Author's Note: Hey y'all.. Sorry this chapter is kind of late, but it's pretty long. I had originally plotted out this elaborate, crazy storyline for Juliette that happens as she's visiting home, but I decided it would take too long to get anywhere, and I don't really want to slow down the story. So I'll just interject bits and pieces of it (you'll see, *wink* ) Thanks for reviewing everyone who reviewed, it means a lot to me that people I probably don't even know are actually reading my stuff, it's amazing. Thanks again.. :)





Scott gazed outside the car window, watching the darkened world pass by him. It was a cloudless night, so pitch-black that nothing in the distance was discernable. He and his dad were in the car, travelling a worn road in the midst of the wilderness. With every second, he was drawing further and further away from everything he'd known for the past year.. Drawing further and further away from Shelby.

"I'm glad you're coming home, son."

Scott turned to his dad, offering a tight-lipped smile. "Me too, Dad," he heard himself reply, wondering just how sincere his words were. In truth, he wasn't sure whether or not he wanted to go back home. He didn't want to stay at Horizon- he simply couldn't, not with Shelby's sudden change of heart. But he didn't want to leave either, without Shelby, even if she didn't love him.

An awkward silence ensued, Scott consumed by his thoughts, Scott's dad focussing his attention on the road as he drove.

It was his dad who broke the silence. "So isn't it great they want you back on the team?"

"Yeah," Scott said distantly.

But that was the end of their conversation. Though they were seated mere inches apart, there seemed to be a heavy, palpable barrier wedged between them.

Scott felt sick to his stomach.. He'd never see Shelby, his one true love, again. She was gone. It was over, time to move on. He wondered miserably if he could move on, could love again, knowing what he'd left behind.

She doesn't love you, he tried to convince himself, but no matter how many times he repeated this over in his mind, it never instilled. He kept remembering saying goodbye to her, the tears in her eyes.. Did she truly not love him? He realized he'd never know..

Another awkward silence ensued between Scott and his dad, this time due to them nothing to say to one another. Or perhaps too much to say..

"So.." Martin began, sensing the uncomfortable silence.

"Yeah."

"So are you excited to get home?"

Scott's response was devoid of enthusiasm, devoid of emotion. "Yeah, I guess."

"So.." Martin began again, thinking that the car trip, while just a few minutes into it, had proved to be harder and more uncomfortable than he had initially thought it would be. "You're pretty close with that girl Shelby, aren't you?"

"Yeah."

"Want to tell me about it?" Martin asked, momentarily turning to his son.

Scott wore an unreadable expression. "Not really."

"Why is that?"

"I just.. don't want to talk about it," Scott said finally.

"She seems like a nice girl," Martin remarked.

"She is," Scott said, and after realizing what he'd just said, corrected himself. "Was."

"I'm glad."

Scott leaned back into his seat. "She's the strongest girl I've ever met," he reflected.

"That's nice." It was obvious that Martin's attention was more directed to his driving than to his son.

"I don't understand women," Scott continued. "One minute they're one way, the next.. they're another way."

"Women are the world's greatest mystery, Scott," his dad replied.

Scott didn't bother to reply, sensing that his dad, like all times before, could be of no aid to him. He watched as they sped past the star-adorned sky, and closed his eyes..



morning the next day..



"Where's Shelby?" Jeff asked, noting Shelby's absence as he glanced around the classroom.

Kat shrugged. "Probably still moping," she replied.

"Moping?" Jeff asked skeptically.

"Yeah.. It's pretty bad," Kat related. "This morning, it was amazing she even got out of bed."

"What do you mean she's moping?" Ezra asked curiously.

"You know.. Scott."

"I thought she wanted him to leave."

Daisy watched the conversation uncomfortably, and cut into it. "She didn't," she replied curtly.

"I'm confused, man," Auggie put in.

Daisy held a stolid look. "It's a confusing circumstance," she said vaguely, not offering to elaborate.

"Can someone get Shelby?" Jeff requested. "I'm not going to let her just skip class."

"I'm pretty sure she doesn't want to be here," Daisy maintained.

"Or anywhere," Kat added.

"Anywhere, but where Scott is," Daisy said.

Kat nodded. "Yeah."

"Is anyone going to get Shelby?" Jeff asked, this time with a firmer tone and less patience. "It's like I said, I'm not.."

"I'll try," Kat offered.

Daisy rose from her seat. "No, I think I'd better do it."



Daisy ventured into the girl's dorm cautiously. "Shelby," she said.

Shelby was lying on her bunk idly, looking up at the ceiling miserably. "Aren't you supposed to be in class?"

"Aren't *you* supposed to be in class?" Daisy returned, seating herself on the edge of Shelby's bunk.

"As if I care," Shelby replied cynically, her voice hard and unwavering. "I have no reason to care about anything."

