Shawn scoffed as his alarm clock went off. 'I've hit the damn button twice already...' he whined to himself. "Oh no!" he jumped up, looked across the room, and saw that Jack was already gone. "Oh damn it all! First day of class!" he rushed to the bathroom to shower and get dressed. "Nice first day, Shawn. Applause for idiocy." He mumbled, clapping his hands. After a silent shower, he sighed again. "I start with Feeny, too. Beautiful, just what I need...another 'are you ok, Mr. Hunter?' speech..." he dried himself off, and walked to the sink to brush his teeth. "I love school I tell you...why'd I even go to college? Thank you, Cory Matthews..." he grumbled, pulling on his boots. "Wonder who's in my American History class this year..." he grabbed his books, and walked out the door.

"So, class..." Mr. Feeny continued his lecture. "Tonight's homework is to read pages-..."

Shawn poked his head into the classroom. "Uh...sorry Mr. Feeny...I..."

"Don't worry about it, Mr. Hunter. Just take a seat." Mr. Feeny looked at Shawn, concerned.

Crystal looked beside her and a very stressed Shawn. "Here..." she handed him a pen. "You seem to be lacking one of these..." she whispered.

"Thanks..." he grinned falsely at her.

"No problem..." she sensed the falseness, and quickly went silent.

If you asked Shawn to repeat a word of Mr. Feeny's lecture that day, all he could probably tell you was 'and' or 'if.' His mind was elsewhere, specifically on his dad, his mom and Angela. He wondered if Angela ever thought about him, or missed him. He wondered if things with his dad could have been different. He wondered if his mother had emailed him back. His mind was racing into a million different directions, until the moment he fell asleep, right in Feeny's class.

"Shawn..." he felt someone shake his shoulder. "Shawn...get up..." the voice was soft and comforting. It sounded almost like Angela's, only more gentle. "Hey...Shawn...come on, wake up...class is over, and you're gonna be late for your next class if you don't hurry..."

"Huh? Oh...uh...thanks..." he looked around. "Thanks...uh..."

"Crystal..." she nodded her head at him. "Crystal Maguire..."

"Rachel's sister, right?" he stood up, his face not changing a bit. "You didn't have to stay you know?"

"Well, I just thought you might appreciate it, that's all. I mean..." Crystal looked down.

"Oh, no, Crystal, I'm sorry..." Shawn started to walk away. "I do appreciate it. I've just had a rough day so far..."

"It's ok, I understand...I'll see you sometime, ok?" she smiled.

"Wait..." he turned around.

"Huh?" she asked.

"Uh..." Shawn thought quickly. "Here's your pen back." He walked over to her, and handed her the pen

"Oh, keep it...you never know when you'll need it. Someone may not be as generous in your next class." She winked, and pushed a piece of auburn hair out of her eyes.

Shawn grinned. 'No...don't do that, Shawn. No. She'll only hurt you like everyone else in your life has. I have to stay alone...' he shook his head quickly, and picked his books up.

~~

"Mr. Feeny, can I talk to you?" Crystal walked up to Me. Feeny's desk after class was over.

"Sure, Miss Maguire, about class?" Mr. Feeny asked.

"No, about Shawn..." Crystal shrugged, looking at the door. "I've heard all kinds of stories from Rach and Des about you helping them, and I think I need some help."

"Sure, what's going on?" he asked. Mr. Feeny was someone you could always count on for advice. He had helped Cory, Shawn, Topanga and Eric numerous times, and Destiny too, when she was there.

"I'll start off by saying, I don't even know the guy. But I'm worried about him. The only two times I've ever seen him, he's looked so stressed out. I've heard a lot, like, things that are going on in his life, and they're terrible. Do you think he'll be ok?" she asked.

"Shawn is one of the strongest person I know, which sometimes makes him his own worst enemy. He has been through a lot, just in the past year. He's lost a lot of people he cares about, but no matter what happens to him, he always seems to come back stronger than ever." Mr. Feeny smiled, happy to see another caring friend added to the Cory-Shawn-Topanga circle.

"So, I have nothing to worry about?" Crystal asked.

"Well, sometimes Shawn's strength is a façade. He really needs a lot of comfort, and he needs friends more than ever right now. His only family is Jack, and they've never been close..." he explained.

"I just feel so terrible..." Crystal tilted her head. "No one deserves to go through what he's been through..."

"I couldn't agree with you more, Miss Maguire, but as they say, your greatest adversary can give you your best attribute," Mr. Feeny nodded.

"English please?" Crystal shrugged, and laughed a little.

"What doesn't kill you makes you stronger." Mr. Feeny laughed.

"Not always," Crystal knew this from experience.

"Well, you know what else they say?" he asked.

"No, what?" Crystal asked.

"The more friends you have, the more comfortable you are," he explained.

"Yeah, thanks, Mr. Feeny. Rach and Des were right. See ya!" she waved to Mr. Feeny and walked out the door.

"Oh, I still got it!" Mr. Feeny grinned.

~~

Crystal leaned against the wall outside Rachel's apartment, thinking. Rachel and Destiny were talking about Cory and Topanga, and how perfect they were for each other, and being single, too much love made her sick. So, after sitting outside for awhile, she decided she should go for a walk. She walked to the door, and poked her head in. "Rach, Des...I'm going for a walk, ok?" she told them.

"Ok, are you sure you don't wanna just sit and talk with us?" Destiny asked.

"I'm fine, really. I'll be back later." She nodded.

"See ya sis," Rachel looked a little concerned for Crystal.

