Author's Note: Hey y'all, again. Thanks for reviewing. =) =) I really appreciate it! This chapter came out later than anticipated, but, in any case, it's here.. And it's long! Without further ado, here's the next chapter! Enjoy.. :) -Jazz
The Cliffhanger girls watched as Shelby entered the girls dorm room, lightly closing the door behind her. She stared off absently into space, and uncharacteristically sighed dreamily as she collapsed onto her bunk
"What's up, Shel?" Kat asked her.
Apparently, Shelby hadn't heard, as she didn't answer.
"Shelby?" said Daisy.
Shelby seemed to be off somewhere, floating on some distant planet, some world of her own. Something good had definitely transpired, that much was obvious to them all, and they would have all agreed, that it was about time.
"Joe Space Cadet?" continued Daisy, trying in vain to get her attention.
And with that, Shelby seemed to have been transported back to earth. "Hmm?" she said, turning to Daisy.
"What happened?" Kat asked again.
Shelby smiled absently. "I told Scott I loved him."
Erika raised her eyebrows. "What the hell for?" she asked, seriously disturbed.
Shelby gave her a look. But it wasn't a glare, or a look of slightest irritation. It appeared that Shelby, as she was now, was by no means capable of scowling, too occupied replaying Scott and her's conversation on the phone. It was a mere look, her eyes meeting Erika's. "Because I do, damn it."
For once, Shelby was happy. Apparently, a mere dose of Scott to treat her condition of a splintered heart, was just the medicine she had needed.
"Scott."
Scott raised his eyes disinterestedly to the speaker.
"Dad," he returned.
"Is there something you'd like to tell me about?"
Scott slumped in his chair. "No."
"Really?" Martin began, rising from his seat. "That's funny because I received a phone call from your school guidance counsellor.. Scott, are you listening? In any case, they're worried about you."
"Yeah?" said Scott. "I'm worried about me too."
"And why is that?"
Scott sighed, exasperated. "Because there's a girl out there who loves me, and I'm not with her," he said.
"Is this about Shelby?" Martin questioned suspiciously.
"Yeah, dad."
"Horizon is past you, Scott."
Scott shook his head. "No, it's not."
"Scott, if you intend to get anywhere in life, you have to let it go," Martin continued.
"I can't," Scott replied. "I won't."
"Well, why not?!"
"Because I love her too."
Martin was left staring dumbfounded at his son. Was Scott out of his mind? He wanted to return to Horizon, for Shelby, of all things?!
His thoughts were interrupted by the sudden ring of the telephone.
Martin glared at his son as he picked up the receiver, his eyes never leaving Scott. "Hello?"
"Hi, it's me."
"Oh... hello," Martin managed.
"Is everything okay? Am I interrupting something?"
Martin exhaled into the phone impatiently. "Not really. Scott's just decided that if he could he'd throw his life away. I'm not going to let him, though."
"What's going on?"
Martin shook his head as if confounded. "Scott doesn't even want to be here," he replied.
"Put him on the phone."
"Alright," he said. "Scott? Phone."
Scott rose from his chair and took the phone form his dad. "Hello?" he said.
It was his mother's voice on the other end. "Hi Scott."
"Hi mom.. What's up."
"Not much," she replied, "although I hear there are things going on with you."
"Oh.. You mean here?"
"Yes. So what's going on?"
"Well," said Scott, "there's this girl back at Horizon who I still love, who I want to be with, right now. That's all."
Scott could hear a smile in his mom's voice. "Does this girl have a name?"
"Yeah, Shelby. What do you think I should do?"
"Follow your heart," came the knowing reply. "Always follow your heart, because in the end, at the end of the day, you have to live with yourself. Don't do what you'll later regret."
"Alright, thanks mom."
"No problem. I love you."
"Yeah. Bye."
"Bye."
Juliette sped through the hallways, hurrying to Peter's office. She'd been alerted that a visitor had come to see her, and she didn't have the slightest clue who it could be. Nor did she stop to wonder.
