Chapter 45
"Ow!" Shawn yelped.

"I'm trying here," Belle said defensively, moving her hands across Shawn's shoulders.

"I asked you to work the kinks out of my neck, not to strangle me," Shawn muttered. Belle frowned and tightened her grip. "Ouch!" Shawn yelled. Belle rolled her eyes and shifted her weight to face Shawn.

"That one was on purpose, Mr. Grumpy-Pants."

Shawn rubbed the sore spot and looked down. "Sorry. I guess I have been kinda cranky."

"Maybe you should start paying attention in English class, Brady, 'cause you have a warped definition of 'kinda'," Belle said with a smile.

"I'm sorry, Belle," Shawn repeated gently. "I'm just worried about Philip."

Belle raised her eyebrows. "And why wasn't I informed about your new position as Philip's mom?" she teased.

"Ah, you're just such a comedian, Perfect Girl," Shawn said, grinning, before yanking Belle's bun out of her hair elastic with one swift movement.

Belle gasped and brought her hands up to her head. "That was just wrong," she scolded.

Shawn laughed and turned Belle's back to him. "Here, I'll fix it for you."

Belle tried to scoot away but Shawn tightened his legs against her, enveloping her in a Shawn Brady Sandwich. "What did I do to deserve a Shawn-made hairstyle?" Belle groaned.

Shawn pulled Belle's hair back and she winced. "I think it was that pathetic attempt of a massage that nearly sent me to the hospital," he retorted.

"You're just a big baby," Belle mumbled. Shawn tilted his head to the side thoughtfully as he tried to wrap the elastic around Belle's hair. Geez, how did girls have the patience to do this? Didn't they ever head of shower, brush and go? "Anyway," Belle said, closing her eyes. Sure, her hair will be a mess when Shawn's done but him playing with her hair felt relaxing. "Philip will be fine. He just needs to see Chloe and..."

"Know that she's as miserable as him?" Shawn finished.

"Well, it sounds weird out loud, but yeah. He just wants to know they are going through the same thing. And not to mention, just seeing her will make him happy. I think it's romantic," Belle said dreamily.

"It's dumb," Shawn said. "He's gonna get screamed at by Nancy, be sent back home, be screamed at by Victor, then Nancy will call there and Phil will be screamed at some more. Yup, really seeing the romance."

Belle wrinkled her nose. "Huh. I never thought of it like that."

"Well, baby, I always have been smarter than you," Shawn joked before finishing Belle's sloppy bun.

Belle turned around and smacked Shawn on the shoulder. "Oh, whatever! You wish."

"You wanna hear some other wishes?" Shawn asked softly.

Belle reached behind her and patted her hair. "Well, my wish is that my boyfriend was better at styling hair," she said in a teasing tone.

Shawn pulled Belle onto his lap without warning and she put on hand on his shoulder to balance herself. Shawn pressed his face against Belle's neck and kissed her lightly. "And I wish my girlfriend would tell me what had her so upset before Henderson called," Shawn murmured against her skin.


"I'm late," Heather blurted out.

Brady furrowed his brow and glanced at his watch. "Late? For what?"

Heather rolled her eyes. "No, you moron. My period is late."

Brady froze his position and felt his jaw hang open. "W-what?"

Heather tilted her head back and tried to take a deep breath. "I think you heard me, Brady, so don't make me say it again."

Brady jumped up suddenly, waving his hands around frantically. "I don't understand! How did this happen?!"

"I'll refrain from a sex ed joke," Heather mumbled. "But, let's not freak, okay?"

"Let's not freak?! This is what we're supposed to do! We are supposed to be in major freak mode, because we are not ready for this!" Brady yelled.

"Yes, I know that!" Heather shouted back. "But, just because I'm late doesn't mean I'm pregnant."

"Ok!" Brady said. "Give me meanings, give me meanings," he said rapidly, snapping his fingers together as he paced across the room.

"Well...um...it could mean I'm stressed," Heather offered.

Brady gave Heather a look. "Stress? What have you got to stress about?"

"Oh, I'm sorry we don't all have horrible lives like you, Brady," Heather said sarcastically. "Maybe you're stressing me out!"

"Me?! Oh, it's always my fault!" Brady yelled.

"Yes!" Heather said. "You're stressing me out! I'm probably going to be like, what, three more days late because of this fight!"

Brady rolled his eyes. "Sorry, but I don't think it works like that."

Heather threw up her hands in exasperation. "How would you know? How often are you pregnant?"

Brady raised his eyebrows. "And how often are you?!" he shot back.

"Look," Heather said, taking a deep breath. "This isn't going anywhere."

"You're right," Brady sighed. "I'm sorry for snapping...I guess you really don't need me to act like a brat right now."

