I'm pretty sure that Shelby's father is still alive but I thought this would fit better in her life than in any of the others. Enjoy!

Shelby sat alone at the docs for about 30 minutes, then Peter found her. He took her to his office. Shelby knew she was in trouble for being rude to Sydney but for the moment she just wanted to be alone.
"Hey, Peter, I know what I did was wrong and I'll-" Shelby began.
"Thats not what I wanted to talk with you about, Shel. Its about your dad, your real dad," Peter broke in. At that Shelby's eyes watered but she forced them down. "I know this might be a hard time for you right now, but I'm just letting you know that I'm here for you, always. If you want to talk about anything, my door is always open, you know that. And I heard what you said to Sydney. You know it was wrong to say that and that you hurt her feelings. I know you don't normally say stuff like that and I'm guessing you said it because of personal reasons. As punishment, I want you to write a letter of apology to her. I won't read it and neither will Sophie. This is between the two of you. But I want you to give it to her by tonight or tomorrow morning. You will stay either in your dorm or in the lodge for the remainder of the day. Okay?"
Shelby only nodded. She stood to leave.
"Anything you want to talk about now?"
Shelby shook her head, but felt grateful that she had someone to talk to if she needed to. She left Peter's office feeling only slightly better. She still had a huge weight on her shoulders.
In the dorm she sat on her bed with a notepad and began to write Sydney the letter. She told Sydney almost everything about her life. She wrote about her dad, who she never mentioned to any of the other Cliffhangers. For some strange reason, she felt like she could tell Sydney things that she couldn't tell Daisy or Scott.

Sydney - I am writing this letter not only because I have to but because I want to. What I said this morning was uncalled for and unexeptable. Let me tell you some stuff about my life first. When my sister and I were little, my mom was an alcoholic. She stopped at the beginning of my seventh grade year, because my father died in a tragic car accident. It was really hard for me because I was really close to my dad, closer than my mom. His death made it even harder because I feel it was my fault and I think my mom does too, because she never has treated me the same as my sister. When she re-married my step-father, she changed. She couldn't hold a job very well. She used to have a pretty good job in a law office, but then she got fired from that. After that she worked for a computer company, then as a secretary in a dental office, then at two clothing stores, and now is a waitress at a little diner in my town. My step-father is sick and doesn't bring in much money, so by God's grace and good luck I am here. I used to be on the streets, selling myself for money and drugs. I try to convince myself and others that I did it because I had to and am not ashamed of it, but in truth I really am. I look back on those days and am shocked to see what I would do for money, for comfort. Its hard to believe that people are really okay with themselves doing that. I feel so dirty and that I'll never be clean again. To top it off, my step-father abused me. Molested me, violated me, whatever you want to call it. I found out he did it to my sister, too, and that my mom never tried to stop it. My family has fallen apart forever and all I have is my sister, who has to live in that hell-hole back home. But getting to the point of this letter is, that my father has been gone for four years. The anniversary is tomorrow. Although I don't like calling it an anniversary because I always associate that word with something happy and death isn't happy. I get really uptight and rude when this day comes around every year. I guess I don't know how to get through this time so my outlet is anger and sarcasm. I know its a pathetic excuse but its my reason. I promise I'm not normally like this. Listen to Juliette, she's right, that I can be rude sometimes but never to the extent as this morning. I hope you accept my apology and after a few days maybe we can start over again. I feel horrible about what I said and I'll understand if you chose not to forgive me right away or at all. ~Shelby

Shelby's hard side had softened while she wrote the letter and there were teardrops on it. She considered writing it over, but decided not to. She felt as if there was a huge hole in her heart and she didn't know how she would make it through the next days. Scott was mad at her, which only made her feel worse. She didn't know why she kept secrets from him; she wanted to tell him about her life and her father but couldn't bring herself to do it.
Now that the letter was written Shelby had no idea how to give it to her. She didn't want to be around when she read it. Shelby finally decided to put it on her bed and then go to bed early. Shelby wondered why she cared so much. Sydney was different from the others, maybe it was because she didn't talk because she didn't think anyone would listen. Shelby could relate to that. Shelby put the letter under her pillow and went back outside. She found a quiet place where her friends wouldn't be able to see her and wrote in her journal, something she had done maybe three times since arriving at Horizon.


Next: How Shelby will get through the 'anniversary' of her father's death. Please review!