Chapter 13 – The Cycle Continues

"Shit," was the first thing Shannon said when she awoke the next morning. Her eyes were full of sleep; her hair was so tangled she could sense the layer of frizz surrounding her head, and her muscles felt so fatigued she could hardly untangle her leg from the rumpled sheets at the bottom of her bed.

"Fuck," was the second thing Shannon said when she awoke that morning. What had she done last night again? Oh, right. Boone. Sex. Sex with Boone…. Ah…. Shannon tried to restrain herself from smiling, but a cheesy, delirious smile appeared on her face anyway. Seconds later, it disappeared. This was not a good thing. Not a good thing at all, because now she was going to face him ("and keep yourself from giving him a boner", a pesky voice in her head added) again. But then that stupid smile materialized upon her face again. And she replayed everything in her head, despite her brain's constant pleas of "Stop, you're being pathetic."

Shannon finally rolled out of bed, hitting her foot on the bedpost. Which was why "Damn it" was the third thing Shannon said that morning. She clumsily threw her sheets onto the bed, and opened her walk-in closet, choosing an eyelet lace tank top and her Lucky jeans. She took off her old, wrinkled band t-shirt that she had put on last night after… here-comes-the-stupid-smile- sleeping with Boone last night, and replaced it with the shirt and proper undergarments (not the red bra). Then she put on her jeans, and walked into the bathroom.

If there was ever a day for Shannon to thank the gods of concealer, today was the day. Thank fucking god for concealer. Because looking in the mirror, Shannon discovered not one, but two (two!) hickeys on her neck, and a significant amount of dark-circles under her sleep-deprived eyes. After slathering on a copious amount of the stuff, she applied blush, eye shadow, mascara, and lip-gloss to her very chapped lips. She brushed her hair and tied it back into a half ponytail.

When Shannon arrived downstairs, she found Sabrina, a bowl of sliced cantaloupe, and Jake waiting to greet her. Unsurprisingly, Sabrina was not waiting to greet Shannon. Shannon gave Jake a few pats on the head, and sat down, taking the pair of tongs at the table and using them to put two pieces of cantaloupe on her plate.

"Rosita's making scrambled eggs," Sabrina said, looking up from her magazine.

"Okay," said Shannon, putting a bit of cantaloupe into her mouth. "Where's… where's Boone?"

"Asleep. I was going to wake him up, but he's been studying so late at school, I thought he deserved to sleep in."

"Oh."

"Why?"

"I was just wondering." Shannon said indifferently.

"So, Shannon, what are your plans for today?"

"I'm taking a trip. I need to plan for it."

"You're planning a trip? To where?" Sabrina asked, surprised.

"I don't know yet. That's why I need to plan. I just want to see the world." And get away from Boone…

"Shannon, when are you going to go to college?"

"I don't know." She said pointedly. But Sabrina had no chance to respond because Boone had just arrived into the kitchen. Shannon picked up her fork and looked at him for a moment, then popped a piece of cantaloupe into her mouth, determinately not looking at him.

"'Morning," he said to them.

"Good morning!" Said Sabrina brightly. Shannon merely nodded, and she noticed the expression in his eyes cloud. "How did you sleep?"

"Fine." He said, stumbling a little.

"Fine." She answered her stepmother unflinchingly.

"What time did you end up getting to sleep? You slept late."

"I don't know." He said, "Not that late."

"Okay. Well, Rosita is making eggs, they should be here any second. I'm going to go to work in a few minutes, what are your plans?"

"Um." He said. "I guess I'll just stay here and study. I'll go back to my apartment tonight, I guess. I'll take Jake."

"Fine." Boone looked at Shannon again. She rolled her eyes at him.

"What?" she said emphatically.

"Nothing." He answered, stung. She smirked at him, feeling victorious in her plight to hurt his feelings. "Pass the orange juice?"

"No." She said.

"Shannon – "

"Look, can't you just get it yourself! It's closer to you, anyway! God, you're an idiot!" He frowned, looking confused and miserable, his eyes mournful, just from one little snipe at him. Shannon realized for about the millionth time how much he loved her, how much he wanted her to like him and want him and accept him. Then Shannon realized how much she really loved him.

Maybe that was why, half an hour later, he was leading her into the shower, and two minutes after that they were macking on each other like there was no tomorrow, soaking wet and naked, murmuring, "last time, last time."

Maybe that was also why Shannon found herself arriving in Sydney, Australia a week later. To get as far away from him as she could and to escape how she really felt.

Shannon was surprised at how well her escape worked. On the flight, there had been a very large, burly man who had offered to help her with her bags, and Shannon had happily accepted, somehow knowing that this would probably not be the last time she saw him. After the plane ride, he invited her out to dinner, and she went, and had a fine time. Realizing she didn't have a place to stay, she quickly went to go live with him. Brian was a very effective distraction, and he was more like her bodyguard then her boyfriend. He had changed her, somehow, because he was so… tough. In that year in Australia, Shannon morphed from an apologetic bitch to a merciless bitch. She claimed it was "growing up," but deep down she just knew she was getting mean.

