Higher Expectations
Episode Four: Heartbreak
~"We all live in our fantasy and only endure our reality- R.A Wilson"~
*****
David made his way into the boys dorm room in record time considering his limp and having to carry two suitcases and a bookbag all by himself. Much to his liking, the dorm was empty. He sat his suitcases down beside his bed and flopped down, sighing into the air. He felt a sharp, stabbing pain shoot up his spine and he sat up, wincing. He looked down at his shirt and pulled it up, revealing several bruises and cuts.
"I knew you'd get your ass kicked sooner or later, man." Scott said, laughing dryly as he slid through the door silently and gazed down upon David's torso. Upon hearing this, David quickly pulled his shirt down to avoid having to talk about it.
"Yeah, well I didn't have anyone like you there to protect me from all the meanie gang members!" David replied, recovering from the pain he felt quickly. Scott gave him an odd look. "What?"
"Nothing man," Scott said, trailing off. "So, why were you late getting back? Sophie told us that you should be back by around noon.. it's, like, four o'clock." He asked, moving back and sitting on his bed beside David's.
"Damn! Why does everyone want to know why I'm late! Why do you gotta go and pick in my business. Just drop it already!" David exclaimed, getting tired of being interrogated by people who, in his opinion, didn't matter.
"Yo, step off, man! I just asked a question." Scott replied deffensively. David sat up in bed and leaned himself up against the wall and smirked.
"Why don't you make me." He said in a calm sort of voice. Scott glared at David and stood up.
"I don't have to take this." He stated and walked towards the door. "First Shelby leaves and now you come back and start making all our lives miserable again. Why did you even have to come back?" This hurt David but he wouldn't show it. Instead he just glared back at Scott, knowing how to get under his skin easily.
"Awww, did poor Scotty boy lose his girlfwiend?" David asked, laughing. Scott jerked his head around upon hearing the pet name Elaine had given him.
"Yo! I told you not to call me that name!" He yelled back at David.
"Aw, did I hurt poor Scotty's feelings? Aw, I'm terribly sorry."
"That's it!" Scott screamed and positioned himself not even an inch from David's face where they were both pushed against the wall from lack of space. "Now shut up before I shut you up!" He threatened while clentching his fists.
"Make me, Scotty boy! And oh, get a breath mint." David provoked. Scott's eyes burst with the malicious fire that had been burning deep inside for the past few days. He reared up and punched the wall, just centemeters from David's head.
David just stared, in awe of Scott's actions.
*Flashback*
David creeped in the house late at night. He had been home for a day already and figured, now that he was back, it was time to party with his old friends. He could hear his friend, Mark, drive away after dropping, Nick, his next door neighbor, and friend, off at his house.
"It's about time you came home." He heard a voice call out from the kitchen. The swinging door pushed aside and his father stepped into view.
"Uh, dad, sorry but I, um, well, we lost track of-"
"I don't want to hear it David. You know your curfew is 10:00 sharp. It is now 11:06 on the dot" The general replied without even checking his watch. David didn't believe that he was that late but he didn't dare tell his father that.
"No, really, we just lost track of time, dad, really." He attempted to explain himself. The general laughed lightly.
"You know what happens to the boys in the military when they're late for their dutys?" The general asked, smugly. David didn't answer. He didn't know if he should or not. The general stepped farther into the light and about a foot away from David. "Answer me." He stated in a rising voice.
"Uh... they get a pat on the hand and they're told not to do it again?" He asked, trying to losen the tension. Bad move.
"So you think you're a wise ass, huh, David?" The general asked, his voice rising higher and higher. David stared at his father in fear and didn't say a thing. "ANSWER ME!" He screamed. David shook his head.
"No, no I don't!" David yelled, a lump forming in his throat.
"Don't lie to me, boy." The general scowled. David didn't know what to say, but he had to say something.
"I- I'm not lying, dad, promise." He replied, his voice squeaking slightly. The general smirked lightly.
"So now you're calling me a liar are you?" He asked. David shook his head.
"No, sir." He replied, fearing what was to come.
"You're lying again, David. Do you know what happens to the military boys who lie, David. Do you?" Silence. "DO YOU?!" He screamed out. He shook his head several times.
"No, no I don't!" He answered in fear.
"They get punished. Punished severely." The general answered, smiling in a sickly sort of way. David closed his eyes in attempts to close out what was to come.
*End flashback*
"I'm sorry!" David yelled out, as he crumpled up on his side. "I'm sorry, dad!"
"What?" Scott asked, confused.
"I'm sorry."
*****
"Shelby! Are you ready?" A call came from downstairs. Shelby sighed and looked down at herself.
