Walking into the cafeteria for the first time in three months it became painfully obvious to Scott that is was going to be a little more difficult then he had ever imagined to readjust to life at Horizon. The loud chattering that existed moments before was now nothing more then a dull whisper as all eyes appeared to now be focused on him. While most of these people were undoubtedly thinking he was back because he couldn't hack it in the real world there were a few out there that did not know his past and just assumed that he was new blood and would therefore be easy to take advantage of. After Scott had made it through the lunch line, he turned and surveyed the crowd, unsure about where he should sit. Should he join the rest of the Cliffhangers? Should he just assume that he wasn't welcome and sit by himself? All questions were answered when Auggie, called out, "Hey, Meat. Over here." As Scott sat down with his back facing the door, the entire cafeteria went silent and all eyes turned to the entrance and Shelby, who took one look at Scott before grabbing her food and heading to a table by herself as far away from Scott as she could manage.
"Don't worry about her Scott. She'll come around eventually. You're coming back caught us all by surprise. Not just her." Ezra said in an effort to ease his uncomfortableness.
"Yeah, whatever." He said as his gaze continued to drift in Shelby's direction. Once she realized that Scott was looking at her, she got rid of her dishes and left the cafeteria. As much as she thought she was ready to see him again and to talk to him again, she was wrong. All the emotion attached to his return hit her one hundred times harder then she ever thought possible. "Hey guys, will you excuse me?"
"Yo man. Just let her go." Auggie persuaded.
"No. I gotta talk to her." He said and was gone before anyone could stop him.
"So, do you think she's going to talk to him," Juliet asked once Scott was gone.
"Not a chance," Daisy said assuredly.
Shelby ran all the way back to the dorms and was so caught up in seeing Scott for the first time that she didn't hear him behind her calling her name. By the time that Scott finally caught up with her she was already in the darkest part of the dorm, sitting on the floor in the corner with her knees pulled up to her chest, trying to disappear into the darkness.
"Shelby, are you in here?" he called before finally spotting her.
"Go away," she demanded without even looking up at him.
"Come on Shel. Talk to me."
"I said go away!" she said getting angrier then before.
"Fine, but you are going to have to talk to me sooner or later." He said before turning and heading to the door.
"The later the better," she mumbled, but by then Scott was already out of earshot.
Having been turn down in his effort to talk to Shelby, Scott dejectedly went to find some of the other Cliffhangers. Maybe someone could enlighten him as to what Shelby went through over the summer as Peter left him to believe that Shelby had gone through some tough times right after he left. The last thing Scott really wanted on his first afternoon back was to be alone to torment himself about Shelby or about the summer with his father. When he walked into his dorm he saw Auggie and Ezra sitting on their respective beds working on some sort of paper.
"Whatcha guys doing?"
"Essay Sophie assigned in group yesterday," Auggie said not looking up so he would not loose his current train of thought.
"Oh, that. Peter told me about it earlier. Something about our greatest fear right?" Scott said making his way over to his bed.
"Yeah," Ezra said as he put his books away and looked up at Scott. "So, you gonna tell us what you did to land yourself back here?"
"Coming back was my choice, but in short, it was here or the system."
"So, what was going on?"
"Things just weren't working out at home. So, what has been going on with Shelby since I left?" He asked trying to change the subject away from him for just a few moments.
"To make a long story short, at first she was just a plain bitch to be around, but then one day she changed. Just like that she was being pleasant. It was like she had finally come to terms with you leaving, but then yesterday after she found out you were coming back she just went into silent mode and hasn't talked to anyone since. She won't even hang out with us anymore," Ezra said in an attempt to quickly fill Scott in on the Shelby details of the last three months.
"That doesn't say a whole lot, but thanks."
"Look man, if you want to know what is going on with Shelby, then go and talk to Shelby. It's not our job to let you know what she has been doing since the minute you left."
"Chill Auggie. I was just asked a question. Where is this tude coming from?"
Putting his stuff away, Auggie then turned his attention to Scott. "You come. You go. You come. You go. Make up your mind Scott. I think I speak for everyone when I say that I am so sick and tired of the saga of Scott and how long is he going to stay, but more then that I am sick of the soap opera that is your relationship with Shelby. You leave and we are left to pick up the pieces and I know that I am personally getting sick and tired of it. Face it Scott, the world does not revolve around you and your feelings for Shelby." Auggie then got up and left the dorm, not giving Scott any opportunity to respond.
