Every You, Every Me- Used Shoes
Aubrey twiddled his thumbs as he sat patiently, waiting for Angela to come out of the girl's dorm. He hoped she was okay. She had been acting like she didn't feel good, or maybe she was just trying to avoid him. 'No,' he told himself. Shelby had said she liked him too. She was probably just a bundle of nerves because of all that was going on. She probably just needed a few minutes to sort her feelings out. Aubrey's thoughts were interrupted as a door opened and hit him smack in the middle of his head.
"Oh, my God," he heard a female voice say. "I am so, so sorry."
"Are you okay?" another female voice asked him.
"Aubrey," the first voice said. "I'm really sorry. Are you okay? Do we need to take you to the nurse's office or something? I mean, do you need Peter or…"
Aubrey's mind was starting to clear, and his vision was becoming focused again. He looked up and saw Shelby and Angela staring down at him, both with concerned looks on their faces. "I'm okay," he said, trying to stand up. His legs wobbled and he sat back down again.
"Oh, I'm so sorry," Angela told him as she sat down and put her arm around him. "I didn't mean to hit you with the door."
"I guess that's what I get for not paying attention where I sit," he said trying to make a joke to smooth the situation over. He chuckled to himself, but stopped immediately because the action gave him a sever headache.
"I think maybe we should take you to the nurse," Shelby said still standing.
"No, I'm okay, I promise," Aubrey said trying to reassure both her and himself.
"Yeah right, you couldn't stand up," Shelby said, with her eyebrow cocked and her lips pursed. "Look, she'll decide if you're okay, and you might even get some ibuprofen out of the deal… though I doubt."
"Yeah Aubrey," Angela said looking at him intently. "You really need to make sure you're okay. I don't want anything really bad to happen to you."
Aubrey sighed, knowing that he was being overruled and it was pointless to try and argue. "Fine," Aubrey replied, standing up cautiously. He made sure his feet were firmly on the ground before taking another step forward. He really was okay now; he had just needed a moment.
"So," Angela said as they began making their way to the nurse's office. "Why were you sitting by our door?"
"I was waiting for someone," Aubrey said while attempting to blink his headache away.
"Really?" Angela said with mock curiosity. "Who?"
"Captain Planet," he replied sarcastically as he tried to clear his mind again, his vision was becoming foggy. "You. Who else? I needed to ask you something."
"Do you no longer need to ask me something?"
"Well, I was going to ask you if you would consider being my girlfriend, but I'm not so sure now."
Angela stopped walking and turned to look at Aubrey. "Why not?"
"Well, I don't normally go for girls who are trying to kill me," he said, returning to his blinking method.
Angela laughed and started walking again. "Why, I suppose not."
"So," Aubrey said.
"So what?"
"So, would you consider being my girlfriend? I mean I know I am moving a little fast, but I did have this whole speech. You seem to have knocked it out of me."
Angela laughed. "Why yes Aubrey, I would, but only if you'll forgive me."
"I suppose I could, but…"
"Hey, you two love birds," Shelby said, cutting him off. "Where are you going? The nurse's office is over here."
"Right," Aubrey said as he grabbed Angela's hand and steered her to the nurse's office. In spite of himself he began smiling; Angela had just said she would be his girlfriend, and he hadn't even had to beg.
Angela watched as the nurse examined Aubrey, smiling at him the whole time. Maybe she shouldn't be doing this. She wondered if this was the right thing. Sure, she liked Aubrey plenty, but he would just try to get close, and then she would have to push him away. She had been doing a lot of thinking about what Shelby had said, and she realized there was just no way she could ever be herself. She knew that, despite what anyone said, no one would accept her if she was herself. Why else would she have been hiding her true face for all these years?
"You'll be okay," the nurse told Aubrey, interrupting Angela's thoughts. "I just think you need to lay down for a little while and you'll be okay."
"Thank you very much," Aubrey said, his true gentleman's nature shining through.
"Oh, it was no problem, but I have some work to do so I will come back to check on you in half an hour. You should try to get some rest during that time," she said and then walked out of the room.
"Hey," Aubrey said from his bed.
"Hey," Angela replied. "How are you feeling?"