"As ready as I'll ever be." She mumbled to herself and picked up her shoes, opened the door, and walked downstairs. Jess was waiting at the bottom of the stairs. She looked sick. "Jess, are you okay? You think you can do this?" Shelby asked, concerned. Jess nodded and made her way to the open front door. Their mother was waiting in the car already and had the windsheild wipers on in attempts to wipe the fog off. Shelby rolled her eyes and slid into the passenger seat.
After about a half an hour of driving in the silence Shelby spoke up, "Why?" She asked, turning to look at her mother. Alice sighed but didn't take her eyes off the road.
"Why what, Sweetie?" She asked, knowing perfectly well what Shelby was asking.
"Why did you leave us in that house with him when you knew what he was doing to us?" She asked, hurt from her own words. Alice sighed again.
"I don't know, sweetie." She replied.
"Oh, don't give me that shit!" Shelby yelled. Alice turned to look at her for a split second before turning her head back to the road.
"Shelby! Don't use that language! I may not be the best, but I'm still your mother, deal with it!" She scolded. Shelby scoffed, and looked down at her feet.
"You're not my mother. You're just someone I was living with. Sophie and Peter are better parents than you'll ever be." She said in a calm, low voice. A tear fell down Alice's face.
"I was lonely before I met him. I was REALLY lonely! You, Shelby, you had your sister. You had your friends-"
"I had no friends." Shelby corrected. Alice paused.
"And I was lonely. I had no one." Alice continued, ignoring Shelby's comment.
"You had us, wasn't that enough?!" Shelby asked, turning to look at her again. By this time they had pulled up into one of the parking lots located infront of the courthouse.
"No! Shelby. No It wasn't enough!" Alice replied. Shelby looked hurt at these words and glared at her, unable to speak. Alice went on, "I was lonely, all I had were two small children and I couldn't take care of you after your dad walked out. I just couldn't!"
"He walked out because of you." Shelby replied. Alice turned to look at her and took her hands off the steering wheel as she turned off the car. Alice paused again but chose to ignore the last comment.
"So I started dating again, thinking I'd find someone new. Thinking I'd find someone new and rich and someone who would love me. Your father and I just didn't love each other anymore and he felt like we were holding him back. You know how he is."
"No, no I don't know how he is." Shelby mumbled. Alice sighed.
"And then I met Walt." Shelby winced but Alice didn't notice. She went on, "He was so nice, you know? He bought me flowers and he gave us a place to live, Shelby. He gave us a nice house. We finally got out of that ratty apartment and got to move into a nice house."
"A house from hell." Shelby commented, thinking of all the pain she went through in that house. Alice ignored her before going on.
"And then he asked me to marry him after a while. I was so excited that the man, whom I was beggining to love alot, had asked me to marry him. He wanted me.. and I was just so surprised that anyone could want me for ME after I had already been married and through a divorce." Alice said. Shelby scoffed.
"Yeah, I know that feeling." She said.
"So we got married and everything was fine. You do have to admit that it was fine there for a while." Alice said, seemingly pleading. Shelby turned back to her mother again with red eyes.
"No, mom, it WASN'T fine 'there for a while'. He came into my room just weeks after you two got together." She paused and looked down at her lap. "Before you were married. You had to have known. He would come around eleven o'clock every night and he would lay in bed with me- and he would- he would hurt me, mom. He would touch me and- He would- and you had to have known. There's just no way you couldn't have known! You could have stopped him! You could have gotten us away BEFORE you got married. BEFORE he got to Jess! But no-" Alice winced at Shelby's hard words, "No, you chose not to." She finished, lowering her voice at the last statement.
"And I'm sorry!" Alice yelled. "I didn't want to believe it!"
"Oh sure, mother!" Shelby screamed over top of her mom's voice.
"JUST SHUT UP!" Jess yelled from the back seat. They became silent. "I'm so sick and tired of hearing everyone fight! First it's you and Walt, then it's you and the social worker, then it's you and Shelby. Just please.. just be quiet. Can't we just be a family and just- just go in there. Can't you just comfort us." She asked, looking at her mother, "And Shelby, can't you just forget about the past for just one second- ONE SECOND! Just long enough for us to do this and get it over with?" Shelby wiped away the tears from her eyes. "Please?" She asked again, wiping away her own tears. She waited a while and opened the car door and stood out in the cold on the sidewalk.
"Let's just... let's just get along. For her." Shelby said to her mother and got out herself. Alice watched as Shelby said something to Jess and they both hugged. She turned her head in pain.
"What have I done?"
*****
A/N: Hehe, hope you liked. Please read and review. Thanks. I'll include other characters later. I just wanted to leave off with this.