"We're both acting bratty," Heather admitted. She looked up at Brady and her eyes began to water. "Brady, what are we going to do?" she asked softly.

"Well," Brady started. "We're going to get you a pregnancy test."

"And what if it's positive?" Heather whispered. "What do we do then?"

Brady swallowed nervously and gently took Heather's hand in his. "Honestly? I have no idea." Heather closed her eyes as a tear fell down her face and Brady wrapped her in a tight hug.


Mrs. Lockhart swung open the door to see a smiling young girl. "Hello!"

"Hi. I'm Jan, Mimi's friend," the girl said cheerfully. Maureen bit her lip...she remembered that Mimi had mentioned Jan before, but she couldn't place what she said about her.

"Mimi's out back, if you'd like to see her," Maureen offered.

"No!" Jan shouted. Maureen face instantly contorted into a confused expression and Jan continued. "I mean, thank you, but I'd just like to grab my...um...book from Mimi's room. She borrowed it but I need it back."

"Ah, a reader," Maureen chirped. "Sure, it's upstairs; first door on the left."

"Thanks," Jan muttered before bolting up the stairs. Geez, was Mimi's mom the inspiration for Carol Brady or something? It made her nauseous how sunny she was.

Jan quickly scanned Mimi's room, looking for a diary. Girls like Mimi always kept diaries, even though Jan had no idea what a lame person like her would write about. Mimi's most exciting entry was probably something like she didn't correct a cashier for giving her five dollars back instead of three. Well, now Mimi probably had plenty to write about now that she was whoring it up with Jason. Jan fumed at the image of the two of them together and she quickly shook her head. Whatever. Revenge on Mimi would be more than enough to keep Jan satisfied.

Jan tapped her finger against her chin. Where would Mimi hide her diary? Probably someplace cliched that she saw in a movie or something.

Jan's eyes lit up and she lifted Mimi's mattress to find a small yellow book underneath it. She snatched the book out and grinned at the fact that it was the lockless kind. Jan flipped through the pages until she got to the more recent entries. Finally, that name Jason caught her eye.

Dear Diary,

Barf, Jan thought, rolling her eyes. Could she be any more pathetic?

Remember how I wrote that I suggested to Jason that he should go to Salem U.?

Jan shook her head...sure, Meems, a diary is going to answer your question. 'Why, yes, I do remember! Please, write more!'

Well, Jason decided to go there! He told me that football holds no future for him since he doesn't even really enjoy it anymore. But Jase said he does love kids and that he remembered me mentioning Salem U. as a good school for an education major. I think Jason is scared to tell his dad, who is all gung-ho about Jason eventually going pro. But I reminded Jason that you should do what you like so that you don't wish your entire life away. You know, like, he could be wishing every day would go by quicker since he hates what he does for a living. The only reason Jase began football was because his dad made him be good at it...not because he liked it. And if Jason doesn't like football, he won't try, and he won't make pro's. Not to mention it's not exactly simple to become a professional football player. Jason agreed and thought it would be better to do something he really, truly enjoyed, while at the same time, helping kids learn. How sweet is that?!

Jan looked away from Mimi's diary in disgust. "Wish your entire life away"? "Helping kids learn"? This was a teenager's diary? Where were the lies, the sex, the booze? God, she knew Mimi was a loser, but this was just ridiculous. Jan needed some dirt on her, at least.

Jan reread a sentence in Mimi's entry and wicked grin crept over her face. "Perfect. Well, perfect for me, but it sucks for you, Meems," Jan said before putting the diary back. She picked up a framed picture of Mimi and Jason, looked at it for a second, and roughly tossed it over her shoulder into Mimi's wastebasket.

Chapter 46
"Fancy meeting you here, Nancy," Philip said dully.

"Look, Philip," Nancy growled. "You're crossing a hell of a lot of boundaries here."

"Yeah," Philip said sadly. He wasn't paying attention to Nancy's words. All he could see was Chloe flirting with Justin Timberlake's clone.

Nancy noticed Philip's discomfort and took pleasure in it. "That's Blaine. He really enjoys Chloe's company. They've been acting like that since the day we got here."

Philip's eyes widened in shock. Since day one, she was prancing around with a guy cheesily named Blaine?

"I predict that by the end of the summer, Chloe and Blaine will be the perfect couple," Nancy decided with a wicked grin.

Philip's face fell as it crumpled up in pain. "Just stop, Nancy. I think I got the picture," he muttered.

"No, I don't think you do," she snapped. "Chloe doesn't want you anymore, do you understand that, Philip? She hasn't mentioned you once since we got here," Nancy finished smugly.

