Disclaimer: I don't own anyone except the people you don't recognize…
AN: Ok, I've given up on trying to make my chapters longer, cause it's not working for me…I can't seem to write a lot at one time. N/ewayz, I hope you guys still like this, and please continue to REVIEW cause it helps me with ideas n' stuff. I just had a question that has nothing to do with this fic: How do I find out the ID number of a story? (To add it to my favorites list). Well, enjoy
Maybe Someday
Chapter 4 - Long Time No See
Scott stared at Shelby's name for a long time, letting the information sink in. Finally, several minutes later, he spoke.
"Who's group is she going to be in?" He asked, his voice barely even a whisper. Peter looked at him for a few seconds longer before answering.
"That's what I wanted to talk about." Peter replied calmly. "It's basically your choice." He paused again to make sure Scott was listening. "You have to understand though, Scott, that you can't let on that you and Shelby have already met." Peter watched him closely.
"That we've already met? Peter, she was everything to me." Scott replied. "I can't just pretend she's just another face in the crowd. Just another 'trainee'." He responded.
"Well then I guess we'll put her in Ezra, Juliette and Auggie's group." Peter decided. Scott panicked. He didn't know what to say. He wanted so badly to be able to talk to her, to be able to understand what she had been thinking when she had left. The only problem was that he didn't know if he'd be able to keep everything inside. All the hurt, the anger, the pain. He swallowed. If he wanted her in his group, he knew he had no choice.
"No. Put her in my group." He said firmly.
"Are you sure you can handle that, Scott?" Peter asked, unsure. Scott nodded.
"I don't have a choice." He replied.
"Ok. Well, if you're sure…" Peter waited for Scott to say something.
"I'm allowed to talk to her though, right?" He paused. "I mean, there's no rule saying we aren't allowed to talk to the people from the other school, so I can still talk to her, right Peter?" he asked hopefully.
"Of course. Just make sure you don't let on that she went to Horizon." Peter answered. "Can you do that?" he asked, just to be sure. Scott nodded. Peter relaxed. "Scott, I think this assignment will be good for you. It'll give you a chance to be a leader again." Peter said to him. Scott nodded. "Ok, I think we're done here. Can you tell the others to meet at the picnic tables in ten minutes?" Peter asked.
"Sure." Scott got up and walked to the door.
"Oh, and Scott?" Peter said, just before Scott left. Scott turned to face him. "I'm proud of you." He smiled. Scott smiled back.
"Thanks Peter." He replied.
* * * * *
Shelby sat in the bus, waiting for her classmates to arrive. She pressed her feet up against the back of the seat in front of her. She was scared. As much as writing in her journal had helped, she still didn't want to face what Horizon had to offer: the truth. She leaned her head against the window, trying desperately to get her mind off the questions that lay there, still unanswered.
Finally a few students stepped onto the bus. She watched as they walked down the isle, trying to decide where to sit. They walked right past her, one of them smirking as she went by. Shelby felt like she was shrinking. It was like she didn't even exist anymore. At least at Horizon she had had some friends.
A guy in jeans and an Agnes High School T-shirt walked down the isle, and stopped by her seat.
"What's a pretty girl like you doing sitting all alone?" he asked, a sarcastic tone in his voice.
"Hey Chase." Shelby replied with a bitterly as she pushed a memory of her life on the streets out of her head.
"Mind if I sit here?" Chase Anderson asked, pointing toward the empty spot next to her.
"Actually, yeah, I do." Shelby replied coldly, turning towards the window. Chase shrugged off her comment and walked away.
It was going to be a long bus ride.
* * * * *
The Cliffhangers sat on the picnic tables, listening attentively to what Sophie was saying.
"Shelby will be in Scott and Daisy's group." Sophie said, having already told them that Shelby was coming. "Are there any questions about that?" Sophie asked.
"We're allowed to talk to her, just not about Horizon and stuff, right?" Juliette asked quietly. She wasn't sure how she felt about seeing Shelby again. She was excited, but she didn't know how Shelby would act.
"That's right, Juliette." Sophie replied.
When no one asked anything else, Sophie moved on. "Now that I've explained everything, you guys should get the tents and other equipment you'll need for sleeping and eating, and bring all of it to the field near the rock climbing site. As I've already explained, that's where you'll be sleeping." Sophie paused. "Peter and I have already set up the other sites." Sophie said, dismissing them.
The Cliffhangers got up and slowly made their way towards the storage shed. Scott was walking a bit ahead of the group, desperately trying to avoid that questions that he knew they would ask.