Episode Four: Heartbreak
~"We all live in our fantasy and only endure our reality- R.A Wilson"~
*****
David made his way into the boys dorm room in record time considering his limp and having to carry two suitcases and a bookbag all by himself. Much to his liking, the dorm was empty. He sat his suitcases down beside his bed and flopped down, sighing into the air. He felt a sharp, stabbing pain shoot up his spine and he sat up, wincing. He looked down at his shirt and pulled it up, revealing several bruises and cuts.
"I knew you'd get your ass kicked sooner or later, man." Scott said, laughing dryly as he slid through the door silently and gazed down upon David's torso. Upon hearing this, David quickly pulled his shirt down to avoid having to talk about it.
"Yeah, well I didn't have anyone like you there to protect me from all the meanie gang members!" David replied, recovering from the pain he felt quickly. Scott gave him an odd look. "What?"
"Nothing man," Scott said, trailing off. "So, why were you late getting back? Sophie told us that you should be back by around noon.. it's, like, four o'clock." He asked, moving back and sitting on his bed beside David's.
"Damn! Why does everyone want to know why I'm late! Why do you gotta go and pick in my business. Just drop it already!" David exclaimed, getting tired of being interrogated by people who, in his opinion, didn't matter.
"Yo, step off, man! I just asked a question." Scott replied deffensively. David sat up in bed and leaned himself up against the wall and smirked.
"Why don't you make me." He said in a calm sort of voice. Scott glared at David and stood up.
"I don't have to take this." He stated and walked towards the door. "First Shelby leaves and now you come back and start making all our lives miserable again. Why did you even have to come back?" This hurt David but he wouldn't show it. Instead he just glared back at Scott, knowing how to get under his skin easily.
"Awww, did poor Scotty boy lose his girlfwiend?" David asked, laughing. Scott jerked his head around upon hearing the pet name Elaine had given him.
"Yo! I told you not to call me that name!" He yelled back at David.
"Aw, did I hurt poor Scotty's feelings? Aw, I'm terribly sorry."
"That's it!" Scott screamed and positioned himself not even an inch from David's face where they were both pushed against the wall from lack of space. "Now shut up before I shut you up!" He threatened while clentching his fists.
"Make me, Scotty boy! And oh, get a breath mint." David provoked. Scott's eyes burst with the malicious fire that had been burning deep inside for the past few days. He reared up and punched the wall, just centemeters from David's head.
David just stared, in awe of Scott's actions.
*Flashback*
David creeped in the house late at night. He had been home for a day already and figured, now that he was back, it was time to party with his old friends. He could hear his friend, Mark, drive away after dropping, Nick, his next door neighbor, and friend, off at his house.
"It's about time you came home." He heard a voice call out from the kitchen. The swinging door pushed aside and his father stepped into view.
"Uh, dad, sorry but I, um, well, we lost track of-"
"I don't want to hear it David. You know your curfew is 10:00 sharp. It is now 11:06 on the dot" The general replied without even checking his watch. David didn't believe that he was that late but he didn't dare tell his father that.
"No, really, we just lost track of time, dad, really." He attempted to explain himself. The general laughed lightly.
"You know what happens to the boys in the military when they're late for their dutys?" The general asked, smugly. David didn't answer. He didn't know if he should or not. The general stepped farther into the light and about a foot away from David. "Answer me." He stated in a rising voice.
"Uh... they get a pat on the hand and they're told not to do it again?" He asked, trying to losen the tension. Bad move.
"So you think you're a wise ass, huh, David?" The general asked, his voice rising higher and higher. David stared at his father in fear and didn't say a thing. "ANSWER ME!" He screamed. David shook his head.
"No, no I don't!" David yelled, a lump forming in his throat.
"Don't lie to me, boy." The general scowled. David didn't know what to say, but he had to say something.
"I- I'm not lying, dad, promise." He replied, his voice squeaking slightly. The general smirked lightly.
"So now you're calling me a liar are you?" He asked. David shook his head.
"No, sir." He replied, fearing what was to come.
"You're lying again, David. Do you know what happens to the military boys who lie, David. Do you?" Silence. "DO YOU?!" He screamed out. He shook his head several times.
"No, no I don't!" He answered in fear.
"They get punished. Punished severely." The general answered, smiling in a sickly sort of way. David closed his eyes in attempts to close out what was to come.
*End flashback*
"I'm sorry!" David yelled out, as he crumpled up on his side. "I'm sorry, dad!"
"What?" Scott asked, confused.
"I'm sorry."
*****
"Shelby! Are you ready?" A call came from downstairs. Shelby sighed and looked down at herself.