As she came within feet of Peter's office, she stopped in her tracks, her mouth gaping open.
A professionally-attired figure stood before the office's doors, an expensive coat tightly wound around her. Clad in high heels, and sunglasses, with meticulously placed, perfectly styled hair. The woman raised her sunglasses.
Juliette immediately registered who it was that had come to see her, and instinctively, she took a few steps backwards, a few steps away if only to increase their physical distance, crossing her arms defensively.
"Mom- what are you doing here?" she asked, when she recovered from her initial shock.
"I just came to tell you the news.. in person," was her mother's cool response, she making no effort to close the prolonged distance between her and her daughter.
Juliette eyed her mother uncertainly. "What news?"
"That," the elder began, and it was a few seconds before she resumed. A plastered, indifferent smile appeared on her visage, and her gloved hands folded together. "That you were right. And.. Perhaps I ought to have listened to you."
Juliette's eyes now widened in fear. "What happened?" she questioned immediately.
She shrugged. "He left me."
"What else?" Juliette pried, almost afraid of the answer.
Her mom crossed her arms and stared frigidly at her daughter, careful to betray no emotion when she spoke. "With my money, and a file for divorce. Not to mention the prenuptial agreement.."
Tears welled in Juliette's eyes. "I told you he would. You didn't listen," she said angrily.
"I'll try to listen to what you have to say more often. Goodbye."
And with that, Juliette's mom turned her back on her daughter and headed for the door, placing her sunglasses back.
"Don't you have something else to say to me?!" Juliette demanded.
Juliette watched as her mom slowly turned around, her eyebrows raised as if surprised by her daughter's defiance. "What?"
"Like maybe that you're sorry?"
Her mom took a few steps closer to her daughter, closing the distance between them. "And what do I have to be sorry for?"
Juliette furrowed her eyebrows in disbelief. "Mom- you told me I was delusional- you told me I was crazy. I knew all along, and you didn't care what I had to say."
Her mom slightly raised the sleeve of her coat to glance at her watch.
"And now that I've proved you wrong," Juliette continued, "you still won't apologise to me. Unbelievable. I can't deal with this."
Still, her mom offered no response, she merely maintaining a flat stare. But Juliette hadn't finished yet.
"Your life could have been in danger- and you tell me I'm crazy, that I'm back to my old ways. I deserve an apology!"
"Goodbye Juliette," said her mom stolidly, turning her back once again.
Juliette felt as though she'd burst into tears in any moment as she watched her mom walk away from her. Rejection, once again, and she wasn't getting any better at dealing with it.
Scott hung up the phone, and subsequently turned to his dad.
"I'm not staying any longer," he announced.
Martin rubbed his forehead. "Scott, what are you talking about?"
"Shelby, that's what I'm talking about."
Martin stared at his son incredulously. "Get a hold on yourself! This is your future!"
Scott shook his head defiantly. "Shelby is my future."
"No, she isn't!" said Martin, raising his voice. "Your future is football."
Scott looked at his father in disgust. "I don't need you to tell me what my future is," he said curtly. He subsequently started walking away, when his father's words stopped him in his tracks.
"Don't you get it, Scott?!" he said, exasperated. "Shelby wants you to be here!"
Scott slowly turned around. "What are you talking about? What would you know?"
"I had a discussion with Shelby, and we decided-"
Scott didn't allow his father to finish. "You talked with Shelby?! Oh my God.. That explains a lot, dad. That whole ordeal nearly destroyed me!"
Scott threw a menacing glare towards his dad, and picked up the cordless phone, keeping a watchful eye on his meddling father.
"Scott, what are you doing?!"
Scott began dialling the numbers. "Doing what I should have done months ago," he replied coldly.
"Scott, no! What are you thinking!? We've worked hard to get you out of Horizon, you have a second chance! Don't waste it!"