"Are you nervous Scott?" Juliette asked
"Yeah, man, what are you gonna say to her?" Ezra questions. Scott cringed. That was one question he still didn't know the answer to.
"Leave him alone, guys." Daisy shut them up. "Would you want people asking you guys all those questions if you were him?" she asked them. Both Juliette and Ezra shook their heads.
Twenty minutes later, all the tents and other equipment were in the field where Sophie had instructed them to put it. The Cliffhangers sat on the steps in front of Horizon, waiting patiently for the students of Agnes High School to arrive. Scott rubbed his shoe in the dirt nervously. Every once in a while he would glance up to see if the yellow school bus was making it's way down the long gravel driveway towards the school. Every single time, Scott knew it wasn't, because he would have been able to hear it.
Deep down he knew it would only be a matter of minutes before the yellow school bus appeared.
* * * * *
Shelby's heart was pounding as she watched the trees fly by the school bus window.
"Are we almost there?" a student asked, although the bus ride was only twenty minutes long.
"Two more minutes." Shelby muttered to herself. She recognized everything around her.
"What?" another student asked her. "How do you know?" Shelby had to think fast.
"Um…well, Mr. Campbell said the ride was twenty minutes long, and it's been eighteen." Shelby replied quickly, hoping the student would believe her.
"Oh," they nodded and then turned back to their friends. Shelby relaxed a little. She swallowed as the familiar sign came into view, and she knew they were there. Her heart jumped.
Two minutes later, the bus stopped in front of the mountain school. Shelby's her pounded in her ears as Mr. Campbell stood up. "Ok class, when you get off the bus, I want you to listen very carefully to what the people there have to say." He finished. The students got up and rushed to the door of the bus. Shelby was pushed around as her classmates rushed past her. Slowly she made her way towards the front of the bus. Through the open door she heard Juliette's unmistakable squeal, and she swallowed. She made a quick wish that she had just imagined it, but when she got to the front of the bus, she knew her ears hadn't failed her…There, sitting on the wooden steps, were the Cliffhangers. Scott was sitting a little off to the side, making shapes in the dirt with his shoe. Shelby glanced at Daisy, who was sitting next to Scott. Shelby swallowed. It was her turn to get off the bus.
As she stepped off, Scott glanced up. Their eyes met. Shelby held his gaze for a few seconds, trying to understand the unreadable look in his eyes. In an attempt to keep from crumbling inside, Shelby looked away. She could feel the Cliffhangers' eyes on her and she gulped in air, making her way towards the back of the bus. She waited nervously for her bag to be unloaded, looking at everything but the group sitting on the steps. After what seemed like forever, Shelby saw her bag being dropped from the back of the bus. She picked it up and slowly made her way to the front of the bus, to where her classmates had gathered.
* * * * *
The door of the wooden building opened, and Peter and Sophie walked out. "Hi everyone, I'm Peter, and this is one of the counselors at Horizon, Sophie." Peter welcomed the students. As Peter went on to explain the schedule for the next few days, Scott looked at each of the students carefully. His eyes paused on an athletically built guy wearing an Agnes High School T-shirt, who was standing next to Shelby. The boy muttered something to her, but she rolled her eyes and stepped away. Scott relaxed a bit. "Alright, now that I have all that explained, we are going to split you into two groups." Peter's voice pulled Scott back into reality. That was his cue. He stood up, holding the list of names in his hand. Daisy stood up next to him.
"Ok, if I call your name, get your stuff and come stand over here with Daisy and I." Scott addressed the group in front of him. He started to call out the names, hoping that his voice wouldn't fail him when he got to Shelby's. Her name was next. He swallowed. "Shelby Merrick." He called. He glanced up from the sheet. Daisy smiled encouragingly. He had done it.
Once he was done calling out names, he asked the group to follow him towards the field where they would be sleeping. "Ok guys, set up your tents and then and then come join us by that log." Scott pointed to the log a few meters away. Slowly, the group of students started to disperse. Scott and daisy sat down on the log and waited for the students to be done setting up. A few minutes later Peter came by, and wanted to talk to Daisy. Daisy got up and followed him to a spot where they were just out of earshot from Scott.
Scott heard a familiar voice from behind him.
"Long time no see, Scott." Scott swallowed. It was Shelby…
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Ok, that's enough 4 this chapter! Ok, well, tell me what you think!!! Oh, and PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE review!!!