SHOUT OUTS AND ANSWERS

Tribaltaisan: Hey, I was wondering where you were. I'm glad you're enjoying the story.

Linkie: Yes she is. I'm glad my method was effective and I'm glad you like the story so far.

Keke1: Thanks. Me neither. I will.

JadeAlmasy: Thanks. I hope this is soon enough.

Queen of Shadows: Thanks. I'm glad you liked my method.

20008ccampbell: Thanks. Glad you like it.

OthfanAnna: Don't worry. You'll never be left hanging for long. This chapter may not have Scott drama but it does have some S\S friendship.

DISCLAIMER

I only own Cecilia. Everything else belongs to Fox Family. I think I forgot to put the disclaimer in the last chapter, so this goes for that one as well. I also realized a mistake I made. When I first started out, I had Scott as a quarterback, but when I did the tryouts, I made him a wide-receiver. Sorry. For this story, he is a quarterback.

At the end of the day, Scott grabbed his belongings out of his locker and began to head for the parking lot.

"Hey, Barringer! Hold up!" someone yelled. Confused, Scott turned around.

"What?" he asked, seeing one of the football players.

"Coach just put up the roster. Don't ya wanna see if you made the team?" the boy queried.

"Oh yeah," Scott responded. He followed the boy to the gym. Once there, he maneuvered his way through the crowd.

"Way to go, Barringer!" someone shouted.

"What? You mean I made it?" Scott asked in surprise.

"Yeah!" was the response.

"As what?" came the next question.

"The mascot," the same person answered sarcastically. "The quarterback. What do you think?" they continued.

"No way," Scott stated as he continued through the throng. He stopped when he saw the roster. Just as the person had said, there was his name on the roster: Scott Barringer: quarterback.

"Awesome," he laughed. "Man, I can't wait to tell my folks, they'll flip." With that, he raced out of the gym. The boy was so excited, that he forgot to watch where he was going and ran into Shelby.

"Hey. Watch the fire, Cowboy," she laughed as picked up her backpack, which had fallen in the impact. Thankfully, it had been closed and nothing spilled out.

"Sorry, Shelby. I guess I got so excited, I forgot to watch where I was going," Scott apologized.

"What's the deal?" Shelby wondered.

"I made the spot. I'm the new quarterback," Scott excitedly told her.

"All right," she said, slapping him five. Then, "When do you want to get together to work on our report?"

"Why not now? Come over to my place," Scott invited.

"I'd have to ask my mom," Shelby said. Scott took his cell phone out of his backpack, turned it on, and handed it to her. She dialed her mom's work number.

"Hello?" she heard her mom ask.

"Hi, Mom. It's me. Listen, there's this English report due next Friday and my partner Scott and I thought we'd go to his house and get an early start on it. Is that okay?" Shelby asked.

"Who's Scott?" Alice Merrick queried.

"He's the new boy in school," Shelby replied.

"Will his parents be there?" Alice questioned. Shelby turned to Scott.

"She wants to know if your parents will be home," she reported.

"My parents won't be, but a friend of my step mom's will," Scott replied. Shelby relayed this information to her mother, who then had another concern, Shelby's younger sister, Jess.

"Mom, Jess is fourteen years old. I'm sure she'll be fine alone for a few hours," Shelby reminded.

"Can I see that for a sec?" Scott requested.

"Here, Mom. Scott wants to talk to you," Shelby said, then handed over the cell phone.

"Mrs. Merrick? This is Scott Barringer. Would you like my home number?" Scott asked.

"Yes, please," Mrs. Merrick responded.

"555-9845," Scott told her.

"555-9845," Mrs. Merrick repeated, writing down the number.

"And if it'll put you more at ease, Jess is more than welcome to come along and I can keep an eye on her," Scott offered.

"No, uh, Shelby's right. Besides, she's going through that stage where she wants to be independent," Mrs. Merrick said. Scott laughed and they hung up.

"Well?" Shelby asked.

"Let's go," Scott said. With that, they went to the school parking lot.

"I'll follow you in my car," Shelby said.

"All right," Scott accepted. They each got into their respective vehicles and drove off. Minutes later, they reached Scott's house and walked up to the door, where the boy took out a key and put in the slot.

"We can work in the living room," Scott told her.

"And…where would that be?" Shelby asked.

"Oh. Sorry," Scott apologized. He led her to the living room.

"Sooooo….what play you wanna do?" he wondered.

"Romeo And Juliet," was the answer. "It's always been one of my favorites," she continued.

"All right. I think Elaine has a copy out here somewhere," Scott said, as he began to look around.

"Who's Elaine?" Shelby asked.

"My step mom," Scott responded. Then, "Ah! Here it is!" With that, he pulled the book off the shelf, then went to sit down. They opened it and looked through the book. Deciding to the report on the title characters, they went straight to work. Soon, they were so engrossed in their work, that they hardly noticed when the time flew and were startled when the door opened.

"Dad, Elaine," Scott said in surprise. "Is it five already?" he wondered in surprise.

"It is," Martin confirmed.

"Scott, who's your friend?" Elaine questioned.

"Oh! This is Shelby Merrick. We were working on a school project together," Scott explained.

"Scott, what are the rules?" Martin asked.

"I'm supposed to ask before inviting people over. I know. I forgot. I'm sorry," Scott responded.

"Martin, it's not like it happens all the time. I'm sure you can let it go just this once," Elaine persuaded.

"All right," Martin conceded. "But don't do it again," he continued sternly.

"I…think I better go," Shelby said, beginning to gather her things.

"Yeah. I think so too," Scott agreed, as he helped her.

"Walk me to my car?" Shelby asked.

"It'd…be the polite thing to do," Scott answered. As they walked out the door, he ignored his stepmother who grinned knowingly. As the door shut, she went into the kitchen.

"So, here we are," Scott said as they reached her car.

"That was your step mom?" Shelby asked.

"Yeah, I know. It's a little weird. But Elaine's cool," Scott said.

"See ya in school tomorrow," Shelby said.

"Yeah. See ya," Scott echoed. She got into her car and drove off. Scott gave a little wave, then walked back inside, where the smells of something cooking greeted him.

"Something smells good Elaine," he stated.

"What makes you think Elaine's cooking?" Martin wondered.

"Come on, Dad. We all know you can't cook worth beans," Scott reminded his father. Everybody laughed.

"He's got you there, Marty," Cecilia giggled. Scott ignored her and turned to his parents.

"I've got big news," he reported.

"Really?" Martin asked.

"Does it have anything to do with your football tryouts the other day?" Elaine wondered.

"Yes," Scott answered.

"So spill. What happened?" Elaine urged.

"I made team. I'm the new quarterback," Scott replied. With a happy squeal, the woman hugged her stepson.

"Scott, that's great!" she exclaimed.

"That's my boy," his father stated, patting him on the back.

"Congratulations, Scotty," Cecilia oozed, touching his back. Scott tried not to flinch at her touch, but Elaine noticed the slight movement of his shoulder. She frowned. What was wrong? She was about to ask when she heard a whistling sound caught her attention.

"Oh! Dinner!" she cried. As she hurried towards the stove, everyone else sat down. Presently, she brought out the food.

AUTHOR'S NOTE

I know it's common practice for football practice to be directly after school, but I just needed this scene for S&S. After this, I'll be more realistic football-wise.