"You're lying," Philip spat. "You're making this all up...you're trying to ruin my relationship with your daughter!"

"There is no relationship left," Nancy pointed out triumphantly.

Suddenly, the front door of the house squeaked open. "Nancy, why are--Philip?"

"Hey, Dr. Wesley," Philip murmured.

"What are you doing here?" Craig asked, walking up to Philip and Nancy.

"He was planning on stealing Chloe away!" Nancy cried out dramatically.

"No," Philip protested. "I just wanted to see her!"

"Yeah, right," Nancy said, rolling her eyes.

"Wait a sec," Craig interrupted, holding out the palms of his hands. "Let me get this straight. You came all the way from Salem to Maine just to see Chloe?" Craig asked incredulously. Philip just nodded and raked his fingers through his hair. "You really love her, don't you?" Craig asked.

Both Philip and Nancy looked up in surprise. Could Craig be taking Philip's side? "Yes," Philip said quickly. "I love her with all my heart."

"We're not buying--" Nancy started.

"Nancy, stop this," Craig said, not even trying to hide his exasperation. "This is getting ridiculous." Philip's eyes filled with hope as he waited for Nancy's reply.

"No, Craig, what's ridiculous is that you're supporting the boy who took advantage of Chloe," Nancy shouted.

"Well, according to Chloe, that was her choice. She already has her punishment, why don't you leave Philip's to his parents?" Craig asked softly.

"Chloe's punishment is to stay away from Philip," Nancy reminded him through clenched teeth.

"I could see for a couple of weeks, but for the entire summer? Nancy, you were just waiting for this chance to break Chloe and Philip up," Craig pointed out.

The spouses continued to argue as Philip stared, transfixed, as Chloe's neighbor spun her around. Her tinkling laughter filled the air, mixed the laughs of a stranger. "You know what?" Philip choked out. "I think I'll just leave."

Both Nancy and Craig looked over at Philip in shock as he walked sadly to the rent-a-car.


Chloe pulled away from Blaine and squinted towards her parents. "Who are they talking to?" Her eyes widened and her mouth dropped open when she saw him. "Philip!" she screamed.


"Shawn, we don't have to talk about this," Belle whispered, getting up from the bed.

Shawn grabbed her hand and pulled her back next to him. "Yes, we do."

"You just always have to argue with me, don't you?" Belle teased, despite her feelings of sadness.

"It's what we do best," Shawn joked.

"What I do best," Belle corrected. "I've always been the better fighter," she giggled.

Shawn grinned. "Yep, you're a perfect fighter, just like you're perfect with everything."

Belle's face immediately darkened and she pushed herself off the bed. She began to fiddle with a stuffed animal on her shelf. "Don't call me that, okay?" Belle pleaded.

Shawn's nose crinkled in confusion. "But I always call you that."

"Well, I don't like it," Belle snapped. "Nobody's perfect, and I'm not an exception to the rule, okay?" Shawn just stared at Belle, puzzled at her outburst, and Belle returned to the stuffed animal. "I'm not," she repeated softly.

Shawn stood up and lightly placed his hands on Belle's shoulders. "Belle, baby, your starting to worry me."

"I'm sorry, Shawn," she sighed. "I didn't mean to yell at you."

"It's okay," Shawn said, dismissing it quickly. "Something's bothering you and I'm guessing you don't know what to do about it."

Belle gazed into her boyfriend's eyes with adoration and smiled. "You know me too well, Brady."

"Exactly," Shawn agreed. "So don't even try one of those 'I'm just tired' excuses, because I can tell when you're lying."

Belle took a deep breath and decided to just blurt it out. "Shawn, do you think I'm a tease?"

Shawn furrowed his brow and tried to make sense of her words. "A...tease? Of course I don't, where the hell did you get that idea?"

Belle looked down at her shoes and continued. "Cause all we've done since we've been dating is kissing. And whenever we get close to doing...other stuff, I always back off at the last second," she stammered.

"Yeah, but, Belle, you're just nervous. I don't mind waiting, it'll definitely worth it. But you are in no way at all a tease," Shawn assured her. Belle smiled at what Shawn just told her but then he continued. "Where did that idea come from?"

"Oh...um...I was just thinking about it last night," Belle lied.

Shawn shook his head. "Belle, I told you I can tell when you're not being honest." Belle just looked to the side, pushing a strand of hair behind her ear. "This is about Sam, isn't it?" Shawn guessed.


Brady pressed his knuckles against his mouth. He nervously began bouncing his leg up and down. What the hell was taking her so long?

As if on cue, Heather slowly opened the bathroom door, holding the pregnancy test.

Brady stood up shakily. "Well?" he asked, the back of his throat dry. "Is it positive or negative?"