpack. Luke had her climb in on his side before sliding back under the wheel. Not a word was said between either of them. Halfway home, Luke did end up switching on the radio, hoping some country tunes might help ease the tension. He had no idea just how helpful it would be. George Strait's song, "Love Without End, Amen" was just starting and it couldn't have come on at a better time.

Luke rarely got into trouble as a boy as he usually kept to himself, most of the time just like Shelby did now. But as a kid sometimes would, he had a few slip-ups that Luke had to face up to with his own father. He could probably guess Shelby was terrified at this point, waiting to see what Luke would say or do. Now that he thought about it, had Shelby ever been disciplined for anything? Sometimes, not being able to speak up for herself, might lead to either Shelby either being blamed for something or there was a possibly maybe she never got to tell her side of an event that had happened, so she would've had to take whatever consequences of whatever a foster parent or someone gave.

When Luke pulled up to the diner, he turned off the truck, but left the keys in the ignition. Taking a deep breath, he turned to Shelby, who hadn't moved, not even to remove her seat belt.

"What happened today, kiddo?"

Shelby stared at the floorboard, not saying anything. Not one motion, either.

Luke undid his own seat belt, to turn in his seat. He leaned an arm on the back of the seat, behind her. "I'm not mad, Shell. Just worried. This doesn't sound like you at all."

Holding her arms around her backpack, Shelby squeezed it to her chest as she sucked on her lip. Luke tilted his head to the side, studying her. It was heartbreaking to watch his daughter, probably struggling to find her words.

"I can't help unless you tell me what's on your mind," he told her, gently. Tears were starting to fill up in her eyes. So, Luke moved his arm from the back of the seat, using it to undo her seat belt, having her move her backpack out of the way, so he could move Shelby onto his knee and wrapped both of his arms around her waist. "I hate having to make you talk, you know that, but if what's bugging you is causing you to hurt another kid, we need to discuss this." Shelby tried to lay her head against her dad, but Luke wouldn't let her. It was hard when it came to being the tough dad with his little girl. "You can take your time, there's no rush. Just tell me what's going on so we can fix this."

He saw her mouth open, a little which Luke rubbed her upper arm, affectionately. "Toby…" she managed to squeak out, but was having trouble getting the rest out.

"Toby? Is that the boy who was picking on you?"

Shelby gave a slow nod, staring at the radio. "He...was…" Her lip was quivering so she sucked it in.

"It's okay, kiddo. You're doing good," Luke continued to rub her arm.

"He was making fun of…" she took a deep breath per Luke's request before she continued. "Making fun of E-ten's and Alan's haircut. He...he always make fun of us and when w-we try to walk away, h-he pushed..." Shelby started taking another breath after each word. "...us...and...no...le'...us...up. The tears were starting to leak out by this point.

Luke swallowed a lump that had formed in his throat. "I'm sorry to hear that, kiddo."

"I...no...wan'...to-to-to hur'...him. He...no 'top."

"Toby wouldn't stop?" he repeated.

Shelby shook her head.

"So you hit him?" Luke asked.

She shook her head. "I pushed hi-him firs'. He...hi'...me...back...so...I hi' him...back. Ten we jus' kep' hi'...ting ea' o'ter."

"You kept hitting each other until your teacher came over?"

Again, she nodded.

Quickly thinking of what to say, Luke told her, "Well, what Toby was doing wasn't very nice, but hitting him wasn't nice, either, kiddo." Now that his focus was a little more clear, Luke could see purple splotches beside her right eye. "I wish you would have told me, I would have talked to your teacher so this wouldn't have happened." It looked like there seemed to be more as Shelby sucked on her lip, again. "What is it, kiddo?" This time, she remained silent, not saying a word. "Like I said, I'm not mad at you. I will be postponing getting your game, this weekend, to next weekend instead, and I'm taking your Gameboy away until after Monday."

Her head shot up at the mention of her Gameboy being taken away. "No," she cried out, producing even more tears.

"Fighting will not be tolerated, Shelby, for any reason, and there will be consequences. There will also be no TV until after Monday, with the exception of movies. I'm sure you'll be watching movies over at Lorelai's house, but there will be no Pokemon, tomorrow morning. Understood?"

Shelby looked away, the tears pouring down both sides of her face.

"I'm not doing this to be mean, kiddo. I need you to understand there are consequences to the things you do. If you don't do your chores or your homework, there won't be any TV or video games. The same goes for fighting or doing something you're not supposed to." He heard her sniff in a few times. "Hey," Luke moved his head to look into her tear-stained face, "I love you. I hate having to do this, but I have to teach you these things. In fact, I've been on your end, a few times, when I was your age. So I know how it must feel. It'll be okay, though. I promise."

Shelby glanced up at him with just her eyes.

