I would like to thank Annie in this part of the story for her contributions about Dawn's past.
Shelby felt someone's hand on her arm and she spun around to face Dawn.
"Just who do you think you are?" Dawn hissed at her. "What throne did you step off of?"
"What are you talking about?" Shelby asked her.
"Like you don't know," Dawn said letting go of her. "You come back here and act all hurt and helpless. Then Scott starts to feel sorry for you and so does everyone else. But not me. I know what you are, Shelby. You're a bitch."
"I think this falls under the category of 'takes one to know one', don't you think?" Shelby asked sweetly, not noticing Scott come up behind her. "You're the bitch, Dawn."
"Shelby!" Shelby turned to face Scott. "What's wrong with you? You can't just come back here and call my girlfriend names! I don't care how jealous you get, you just can't do that!"
Shelby gaped at Scott in shock as Dawn wrapped herself around him.
"I'm so glad you got here, Scotty," she purred. "She tried to hit me before you showed up. I don't know what she would have done."
Shelby laughed bitterly. "You know what Scott? You want her, you can have her. You know how before I left you told me that I wasn't the person you thought I was? That is so totally true here. If you want to act so completely snowed by this girl, that's your mistake. And let me tell you, it's the biggest mistake of your life." Shelby turned on heel and stalked off.
'What's her problem?" Dawn purred, slithering closer to Scott. Katherine stepped out from behind a tree.
"You are such a liar," Kat said calmly. "Shelby did not try to hit you, and you did call her a bitch. I heard it."
"You would stick up for her, wouldn't you?" Dawn said thoughtfully. "You and Shelby are close, aren't you?"
Scott looked back and forth between the girls, not sure who to believe. Kat wouldn't lie, but Dawn would kill him if he didn't believe her. Kat and Dawn exchanged a few more words and then Kat left.
"You don't believe her, do you Scotty?" Dawn was all sweetness. "She is so totally lying."
"Of course I don't believe them," Scott said. "Why would I? You're my girlfriend."
"And that's the way it should be," Dawn said, sliding her arm around his waist. "And that's the way it's gonna stay," she muttered under her breath.
Shelby stormed into the Cliffhangers' dorm and slammed the door shut. Daisy was the only one there, and she looked up, startled.
"What'd he do this time?" she asked getting up from the bed.
"What'd he do? Oooh! I'll tell you what he did!" Shelby said. "He believed that little witch over me, that's what he did!"
"I assume you're talking about Dawn," Daisy cracked. "I mean, who else here do you call a witch?"
"Yes, I'm talking about Dawn," Shelby snapped, clearly not amused by Daisy's attempt at humor.
"So you're mad at Scott because he believed his current love over his ex?" Daisy asked. Catching the ice cold glare Shelby shot her, she quickly added, "I'm not taking her side, I'm just trying to understand."
"Yeah, I'm mad at him for taking her side over mine," Shelby said. "I mean, come one. How long has he known me? Does he not know by now that I'm not a jealous person? Can he not see it? He is so oblivious to her ways!"
"He's oblivious because he wants to be and because he's a guy," Daisy said going over to sit beside Shelby on her bed. "Guys never want to see the truth about their girlfriends."
"Daisy, what's happening to me?" Shelby moaned, burying her head in her hands. "Used to be, I could have any guy I wanted if I raised my eyebrow. Now I can't even get Scott to notice me. There was a time when he was head over heels for me. What did I do?"
"Nothing, honey," Daisy said, putting her arm around Shelby. The girls swayed back and forth together as Shelby thought about her past and Daisy put the final touches on her plan.
Scott walked into the Boys' Dorm that evening and was met with silence. All conversations stopped. He went into the bathroom and heard quiet conversation pick up, but when he came out of the bathroom, it stopped again.
"OK, what's everybody's problem?" he asked angrily.
"Hmmm," Ezra said, pretending to ponder the question. "Does the name Shelby ring a bell? Do you even know who she is anymore?"
"Cut the crap, EZ, and tell me what you're all so pissed at me for," Scott said, losing patience. It seemed like everyone at Horizon was taking Shelby's side.
"We don't like Dawn," Auggie said. "We like Shelby. We liked you and Shelby."
"And let me guess," Scott said icily. "You want me back with Shelby."
"That's right, man," Ezra said. "But it's becoming apparent to everyone, including Shelby, that that isn't going to happen, is it?" Scott shook his head and his so-called friends turned away from him.
"I think it's a great idea, Soph," Peter said geniunely. "The girls need something like this. But what about Dawn?"
Sophie smiled a smile that was not-so-innocent. "Her dad's coming up for the weekend," Sophie said. "The other girls won't have anything to do, so I thought I'd..."
"Plan an outing when you know specifically that another girl, who has enemies in the group, will be busy?" Peter asked. "That's not like you, Soph."
