To Thine Own Self Be True
~Disclaimer: I don't own oany of them. If I did I know a few guys who wouldn't see the light of day again.~
I'm not sure how long I'm going to make this, but bare with me
"To Thine Own Self Be True" ~William Shakespear
"What do you mean Scott's coming back?" Daisy spat at Sophie. Most of the other Cliffhangers felt the same way, they just weren't expressing it the way Daisy was. "When? Does Shelby know?"
Sophie looked over as Peter walked in carrying a dinner tray. It was going to Shelby, of that Sophie was certain. She knew that Peter considered the Cliffhangers his children, and it pained him to see any of them like this. "Yeah Daze, she knows." Peter said calmly, setting the tray down to look at the others. The group was a mess. David sat on the arm of the chair that Jess was in, his right hand on her shoulder. Ezra sat on Jess's feet, with Daisy practically in his lap, and Auggie and Juliet were lounging on the couch that Scott and Shelby usually inhabited. "She didn't take it nearly as well as the rest of you did."
"But don't worry," Sophie picked the tray up and just looked at the small amount of food on it. "Scott still has to be admitted. All you guys remember what it was like to be in the admit process. It will be at least another two days before he gets to see any of you." She looked around the room for the Cliffhanger that would be able to get up the fastest. Looking over to Peter for help, he quietly pointed to Ezra. "Ez? Would you mind taking this to Shelby?"
Ezra was off the floor before the sentence was finished. "No, anything else?" Peter handed him a folder of what he presumed to be school work. "Okay, I'll make sure she knows what she's doing." He left with a slight nod to Daisy.
Daisy carefully surveyed the remaining Cliffhangers. "So Peter, how did Shell take the news?" She knew what the answer to that would be. She had seen Shelby go through this before. This is one of the hardest things for someone in Shelby's position to go through.
"There was a wide variety of emotions Daze." Sitting in one of the side chairs, Peter thought about the best way to describe Shelby's reaction to the news. "Anger, sadness, longing. All of these emotions are expectable when dealing with the return of someone you never thought you'd see again. Someone you've prepared yourself to live without. Before we talk about Shelby, we're going to Round Robin." A loud groan came from the group on the other end of the room. "Upon hearing about Scott's return, I feel; Fill in the blank Auggie." Peter passed the 'talking stick' to Auggie.
"Cautious." Auggie noticed the groups blank stares. "How do we know if we can trust him again? He's been gone through most of our things with Shell, and we don't know how we're supposed to face him. Jules?"
Juliet caught the stick and sat up. "Happy!" She squealed, watching as Daisy put her forefingers up to her ears. "Scott's coming back. We need him here to learn with the rest of us. Maybe now that he's back we'll be able to get back to the way we were before he left."
"Fat chance at that one, Queenie." Shelby said solemnly, following Ezra into the lodge. She sat down on the floor next to Daisy, and reached up to hold her sister's hand.
Juliet pretended not to hear her. "Jess?"
The stick landed in Daisy's lap. "Hey Aug," she feigned unhappiness. "Teach you're girl how to throw." She passed the stick up to Jessica.
"I'm not really sure." Jessica looked around the room. All she knew about Scott was how much he and Shelby cared about each other, and that was the last thing she wanted to bring up. "Scott seemed to be an important part of the group, and when he left, everything that I've seen you guys accomplish disappeared. He seemed to be you're rock, and I think that would be a great thing to get back." She looked over to Peter's for reassurance. He nodded gently and she looked at the rest of the group. "I guess that would make me a bit relieved to see us get back to where we should be. Ezra?"
Instead of tossing it, Jessica just handed it to him. "A bit of everything actually." Ezra looked cautiously at Shelby. "I feel good because, it's Scott, but on top of that, I'm feeling everything from anger to pure shock. He just leaves three days after the Morp, then four months later, he expects us to let him back into our lives. It's almost as if he doesn't think we have anything better to do." Everyone in the room noticed that he wasn't speaking to the group, he was talking to Shelby. It was almost as if he was speaking her words for her. "Above all though, I'm just glad that he's realized that he belongs here with the rest of us. David?"