"I'm good, you know… if good means having a splitting headache, and knowing that you'll be feeling this in the morning."
Angela laughed. "Yeah, well, I just wanted you to know that I really am sorry."
"Forget about it," Aubrey said smiling. "I prefer to think of it as a bonding experience. Anyway, you shouldn't waste your time around here."
"No, I want to stay and make sure you're okay."
"Well, I can guarantee you that I will be fine, just as long as I am left to recuperate on my own. If you stay here I might be distracted and then I'll never be the same again," Aubrey said dramatically clutching his shirt.
Angela laughed. "Okay, I'll leave, but I think you should be aware that when you're in a semi-concussion state, you're accent comes through much clearer."
"Why thank you miss. I don't know what I would have done without that vital bit of information," Aubrey said in mock seriousness.
Angela rolled her eyes and walked out of the room. Then again, maybe Aubrey wouldn't try to delve too far into who Angela really was.
~*~*~*~*~
Sucker love is heaven sent,
You pucker up my, my passion's spent.
My heart's a tart, you're body's rent.
My body's broken, yours is spent.
~*~*~*~*~
Shelby looked back at the nurse's office one last time. She would have stayed there, but she had more important things to deal with… like Scott. She knew he hadn't had time to deal with his parent's deaths, but she also knew there was nothing she could do about it. Scott would have to deal with this on his own, and no matter how hard she tried, Shelby wouldn't be able to help make things better. Her thoughts were getting to confusing; they blurred and became all muddled in her mind. She needed to sort them out, needed to understand what she really felt, and she knew the one person who could help her was temporarily upset with her. "It's worth a try anyway," Shelby mumbled to herself as she climbed up the stairs to the girl's dorm.
"Daisy," she called out as she opened the door. Shelby walked cautiously; she couldn't afford to offend Daisy. When the whole room came into view Shelby saw Daisy sitting on her bed staring off in to space. "Daisy?" Shelby said, all the whole wondering if it was wise to bother Daisy right now. Lately, with Ezra leaving and everything, she had been a ticking time bomb.
Daisy looked up suddenly, and her eyes narrowed when she saw Shelby. "Where's your new bestest friend?"
"She's in the hospital," Shelby said, sitting down on her own bed.
"I knew you'd get sick of her act eventually, but really Shelby," Daisy said. Shelby could tell she was making an effort to keep the conversation light.
"Yeah well, what can I say?"
"You could start with why you're here?" Daisy said, her voice completely devoid of malice. Shelby looked up in to Daisy's face and could see warmth and openness there.
"Umm," Shelby said looking down and cleared her throat. "I need your help."
"Most people do," Daisy said simply, but Shelby knew she was listening.
"I, uh… It's about Scott…" Shelby trailed off, not certain how to go on.
"Most things around here are," Daisy said, offering no help as to how she could get this out.
"Yeah well… Look Daisy, I don't know how to say this with tact. Scott's all mopey because his parents died…"
"Wouldn't you be Shelby?" Daisy asked interrupting her.
"Yes, of course I would be. That's not what I'm saying…" Shelby started but Daisy held up her hand to stop her.
"What are you saying Shelby?"
"What?" Shelby asked confused by the question.
"What exactly ARE you trying to say Shelby?"
"I don't know," Shelby replied throwing her hands up. Shelby shouldn't have even bothered; this was a complete lost cause.
"Well I do," Daisy said smiling at her, Shelby however just stared at her. "You're trying to say that you think he needs to deal with it, but you don't want to push him. However, even though you don't want to push him, you know he needs help, and you know he wants it from you, but you don't know how to give it to him."
Shelby thought about Daisy's words for a moment and realized she was right. "Yeah," Shelby said, her voice barely audible. "What do I do?"
"This isn't something you can help him with Shelby. You may have been able to help him get past his problems with Elaine, but that was because you understood, you had been there. None of your parents have died."
"So you're saying that I can't help him because it never happen to me?" Shelby asked spitting the words out.
"No," Daisy said quickly.
"Then what exactly are you saying Dais? I mean, Scott got my whole turning tricks thing, and he hadn't gone through it."