Crystal walked around a little, and then came to the playground. She looked around, and saw that it was empty of people, so she sat down and started to cry. 'I'm in such an unfamiliar place...I know no one, and no one seems to care that I'm uncomfortable. I miss my mom...I miss my dad...I guess I only came because Des wanted to, and Rach wanted me to. Maybe now that Des is here, I could just go back to Austin...' she sighed and stood up.

All of a sudden, out of the corner of her eye, she saw someone stumbling over a metal beam. She looked over, curious, and saw him, whoever he was, trip over a swing.

"Uh..." he scoffed. "Excuse me...what the hell is your problem?" he cursed at the swing.

Crystal recognized his voice. "Shawn?" she ran up to him and helped him stand up straight. "Shawn, are you ok?"

"That stupid...uh..." he paused, as though he were looking for a word.

"Swing?" Crystal smelled alcohol on his breath, and coughed a little.

"Yeah, that's it..." he stumbled over a rock, and almost brought Crystal to the ground with him.

"Shawn...have you been drinking?" she asked, helping him up.

"Nah...why would you think that?" he almost fell right back over.

"Oh, I don't know...you were talking to a swing..." Crystal shrugged, sarcastically.

"Yeah, that is kinda funny, isn't it?" he asked, and tried to sit on a swing, only to miss, and end up sitting on the ground. "I seem to like the ground tonight..."

"Come on, Shawn...I'm gonna help you get home..." she helped him stand up, yet again.

"Ok...thank you..." he slurred.

"Where do you live?" she asked.

"On Davis Street...in the apartment building...third floor, second room on the right..." Shawn felt a churn in his stomach, and stumbled to the bushes.

Crystal followed him, to make sure he didn't get hurt. "Ugh..." she rubbed his back as he puked, looking away from him to stop herself from puking too. "Are you ok?" she asked, after the throwing up had finally stopped.

He groaned and stood up. He was still a little bit unsteady, but not as badly as before. "Thank you, Crystal..." he was trying not to cry. "Thank you so much..."

"Hey, it's ok..." she looked up at him. He looked a complete wreck. "Don't worry about it..." she gently wrapped her arms around him in a friendly hug.

He hugged her back, and felt a tear hit his cheek. "I'm so embarrassed..." he sniffled, coming to his senses a little, and realizing what he'd done.

Crystal led him to a bench inside the park's gazebo. "Sit down..." she sat down.

He held back tears a little longer, and sat back down. "Ok..." he looked at her.

"Holding everything in is what brought you here, Shawn, isn't it?" she remembered what Mr. Feeny had told her. "You can't hold back your feelings, Shawn. You have to tell someone, whether it's me, Cory, Destiny, or even Mr. Feeny-I hear he's great to talk to-the longer you keep these things inside you, the more things like this are gonna happen..."

'She seems to understand his situation better than even I do.' Shawn thought. He was listening attentively, and hugged her out of nowhere. "Crystal..." he started to cry. "My life is a living hell...I have no family...and the only family member that I really have is so insensitive to my feelings, it's not even funny..." he was crying harder than he ever had in his entire life. "I've lost my best friend to Topanga, Angela left me for someone else...I have nothing."

"Well, I'm here if you need to talk, ok?" she nodded and touched his shoulder.

"Thank you, Crystal..." he smiled a little, feeling that he wasn't alone for the first time in weeks. "I just feel like dying...and I can't tell Cory about it, because he's led a pretty good life, so he usually tells me things aren't as bad as I think they are..." saying those words about his best friend cut Shawn like a knife. "And, they are. Sometimes they're worse...I mean, look at me, Crystal, I look like shit! It's times like this that I wonder what I'm here for..." he wiped his eyes.

"Shawn, from what I've heard from Des, you are an amazing person. I've heard nothing but great things about you, and I believe every one of them. You are here for that reason. You're here because you're amazing, and sweet. Everyone wonders why they're around. Even I do sometimes. But you know what? There is a plan for each and every one of us, and I know yours will show through to you soon," Crystal comforted him.

Shawn was in awe. The person sitting in front of him amazed him. She knew every single thing that was on his mind, before he even said anything. She was truly beautiful, maybe even more on the inside than the outside. "Thank you, Crystal. That is the sweetest thing anyone has ever said to me. And it means so much."

"Hey, I mean every word," she nodded, reassuringly. "There is nothing you can do to make me think otherwise, because I know that no matter how hard they try to hide it, there is good in everyone, and all your insecurities? They're not true at all. You are such a great person, your going through all this will make you a stronger and better person after it's all over with, you just have to look at it that way."

Something about her, she knew exactly what to say, or exactly what tone of voice to use to make him feel so much better. He didn't even feel like crying anymore. "Thank you. Thank you so much. This all means so much coming from you. I think your 'plan' was to be a counselor or something, because you made me feel so much better."

"That means a lot, thank you." She sighed.

"I mean it. Not just anyone would have come up to see if I was ok, Crystal. Most people, if they heard someone drunk coming along, would have headed for the hills right away, but not you. You came up to me, and made sure I was ok. That says something really amazing for you." He looked into her eyes. "Thank you. Thank you so much."

"You're welcome," she blushed. "But it's not that big of a deal..." she shook her head.

"It is." He nodded. "It's a very big deal. And I'm always going to remember it. But, can you keep this between us, please?" he asked.

"Of course." She nodded. "I would never tell anyone something so personal..."

"Thank you. And I promise I won't drink anymore. Can I come to you when I need someone to talk to?" he asked.

"Anytime. Even if you just get bored." Crystal smiled.

"Thanks." He stood up. "Can you walk me home? I'm still kinda..."

"Of course." She stood up. "Come on..." she walked beside him.