The stick passed through the air smoothly, landing in David's hand. David and Ezra didn't care for each other much, but they always seemed to get past it in group. "Relieved." He said dramatically. "By Peter's carefully calculated statistics, one out of every four kids that leave Horizon actually make it in the real world. I'm so glad that Scott's actually coming back. It evens my chances up by three." He laughed and noticed that most of the other Cliffhangers were laughing too. A major shock to him seeing as though most of them would have tried to kill him for a remark like that three weeks ago. Then he realized that there was only one person that the stick hadn't been passed to yet. "Shelby." He dropped the stick right next to Shelby and held his breath. No one in the room was absolutely positive that Shelby would be able to hold herself together long enough to answer the question.
"I feel..." Shelby looked directly into Auggie's eyes and saw everything she needed to continue her sentence. "Tired. I feel tired. Having to build up all the walls that come with letting someone in and out of my life has gotten old. If Scott wants to come back, let him. It doesn't mean I don't like him anymore. I'm just tired of him putting on some big dramatic performance every time he decides he needs a vacation." Auggie reached over the arm of the couch and held onto her hand. He knew how hard that must have been for her. More than anything else in the world, Auggie was proud at her for sharing her feelings. "What's our next topic?"
Somewhere inside of her Shelby felt relieved that Auggie was there with her. Of all the people she could open up to it had to be him. The irony of that didn't escape her. Sophie noticed that all the Cliffhangers seemed to agree with Shelby. "You guys are going on a quest on Friday." She said almost reluctantly, hearing all the groans of disappointment before they actually begun. "We know, we know, you don't want to go, but guess what?"
"We're going anyway?" Everyone pitched in to make a unison voice from the floor.
"Like we didn't know that before." Daisy smiled over to Shelby.
"Before you all go out tromping through the woods, we'd like you to know the rules of this excursion." Everyone knew what was coming, they had heard it all before. Peter wasn't about to let them get the best of him. "It's very simple, after group tomorrow night, you will all receive you're packs. We're only waiting that long so Scott can get acclimated. Then Friday morning, Sophie and I are taking you up to the Solo Cabin, where you're gonna spend the next few nights by yourselves." Somewhere inside him he heard a voice tell him that he shouldn't trust them as much as he did, but they were his kids, and he felt as though he would trust them with his life. "We'll leave you with one clue. That clue will take members of you're group to another place. Only the group members that have something to do with the clue may leave the cabin. We have video cameras up in the cabin, so we'll know whether or not you followed our directions. When they get back, the group will discuss the clue as a whole.
"Not all of you will have something to do with the clue." Peter reminded the group, noticing that not everyone was paying attention. "In the end we'll come and collect you and you're clues. Then as a group, you will pick one thing mentioned in the clues to 're-live.' I know all of you are going to have a thought about what you want to do. But you have to work together, or you will never get this finished."
Somewhere inside of her, Shelby had to speak up. "How will we survive?"
Sophie knew that she wasn't asking about physical survival. "We'll leave you with a week's supply of food and water. We'll even allow you to pick one item of junk food to take with you." That didn't answer Shelby's question, but she didn't know how to answer her question without bringing up Scott.
"So where does Scott come in?"
'Ezra was always the one to ask other's questions in a more direct manor.' Peter thought about saying this out loud, but he knew that it wouldn't come out right. "He returns to you guys tomorrow, and you all go on Friday. One down all down remember?"
At that point, Shelby could no longer hold back her anger. "Didn't you tell me he wasn't gonna be back until at least Saturday?" Shelby looked as if she was about to throw up. Everything she had ever been dreading about Scott's return had just come true. "Whatever happened to you're promise?" The bile in her throat could no longer be held back and she raced out of the lodge and into the night. She stopped when she reached the gazebo, and threw up a few feet away from the woods. Not wanting to return to the lodge, Shelby sat down in the gazebo and tried to think of something besides Scott.