"I know, but Shelby needs a Dawn-free weekend. I'm thinking Jules might need it too. Just this once, I promise." Peter relented and they made their rounds for light's out.
Later that night, Dawn snuck out of the girls' cabin to meet Scott. Shelby woke up while Dawn was applying a fairly large dose of Shelby's perfume. Shelby was going to say something, but Daisy shot her a look that said it was better to spy on her. Shelby grinned. Daisy could be so sly sometimes.
Shelby went to the single window in the cabin and watched as Scott greeted Dawn at the swing with a kiss. She felt tears sting her eyes. That was supposed to be her and Scott's place, not Scott and Dawn's place. Daisy came up behind her and wrapped her in a warm hug. Shelby had missed these hugs.
Outside on the swing, Dawn and Scott had no idea they were being watched. Dawn nuzzled her head in Scott's neck, not looking forward to her dad's visit. He was coming day after tomorrow.
"Can we talk?" Dawn asked tentively. "I mean, I know I usually don't want to talk, but now I do. And I want you to listen."
"Um, sure. OK," Scott said. He was pretty sure she was gonna tell him about her past. But oddly enough, he didn't care. Once upon a time, he had been dying for Shelby to tell him. Open up to him about what had happened to her. But with Dawn he just didn't care whether he knew or not.
"My family wasn't perfect, Scotty," she said. "Sure, no drugs, no abuse, no violence of any kind. But I never got along with my sisters. They got such good grades and I was such a failure. I could've gotten the grades. I did at one point, but I wasn't happy. They never cared either way. They never payed any attention to me until I started to fail. Granted it was only to yell at me, but attention is attention, right?" She laughed bitterly.
Scott wasn't sure what to say. He didn't know if he wanted to say anything. Luckily, he didn't have to.
"That's why you're so important to me, Scotty," she said, once again oozing with sweetness. "And I need you to promise me something." Scott looked at her inquisitively. "Promise me you won't go back to that horrible girl!"
Scott just looked at her, mouth agape. "I thought you understood me and Shelby," he said when he could find the words. "It's not like I won't ever see her again, you know."
"But that's just it! You can't ever see her again! You're with me now!" Dawn was getting quite angry. "You can't ever go back to that cheap little slut!"
Scott felt realization hit him like a ton of bricks. This was what everyone else had seen. This was the the Dawn everyone but him knew. He felt like an idiot. "Don't call her that, Dawn," he said. "She's more of a person than you'll ever be."
Dawn, realizing her error, paled. "I-I just meant that she's hurt you so much, Scotty," she stuttered.
"My name is Scott," he said through clenched teeth. "And Shelby never hurt me more than I've hurt her. We're through, Dawn." Scott got up and went back inside the boys' cabin. Dawn narrowed her eyes at Shelby and Daisy at the window in the girls' cabin. Dasiy gave her a sweet smile and they disappeared from view. As the saying goes, if looks could kill, Shelby and Daisy would be dead in an instant.
"I'll get you for this, Shelby," Dawn muttered, getting off the swing. "I promise you'll pay for this."
At breakfast the next morning, Scott was late. Dawn saved a seat for him beside her, but when he showed up he sat with Auggie and Ezra. She scowled into her food. She felt someone sit down beside her and she looked up, a hopeful smile on her face.
"We need to discuss a few things," Daisy said, now taking her turn at being all sweetness.
"Go make somebody else lose their breakfast," Dawn said. "I haven't even eaten mine yet."
"Thought I'd get a head start. Just wanted to let you know that Scott's going back to Shelby. If she'll take him back, that is. He's in deep with her right now."
"How sad for him," Dawn remarked.
"Well, he's in no deeper with her than you are with me," Daisy said, giving her a piercing stare. Dawn tried her best to stare coldly back when all she wanted to do was laugh. A girl who hid behind white make up was trying to act all tough. What a joke.
"And just how deep am I in, just for the heck of asking?" Dawn said.
"Deeper than you want to be," Daisy said, never lifting her glare. "You know what you are? Besides a witch, I mean. You were," she leaned forward as if she were telling a secret. "You were his rebound. Scott needed someone after she left and he was too noble to be with one of her friends. So he had to settle for you. You're nothing more to him than the proof he needs that he still loves her." Daisy go up and left, still smirking.
Dawn felt an uncontrollable rage boiling up inside her. Who did Daisy think she was. She looked across the room. Daisy gave her a sickening smile, as did Juliette and Kat. Shelby just glared at her. No change there. Shelby had been glaring at Dawn since she had come back. She got up and walked over to their table. One table over, Auggie nudged Scott.
Luckily they were spared any confrontation when Sophie spoke up behind them. "After breakfast I need all the Cliffhanger girls in front of the fireplace," she said. Dawn gave Dasiy an icy look and retreated to her table. Sophie gave the four girls at the table a glance and walked out of the room.