"I know," Daisy said consoling her. "Just let me explain something. Scott understood what you were going through because you told him, because he put himself in your shoes. What you have to do is put yourself in his. Imagine that you love your parents more than anything in the world, that you couldn't make it without them. Then imagine that they were coming to see YOU, and they died in the process."
Shelby's eyes widened as the light clicked on in her brain; Scott wasn't just upset that his parents died, he felt guilty. "I… he must be feeling so…"
"Guilty? Look, my mom died, but this is something completely different from when my mom died. I mean, when she died it was easier for me because I could blame it on my dad. It's not like that for Scott, his parents died and the only person he has left to blame is Scott."
"But," Shelby protested. "It wasn't his fault, he didn't do anything wrong."
"I know that, and you know that, but Scott doesn't. Shelby, when your friends patty died, who did you blame?"
"Her," Shelby said not wanting to revisit that painful memory.
"No you didn't," Daisy said. "And don't try to pretend that you did. Sure, now you may blame her, but when she first died you didn't."
"Yeah," Shelby said after a while. She had blamed herself. She kept thinking that if she had been there for Patty, if she had talked to her more, maybe she would still be alive.
"So yeah, we all know that it isn't Scott's fault, but his parents died a little over a month ago, and he hasn't been given even a minute to deal with it. Instead he's had to sit and watch more crap pile up."
Shelby didn't say anything, but instead got lost in her thoughts. Daisy was right, she always was, but Shelby didn't know how to deal with this new information. She didn't know how to talk to Scott about it. "I still don't know what to do."
"You don't do anything," Daisy said as if that was quite obvious. "You let him deal with it how he needs to, and when he's ready to start talking, you be there."
Shelby looked up at Daisy and smiled; she always knew how to fix everything. "Look Daisy. I'm sorry about all this stuff with Angela…"
"Forget about it," Daisy said. "I mean, it took you forever to come around, but you did. And I get that she will too, I just think it's so pathetic that everyone seems to flock around her like she's Miss Perfect. I mean, if she was, why would she be here?"
"Yeah," Shelby said smiling; everything that had been between them had just gotten washed away. "You know Daisy, I think you may have a career here when you get older," Shelby said joking, but deep down she meant it.
Aubrey twiddled his thumbs as he sat patiently, waiting for Angela to come out of the girl's dorm. He hoped she was okay. She had been acting like she didn't feel good, or maybe she was just trying to avoid him. 'No,' he told himself. Shelby had said she liked him too. She was probably just a bundle of nerves because of all that was going on. She probably just needed a few minutes to sort her feelings out. Aubrey's thoughts were interrupted as a door opened and hit him smack in the middle of his head.
"Oh, my God," he heard a female voice say. "I am so, so sorry."
"Are you okay?" another female voice asked him.
"Aubrey," the first voice said. "I'm really sorry. Are you okay? Do we need to take you to the nurse's office or something? I mean, do you need Peter or…"
Aubrey's mind was starting to clear, and his vision was becoming focused again. He looked up and saw Shelby and Angela staring down at him, both with concerned looks on their faces. "I'm okay," he said, trying to stand up. His legs wobbled and he sat back down again.
"Oh, I'm so sorry," Angela told him as she sat down and put her arm around him. "I didn't mean to hit you with the door."
"I guess that's what I get for not paying attention where I sit," he said trying to make a joke to smooth the situation over. He chuckled to himself, but stopped immediately because the action gave him a sever headache.
"I think maybe we should take you to the nurse," Shelby said still standing.
"No, I'm okay, I promise," Aubrey said trying to reassure both her and himself.
"Yeah right, you couldn't stand up," Shelby said, with her eyebrow cocked and her lips pursed. "Look, she'll decide if you're okay, and you might even get some ibuprofen out of the deal… though I doubt."
"Yeah Aubrey," Angela said looking at him intently. "You really need to make sure you're okay. I don't want anything really bad to happen to you."
Aubrey sighed, knowing that he was being overruled and it was pointless to try and argue. "Fine," Aubrey replied, standing up cautiously. He made sure his feet were firmly on the ground before taking another step forward. He really was okay now; he had just needed a moment.
"So," Angela said as they began making their way to the nurse's office. "Why were you sitting by our door?"
"I was waiting for someone," Aubrey said while attempting to blink his headache away.
