Meet the Parents:
Chapter 7



Claimer: Melissa and the Merrick household (excluding Shelby and her dad) are owned by me.

Disclaimer: I do not own the show Higher Ground or any of the characters.

Author's Note: Hey everybody! I decided I'd go ahead and post this chapter since I'm leaving tomorrow :-( I wish I didn't have to cut this story short!! Oh well. Oh! I have another note for one of my reviewers: Chyler-You asked me why I always made Scott look like a "fool". I actually have an answer to that, and you will find out in this chapter. Okay, okay, I'll go ahead and tell you. Any time Mr. Merrick sees a guy that is getting close to Shelby, he gets scared. He gets scared because he thinks that all guys are going to hurt Shelby like Walt did. So he tries to make Scott look like a fool. Get it? it's kinda funny, because every time you (Chyler) review my story, you comment on something. One time it was if I was following the show. Another was if I could space the words out more. Now you're asking me to tone it down a little. I hope you understand, now, why I can't and don't want to do that. Anyway, how about 10??? Thanks!!

Scott awoke to the sound of the door being pushed open.

He groggily sat up and wiped his eyes. "What the hell do you want?" he asked, half-asleep.

Mr. Merrick stepped in, his famous sneer on his face. "Don't address me like that, boy. This wasn't my idea!" he yelled.

Scott groaned internally when he realized who he had yelled at. *Of course...I had to yell at him*

Scott pushed aside his thoughts and forced a fake smile. "Good morning, Mr. Merrick. Did you sleep well?"

Mr. Merrick's expression didn't change. "Don't you try to butter up to me. I see right THROUGH with you," he said, emphasizing the word "through".

Scott bit his tongue from yelling back to Mr. Merrick. *I can't believe he treats a GUEST this way*

"Come on. Get out of bed."

Scott looked up at Shelby's father, confused. "What?" he asked.

Mr. Merrick groaned. "Don't question me like that, boy. I'm going out to do some errands, and Melissa insisted you go with me."

He paused, his eyes narrowed. "I wouldn't even have CONSIDERED taking you, but she's making me," he added in a raspy voice.

Scott looked up at the ceiling, avoiding Mr. Merrick's icy stare. *Well, thanks alot. I feel the love*

"So, get up and get dressed. I'm leaving in exactly 1800 hours, [AUTHOR'S NOTE: I DO NOT KNOW MILITARY TIME...I'M MEANING TO SAY IN AN HOUR] whether you're dressed or not."

And with that, Mr. Merrick was gone, the iciness in the room leaving as well.

Scott just watched him and tiredly scratched his head. *What time is it, anyway*

He leaned over the bed and looked at the alarm clock. "Ugh! It's 5:30," he mumbled. *We don't even get up this early at Horizon*

Scott then pushed aside his thoughts and started to get dressed. He didn't want to be on Mr. Merrick's bad side.

After he had pulled his clothes on, he stepped out of the bedroom and went off to find the angry man.

The house was dark and quiet.

Scott tiptoed around the house, not wanting to make any noise. *I bet everyone's still asleep*

He groaned as he thought of sleep. *That is EXACTLY what I want right now...sleep*

Scott's thoughts were interrupted by a loud whisper coming from Mr. Merrick's office.

He quietly tiptoed to the office and put his ear to the door.

"Ray? Hey. I need a favor."

There was a pause.

Scott pushed his body against the door. *This is getting interesting*

"Okay, do you think you could pull up a Horizon school record for me?"

There was another pause.

Scott's eyes widened in anger. *What the...*

"Yes, here's the name. Scott Martin Barringer." [AUTHOR'S NOTE: I MADE UP HIS MIDDLE NAME]

"You will? Okay. Great. Just fax me all the info you can find on this boy."

Another pause.

"Thanks."

And Scott could hear Mr. Merrick hang up the phone.

