Holding on to the Rooftops- Missing in Action

Shelby smiled as they began going up the winding path that would lead them to Horizon. They had been gone only a week but Shelby had missed that place she had called home so much. The week had been more or less eventful. Everyone had gone along with Peter's plans and pretended to get along; none of them wanted to go on a buddy hike back with their less than fortunate partner. Whenever Peter and Sophie would leave the Cliffhangers alone it was a different story though. Daisy was furious with David and Shelby couldn't blame her. Shelby knew David was hurt but that was no excuse to leave Daisy when she needed him the most. However, Auggie and Juliette seemed to be getting along better. Shelby was just lucky she had been with Scott the whole time. The whole week had been a blur and Shelby hadn't had a chance to think about what had been going on until now.

"Ahoy mate," David began in a pirate-y voice. "Land ahead! I repeat, land ahead! We're saved, we're saved!"

Shelby looked up to see Horizon's open arms. Everyone except for Daisy laughed at David's antics. Peter parked the car a few yards away from the campus. Shelby smiled and shoved her way out of the car. "Home," she said under her breath. Shelby wouldn't let anyone know how relieved she was to be back at Horizon, that would mean showing weakness. Horizon was one of the few soft spots in Shelby's heart.

Shelby patted Peter on the back. "You did it," she said in a joking tone.

"Yeah," Peter said looking around. Peter's eyes seemed to bulge out of his head and his whole stance screamed of anxiety. Shelby figured he was just excited about Sophie. "Cliffhangers go unpack and… umm, we'll… meet in the lodge in 10. Excuse me," Peter said flustered as he hurried off to his office.

"Weird," Scott commented form behind Shelby.

"Yeah," Shelby agreed taking Peter's actions in. Shelby just shrugged them off.

"Shall I help the lady with her bags?"

Shelby laughed and shoved Scott to the ground. "Yeah," Shelby said as she fell next to him.



Shelby was the only Cliffhanger left in the girls' dorm. She hadn't want to rush her unpacking and instead just layed on her bed. After five minutes she had decided that she had gotten properly reacquainted with her bed and began to unpack. She was done with her clothes and was about to shove the bag under her bed when a flash of red caught her eye. Shelby reached in and pulled out a red umbrella. She laughed and sat on her bed thinking back to when she had met Aubrey.



"Umm, would you like to borrow my umbrella?"

Shelby looked at his soaked clothing. "If you have an umbrella why aren't you using it?"

The man laughed. "You guys don't do things the same way we do back home. Normally when it rains we go outside and play in it. I brought my umbrella just in case the head guy said something."

"You mean Peter?"

"Yeah, him."

"Are you a new student here or something?" Shelby asked confused. He looked a little older than her, but not old enough to be a counselor.

"Oh, I'm sorry, the rain must have muddled my manners. Hello, I'm Aubrey, I'm a Ridge Runner or something like that."

"Aubrey, umm, hi, I'm Shelby. I'm a Cliffhanger."

"Well, I bet you are," he said with a spark in his eye.



Shelby smiled brightly thinking about how adorable he had looked there in the rain. "Hmm," she mused aloud wondering what he was doing right now. Then Shelby laughed at herself. "You're acting like a giggling schoolgirl," she said but didn't care. Shaking her head she put the umbrella on her desk and plunged her hand into her black hole of a bag. She heard a rustling sound and extracted a plastic bag. Shelby automatically felt guilty.

The bag contained the present Shelby had purchased for Scott for his birthday. Peter had given her money to but him a present because they were going to celebrate it with his parents when they returned home. "Scott's parents," Shelby said bolting upright. They were supposed to be there, waiting for them. They were supposed to have been in front of the building. Peter had gone over the plans for the surprise and Scott's dad had said that he and Scott's mother would be right outside so Scott would see them as the Cliffhangers drove up. Shelby thought back to how Peter had reacted when they had first stepped out of the car. Shelby felt so stupid for forgetting and so guilty for thinking about Aubrey the way she had.

She quickly hid the bag under her covers and practically jogged to the lodge needing to see if the plans had been changed. When she entered the room everyone turned to look at her, as she was late. She searched frantically for Peter but didn't see him anywhere.

"Where's Peter?" Shelby asked trying to sound nonchalant.

"He's on the phone with someone," Sophie replied to Shelby motioning for her to sit down. Scott got out of the chair and sat on the arm motioning for Shelby to take his spot. Shelby smiled at him as she sat down but unlike most of the smiles she gave Scott, this one was forced. "Now Cliffhangers, I know you all feel like there is a part missing because Ezra left. I know that there is no way to replace him but we have decided to make a new edition," Sophie said in an excited tone. She motioned for someone to come out of the cafeteria as she continued, "Which is why I would like you to meet Aubrey Ford."

Shelby looked up to see the owner of the little red umbrella currently sitting on her desk. All her thoughts about Scott's parents were shoved aside as a new problem persisted.



Author's Note: Okay, so I added two at the same time I think that merits seven reviews. Yeah, yeah, :( we'll see if I get them though…

Soon to come:

1) WHAT HAPPENED TO SCOTT'S PARENTS…