"Really?" Angela said with mock curiosity. "Who?"
"Captain Planet," he replied sarcastically as he tried to clear his mind again, his vision was becoming foggy. "You. Who else? I needed to ask you something."
"Do you no longer need to ask me something?"
"Well, I was going to ask you if you would consider being my girlfriend, but I'm not so sure now."
Angela stopped walking and turned to look at Aubrey. "Why not?"
"Well, I don't normally go for girls who are trying to kill me," he said, returning to his blinking method.
Angela laughed and started walking again. "Why, I suppose not."
"So," Aubrey said.
"So what?"
"So, would you consider being my girlfriend? I mean I know I am moving a little fast, but I did have this whole speech. You seem to have knocked it out of me."
Angela laughed. "Why yes Aubrey, I would, but only if you'll forgive me."
"I suppose I could, but…"
"Hey, you two love birds," Shelby said, cutting him off. "Where are you going? The nurse's office is over here."
"Right," Aubrey said as he grabbed Angela's hand and steered her to the nurse's office. In spite of himself he began smiling; Angela had just said she would be his girlfriend, and he hadn't even had to beg.
Angela watched as the nurse examined Aubrey, smiling at him the whole time. Maybe she shouldn't be doing this. She wondered if this was the right thing. Sure, she liked Aubrey plenty, but he would just try to get close, and then she would have to push him away. She had been doing a lot of thinking about what Shelby had said, and she realized there was just no way she could ever be herself. She knew that, despite what anyone said, no one would accept her if she was herself. Why else would she have been hiding her true face for all these years?
"You'll be okay," the nurse told Aubrey, interrupting Angela's thoughts. "I just think you need to lay down for a little while and you'll be okay."
"Thank you very much," Aubrey said, his true gentleman's nature shining through.
"Oh, it was no problem, but I have some work to do so I will come back to check on you in half an hour. You should try to get some rest during that time," she said and then walked out of the room.
"Hey," Aubrey said from his bed.
"Hey," Angela replied. "How are you feeling?"
"I'm good, you know… if good means having a splitting headache, and knowing that you'll be feeling this in the morning."
Angela laughed. "Yeah, well, I just wanted you to know that I really am sorry."
"Forget about it," Aubrey said smiling. "I prefer to think of it as a bonding experience. Anyway, you shouldn't waste your time around here."
"No, I want to stay and make sure you're okay."
"Well, I can guarantee you that I will be fine, just as long as I am left to recuperate on my own. If you stay here I might be distracted and then I'll never be the same again," Aubrey said dramatically clutching his shirt.
Angela laughed. "Okay, I'll leave, but I think you should be aware that when you're in a semi-concussion state, you're accent comes through much clearer."
"Why thank you miss. I don't know what I would have done without that vital bit of information," Aubrey said in mock seriousness.
Angela rolled her eyes and walked out of the room. Then again, maybe Aubrey wouldn't try to delve too far into who Angela really was.
~*~*~*~*~
Sucker love is heaven sent,
You pucker up my, my passion's spent.
My heart's a tart, you're body's rent.
My body's broken, yours is spent.
~*~*~*~*~
Shelby looked back at the nurse's office one last time. She would have stayed there, but she had more important things to deal with… like Scott. She knew he hadn't had time to deal with his parent's deaths, but she also knew there was nothing she could do about it. Scott would have to deal with this on his own, and no matter how hard she tried, Shelby wouldn't be able to help make things better. Her thoughts were getting to confusing; they blurred and became all muddled in her mind. She needed to sort them out, needed to understand what she really felt, and she knew the one person who could help her was temporarily upset with her. "It's worth a try anyway," Shelby mumbled to herself as she climbed up the stairs to the girl's dorm.
"Daisy," she called out as she opened the door. Shelby walked cautiously; she couldn't afford to offend Daisy. When the whole room came into view Shelby saw Daisy sitting on her bed staring off in to space. "Daisy?" Shelby said, all the whole wondering if it was wise to bother Daisy right now. Lately, with Ezra leaving and everything, she had been a ticking time bomb.
Daisy looked up suddenly, and her eyes narrowed when she saw Shelby. "Where's your new bestest friend?"