Scott covered the phone as he heard it ring. "What's that supposed to mean- 'we've all worked hard to get me out of Horizon'? What, is there more of you?!"
Scott left the room, closing the door behind him, the phone still to his ear.
"Scott!" Martin called after him, opening the closed door. He spotted his son walking up the nearby carpeted stairs.
Scott spoke into the phone, his words inaudible to Martin, before turning around to face him. "This is why I didn't come home before!"
Father and son confronted one another, their gazes locked. Scott stood on stairs, staring down at his father on the main floor.
"I will NEVER forgive you," Scott continued, before turning, and starting back up the stairs.
Scott came to his room, and sat at the edge of his bed, the phone still to his ear. As he waited, he pulled out a certain photograph from a drawer.
"Hello?"
Scott sat up immediately the moment his girlfriend's voice sounded on the other end of the phone.
"Hi Shel," he said.
"Hi.. Scott."
He wasn't sure how he was going to get it all out of his system. Wasn't sure where to start. But he decided to dive right into it. "I love you Shel. And I'm coming back."
It was a moment until she answered, a moment that seemed to span an eternity. "What?"
"I found out," Scott replied quickly. "I know, now."
"What do you know?"
"My dad- you guys talked.."
"Oh.. So, what, now I'm busted?"
Scott smiled softly. "Yeah, Shel," he said. His smile faded as he continued. "I can't believe my dad had the nerve.."
"Scott, it's alright."
Huh? "No, it's *not* alright Shel," he insisted.
"He just wanted what's best for you."
Scott smiled at the irony of it all. "Well, what's best for me, and what he thinks is best for me are completely different things."
He could hear a smile in Shelby's words. "I love you."
Scott thought that he'd die from happiness. "You would not believe how good it is to hear those words."
"I can imagine. How do you think the last few months have been for me?"
"Too long?"
"That's one way of putting it."
Adrian found Erika shooting hoops at an empty basketball net. As he neared her closer, she didn't appear to notice his presence.
"Hey," he said, standing mere feet away, making his presence known. Erika turned to him, her gaze impassive as she continued to dribble the basketball.
"It's good to have you back, Erika," Adrian continued.
Erika merely laughed, a shrill, amused laugh that made Adrian's insides churn.
Adrian stood unmoving, throughly confounded and uncomfortable. He watched as Erika took a shot at the net, and narrowly missed, the ball bouncing off of the rim.
"Erika?"
She retrieved the ball, and turned to him, finally. "I hear you've kept busy," she said simply.
He was growing more uncomfortable by the minute. "What?"
Erika's eyes were cold as they pierced into him. "Don't give me this shit."
"Hey, what are you talking about?"
Erika took a place before the basketball net, and shot again. "Think hard. Think real fucking hard."
Adrian bit his lip, hoping that his fears wouldn't be realized. "Is this about Amber?" he questioned.
"Sounds like you were pretty fucking desperate."
Adrian sighed, wondering how he was going to dig a way out of the mess he'd created. "Erika- it's not like that," he said.
"It's not like what?"
"It's not like you think."
Erika tossed to basketball to Adrian. "And what do I think?"
He merely tossed it back to her. "We never went out or anything *remotely* like that."
"Don't fucking lie to me."
"I'm not lying."
Erika shot the ball at the net again, single-handed, it more of a wild throw, that sprung from the backboard and came bounding onto the ground. Erika caught it with visible ease. "Adrian, I don't have time for this shit. Stay the fuck away from me."
Adrian blearily loped back to the boys dorm. It proved to be, unsurprisingly dull. Auggie was idly dribbling a basketball against a wall, with a pile of homework collecting dust beside him. Ezra was quietly writing in his journal.
Auggie was the first to notice Adrian's glum expression. "Yo, man, what's wrong now?"
Adrian released an exasperated sigh as he sat down on the edge of his bunk. "Erika hates me."