But Shannon adored the fact that Boone had no idea where she was, and was probably pining for her daily, and worried sick about her. But Shannon didn't care – she didn't need him. But she could use him to her own advantage… like, for money.

And unlike Boone, Brian wasn't a wuss. She told him about how Sabrina hadn't given her the money, and asked him to pretend to be abusive. A few well-placed kisses could make him all for the plan. He was, in fact, almost excited about it. Too excited. But she knew that Boone would bring the money, because he was in love with her.

When she called him, she had Brian yell at her in the background, and she yelled back. When she heard Boone's voice on the other line, which sounded so surprised to hear from her, so worried, like he had been sitting by the phone just waiting with baited breath for her to call, Shannon almost chickened out. But Brian's glowering face, staring at her from across the kitchen table convinced her not to. And Shannon knew that she was quite the little actress. But Boone didn't.

"Yeah, hello?" He answered after a few rings, sounding short of breath.

"Boone, it's me." She said, making sure to waver her voice, just like they had planned.

"Shannon?" He said, like he didn't believe it was her. Or was that anger in his voice? Did he not want to hear from her?

"Yeah…" She answered sadly. Boone sensed the sad tone that she was using.

He asked, "What's the matter?" Shannon could hear twinkly sounding music in the background. Damn. Was he at The Bubble, as Shannon liked to call it? That damn country club, where stupid Sabrina had tried to make her take tennis lessons at. Boone played tennis, which Shannon thought was extremely minty of him. Anyway, back to the task at hand. She heard his breath hitch on the other line. Was that a sigh of annoyance, or worry?

"Um, things aren't so good." She said, and at the moment that Boone said "Where are you?" She pointed to Brian, and he started yelling something unintelligible. He was so large, and he actually looked angry, Shannon might have been a tiny bit scared.

Just like she was supposed to, she screamed, "Get out of here, get the hell away from me!" Then she muffled the speaker of the phone on her shirtsleeve so that it made a static noise.

It was working. "Shannon?" He said urgently. "Shannon?"

Brian yelled something like, "Come here, you little bitch!" And there were daggers in his eyes as he approached her. He was acting, too, but there was something oddly real about the whole situation.

"Get away from me!" she shrieked, and actual tears came to her eyes as she imagined what it would be like if he were really hitting her. She felt something hard and cold across her face, but when she looked up at Brian, he was just standing there, scowling. She looked at him quizzically, but he just stared back furiously. He was acting… he was acting… but it was too late, Shannon was already sobbing for real.

"Shannon, what's going on?" Boone asked, sounding both confused and worried at the same time. She tried to get a hold of herself, and breathed in deeply, resulting in a loud sob. "Alright, Shannon, just hang on… tell me where you are. I'll come get you," he seemed to decide at that moment.

"Sydney." She said instantly.

"Sydney?" What an idiot, what other Sydney could she be talking about? Brian's fist hit the table with a resounding thud for dramatic effect. She hadn't been expecting it and flinched. He gave a 'What the hell?' look, and Shannon scooted her chair closer to the wall instinctively.

"Australia."

"Oh," he said. "I'll get down there as soon as I can, I swear!" He sounded so serious about this, and Shannon felt a little twinge of guilt.

"Okay," she said weakly. "One second, I'll talk to you in the bathroom." She whispered, as if she were trying to hide from Brian or something.

"Shan?" he said a few seconds later.

"Uh huh," she answered, "I'm h-here."

"Where exactly is this place that you're at?"

"It's, um… do you have a piece of paper?"

"Yeah, hold on a minute. You're okay now?"

"Yeah, I locked the door."

"Okay, can you hold on a second?"

"I guess."

She heard him talking to someone, a girl. She felt another twinge in her stomach, but this one was of jealousy, not of guilt. "I can't do this," he was saying. Was he breaking up with the girl?

"Can't do what?" she heard a rather squeaky voice say back. She didn't hear what he said next, but he did hear a perplexed cry from the girl, and then, Boone saying, "I'm sorry," and then he said something back to Shannon. Shannon wanted to ask why he had broken up with her, when he could have just told her he had to go. But she knew why. It was because he was in love with her, and she always came first.

"Um, I'm at 110 Wellington Place, in Sydney. It's pretty easy to find if you have a - a map."

"Okay. I'll try to get a flight tonight." He sighed.

"Are you going to miss a class or something?"

"I graduated a month ago." He said, sounding a little bitter. "If I had known where you were, maybe you could have come."

"Sorry," she said, and she sobbed a little for dramatic effect.

"So… try to steer clear of him, okay?"

"Okay."

"I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yeah."

"Um… bye?" He said, as a question.

Because it was a question. They had never really said goodbye, and they never really would.