"She's in the hospital," Shelby said, sitting down on her own bed.
"I knew you'd get sick of her act eventually, but really Shelby," Daisy said. Shelby could tell she was making an effort to keep the conversation light.
"Yeah well, what can I say?"
"You could start with why you're here?" Daisy said, her voice completely devoid of malice. Shelby looked up in to Daisy's face and could see warmth and openness there.
"Umm," Shelby said looking down and cleared her throat. "I need your help."
"Most people do," Daisy said simply, but Shelby knew she was listening.
"I, uh… It's about Scott…" Shelby trailed off, not certain how to go on.
"Most things around here are," Daisy said, offering no help as to how she could get this out.
"Yeah well… Look Daisy, I don't know how to say this with tact. Scott's all mopey because his parents died…"
"Wouldn't you be Shelby?" Daisy asked interrupting her.
"Yes, of course I would be. That's not what I'm saying…" Shelby started but Daisy held up her hand to stop her.
"What are you saying Shelby?"
"What?" Shelby asked confused by the question.
"What exactly ARE you trying to say Shelby?"
"I don't know," Shelby replied throwing her hands up. Shelby shouldn't have even bothered; this was a complete lost cause.
"Well I do," Daisy said smiling at her, Shelby however just stared at her. "You're trying to say that you think he needs to deal with it, but you don't want to push him. However, even though you don't want to push him, you know he needs help, and you know he wants it from you, but you don't know how to give it to him."
Shelby thought about Daisy's words for a moment and realized she was right. "Yeah," Shelby said, her voice barely audible. "What do I do?"
"This isn't something you can help him with Shelby. You may have been able to help him get past his problems with Elaine, but that was because you understood, you had been there. None of your parents have died."
"So you're saying that I can't help him because it never happen to me?" Shelby asked spitting the words out.
"No," Daisy said quickly.
"Then what exactly are you saying Dais? I mean, Scott got my whole turning tricks thing, and he hadn't gone through it."
"I know," Daisy said consoling her. "Just let me explain something. Scott understood what you were going through because you told him, because he put himself in your shoes. What you have to do is put yourself in his. Imagine that you love your parents more than anything in the world, that you couldn't make it without them. Then imagine that they were coming to see YOU, and they died in the process."
Shelby's eyes widened as the light clicked on in her brain; Scott wasn't just upset that his parents died, he felt guilty. "I… he must be feeling so…"
"Guilty? Look, my mom died, but this is something completely different from when my mom died. I mean, when she died it was easier for me because I could blame it on my dad. It's not like that for Scott, his parents died and the only person he has left to blame is Scott."
"But," Shelby protested. "It wasn't his fault, he didn't do anything wrong."
"I know that, and you know that, but Scott doesn't. Shelby, when your friends patty died, who did you blame?"
"Her," Shelby said not wanting to revisit that painful memory.
"No you didn't," Daisy said. "And don't try to pretend that you did. Sure, now you may blame her, but when she first died you didn't."
"Yeah," Shelby said after a while. She had blamed herself. She kept thinking that if she had been there for Patty, if she had talked to her more, maybe she would still be alive.
"So yeah, we all know that it isn't Scott's fault, but his parents died a little over a month ago, and he hasn't been given even a minute to deal with it. Instead he's had to sit and watch more crap pile up."
Shelby didn't say anything, but instead got lost in her thoughts. Daisy was right, she always was, but Shelby didn't know how to deal with this new information. She didn't know how to talk to Scott about it. "I still don't know what to do."
"You don't do anything," Daisy said as if that was quite obvious. "You let him deal with it how he needs to, and when he's ready to start talking, you be there."
Shelby looked up at Daisy and smiled; she always knew how to fix everything. "Look Daisy. I'm sorry about all this stuff with Angela…"
"Forget about it," Daisy said. "I mean, it took you forever to come around, but you did. And I get that she will too, I just think it's so pathetic that everyone seems to flock around her like she's Miss Perfect. I mean, if she was, why would she be here?"
"Yeah," Shelby said smiling; everything that had been between them had just gotten washed away. "You know Daisy, I think you may have a career here when you get older," Shelby said joking, but deep down she meant it.