"As ready as I'll ever be." She mumbled to herself and picked up her shoes, opened the door, and walked downstairs. Jess was waiting at the bottom of the stairs. She looked sick. "Jess, are you okay? You think you can do this?" Shelby asked, concerned. Jess nodded and made her way to the open front door. Their mother was waiting in the car already and had the windsheild wipers on in attempts to wipe the fog off. Shelby rolled her eyes and slid into the passenger seat.
After about a half an hour of driving in the silence Shelby spoke up, "Why?" She asked, turning to look at her mother. Alice sighed but didn't take her eyes off the road.
"Why what, Sweetie?" She asked, knowing perfectly well what Shelby was asking.
"Why did you leave us in that house with him when you knew what he was doing to us?" She asked, hurt from her own words. Alice sighed again.
"I don't know, sweetie." She replied.
"Oh, don't give me that shit!" Shelby yelled. Alice turned to look at her for a split second before turning her head back to the road.
"Shelby! Don't use that language! I may not be the best, but I'm still your mother, deal with it!" She scolded. Shelby scoffed, and looked down at her feet.
"You're not my mother. You're just someone I was living with. Sophie and Peter are better parents than you'll ever be." She said in a calm, low voice. A tear fell down Alice's face.
"I was lonely before I met him. I was REALLY lonely! You, Shelby, you had your sister. You had your friends-"
"I had no friends." Shelby corrected. Alice paused.
"And I was lonely. I had no one." Alice continued, ignoring Shelby's comment.
"You had us, wasn't that enough?!" Shelby asked, turning to look at her again. By this time they had pulled up into one of the parking lots located infront of the courthouse.
"No! Shelby. No It wasn't enough!" Alice replied. Shelby looked hurt at these words and glared at her, unable to speak. Alice went on, "I was lonely, all I had were two small children and I couldn't take care of you after your dad walked out. I just couldn't!"
"He walked out because of you." Shelby replied. Alice turned to look at her and took her hands off the steering wheel as she turned off the car. Alice paused again but chose to ignore the last comment.
"So I started dating again, thinking I'd find someone new. Thinking I'd find someone new and rich and someone who would love me. Your father and I just didn't love each other anymore and he felt like we were holding him back. You know how he is."
"No, no I don't know how he is." Shelby mumbled. Alice sighed.
"And then I met Walt." Shelby winced but Alice didn't notice. She went on, "He was so nice, you know? He bought me flowers and he gave us a place to live, Shelby. He gave us a nice house. We finally got out of that ratty apartment and got to move into a nice house."
"A house from hell." Shelby commented, thinking of all the pain she went through in that house. Alice ignored her before going on.
"And then he asked me to marry him after a while. I was so excited that the man, whom I was beggining to love alot, had asked me to marry him. He wanted me.. and I was just so surprised that anyone could want me for ME after I had already been married and through a divorce." Alice said. Shelby scoffed.
"Yeah, I know that feeling." She said.
"So we got married and everything was fine. You do have to admit that it was fine there for a while." Alice said, seemingly pleading. Shelby turned back to her mother again with red eyes.
"No, mom, it WASN'T fine 'there for a while'. He came into my room just weeks after you two got together." She paused and looked down at her lap. "Before you were married. You had to have known. He would come around eleven o'clock every night and he would lay in bed with me- and he would- he would hurt me, mom. He would touch me and- He would- and you had to have known. There's just no way you couldn't have known! You could have stopped him! You could have gotten us away BEFORE you got married. BEFORE he got to Jess! But no-" Alice winced at Shelby's hard words, "No, you chose not to." She finished, lowering her voice at the last statement.
"And I'm sorry!" Alice yelled. "I didn't want to believe it!"
"Oh sure, mother!" Shelby screamed over top of her mom's voice.
"JUST SHUT UP!" Jess yelled from the back seat. They became silent. "I'm so sick and tired of hearing everyone fight! First it's you and Walt, then it's you and the social worker, then it's you and Shelby. Just please.. just be quiet. Can't we just be a family and just- just go in there. Can't you just comfort us." She asked, looking at her mother, "And Shelby, can't you just forget about the past for just one second- ONE SECOND! Just long enough for us to do this and get it over with?" Shelby wiped away the tears from her eyes. "Please?" She asked again, wiping away her own tears. She waited a while and opened the car door and stood out in the cold on the sidewalk.
"Let's just... let's just get along. For her." Shelby said to her mother and got out herself. Alice watched as Shelby said something to Jess and they both hugged. She turned her head in pain.
"What have I done?"
*****
A/N: Hehe, hope you liked. Please read and review. Thanks. I'll include other characters later. I just wanted to leave off with this.