A/N: Thanks for the reviews you guys. I'm really grateful for them. I'm glad you all prefer story format because I think I'll stick with it. I would've posted a little "update alert" on livejournal, but my computer is on one.
This story finally has a plot, dun dun dun. It'll become more apparent later, but it's easier to write when you actually have a plan in motion. Why should you guys care? That means faster updates!
Now, on with chapter 29 (ha, ha, ahaha, one away from thirty).
"Lila! I'm glad I ran into you!"
Shannon sucked her teeth and turned around to find Kate leaning against a set of lockers. She was fiddling with a heart shaped pendant around her neck and staring daggers at her. Shannon glared back at the blonde, thanking creation for the self control she'd developed over the years.
"First of all, my name is Shannon..."
"Your grandmother was a hell of a woman," Kate smiled smugly. She stepped closer, invading Shannon's personal space. "It's a shame you two are nothing alike."
Shannon swallowed. She balled up her fists and smashed them into the pockets of her jeans.
"What do you want?" she asked in a chilly voice.
"Just to have a little chat. I heard you went out with Elliot."
"And...?"
"And, Marcie has had her on eye on him for years. So I hope you enjoyed your little outing because it won't be happening again."
"Elliot and I are friends," Shannon paused then laughed. She smiled when Kate stared at her strangely. "Why am I explaining myself to you? My own mother doesn't dictate who I do and don't see. How you got the notion that you can is beyond me. What I do know is if I want to see Elliot, that's exactly what I'm going to do."
"You blew into town twenty minutes ago and you already think you're running things. Like I told you before, I own this school. If I say the two of you are done, you're done."
Shannon laughed heartily, slapping her thighs and slouching against the lockers. She reached for Kate's shoulder while trying to catch her breath, small giggles slipping out between gasps for air. Kate glared and slapped her hand away.
"Oh..." Shannon arched her brow and gave her a sympathetic look. "You were serious."
"I'm not in the mood for your smart mouth, okay? I'm not going to let you screw over my friend."
"Look, if Marcie has a problem, then Marcie should be having this conversation. We're in high school; it won't hurt her to be direct. Now, if you'll excuse me," Shannon slung her bag over her shoulder. "I must be going."
Shannon pushed open the front door and tossed her bag aside. She ran her fingers through her unruly hair and made her way to the living room. She and Lulu were supposed to compare their history notes and then check out a movie.
She opened her mouth to call her step sister, but quickly shut it when she noticed her grandfather lounging in the armchair reading the newspaper. She took a few steps back, biting her lip and cursing herself for wearing heals.
"Lila?"
"Shit," Shannon murmured. Would it be wrong to hope he was seeing her grandmother in the door way? She stared at him like a dear caught in head lights. "Please..."
"What are you staring at child? Come on in here, I'd like to have a word with you."
Shannon bit her lip. She flopped into the room, trying very not hard to hide her wariness. She smiled politely, standing until the old man gestured for her to sit down. She placed her hands at her sides, back in her lap, and back at her sides. Edward shook his head and chuckled.
"You have nothing to worry about. We got off on the wrong foot," he smiled into her eyes. "When your mother wants something, she'll stop at nothing to get it. You know that all too well, don't you? She took you away from the only family you knew..."
"Mr. Quartermaine..."
"Cut the formalities! You are to call me grandfather just as your cousins do."
"With all do respect, Grandfather, the relationship I have with Tracy doesn't concern you."
Edward frowned. "Yes, I suppose you're right. Like I said, my demented daughter does want she wants and it takes a hell of a lot to stop her. One can never be too careful."
Shannon just stared. She shifted a bit, returning her hands to her lap.
"You look so much like her," he smiled a tightly. "When I first met your brother Dillon, I just knew he was going to be something like your mother. Fortunately he's so much like your grandmother, but that doesn't negate the fact that she raised him. She was his role model. You, my dear, are the only child Tracy didn't have a chance to wrap."
"Mr..."
"Grandfather."
"Grandfather, I'm not trying to be rude but I have homework..."
"Such discipline! You're not reckless and impulsive like that mother of yours."
"We've established that you think Mom and I are nothing alike..."
"Yes, yes, of course. I think you may be the sanest of my grandchildren, with the exception of your cousin Emily. I know I can trust you. I know you'll help me."
"Help you? Help you with what?"
"Your mother."
Shannon shot off the couch. She sighed and ran her fingers through her hair. "Uh, whatever issues the two of you have aren't my business. I just met Tracy and we've finally gotten to a common place. I don't want to ruin that."