Scott stood a few feet away from Shelby, his dad a few feet away from him. He wasn't sure wether or not he should got to her. Would it make a difference? Would it make her see that she really needed him? Or would it just make her think that he didn't want her, and he only came back to get away from the memories of Elaine? The lodge door opened again, and Auggie walked out into the night. He spotted Shelby immediately, crossing campus until he was right next to the gazebo.
"The sooner you stop running is the sooner it stops bothering you." He said in a know-it-all voice. "You can't hide from you're demons, Shell. You of all people should know that they only come back with a vengeance." Moving as if he was trying to stay out of arms reach, Auggie slid into the seat in front of her. "That being said, what is it you're running from?"
Shelby knew that Auggie understood her. They had both lived life on the streets, coming home only ot be shipped off again. "They think that him coming back will solve our problems. No one else knows about what happened the night that he left. If they did...." Shelby let her voice drop. She could feel Scott's eyes on her, but she had convinced herself that she was just nervous.
Reaching to hold her hand, Auggie knew that there was someone out there. "If they did, they wouldn't think anything of it." Gently tapping her head with his fingertips, Auggie changed his approach. "Hello? Is there a brain in there somewhere? You and Scott were inseparable, they knew that you two would probably do something like that eventually."
"He turned me down Aug. He didn't want me."
"The word for what he is stupid." They both laughed softly. "He knew what he was missing, so he came back. Peter's not asking you to be the first one on the Welcome Wagon, he just wants to know that you're not gonna hate him for the fact that he made the choice to try to work it out with his dad."
Shelby closed her eyes and leaned her head onto the back of the bench. "Auggusto?"
"Yeah?"
"Where did you get so smart?"
"After two and a half years of Peter and Hannah, something had to rub off." Auggie stood and helped Shelby up. "Now lets get you to the dorms before Peter tries to send out a search party." Shelby allowed him to pull her off of the bench and out of the gazebo. Then, when he tried to put his arm around her, she pushed him into a bush. When they reached the bunks, Shelby gave Auggie a hug and walked into the girls room. She slowly changed into some sweat pants and a tank top. After standing in front of the mirror for what seemed like forever, she climbed into bed. Falling to sleep easily for the first night in a long while.
~Disclaimer: I don't own oany of them. If I did I know a few guys who wouldn't see the light of day again.~
I'm not sure how long I'm going to make this, but bare with me
"To Thine Own Self Be True" ~William Shakespear
"What do you mean Scott's coming back?" Daisy spat at Sophie. Most of the other Cliffhangers felt the same way, they just weren't expressing it the way Daisy was. "When? Does Shelby know?"
Sophie looked over as Peter walked in carrying a dinner tray. It was going to Shelby, of that Sophie was certain. She knew that Peter considered the Cliffhangers his children, and it pained him to see any of them like this. "Yeah Daze, she knows." Peter said calmly, setting the tray down to look at the others. The group was a mess. David sat on the arm of the chair that Jess was in, his right hand on her shoulder. Ezra sat on Jess's feet, with Daisy practically in his lap, and Auggie and Juliet were lounging on the couch that Scott and Shelby usually inhabited. "She didn't take it nearly as well as the rest of you did."
"But don't worry," Sophie picked the tray up and just looked at the small amount of food on it. "Scott still has to be admitted. All you guys remember what it was like to be in the admit process. It will be at least another two days before he gets to see any of you." She looked around the room for the Cliffhanger that would be able to get up the fastest. Looking over to Peter for help, he quietly pointed to Ezra. "Ez? Would you mind taking this to Shelby?"
Ezra was off the floor before the sentence was finished. "No, anything else?" Peter handed him a folder of what he presumed to be school work. "Okay, I'll make sure she knows what she's doing." He left with a slight nod to Daisy.
Daisy carefully surveyed the remaining Cliffhangers. "So Peter, how did Shell take the news?" She knew what the answer to that would be. She had seen Shelby go through this before. This is one of the hardest things for someone in Shelby's position to go through.