Scott tried to remain calm, but inside, his blood was boiling. *How DARE him!! He has NO right to pull up all this information about me! I could get him arrested for that*

He smiled to himself, imagining what it would be like with Shelby's father behind bars. *Ha! He couldn't break us apart then*

Scott saw himself with Shelby as his wife...having kids with her...growing old with her...no controlling dad...

The door then opened and out stepped Mr. Merrick.

He looked down at Scott who was on the ground, his eyes bulging. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" he screamed.

Scott scrambled to get up. "I was waiting for you," he forced out.

Mr. Merrick just stood there, trying to control his anger. *I have HAD it with this boy*

He took a deep breath and stared back at Scott. "Meet me out at the car in exactly two minutes. I will be pulling out of the driveway in three, leaving a minute to get your seatbelt on and get comfortable."

Mr. Merrick then marched away, leaving a confused Scott.

Scott couldn't take it anymore; he burst out laughing. *Okay, am I at bootcamp*

He then remembered he only had two minutes, so he hurried and made his way to the driveway.

Sure enough, there was an impatient Mr. Merrick waiting in the Range Rover.

Scott hurriedly pulled the passenger door open and jumped in.

Mr. Barringer turned and gave Scott a glare. "When I say two minutes, I MEAN two minutes. You took three, so now we are already behind. You're going to have to put your seatbelt on and get comfortable when I pull out of the driveway, when you were supposed to already have done that before the car was in motion."

Scott glanced at Mr. Merrick. *You've GOT to be kidding me*

When Scott didn't reply, Mr. Merrick gave a slight smile of satisfaction and pulled out of the driveway, while Scott put his seatbelt on.

It was silent the whole way to Mr. Merrick's firm.

Once they had reached their destination, Shelby's dad looked over at Scott. "I have some things I have to take care of here. You can sit in here and wait, or come in and wait."

Scott then had an idea. *I can use this for MAJOR sucking up* "I'll go in with you," he said with a cheesy smile on his face.

Mr. Merrick frowned. "Well, come on then," he mumbled as he stepped out of the door.

Scott followed him as they walked through the building, and headed to Mr. Merrick's office.

Once in the office, Scott looked around and tried to think of a good question he could ask the lawyer.

"So," Scott started.

Mr. Merrick rolled his eyes. *Here comes the small talk* "I really need to get some work done, so..."

Scott nodded. *I get the picture* "I'll go...find something to do," he said solemnly.

Mr. Merrick replied with a wave of his hand and the slam of the door.

Scott glumly looked at the floor. *There is no way I'm ever gonna get along with this man*

*30 Minutes Later*

Scott couldn't take it anymore; he was about to die of boredom.

He quietly got up and opened Mr. Merrick's office door a crack and peeked in.

There was Mr. Merrick. But instead of doing work, he was clutching a picture of Shelby with tears in his eyes.

Scott's eyes widened in surprise. *The tin man has a heart in there after all* [AUTHOR'S NOTE: I TOOK THAT FROM PASSPORT TO PARIS-LOL! IT'S A CUTE MOVIE!]

Mr. Merrick, still not noticing Scott, brought the picture up to his eye level and whispered, "I could have killed that man after what he did to you."

Scott gasped, tears also forming is his eyes.

Unfortunately, Mr. Merrick heard the gasp and turned and looked at Scott.

For the first time, he looked very comfortable and scrambled to put the picture back and wipe his eyes at the same time. "What do you want?" he asked sternly, as if nothing had happened.

Scott just stood there, frozen in place. *What do I say? "It's okay. Shelby's okay now?" "I know how she feels."

Mr. Merrick looked up, confused. "Excuse me?"

Scott closed his eyes. *Please don't make repeat it* "The same thing that happened to Shelby...it happened to me, too."

Mr. Merrick didn't say anything. He didn't know WHAT to say.

Scott decided to continue. "I guess that's why we get along so well. We UNDERSTAND each other."

He paused. "Looks like you don't need to dig up my file from Horizon, now, huh?" he asked, his eyes tearing up.