Luke smiled for her and squeezed Shelby to him, in a loving hug. He held her for a while as Shelby cried it out. Once she was feeling up to it, they finally stepped out and headed inside, which Luke wanted to see the full damage Toby had done. Not only were there bruises around her eye, Shelby had a few on her shoulders and chest and admitted to giving him, a few bruises, herself. They weren't bad, though and were already fading. Thankfully kids didn't have a whole lot of strength to really do much damage. Another thing, Luke noticed, was after that, Shelby had started avoiding Jess, not wanting to even look at her cousin. Sure she never talked to him, she still acknowledged him and once even tried to get him to read to her since she'd seen him, reading. Of course, Jess had refused, stating he wasn't about to read a "kiddie book" out loud to a little kid and was still referring to Shelby as squirt. It never made the kid ignore him, especially once Luke assured it wasn't anything personal why Jess acted that way towards her.

After Shelby left with Lorelai and Rory, the next day, Luke decided to finally confront Jess about it, asking if there was anything going on between the cousins.

"How the hell should I know?" Jess shrugged it off. "Not like the kid says anything to me, anyway."

"You two seemed fine, Thursday. Now, all of a sudden, Shelby can't even look at ya?"

"Why don't you ask her, then?"

"I did, she won't tell me anything. That's why I'm asking you," he told him.

"Well, ya got me. And besides, I could care less." Even though Jess told him he didn't show much care for his cousin, or interest for that matter, Shelby had mentioned she liked him. Up to this point, anyway, and now that he thought about it, the night Luke had come up to find them both reading after hearing movement from inside, did seem suspicious. He got nowhere with his nephew. Something was going on, but neither one was talking.

The sleepover ended up being a success, despite Luke being nervous. He called a few times to see how things were going. Shelby was fine for the most part. She felt nervous at bedtime, but Rory showed her that she wasn't that far away. She even slept with her head at the foot of her bed for the younger girl. Shelby did end up having an accident along with a few bad dreams from sleeping in a new place, but Lorelai laid with her until Shelby fell back to sleep once she was cleaned up, then headed back to bed, herself.

Sunday morning, Shelby was the first to wake up, being used to her dad's routine. She had headed into Rory's room, waking the teenaged girl and the two ended up laying there and talking until Lorelai woke up, an hour or so later. Luke couldn't help feel relieved the trial sleepover was a success. In fact, Shelby wanted to do it again.

When Monday came, Luke took Shelby to school so he could speak to Mrs. Avery again, about Toby. She assured him they would do what they can, now that they were aware of the problem, but since they had dozens of other students to also look out for, the teachers could only do so much. Shelby didn't want Luke to leave, clinging to his leg so he couldn't. After some assurement and suggesting she stay within a teacher's view during recess, for now, he was able to leave her. Not that Luke wanted to leave, himself. Taking her dad's suggestion to heart, Shelby made Ethan and Alan move their spot closer to where the teachers sat. The farthest Shelby was willing to go was the monkey bars and the swings. Even with the teachers nearby, Toby still tried to mess with Shelby and her friends, especially when she wasn't trying to stick up for herself, now.

"Shell, just because you can't hit him, doesn't mean you can't stick up for yourself," Luke pointed out when she told him the kid was still messing with them, over dinner.

"Socking the kid would work a lot better," Jess pointed out.

Luke waved him off. "Don't listen to Jess," he told her and showed her what to do without needing to say anything. "Just stand up straight to the kid, look him in the eye until he decides to walk away. Works every time."

"Wow," Jess nodded as if in disbelief.

Luke looked over at him, again. "What?" he asked.

"That's exactly why we kept it a secret."

Luke looked at his nephew, slightly sideways, unsure what Jess was referring to. "What are you talking about? What secret?"

"Nothing," Jess replied into his drink.

"Jess." Now that it was said, Luke was not about to let things go. Jess tried to shrug it off.

Finally, after a lot of probing, he came out and said, "Fine. If you must know, when I heard some little punk was messing with the kid, I started showing her how to defend herself. I didn't think you would go for it, so the two of us did it when you weren't around. End of story." He continued eating.

Luke looked over at Shelby, who was staring at hers. "Shelby, is this true?" He saw her head nod without making eye contact. Turning back to Jess, Luke asked, "So you told your six-year-old cousin it was alright to hit another kid?"

"A kid who was messing with her, yes," he answered, honestly, for a change.

"Jess, you don't tell your six-year-old cousin something like that. What if Shelby had broken his nose or something?"

"That would be bonus points right there," Jess pointed at him.

"No it wouldn't, it would be detention for two days, which is what Shelby got for it. Possibly even suspended from school."

The boy shrugged. "Keeps them from messing with you."

"There are other, better ways than fighting," Luke assured his nephew.

"Whatever you say," he replied. "I'm just trying to help the kid out."

It dawned on the guy. "So, what you're saying is," Luke couldn't help smirk. "You do care about your cousin."

"Uh, no. I was just showing her, she has to fend for herself since no one else is gonna do it." Jess took a bite of his dinner while Luke continued to smirk at him.

"Sure."

"I mean it," he added when Jess noticed.

"Yeah, I get it," Luke nodded.

Jess glared across the table at his uncle before getting up. Grabbing his jacket, he stormed out of the apartment, replying with, "out," when Luke asked where he was going.

Luke turned back to Shelby, who was still watching her food.

"Well, it looks like you're having more luck with him than I am, at least," he told her. Mostly, it was an out loud thought to himself.