Auggie couldn't help but chuckle at the irony of it all. "It's always something about that girl, isn't it?" he said. "Erika's not here, Erika hates me.. Blah blah. What don't you go do somethin' 'bout it, man?"
Adrian's response was a monotone. "She told me to stay the fuck away from her."
Ezra just happened to overhear. "Well, in that case, if I were you, I'd stay as far away from her as possible," he said, laughing.
"I can't."
"Well then.." Auggie began, but left his sentence unfinished. "Guess you're screwed, Garret. But man, why do you like that girl?"
"Yeah," added Ezra, "I mean, she's turned you down enough times."
Auggie turned to Ezra, laughing. "Since when has that ever stopped you?"
"Why does she hate me?" Adrian mulled.
"Man, I hope you don't expect us to know," replied Auggie. "I don't know how any girl's mind works, let alone the monster Erika.. Nuh un."
"I just wish I knew," said Adrian despairingly. "I don't understand her. She won't let me. I know I could."
"Man, give it up," said Auggie finally. "She's a lost cause."
Adrian stayed silent, but as if in denial, imperceptibly shook his head. He wasn't the type to give up easily, and it would be no different with Erika.
Scott was still in his room, the phone still to his ear, Shelby's voice gone. Frankly, he was surprised that his dad hadn't disconnected the phone yet. As he waited, he wondered half-seriously what was keeping his father from disconnecting the phone. A sudden change of heart? A pang of guilt? Inability to reach the offending cord?
The awaited voice sounded out of the speaker.
"Scott? How are you faring?" It was Peter's voice. Scott had asked to speak with his former headmaster.
"I want to come back, Peter."
"Why? Is something wrong?"
"I just want to come back, alright?" said Scott insistently.
"For what reason?"
Scott wasn't surprised by Peter's familiar prying antics. "Shelby," he admitted.
"Alright, I see. How far away is your graduation?"
"A month. But what-"
"Don't you think it would be wiser to come back down after you've finished school? You'd come back just in time for the morp."
Scott considered it. He figured he might as well complete his school year. "Okay.. I guess that sounds alright. Can you get Shelby? I want to talk with her."
"Sure."
-----------------
"Hello?"
Scott smiled to himself when he heard his girlfriend's voice over the phone. "Hey Shel"
"Scott."
"Yeah. Guess what, Shel."
"What?"
"I just talked with Peter. I'm going to come back in time for the morp."
A long pause ensued. Scott wasn't sure if it was created out of shock, or speechlessness, or happiness, or what. He merely waited for her reply, although it didn't come.
"I'm serious," he continued.
"I don't know what to say, Scott. I love you so much."
"I love you too, Shel. Hey, is our 'future together thing' still on?"
"I don't know.. But I'd.. Love it so much if it were."
"Yeah, me too," said Scott. "Do you have *any idea* how much better my day has gotten?"
"I totally know what you mean."
The Cliffhanger girls were lounging around in their dorm room, keeping themselves occupied.
A knock came at the door, and all eyes in the room were transferred to the person who'd opened the door and was now walking through the doorframe.
The guest was a familiar one, with wild raven hair, a lanky build..
"Erika?" said Adrian tentatively.
Erika's eyes hardened. "I thought I told you to stay the fuck away from me!"
"I can't!" Adrian confessed.
Erika rose from her bunk, unaware of the entire dorm watching their interaction.
"What the hell is it that you want?!" she demanded, both irritated and incredulous at his relentless pursuing.
"You!"
Daisy hid a smile at the answer.
"Well, guess what shithead," said Erika, mere feet away from him. "You can't fucking have me! I belong to NO ONE!"
Adrian was seemingly unintimidated, and patient. "All I can do is offer myself in return," he said.
Erika rolled her eyes. She'd had enough.
"Go back to your whore!" Erika exclaimed, before roughly shoving him through the doorframe and closing the door behind her.