Mr. Merrick was still silent. *Oh shit! He heard me*

"You wanna know what happened to me? FINE! I'll tell you! My step-mother molested me without my father knowing!" Scott screamed, tears falling down his cheeks now.

Mr. Merrick started to say something, but Scott interrupted him.

"And I NEVER stopped her! NEVER! I tried, but it never worked! I had to take drugs just to make myself feel better! I went from an all-star football athlete to a screwed up druggie!" Scott cried hysterically. "So there ya have it. THAT'S what it's gonna say in my record!"

And with that, he turned and ran out of the building, crying the whole way.

Mr. Merrick tiredly scratched his head. *What? No smart remark or rude comment to shoot back at him*

He then realized why he hadn't. *I feel guilty. For the first time that I can remember, I feel GUILTY*

*10 Minutes Later*


Mr. Merrick headed out of the building in search of Scott.

After a few seconds, he saw him sitting in the passenger seat in the car. Scott looked like he had calmed down a little, but he still looked depressed.

Mr. Merrick took a deep breath and stepped into the driver's seat. "You ready?" he asked quietly.

Scott just mumbled, "Yeah."

Once again, it was a quiet ride back.

When they made it back to the house, Scott quickly shut the door and ran up to the house, anger washing over him.

Shelby and Melissa were both sitting at the table chatting, when Scott burst in.

"Hi!" they both greeted him

Scott didn't even reply; he stood there waiting for Mr. Merrick to come in, so he could say what was on his mind.

"Scott?" Shelby asked, her eyes full of concern.

Once Mr. Merrick stepped through the door, Scott turned to him, grateful he could finally say what was on his mind. "You are the rudest, most hateful man I have EVER met in my entire life."

Shelby and Melissa exchanged confused looks and glanced at Scott.

Mr. Merrick, a little taken back by Scott's outburst, mumbled, "What?"

"You've made my stay here a LIVING HELL. You don't even know me, and here you are, acting all rude to me."

Before anyone could protest, Scott turned to Melissa. "And you. You take all this shit Mr. Merrick gives you, and you don't stick up for yourself!"

Melissa just took a step back, surprised. "Excuse me, but..."

Scott finally turned to Shelby. "And then there's you. You won't tell your parents the truth! Say it, Shel! Tell them we're a couple!"

Shelby's eyes narrowed. "Scott! What is wrong with you?"

Scott ignored her. "Your dad wasn't there for you when Walt abused you! He was out drinking! And here you are, just forgiving and forgetting! You're picking him over me!"

He heard Melissa gasp, and he could feel Mr. Merrick's icy stare on him, but he didn't care. His eyes never left Shelby's.

For a second, he thought she might cry, for her face crumpled up.

But then, Scott felt the pain of being slapped hard in the face.

"HOW DARE YOU!!!!!!!!" Shelby screamed, tears streaming down her face. "You know NOTHING about the whole thing!!! How DARE YOU!!!"

She then began hitting him hard on each arm, anything to let out her anger and frusteration. "Get out!" she yelled.

Scott bit his lip. *Maybe I went too far*

When she realized he wasn't moving, Shelby yelled it louder. "I said GET OUT!!"

"Shel, I love you! I love you so much, and you're letting your dad break us apart!" Scott cried, tears visible on his pink cheeks.

Shelby just looked up at him, her mouth in a straight line. "I said get out, Scott."

Scott gave Shelby one last look.

Then he walked over to the door.

He looked back one more time to see Melissa softly whimpering, Mr. Merrick looking expressionless, and Shelby trying not to cry but be firm instead.

And he opened the door and walked out of the house, leaving the Merrick's home forever.

-PLEASE REVIEW!! I just realized I'm leaving tomorrow AFTERNOON so I'll probably post it then. I hope I answered your question, Chyler. 10 PUH-LEASE!!!

Next (FINAL CHAPTER):
-What will happen to Scott and Shelby???