"There was a wide variety of emotions Daze." Sitting in one of the side chairs, Peter thought about the best way to describe Shelby's reaction to the news. "Anger, sadness, longing. All of these emotions are expectable when dealing with the return of someone you never thought you'd see again. Someone you've prepared yourself to live without. Before we talk about Shelby, we're going to Round Robin." A loud groan came from the group on the other end of the room. "Upon hearing about Scott's return, I feel; Fill in the blank Auggie." Peter passed the 'talking stick' to Auggie.
"Cautious." Auggie noticed the groups blank stares. "How do we know if we can trust him again? He's been gone through most of our things with Shell, and we don't know how we're supposed to face him. Jules?"
Juliet caught the stick and sat up. "Happy!" She squealed, watching as Daisy put her forefingers up to her ears. "Scott's coming back. We need him here to learn with the rest of us. Maybe now that he's back we'll be able to get back to the way we were before he left."
"Fat chance at that one, Queenie." Shelby said solemnly, following Ezra into the lodge. She sat down on the floor next to Daisy, and reached up to hold her sister's hand.
Juliet pretended not to hear her. "Jess?"
The stick landed in Daisy's lap. "Hey Aug," she feigned unhappiness. "Teach you're girl how to throw." She passed the stick up to Jessica.
"I'm not really sure." Jessica looked around the room. All she knew about Scott was how much he and Shelby cared about each other, and that was the last thing she wanted to bring up. "Scott seemed to be an important part of the group, and when he left, everything that I've seen you guys accomplish disappeared. He seemed to be you're rock, and I think that would be a great thing to get back." She looked over to Peter's for reassurance. He nodded gently and she looked at the rest of the group. "I guess that would make me a bit relieved to see us get back to where we should be. Ezra?"
Instead of tossing it, Jessica just handed it to him. "A bit of everything actually." Ezra looked cautiously at Shelby. "I feel good because, it's Scott, but on top of that, I'm feeling everything from anger to pure shock. He just leaves three days after the Morp, then four months later, he expects us to let him back into our lives. It's almost as if he doesn't think we have anything better to do." Everyone in the room noticed that he wasn't speaking to the group, he was talking to Shelby. It was almost as if he was speaking her words for her. "Above all though, I'm just glad that he's realized that he belongs here with the rest of us. David?"
The stick passed through the air smoothly, landing in David's hand. David and Ezra didn't care for each other much, but they always seemed to get past it in group. "Relieved." He said dramatically. "By Peter's carefully calculated statistics, one out of every four kids that leave Horizon actually make it in the real world. I'm so glad that Scott's actually coming back. It evens my chances up by three." He laughed and noticed that most of the other Cliffhangers were laughing too. A major shock to him seeing as though most of them would have tried to kill him for a remark like that three weeks ago. Then he realized that there was only one person that the stick hadn't been passed to yet. "Shelby." He dropped the stick right next to Shelby and held his breath. No one in the room was absolutely positive that Shelby would be able to hold herself together long enough to answer the question.
"I feel..." Shelby looked directly into Auggie's eyes and saw everything she needed to continue her sentence. "Tired. I feel tired. Having to build up all the walls that come with letting someone in and out of my life has gotten old. If Scott wants to come back, let him. It doesn't mean I don't like him anymore. I'm just tired of him putting on some big dramatic performance every time he decides he needs a vacation." Auggie reached over the arm of the couch and held onto her hand. He knew how hard that must have been for her. More than anything else in the world, Auggie was proud at her for sharing her feelings. "What's our next topic?"
Somewhere inside of her Shelby felt relieved that Auggie was there with her. Of all the people she could open up to it had to be him. The irony of that didn't escape her. Sophie noticed that all the Cliffhangers seemed to agree with Shelby. "You guys are going on a quest on Friday." She said almost reluctantly, hearing all the groans of disappointment before they actually begun. "We know, we know, you don't want to go, but guess what?"
"We're going anyway?" Everyone pitched in to make a unison voice from the floor.
"Like we didn't know that before." Daisy smiled over to Shelby.
