Shelly's World
Chapter 12: Tears
Shelly awoke to the brightness of the sun. She stretched her arms and looked at her watch. It read 6:00 AM. She sighed, then quickly put on the outfit that she had worn last night, then made her way downstairs. Shelly saw Ann standing behind the counter with Doug, and Cliff sitting at a table with his legs crossed. When she saw him, an image of what happened the night before crossed her mind. She tried to forget about it, but her mood immediately changed from normal to pissed off.
"Hey, Shelly! How're you feeling?" Ann said cheerfully.
"Just peachy," Shelly mumbled under her breath.
"You don't sound like it to me," Ann said, concerned. "Are you alright?"
"No," Shelly said. "And you know why, too." She looked over her shoulder to make sure Cliff couldn't hear her.
"I'm afraid I don't know what you're talking about," Ann said, chuckling nervously.
Shelly pulled Ann toward a corner. "Last night! It was our only chance we had together!" Shelly whispered with her teeth clenched.
"Who?" Ann asked.
"Cliff and me!" Shelly screeched silently. "We were going to kiss but you came in and ruined our only chance!"
"Gee, Shelly, I'm sorry," Ann said sympathetically. "I must not have known what I was doing. I drank a lot of wine at that wedding."
"I could tell," Shelly said facetiously as she looked over at Cliff. Cliff looked up from the table. Shelly blushed and looked away. "I've got to go."
"Where?" Ann said, shocked.
"To the beach," Shelly replied immediately. "I need some relaxation time." She then quickly made her way there. She saw Kai making his way to the beach as well, and followed him. He spun around as soon as they made it, then smiled.
"Why, hello, Shell," Kai said. "I never thought I'd see you here."
"Well, I'm here," Shelly said pathetically. "I just came here to relax." She then walked toward the pier. Kai walked toward her.
"Don't you want to talk to your favorite man?" Kai said in an overly sweet voice. "I love talking to chicks I dig."
"No," Shelly snapped. "I just want to be alone."
"Well at least give me a kiss," Kai said, leaning toward her. A shocked Shelly felt his lips brush against her, and she quickly pushed him away. She didn't know that Cliff had come onto the beach too.
"What are you doing?" Shelly sneered.
"I just want some lovin'," Kai said, trying to hug her. Shelly made an attempt to free herself, but then Cliff walked over.
"What the hell are you two doing?" He yelped. Shelly jumped a mile and looked up at him.
"It's not what it looks like!" Shelly complained. "Really! He's a chick molester!"
"No, no, my man, the lady's got it all wrong," Kai said reassuringly. "She said she came here to see me because she was upset, and the next thing you know, she was all over me."
"Player!" Cliff shouted to her. Shelly could feel her eyes getting filled up with tears. "I should've known you were just another Mary-Sue bitch! Maybe I shouldn't have come here to see if you were okay, because it's obvious you were having the time of your life with Kai!"
"Cliff…" Shelly whispered, her voice cracking. He stormed out of the beach, cursing angrily under his breath. "Look what you've done, Kai!"
"What? It's not like you two were an item, right? Besides, I'm better than that homeless hobo is. I've got the skills and the bling-bling. I'm your man!"
"Cliff is a kind and gentle sweetheart who sticks up for his friends and tells the truth!" Shelly shrieked angrily. "You are a good-for-nothing player of a bastard who lies and makes out with any girl you can get your damned hands on!" She kicked him in the groin, which sent him flying into the ocean. "This is for screwing up my relationship with Cliff!" She screamed. She jumped in the water and pushed him under and back up again, then punched him in the face. "And that's for everything else you've done to screw up my friend's– or anybody else's- lives!" Shelly then got out of the ocean, her clothes and hair now dripping wet. "I hope you rot in hell!" she screamed, running back to the Inn, crying. Ann rushed up to her friend.
"Shelly, you look terrible; are you alright?" Ann asked nicely.
"Does it look like I'm alright?" Shelly said between sobs. She looked up at Ann. "This is all Kai's fault! He tried to kiss me, and Cliff saw… and he thought we were making out." Shelly cried harder. Ann tried to comfort her.
"Aw, don't cry," Ann said. "I know Cliff still loves you. I mean, he loved you enough to go to the beach and see if you were alright."
"But he doesn't love me enough to give me a chance," Shelly wailed. "He would only listen to Kai, which means he doesn't trust me!"
"But maybe Kai's story was more realistic… even though it was a lie." Ann sat down in a chair. "I know he loves you, Shelly. He's a trustworthy person and most of the time he can tell a lie from the truth, but he must've thought you were lying. You have to tell him. I can tell there will be a ninety-nine point nine percent chance that he'll listen to you."
"And if the point one chance were to happen?" Shelly said.