"I understand, but your mother means to harm this family by ousting me from it. I can't allow that to happen. If you stand by and do nothing, if you don't help me, you're consenting to the destruction of this family."
"Pitting one family member against another can cause more destruction than whatever my mother is doing."
"Your mother..."
"Is a grown woman and you're a grown man. Take your issues up with her."
"What will it take, hmm? What'll happen you don't do as she asks? She'll ship you off to boarding school without giving it a second thought. I can protect you..."
"I..."
"Take time to think about this."
"Think about what?"
Shannon's head shot up at the sound of her brother's voice. Ned crossed the room, eyeing his grandfather suspiciously along the way, and placed a protective hand on his little sister's shoulder.
"I was just getting to know the latest addition to the family. No harm in that."
"I don't know about that," Ned arched his brow. "What were the two of you talking about?"
"Family," Edward snuck a glance at his granddaughter. "It's time she knows how things work here. It thought it best that I should be the one to..."
"Blackmail her first?" Ned laughed bitterly. "Shannon has no idea about the, ahem, ways of this family. She was raised by sane people with normal family values. Whatever plan you're coming up with, leave her out of it."
"I'm trying to protect her from the vicious vixen you two call a mother. Somebody's got to keep her from seeing Tracy through rose colored glasses and I'm going to be the one to do so."
Ned tilted his head. "Everything mother knows, she learned from you. Every scheme, every harsh word, every indifference, she learned at your knee. With that, she still manages to have some ounce of her humanity. You created the woman my mother learned to be and I'm not going to sit idly by and let you do the same to my little sister."
"Remember what I said," Edward laid a hand on the girl's other shoulder before leaving the room.
Shannon sighed. She covered the hand her brother had on her shoulder with her own. "Thanks."
"What are older brother's for?" Ned removed his hand and sat down on the couch. "He wasn't over the top was he?"
"By Quartermaine standards--no. In the rest of the world..."
"Don't pay him any mind. There's nothing that man loves more than fresh meat and new heirs."
Shannon nodded absently. She poured herself a glass of water and lifted the pitcher towards her brother. When he shook his head, she took her glass and joined him on the couch. She kept her eyes around in the glass, debating rather or not to trust him.
"I trust that you're feeling welcome?"
"Ha, yeah," she chuckled. "Mom and I had a major fight and made up, grandfather has already tried to throw me out and blackmail me. Oh, yeah, I feel right at home. Why are these people so...?"
"There are no words, don't bother looking for them," Ned sighed. "That's just the way they are."
"It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society."
"Krishnamurti," Ned smiled. "Nobody has ever defined this family as a healthy one, but it's strong. We may fight one another into the ground, but we can't help but love each other. It's who we are, it's in our blood. Grandfather means well. He worked very hard to build this family and wants to see it passed on with all the pieces in tact."
"All the pieces accept Mom's feelings. How can you accept the way he treats her?"
"It's all I've never seen. It's all she's ever seen."
"It's sick," Shannon sighed. "Can I ask you something?"
"I don't know, can you?"
"May I?"
"I suppose so."
"Do you think Mom would send me to boarding school when and if she gets tired of me?"
"I don't think she'll ever get tired of you."
"What if she does? We have a bumpy road ahead of us as far as creating a relationship goes. Not to mention that I'm a teenager. Dillon's grown and so are you. What if she gets sick of dealing with motherhood? I know she won't send me back to San Francisco..."
"I can't tell you what she will and won't do, but I can tell you that she probably won't send you away. She'll threaten, but she won't go through with it. Her own experience with boarding school wasn't a good one. I don't think she'd subject you to it."
"What happened?"
"Not my story to tell."
"I understand."
"Dillon," Ned shifted uncomfortably. He placed his hands in his lap, down at his sides, and back in his lap. Shannon smiled at the familiar gesture. "He, uh, he talks to me. I wanted you to know that you can too."
"Thanks," Shannon smiled up at him. "That means a lot."
"Good," he lifted himself from the couch. "I assume you have homework to do, so I'll let you get to it."
"Yeah. Really, thanks Ned. Not just for saving me from Mr. Quartermaine, but for talking to me."
"Anytime kid."
"Hey, if you see Lulu, tell her I'm waiting for her in the living room."
Ned nodded and left the room just as Lulu was coming in.
"Thanks for being on time."
"You're welcome," Lulu sat her bag in front of the coffee table and fell tiredly on the couch. "I'm not that late."
"Yeah, well, while waiting for you I ended up with the "destroy Tracy and save the family" diatribe from Mr. Quartermaine."
"Ehh," Lulu grimaced. "Makes me thank my salts that I'm not one of you."