"Just because he's gone?" Daisy asked.

Shelby shook her head. "You can't understand."

Daisy shrugged. "I think I could."

"You've never brainwashed your boyfriend into thinking you didn't love him. You've never had to live a lie for your boyfriend's benefit. You've never watched the only person you've ever really cared about walk away, with him thinking you didn't care about him," Shelby ranted. She paused, and chuckled sardonically. "So don't tell me that you can understand. You can't."

Daisy turned to Shelby, and was suddenly struck by how miserable she looked. Bags were present under her eyes, her hair was untended and tangled. "So is that a reason give up on life?"

Shelby laughed cynically, as if amused that Daisy had to ask. "You're damn right it is."

"Life goes on," Daisy stated.

"Why?" Shelby demanded, as if expecting Daisy to answer. "Why doesn't it just spare me the pain?"

"You don't mean that."

"I do," Shelby replied easily. "Believe me, I do. There is no life without Scott."

Daisy was struck by how pitifully the statement was said. She'd never seen Shelby like this. "Shelby!" she exclaimed. "You have to move on."

Shelby shook her head. "No, I don't. I can mope for as long as I damn well please."

"Life goes on, whether you want it to or not," Daisy said firmly.

"I don't want it to."

Daisy didn't respond.

Shelby exhaled slowly, as if reflecting. "Scott was the best thing that ever happened to me," she said. "Our relationship was going so well.. We were planning a frigging future out of this dump. But then.. But then Scott's dad showed up and screwed it all up. So don't frigging tell me that life goes on. It seems.. That the more life goes on, the worse it gets. It's always been like that."

Daisy closed her eyes momentarily, and rose, and raising her hands in defeat. "I tried," she said. She made her way to the dorm's exit. "What can I say, I tried," she muttered to herself. "I should have just listened to the cards.."



Adrian sat idly on the grassy field floor, pencil and sketchbook in hand. It was a typical day for him- skipping class in favour of drawing, free of responsibility, but not free of thought. To be free of thought- he'd give anything.

"What are you doing out here?"

Adrian directed his attention to the speaker. It proved to be Shelby, sitting next to him, her knees drawn close to her body.

"Not going to class?" he offered.

Shelby chuckled cynically. "Yeah, me too," she said, devoid of emotion, as if it had all been drained from her. "Life sucks, did you know that? Even when you have something good, it's always taken away."

"Man, I know," he related. "You remember Erika, who left not too long ago?"

"How could I forget her?" Shelby mused. "What about her?"

"I cared about her," he said simply.

Shelby wrinkled her nose. "Why?"

"I don't know, but I did."

Shelby gazed off into the distance. "The one person I loved and cared about, went away yesterday."

"Scott?" Adrian questioned.

"Yeah, Scott. My life is never going to be the same," she said distantly. "What's that drawing of?"

Adrian shrugged. "Just the scenery- art is all I do. Art is my life."

"My life ended when Scott left," Shelby said. Her voice was flat, and yes, sounded devoid of life. It was like what she said was true, at least in spirit. Her spirit had visibly gone with Scott. "Scott was my life," she continued.

Adrian turned to her. "So what are you going to do?"

Shelby stared blankly at him. "What do you mean what am I going to do? It's not like I can do *anything*."

"There has to be something," Adrian continued hopefully. "For me, it's waiting. Erika might come back from juvie.. And if she ever does, I'll still be here."

"Scott's not coming back," Shelby said outright.

"How do you know?"

"Because I made sure of it. I had to."

Adrian merely shrugged, not certain of what to make of the revelation.

Shelby glanced around, scanning what she could of the campus. "Do the counsellors ever come looking for you, since you don't go to class?"

"Yeah," Adrian replied. "But I get away with it since I'm still considered a newbie here."

"They're going to come looking for me," Shelby stated, unmoving.

"Well, are you going to do something?"

"I'd do something if there was anything I could do," Shelby said, a deadpan expression on her countenance. "Right now, all I can do is be depressed."

"Well," Adrian began, "that's something."

"Yeah, sure," Shelby replied cynically. "I can't wait until Queenie comes back."

"I thought you hated her," Adrian mused.

"I need something to take out my anger on," Shelby explained.

"Ah. So when is she coming back?"

"How should I know- she was supposed to be back yesterday."



The basketball slammed into the hoop, and as gravity pulled it downward, it was intercepted by a swift grasp. The interceptor spun the basketball in his hands, and dribbled it on the ground idly. Subsequently, the game resumed.

It was a picturesque neighbourhood- big, expensive houses with grassy front lawns and top-of-the-line cars parked in the driveways. Perfect, temperate weather that reminded one of summer. People walked their pets on the sidewalks by a leash. You couldn't turn a street corner without finding yourself in the middle of a hockey game. On the surface, the area exuded the aura of being extremely high-class and yet, nice, friendly. But admittedly, that was merely what the surface belied..