"Don't be so down on yourself! If the point one chance were to happen, hell would freeze over." Ann said, giggling a little bit.
"And I'd be going Jerry Springer on Kai's ass," Shelly said, wiping the tears off her face. "Although I just cussed him out at the beach and threw him into the ocean." She and Ann laughed. Just then, an idea popped into Shelly's head.
"Ann… I've got an idea," Shelly said, grinning. Ann looked at her friend.
"What is it?" Ann asked.
"Instead of telling Cliff in words… how about I tell him in song!" Shelly said, and jumped up and down. "Yeah! It's a great idea!"
"It is!" Ann said. "And your Michelle Branch song is perfect!"
"You mean 'Are You Happy now'?" Shelly said. "You're right… it is." She glanced down at her feet. "I never realized that."
"Plus, it's a really beautiful song that Cliff's sure to love," Ann replied. "Especially since you're singing it."
"I'm not that good," Shelly commented.
"Yes, you are!" Ann shouted. "You've got talent running through your blood vessels!"
"No I don't…. Anyway, don't you think we should be going soon?" Shelly said impatiently, trying to change the subject.
"Um…" Ann started as she checked her watch. "Holy shit, we're gonna be late! Let's go!" She grabbed Shelly's arm.
"Wait!" She shrieked. "I can't go out there looking like this!" She pointed to her frizzy, soggy hair and her bleeding mascara, along with her dress, which was dripping with saltwater.
"We don't have any time! We have to leave right now!" Ann shouted. "Now, come on!" She ran out the door to the square. Shelly dragged her feet and followed her there. As soon as they were there, the whole village was crowded around a wooden stage. The people were chatting and shouting, until the Mayor walked up. He looked sickeningly happy. Shelly cringed.
"Hello, fellow citizens of Mineral Village! Thank you for coming to this special occasion!" He announced. The audience roared with applause.
"Okay, okay, settle down," he said calmly. Eventually, the crowd grew silent. "Our first contestant today is Karen Yamashita, singing 'Cherry Lips' by Garbage!" There was applause as a happy Karen pranced onstage. The introduction began to play. She then sang happily:
She gave you everything she had,
But she was young and dumb,
She just turned 21.
She didn't have to hang around.
So when she shit came down, why, she was nowhere to be found.
This life can turn a good girl bad.
She was the sweetest thing that you had ever seen!
"What a slut!" The voice said. Shelly turned around to find Cliff giving her the thumbs down sign. Karen glared at him and flipped him off, then changed the lyrics of her song.
With your stupid signs and ugly hair,
You could make grown girls gasp,
When you go walking past them,
'Cause you're such an ugly freak.
No one can believe that such a hairdo is for real.
It seemed like dark clouds would appear,
Whenever you came here the green would disappear,
Because you look just like a bitch,
Your freaking hair makes you look like a little girl!
Karen sneered at Cliff, then continued her song, although the audience murmured harsh things about her song, and the Mayor had a look of disapproval on his face. As soon as the song ended, the audience clapped pathetically and the Mayor gave her a look as she happily jumped off the stage, blowing everyone kisses. She then skipped back to the audience.
"Um, thank you, Karen. That was very…" he started to say, then coughed, "…interesting."
The audience said nothing.
"So… next up, we have Ann Green singing 'What Can I Do' by the Corrs!" The Mayor announced. The audience clapped for her as she smiled and walked up on stage and began to sing. Shelly smiled as she listened to Ann's voice. It was beautiful. She sounded like an angel to Shelly, but the song made her sad. A picture of an angry Cliff popped into her head and she stopped smiling. She remembered that her song was supposed to be her emotional feelings toward him.
Ann stopped singing. The audience gave her a long round of applause as the Mayor walked up onto the stage.
"Thank you, Ann, for your terrific voice tonight!" The Mayor said happily. The crowd cheered louder.
"Okay, that's enough," the Mayor said. The crowd continued to cheer. "I said that's enough!" He said sharply. The audience quickly shut up. "So! Next up, we have Cliff singing 'Behind Blue Eyes' by Limp Bizkit!" There was, yet again, a loud applause as Cliff walked casually on stage and the music began to play.
No one knows what it's like to be the bad man,
to be the sad man,
Behind blue eyes.
No one knows what it's like to be hated,
to be faded, to telling only lies.
But my dreams; they aren't as empty
as my conscience seems to be.
I have hours, only lonely.
My love is vengeance
that's never free
Shelly listened to the song. It was so beautiful! She could hear Cliff's smooth, clear voice, and it made her want to melt and also cry at the same time. A tear trickled down her cheek as she bit her lip. More tears came down onto her delicate cheeks. She looked down at the ground as her tears hit the concrete. The music then ended. The audience cheered for Cliff as he smiled and walked off the stage and the Mayor walked on.