"Before you all go out tromping through the woods, we'd like you to know the rules of this excursion." Everyone knew what was coming, they had heard it all before. Peter wasn't about to let them get the best of him. "It's very simple, after group tomorrow night, you will all receive you're packs. We're only waiting that long so Scott can get acclimated. Then Friday morning, Sophie and I are taking you up to the Solo Cabin, where you're gonna spend the next few nights by yourselves." Somewhere inside him he heard a voice tell him that he shouldn't trust them as much as he did, but they were his kids, and he felt as though he would trust them with his life. "We'll leave you with one clue. That clue will take members of you're group to another place. Only the group members that have something to do with the clue may leave the cabin. We have video cameras up in the cabin, so we'll know whether or not you followed our directions. When they get back, the group will discuss the clue as a whole.
"Not all of you will have something to do with the clue." Peter reminded the group, noticing that not everyone was paying attention. "In the end we'll come and collect you and you're clues. Then as a group, you will pick one thing mentioned in the clues to 're-live.' I know all of you are going to have a thought about what you want to do. But you have to work together, or you will never get this finished."
Somewhere inside of her, Shelby had to speak up. "How will we survive?"
Sophie knew that she wasn't asking about physical survival. "We'll leave you with a week's supply of food and water. We'll even allow you to pick one item of junk food to take with you." That didn't answer Shelby's question, but she didn't know how to answer her question without bringing up Scott.
"So where does Scott come in?"
'Ezra was always the one to ask other's questions in a more direct manor.' Peter thought about saying this out loud, but he knew that it wouldn't come out right. "He returns to you guys tomorrow, and you all go on Friday. One down all down remember?"
At that point, Shelby could no longer hold back her anger. "Didn't you tell me he wasn't gonna be back until at least Saturday?" Shelby looked as if she was about to throw up. Everything she had ever been dreading about Scott's return had just come true. "Whatever happened to you're promise?" The bile in her throat could no longer be held back and she raced out of the lodge and into the night. She stopped when she reached the gazebo, and threw up a few feet away from the woods. Not wanting to return to the lodge, Shelby sat down in the gazebo and tried to think of something besides Scott.
Scott stood a few feet away from Shelby, his dad a few feet away from him. He wasn't sure wether or not he should got to her. Would it make a difference? Would it make her see that she really needed him? Or would it just make her think that he didn't want her, and he only came back to get away from the memories of Elaine? The lodge door opened again, and Auggie walked out into the night. He spotted Shelby immediately, crossing campus until he was right next to the gazebo.
"The sooner you stop running is the sooner it stops bothering you." He said in a know-it-all voice. "You can't hide from you're demons, Shell. You of all people should know that they only come back with a vengeance." Moving as if he was trying to stay out of arms reach, Auggie slid into the seat in front of her. "That being said, what is it you're running from?"
Shelby knew that Auggie understood her. They had both lived life on the streets, coming home only ot be shipped off again. "They think that him coming back will solve our problems. No one else knows about what happened the night that he left. If they did...." Shelby let her voice drop. She could feel Scott's eyes on her, but she had convinced herself that she was just nervous.
Reaching to hold her hand, Auggie knew that there was someone out there. "If they did, they wouldn't think anything of it." Gently tapping her head with his fingertips, Auggie changed his approach. "Hello? Is there a brain in there somewhere? You and Scott were inseparable, they knew that you two would probably do something like that eventually."
"He turned me down Aug. He didn't want me."
"The word for what he is stupid." They both laughed softly. "He knew what he was missing, so he came back. Peter's not asking you to be the first one on the Welcome Wagon, he just wants to know that you're not gonna hate him for the fact that he made the choice to try to work it out with his dad."
Shelby closed her eyes and leaned her head onto the back of the bench. "Auggusto?"
"Yeah?"
"Where did you get so smart?"
"After two and a half years of Peter and Hannah, something had to rub off." Auggie stood and helped Shelby up. "Now lets get you to the dorms before Peter tries to send out a search party." Shelby allowed him to pull her off of the bench and out of the gazebo. Then, when he tried to put his arm around her, she pushed him into a bush. When they reached the bunks, Shelby gave Auggie a hug and walked into the girls room. She slowly changed into some sweat pants and a tank top. After standing in front of the mirror for what seemed like forever, she climbed into bed. Falling to sleep easily for the first night in a long while.