A number of teenaged boys were engaged in a casual basketball game, it taking place in an empty driveway of one of their houses, they utilizing a portable basketball hoop.

A car pulled up in the driveway next-door. They didn't pay any mind, until a familiar, tall figure emerged from the car.

One of the teenagers, Matt, clad in baggy jeans and long black shirt, seized the basketball to halt the game. He motioned towards the house next door, watching as a tall, blond teenager stepped out of the car.

"Yo, is that Scott?" he asked the others.

"Barringer?" Dave, asked. His eyes widened as he registered recognition. "Yeah man, I think so."

Matt was convinced, albeit surprised. "Yo, Scott!" he called, dribbling the basketball as he walked over to the neighbour's driveway. The others followed. "Where ya been, man?"

Scott turned to see familiar people walking towards him, people who were from his past, and now in his present. "Man, you guys wouldn't believe it," he responded.

Matt tossed Scott the basketball. "Hey, you up for some game?"

"Later," he replied, tossing it back to Matt. "I gotta go unpack."

Matt watched as Scott retrieved his luggage from the trunk of the car. "Alright. See ya man."

"Good to see you back, man," Dave added.

They watched as Scott carried his luggage to his front door, and as his dad reached in his pocket for a set of keys.

"Man, I haven't seen Scott Barringer in over a year," Matt related to his friends. "He just disappeared one day, but now he's back."

"Dude, he looks clean."

"Yeah, I noticed. Weird," Matt commented, still dribbling the basketball.

"Isn't Juliette supposed to be back by now?" Kat asked. The Cliffhangers were seated at a table in the lunchroom, trying to force down the food they'd been served.

"Yeah, really. I wonder where she is?" Ezra added.

"She was supposed to be back yesterday, man," Auggie said. "I'm real worried."

"It's probably nothing," Kat said in her usual optimistic tone. "Probably car trouble."

"We have no way of knowing, man," Auggie replied. "That makes me uneasy. I'm missin' my girl Jules."

"Really?" said Amber. "I'm not."

"Yo! Don't diss my girl, newbie."

"It's weird without her," Adrian commented.

"Tell me about it," Shelby said. "I keep entering the bathroom waiting for the barfing to begin."

Auggie's reply was devoid of patience. "Don't diss my girl, man!"

Shelby kept a deadpan expression. "Fine," she said, rising from her seat. "Whatever. It's not like I'm hungry anyways."

Shelby subsequently left, fled from the scene without looking back.

Auggie furrowed his brows. "What was that about?"

Daisy gave him a look. "What do you think?"

"PMS?" Ezra asked.

Auggie rolled his eyes. "Scott," he said in realization.

"You think?" came Daisy's sarcastic reply.

"What's the deal with that anyway?" Auggie asked casually.

"It's not my place to tell you," Daisy said simply.

"So what?" Auggie said. "But you tryin' to tell me that she wanted him to stay?"

"Yes."

"No way, man."

Daisy shrugged. "Believe what you want."

"I will, man," Auggie insisted.

"It's so different without Scott," Amber noted idly. "It's like something's really missing."

"Our whole group is out of whack," Auggie added. "Jules is gone, Scott's gone, Shel's messed.."

Daisy rolled her eyes as she interjected. "Shelby is not 'messed'."

"Then why'd she tell Scott to go, and then mope about it? Eh?" Auggie questioned.

"It's not my place to say," Daisy repeated.

"Right, man."



Juliette Waybourne watched the world pass her by. Alone, lost, afraid- with a wad of cash in her coat pockets.

She didn't know where she was heading- only that she had to get away. She tried to suppress the memories from resurfacing, awful memories.. But they replayed in her head relentlessly.. mercilessly.. She couldn't evade them..

'You're delusional, Juliette..'

'I thought that you had to be better in order to come home. You're back to your old ways.'

'You can't win. I win. I always win.'

'It's not as it seems.. With him, it's not ever as it seems.'

Her trip home had been a complete disaster, a total mistake. She hadn't talked to her old friends since she'd met up with Leigh, but things had still managed to go downhill from there. Downhill at a breakneck pace..

For something that had intended to be a nice, uneventful trip home, it had turned out to be much more. Disquieting revelations, albeit useless ones were upturned.. Motives unearthed.. Her world turned upside down..

And there was nothing she could do but.. run. Pretend it didn't exist. Get away..

Scott ventured inside a place he had once known. His old house, still exactly the way he remembered it, unaltered by the passage of time.

It seemed empty. An enormous house, but with not enough to fill it. It was plenty full of furniture.. But devoid of life.