She had the look on her face of one who'd just found and exterminated a rat, a pesky little creature she had no intention of letting live.
With Adrian gone, Erika was suddenly aware of all eyes on her.
"Wow, Erika," remarked Kat, "you've got some love life."
Irritated, Erika rolled her eyes and threw a pillow at Kat, who caught it and smiled in amusement.
A few minutes later, the door to the Cliffhanger girl's dorm began to open again, Erika uneasy for a moment, wondering if it was again Adrian. But if proved to be Shelby, smiling absently, seemingly on cloud nine.
"What the fuck are you smiling about.." said Erika, fending off boredom. She watched as Shelby sat on the edge of her bunk, and suddenly burst into tears. "Or crying about? Nevermind. I don't want to know."
"Scott," said Shelby, smiling through her tears of happiness. "I love him so much."
Erika rolled her eyes drearily. "I wish I hadn't asked," she remarked.
"He's coming back for me after the morp," Shelby continued.
Kat jumped up and hugged Shelby. "Oh my God! That's so great, Shel!"
"And then what will you two do?" Daisy asked. "Ride off into the sunset and live happily ever after? Is that it?"
Shelby turned to Daisy, a sudden seriousness washed over her face. "Be happy for me, Dais."
"I am."
A quiet smile reappeared on Shelby's visage, and tears continued to slowly trickle down her cheeks.
"Stop fucking crying,"said Erika.
"This is so the happiest day of my life."
later.................
Adrian searched the campus for her, but to no avail. Her presence was unusually absent on the sports field. He finally located her sitting on a picnic table, deliberately alone, reading a folded piece of paper.
Adrian cautiously approached the picnic table on which Erika sat, but he stopped mid-stride when she discovered his presence, and her cold eyes pierced his. "What the FUCK are you doing here?" she demanded.
He didn't reply immediately. "I dumped Amber," he said eventually.
"Tell someone who gives a shit," was her reply, and as if disinterested, she shifted her attention to the paper in her hands, a ripped envelope close by.
"What's that?" he asked.
"None of your damn business, that's what it is."
Adrian saw the handwriting that covered the paper. "It's a letter," he remarked.
She appeared unimpressed. "Very good, Adrian. From my fucking criminal of a father."
Adrian was struck by the bitterness in her tone. Warily, he reached out to touch her hand, as if in comfort. But at the contact, Erika immediately retracted, otherwise completely ignoring him.
"God dammit, Erika."
She didn't even raise her eyes to him in response, in affirmation that she'd even heard him.
"I do care about you, you know," he continued.
That caught her attention. Erika put down the letter she held, and shot him an icy gaze. "I have never given you a fucking reason to care about me," she said. "Fuck off."
"What about the nights before you left," Adrian offered. "You were writing a letter to your father. We talked for a really long time. What was that?"
"That was your fucking imagination."
"No, it wasn't."
Erika shrugged. "Not my fucking fault you're delusional."
Adrian's eyes revealed hurt, and his gaze was pleading. "Why do you do this to yourself? You don't need to."
"Why the hell are you like this to me?" demanded Erika. "What, do you think it'll get you laid? Is that it?"
He shook his head sadly. "You've got it all wrong."
"What are you fucking telling me? That you're in love with me, is that it?"
Adrian nodded. "Pretty much."
"Love is bullshit. It's an excuse to fuck."
Adrian rubbed his forehead, growing frustrated. "Did it ever occur to you, ever, that maybe I like you for you?"
"Not once," came her curt reply.
Adrian ignored her last comment. "..That for some strange reason I'm drawn to you for who you are. Honestly, I don't know why anymore. I just- I can feel it in my gut."
"Save it for someone who gives a shit."
Adrian drew closer to her, and gazed in her eyes. "Do you feel it too?"
She met his eyes coldly. "Can you feel this?" she asked, and Adrian suddenly felt a hard blow across his face.
"When I tell someone to fuck off," continued Erika, "I mean it."