"Yes… that was a wonderful song. It really spoke to me; how about you guys?" the Mayor shouted happily. The audience screamed with cheer for Cliff. The Mayor laughed. "Well… next we have Shelly singing 'Are you Happy now' by Michelle Branch." Everyone gave her a round of applause as she slowly walked up on stage. She had butterflies in her stomach as she grabbed the microphone.
"Hello, everyone, I know I look pretty bad, but that's sorta classified," she said quietly and chuckled nervously, wiping the tears off her face. The audience was mum. "Um… before I begin, I just want to say that this song is dedicated to someone out there in the audience that means a whole lot to me." The audience clapped for her. "This audience will cheer for anything," Shelly thought. The music began.
Now, don't just walk away,
pretending everything's okay,
and you don't care about me.
And I know it's just no use,
And all your lies become your truths,
and I don't care!
Could'ja look me in the eye,
And tell me that you're happy now,
Would'ja tell it to my face,
Or have I been erased,
Are you happy now?
Are you happy now?
She kept singing. While she did, tears flooded from her eyes. She couldn't stop crying. She put her heart and soul into her singing. When she finished, the audience didn't clap for her. She sobbed.
"I care!" She wailed, pounding her fist onto her hand. "I want you back, dammit! You know I can stand the hardest hardships! I will always keep you in spirit, mind, body, and soul. You, of all people, are the only one whom gives me strength to carry on in a harsh reality called life! I may be young, but I am certainly not a fool. I know I have found the only true person whom gives me happiness, something so scarce, rare, and precious to me. I will never stop thinking about you! Be it hell through life, you will be, and are, my only grip to this world, my only finger, hanging to a cliff, and underneath lies a world of incompleteness, and oblivion and nothingness! If I cannot find you in this hell on earth we call life, I will have an eternity to find you in the afterlife and then when I finally do, I will have you in my arms forever for the infinite eternities to come! You can be wiped out from this world, and all I would have is nothing but a faint distant, unclear memory of you, and still, I would remain faithful, staying alive for the simple reason that I may once again find you. I promise you that I will always think of you, even in the afterlife. Promise me something, even if you should stop caring about me, that we will reunite in the afterlife…." Shelly took a big, shaky breath. The audience went out of control as they screamed and shouted for her. She walked off the stage with tears in her eyes as Ann ran up to her, shrieking happily.
"Wow, Shelly! That was so deep! Look, even the audience loves it! They love you!" Ann said, jumping up and down, smiling, but stopped when she noticed Shelly was crying. "Shelly, are you alright?"
"No," Shelly whimpered. She ran to the end of the square near the beach, where no one was standing while "My Immortal" by Evanescence began to play.
I'm so tired of being here,
Suppressed by all my childish fears,
And if you have to leave
I wish that you would just leave.
'Cause your presence still lingers here,
And it won't leave me alone.
She sat down and sobbed all the tears she could get out of her eyes. Just then, she heard a pair of footsteps walking her way. She kept her head buried in her knees and didn't bother to look up.
These wounds won't seem to heal,
this pain is just too real.
There's just too much that time cannot erase.
"Need a hand?"
Shelly looked up. It was Cliff. He was holding out his hand. Shelly held onto it as Cliff pulled her up.
"Your song really spoke to me," he whispered. "And so did your speech." He then paused and cleared his throat. "Also, I wanted to say that I'm sorry for what happened at the beach this morning. I overheard Kai talking to Gray that he was angry at you because he tried to make out with you, but you threw him in the water."
"It's okay," Shelly said, smiling. His apology made her feel like crying again. A few tears made their way down her cheek.
When you cried I'd wipe away all of your tears.
When you'd scream I'd fight away all of your fears.
I held your hand through all of these years.
"Why the tears?" Cliff said, walking closer to her and wiped away her tears with his thumb. He then put his hand onto her shoulder. "You've got such a beautiful face. Don't cry; I want to see that sweet smile." Shelly then smiled weakly, and then she and Cliff embraced in a long hug.
But you still have
all of me.
They continued to stay in each other's arms until the song ended. When the audience applauded, Cliff took a step back.
"Well, I guess we should be heading back," Cliff said, smiling sweetly. He started to make his way back.
"No, Cliff… wait." Shelly said, feeling brave. This was the day that she was going to tell him. He stopped and walked toward her.
"What's up?" He whispered.
Shelly gulped, but tried not to stare into his chocolate brown eyes. "Well… I…" she started. "I l-lo… I love… I loved your song," she got out. She wanted to smack herself and jump off a cliff.
"Thanks. You were really great t-" Cliff started.
"No. No, Cliff, that's not what I wanted to say… although that's true." Shelly said, then took a breath. "What I wanted to say was that… well…" she paused, "I-I love you."