The scent of his stepmother was noticeably gone, dissipated. But her mark was left on every piece of furniture.. Tarnished them irreparably. She still lived here, in spirit.

Scott picked up his duffle, and lugged it up a flight of stairs. As he reached the top of the stairs, nearby was a door, the entrance to a place of assorted memories.. Mostly horrid memories that sometimes tainted his sleep, haunted him infinitely..

He opened the door slowly, taking in all the memories that flooded forward. He looked around, his room seemingly frozen in time. An arrangement of trophies and medals.. An unmade bed..

It'd definitely take some time to get used to.

Scott set down his duffle, and opened it. He filled empty drawers with the clothes his duffle contained, his mind wandering, reality setting in. Now everything would change.. He'd return to his old highschool, Horizon far behind him.. Shelby far behind him.. Venturing into what he once knew, but was now the unknown.

Scott zipped open the side pocket of his duffle, and pulled out.. what looked like a photograph..

He mulled it over in his head as he removed it from his duffle- he hadn't remembered packing a photograph in the side pocket..

He glanced at it curiously, and froze.. His body a block of ice, unmoving, his heart racing..

Shelby.

As evidenced in the photograph, even as a child, she was beautiful.. As a child, innocently beautiful. The purest kind of beauty- innocence.

He sat transfixed, unable to move, unable to breathe..

He turned the photo to the reverse side, and sure enough, there was writing- Shelby's writing. Her handwriting was very distinctive, and what was written on the reverse side of the photo was surely hers..

It read: 'Please don't forget me. Love, Shelby.'

He merely sat, not knowing what to make of it. What was it?

A goodbye present?

He was now more confused than ever before. The photograph seemed to indicate that she did care about him somewhat, if she didn't want him to forget her (as if it was possible for him to forget her. Scott knew instinctively that Shelby would stay with him an eternity, if only in spirit.) So if she cared about him- why did she push him away?

He shook his head, unknowing. How was he to know?

Drawing no conclusion, Scott leaned back onto a piece of furniture, so thoroughly confounded..

He was left staring at the photograph, unmoving, not wanting to ever tear his eyes away. It was beautiful, almost devastatingly beautiful as he thought of what this girl would wind up going through, her innocence corrupted..

His thoughts were interrupted by his dad's voice.

"Scott, you have a visitor," he called.

Scott gently tucked away the precious photograph into a small drawer, as he heard footsteps climbing up the stairs, drawing nearer..

The door to his room swung open to reveal a familiar figure, another fragment of his shattered, distant past. "Scott! I almost didn't dare believe it when I heard you were back."

"Tara," Scott acknowledged. "Hey. Word sure spreads fast around here."

"Yeah- you can imagine how it would," she responded, tucking a strand of her short, loose brown hair behind her ear. "None of us have seen from you, or heard from you, in what- a year and a half? More?"

"Year and eight months," Scott corrected her.

Tara rolled her eyes. "So.. where have you been the past year and eight months?"

Scott looked at her flatly. "You really want to know?"

"Yeah, Scott," she replied insistently. "We were pretty close.. once, don't you remember? I *do* care about you, you know."

"Well, see.." Scott began. "My dad shipped me off to this.. school in the middle of nowhere."

Tara furrowed her brows. "Why?"

"Why do you think?"

Tara merely stared at Scott. "Um.. if this has something to do with that phase or whatever that you went through before you left.."

"Yeah."

"But a school, Scott?" she asked. "I don't understand."

"Don't worry about it," he dismissed.

"So, are you finishing high school here?" she questioned.

"Yeah," Scott said. "The reason I'm even here is because coach wants me back on the football team."

Tara's eyes widened excitedly. "You must be replacing our injured quarterback! I was wondering how they were going to solve that- our team is in the championships, and then suddenly our star player is injured! I'm glad you're replacing him- I know you can do it."

"Thanks, I guess."

"Scott, are you feeling alright?"

Scott shook his head. "Not really," he said stolidly.

"Can I do anything?"

"No."

Tara offered a tight-lipped smile. "I'm really glad to see you again, Scott," she said sincerely. When he didn't respond, she continued. "What is it?"

"I don't know," he said. "It's just weird."

"What's weird?"

Scott merely shrugged.

"Do you want me to leave?"

"Yeah."

"Fine," she said. "It was really great seeing you again, Scott. I'll come by again later." And then she left, gone, shutting the door behind her.

"I don't remember asking you to come by again.." Scott muttered to himself.

Scott could hear her footsteps as she travelled down the stairs.. And then it was quiet. Not a sound, not a single one, only his breathing. His thoughts drifted, inevitably towards a certain girl named Shelby Merrick, whose picture he possessed, and whose love he wasn't sure he possessed. Although certainly- she had his heart, every fragment of it as it lay in pieces..