Not long after Auggie left, Scott did the same as he and Ezra were left speechless by Auggie's little tirade. Scott walked around the campus alone for a little while before deciding to go and hunt Peter down. It was obvious from both Auggie and Shelby's reaction to him that he was not welcome back in the Cliffhangers group, no matter how much Peter insisted that things would be all right. After checking both in his office and in the main lodge, to no avail, Scott decided to sit and wait on the front steps for him to show up.
"Hey stranger," he heard from behind him.
"Hey, Jules. How are things going?"
"Not too bad. How about yourself?"
"I'm beginning to think coming back was a mistake."
"Why's that?" she asked in a concerning tone.
"Well, obviously because of Shelby, but just now Auggie went off on me for no good reason."
"That doesn't sound like something Auggie would do."
"I know. That's why it caught me so off guard. It was really weird Jules, but that is not what I am really worried about. I know that Auggie and I will move past this, but I don't think Shelby and I are going to. She won't even talk to me. I can tell that she is mad at me, but I can't for the life of me figure out why. I thought she would be happy that I came back for good."
"The best advice that I can offer you is to try and see things from her perspective Scott. And Auggie's too." Juliet said, patting him on the knee as a sign of support before leaving.
As he sat there alone, Juliet's advice rang through his head. Look at things from their perspective.
It had become impossible for Scott to forget the night of the morp. After all, it was the night that brought him both so much happiness as well as so much pain. It was hard for him to see at the time, but he hurt Shelby so much that night. He set her up for the disappointment that she felt. Not only that, but he did it for the second time in as many days. It was no wonder she refused to see him now.
It was easy once he thought about it to see where Shelby's anger came from. He never even gave it a second thought when he showed up at the morp that she would expect that he was going to stay at Horizon and he certainly wasn't going to tell her right then when she was so excited to see him.
The entire school was outside enjoying a meteor shower when she noticed him for the first time. "Why did you come back?" she asked with a smile on her face, excited to see him.
"Because…Because I love you!" He said before pulling her into his arms and giving her a huge hug.
Once the meteor shower was over, the two managed to sneak away from the group to get some time alone. "I have never been happier to see anyone in my whole entire life," she said as they walked away into the darkness arm in arm.
"Same here," Scott said as he stopped and pulled Shelby in close to him and gave her a kiss.
"Hey! Where do you to think you are going?" a voice from behind them asked.
"Nowhere Peter," Scott said as he was looking at Shelby with a guilty smile. "I was just…"
"Yeah, I know what you were just gonna do. Look. Just because tonight is a special night does not mean you can ignore the rules we have around here. Now you can have a few more minutes to enjoy the night, but then you need to get back to the dorms. Lights out in one hour."
"Thanks Peter," Shelby called.
"Night guys," he said. "Oh and Scott…"
"Yeah Peter?"
"It's good to see you again." He said before disappearing into the darkness.
"Maybe we should head back," Scott suggested.
"Probably, but what do you think about meeting up at the abandoned cabin after lights out."
"I wouldn't miss that for the world."
Scott waited until he thought everyone was asleep before he got dressed and headed out to meet Shelby. On his way up there he could not help but wonder if he was doing the right thing, but in the end he realized that they had to be alone before he could tell her. That was the only way she might even begin to understand. When he finally arrived at the path that veered up towards the cabin, he looked down to see that it was covered in rose petals. I guess Shelby's here, he thought. He reached for the door and took a deep breath before knocking on it.
"Come in," he heard her call from the other side.
After one more quick, deep breath he opened the door and walked in on the most romantic scene he had ever been witness too.
"Scott! Scott!" Peter called trying to snap him out of his obvious daydream.
"Huh? Oh, hey Peter," Scott said realizing that Peter was standing right in front of him.
"Heard you were looking for me. What can I do you for?"
"Well, it's just that I would like you to put me in a different group."
"Why's that?"
"They don't want me there and I don't want to be where I'm not wanted."
"Things just too difficult for you Scott?"
"Yeah Peter. You didn't see them."
"God Scott! Is that how it's always going to be with you? Whenever things get difficult or don't go your way you're going to bail?"
"It's not like that Peter?"
"Then how is it Scott because how I see it right now this is just a challenge for you to get adjusted to them and for them to get adjusted to you. Give them time. Step up to the challenge."
"They have made it pretty clear that they don't want me though."
"So change their minds, but if this continues then it will be something that we will hammer out in group. Until then, step up to the challenge Scott. It will do you good." With that Peter was gone.