"Them," Shannon said quickly. "I'm about as much a Quartermaine as you are."
"You're genetically related to them and trust me that counts for a lot."
"Tracy seems pretty normal…"
Lulu laughed. Shannon frowned.
"Oh please! Tracy is nowhere near normal."
"Who is? Comparing to that…whatever he is…that just tried to blackmail me into undermining my own mother, she's normal."
"You were ready to do anything to get back to Jenny a few days ago."
"I want to go back home. I miss my friends, my family, and my school. I miss my city. I'm just not ready to hurt Tracy to get all that back. I'm slowly getting to know her. We're developing a bond and it's the last thing I want to lose. My Mom will beat Tracy in court, but for the time being I'm getting to now another Mom.
"And if Tracy wins…?"
Shannon's head jerked. "She won't."
"How can you be sure?"
"She just won't, okay?"
"You heard what your lawyer said. Jenny has no legal rights in this case. With the law and the Quartermaine fortune on her just, you and Tracy may be together for the long hall."
"Why are we talking about this?"
"You need to come to terms…"
"You're not my therapist! I don't need help processing a damn thing!"
"I'm just trying to help…"
"All of you people are just trying to help. I can deal with my mother and my life by myself." she scowled at Lulu and started for the door. "You can keep your advice."
"Where are you going? I thought we were going to study."
"You know everything, figure it out yourself."
"Oh stop being such a drama queen! Where are you going?"
"To hell if I don't pray."
With that she stormed out of the room.
"Shannon, just the kid I wanted to see."
"Would you people just…" she turned around and found herself face to face with Alice. She was pissed, but she had the sense enough not to take it out on the wrestler of a maid. "Oh, hi Alice."
"Elliot Ruskin is waiting outside for you. I wasn't sure if you wanted your family to see him."
"If they don't approve, I don't care. Where'd you say he was?"
"On the front porch."
"Hey there little lady," Elliot grinned when she opened the door. "Fancy meeting you here."
"I didn't know you were coming by," Shannon smiled and leaned against the closed front door.
"Your mother hasn't picked up your family picture. I wanted to make sure nothing happened to it. When you want the job done right, you have to do it yourself. So I brought it over. If you want me to leave it and go. I just wanted…
"Elliot…"
"...to be the one to drop it off because…well…they collect dust…"
"Elliot…"
"You won't get into trouble, will you? If you will, I can bring it back to the store. It's just that…"
"ELLIOT!"
He looked up from his tennis shoes. "Sorry."
"Yeah," She smirked. "You came all the way here to bring me a picture?"
"Yes. Well, no. Not exactly, I mean, yeah, I wanted you to have your picture and all."
"Hmm."
"I don't have your number or I would've called."
"Look us up in the phone book."
"Oh, yeah, right. I'll just call the house and ask for you. When your mother picks up the phone and threatens to castrate me, I'll remind you that you suggested it."
"Mom wouldn't…yeah she would, but that's not the point."
"I was wondering if you wanted to hang out again tomorrow night," he asked softly. "There, I got it out. Look Shannon, I really like you. There's just something about you that makes my heart skip a beat. I don't want that to get away. Why are you just standing there?"
"I'm listening to you."
"I haven't said anything?"
"You just told me how much you like me and that I make your heart skip a beat…"
"Sweetheart, you need an anti-drug."
"MOM!"
"Lower your voice, will you? Who else would I be, you were looking right at me."
"Oh, uh, a joke a day keeps the doctor away."
"You would do well to put that photo shop boy out of your mind."
"What?"
"Exactly. What were you fantasizing about anyway?"
"I'm not about to have that conversation with you. Anyway, is there something you wanted?"
"Alice bellowed at the top of her lungs for me to come get you. She was trying to vacuum and you were standing there staring off into space."
Shannon blushed.
"Never mind that," Tracy waved the thought off with her hand. "You had a conversation with your grandfather today."
"How'd you…who told you?"
"I have my ways. Was he bothering you?"
"The fact that he's related to me bothers me."
"Don't say that," Tracy said sharply. "He doesn't mean you any harm. You're his only granddaughter and it can work to your advantage."
"Amy, Emily, whatever her name is…"
"Emily doesn't have a Quartermaine bone her body. You are his only legitimate granddaughter. If you had any sense you'd try to get to know him."
"Even at your expense?"
"What are you talking about?"
"Never mind. I have to study for my history test alone now, so I need time for the extra work. I'll be in my room if you need anything."
Tracy nodded and watched her daughter leave the room. By the time she finished pouring her drink, her latest plan was already in motion.