Cliff just stood there, saying nothing. He looked at the girl who was gazing into his eyes and tears brimmed in his eyes. He sniffed. "I love you too, Shelly. I love you too." He said gently. They embraced into another hug. Shelly wiped off the tears from his face as she leaned in closer to Cliff. Cliff got closer to her too, and pretty soon, their lips met. Shelly felt butterflies in her stomach and her heartbeat went at a faster tempo. When they broke apart, the couple looked each other in the eyes. Shelly's mind was racing.
"We kissed," she thought happily. "We actually kissed for once! I can't believe it!" She leaned in for another kiss. This one was longer and more passionate. When they finished, the audience went wild. Cliff and Shelly looked over to see what was happening. Everyone in Mineral Village was looking at them, clapping and cheering for the two.
"I guess we were part of the show," Shelly said, giggling.
I guess so… look, we're getting this applause and now… Ann's running up to us," he said, grinning. Ann stopped in front of them.
"You guys are so fantastic!" She screeched.
"Why, thanks… I didn't know we kissed that w-" Shelly started to say.
"You two won second and third place in the festival!" She finished. Shelly and Cliff looked at each other.
I guess they weren't watching us after all," Shelly whispered to Cliff. He laughed.
"Well, c'mon, you guys! Everyone's waiting for you!" Ann shouted cheerfully. She ran back to the crowd. Shelly and Cliff followed along, hands linked. The Mayor greeted them with a gruesome grin. Shelly's grin turned into a cheesy, nervous smile.
"Congratulations, Shelly," the Mayor announced, "for winning second place for your wonderful song and that powerful speech!" He handed her a strange looking berry, which looked like a burnt apple. "And congratulations, Cliff, for winning third place for your song, which spoke to us all!" Cliff took the second strange berry and placed it in his pocket. "And first place goes to…" The Mayor started. Shelly could overhear Karen running toward the Mayor shouting, "It's me! I know it is! Oh, thank you so much, Mayor!"
"…Ann Green!" the Mayor finished. Everyone except for Karen cheered. Ann screamed with delight and ran up to grab her trophy with another strange berry in it.
"What the hell?" Karen screeched. She stormed up to the stage. "Mine was much better than Ann's pathetic song, Shelly's stupid speech, and Cliff's horrendous 'heart-breaker'!"
"Karen?" Shelly said, astonished. "What's your problem? I thought we were friends!"
"Um, no," Karen remarked, then laughed wickedly. "I can't believe you fell for that! I guess those acting lessons really did come in handy!"
"Where'd you get acting lessons?" Cliff said firmly. "From Manna?"
"Hey!" a lady shrieked from the audience. Shelly was sure it was Manna. "It just so happens that I really suck at acting and that was really rude of you to just come out of the blue and announce that in front of the whole entire audience! I mean, really, come on; people like that just make me sick! I really feel like throwing up right now! Does anyone here have a bucket for me to hurl in because I don't have one? If so-"
"Shut the hell up, already!" Karen lashed. "Damn! Sometimes I wonder why Duke married you!" She coughed. "No, actually… I used to live in the city. Didn't any of you notice that I'm the only girl, besides Shell," she started, accenting Shelly's least favorite nickname, "that wears shorts and not those stupid dresses that every other girl wears?"
"At least I don't act like a slut!" Popuri cried from the audience. She walked up to Karen.
"Well, I'm not the freak with pink hair and red eyes!" Karen roared. "Why should I listen to a whiny little bitch like you anyway?"
"I'll take care of this!" Shelly screamed. She then punched Karen in the face, knocking her out cold. The audience gasped. Shelly turned red.
"Uh, sorry…" she mumbled nervously. "I didn't mean to do that."
"It's about time somebody got rid of that whore!" Mary hollered. Everyone gasped again. "…What? They talk about whores in the bible!" She said quietly. Everyone then cheered for Shelly. She ran up to Cliff, and they hugged each other slightly, then kissed. The cheering got louder.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A/N: Hiya, peoples! Thanks for sticking with me through all of those chapters! Hehe, no, no, it's not done quite yet… although it will be soon. XDD But I just wanna thank everyone for reading and reviewing my story. I'll do the looooooooooooong thanking at the end. (Y'know, the one where I list everyone's name, then the thank you note afterward. If you still don't get what I'm saying, it's that…thing that everyone's been doing.) So… um, I've still got about two or three chapters until the end. XD Also, I've been thinking of another Shelly's World, 'cept in Shelly's POV. (Since I know you all seem to appreciate her strong, bitter attitude. XD) so, um… that's all I have to say, I guess. Hope you all enjoyed reading this chapter (and all the other chapters before, and to come!)
Fairy Friend
