Mouth tapped his pencil across the desk, unaware and unconcerned of the annoyance it created to those around him. He was still a young man broken and bitter, the abrupt end of his relationship still weighing heavily upon him. For weeks he had moped and sulked around school and the town, drudging through the motions of everyday life. He had been somewhat distant from his friends and even the activities that he once loved. Anyone who listened to the Raven's games could tell a difference in their favorite broadcaster and the obvious, awkward tension between he and his former girlfriend. Even his love for the Media Club had seemingly fallen by the wayside. He used to attend the meetings with interest and enthusiasm, instead he sat in a seat in the back corner, tapping a pencil, counting the seconds down. Finally the bell rang and he was the first one up, gathering his belongings.

"Mouth, is everything okay?" the teacher asked as she made her way over to him.

He didn't even bother to look her in the eye.

"It's fine, Mrs. Jensen."

She still appeared worried.

"If you say so but you've seemed awfully distracted lately."

"I said I'm fine."

"Very well then. That's actually good to hear, considering just how much I need your help."

He looked up.

"With what?"

"We have a major problem. Something has come up with the yearbook. There was a separate computer not linked to the others that was used specifically to store the data for the seniors. As you know, a huge portion of the yearbook is devoted each year to the graduating class. Apparently, that system has crashed and we are in danger of losing it all…the write ups, the pictures, everything."

"Wasn't there a backup?" he asked.

"Fortunately there was. It looks like we will be able to retrieve all the data but there is a slight glitch."

"What?"

"The backup ware isn't compatible with our equipment. It isn't as simple as making a copy and a quick transfer. Each individual piece must be recovered, copied, and moved."

"That's gonna take forever."

"Yes, it is, which constitutes a severe conflict. We have a deadline of less than two weeks. Whatever information not sent to the company that produces our yearbooks by then…well, it will be too late."

Mouth sighed.

"That sucks."

"Yes, it does. Listen, Mouth, I know this can be a very busy time of year. I understand you are involved in many activities both in and out of school. Time is limited and I have been unable to secure any volunteers for this, except one. She could really use your help and I figure two brains and two pairs of hands are better than one. What do you say?"

He didn't want to say anything. The last thing he wanted was to help but how could he say no? Memories, good or bad, were important. The entire class was waiting to see themselves in that yearbook. It was for posterity. Besides, Mrs. Jensen had been very good to him over the years.

"Fine. I'll help."

"Mouth, you are a lifesaver," she patted him on the back. "Shelly!"

Mouth made a face. Before he could speak, Mrs. Jensen was summoning over that Shelly girl, the stupid poetry, Clean Teen chick .

"Yes, Mrs. Jensen?" she replied sweetly.

"You do know Mouth McFadden, don't you?"

Mrs. Jensen had no idea.

"We've met," Shelly rolled her eyes.

"Good. Mouth here is a computer genius and he has agreed to help you with the senior project."

"But…"

"You two know the timeline. You can get together and coordinate your own schedules."

"Mrs. Jensen…" Mouth attempted to protest.

"I have to run but I know this project is in capable hands. Mouth, Shelly, I truly appreciate all your time and hard work so I'm thanking you both in advance. And trust me, no good deed goes unnoticed. I will ensure that you both will be properly rewarded."

And with that, she was gone. And so was everyone else. The Media Center was completely empty, except the two poetry rivals, Mouth McFadden and Shelly Simon.

"Great!" he mumbled sarcastically, throwing his stuff down.

"You're the one that volunteered."

"That's before I knew I'd be working with you."

Shelly's mouth fell open.

"Really? Well, you're no picnic yourself."

"I'm out of here," he shook his head.

"You can't go."

"Watch me."

"But you promised Mrs. Jensen."

"Shelly…"

"And…and I can't do this by myself, okay? Look this is gonna take a lot of time. I have Youth Group at my church twice a week and Clean Teens meetings three times a week, not to mention I am totally swamped with homework and fundraisers and everything else. I'm gonna need some help."

He closed his eyes. He had made a promise. There was no sense in being a complete jerk.

"Fine. Let's just get this done."

"Okay. You probably know more about these systems than I do. Just set it up and tell me the easiest, quickest way and how you want it done."

"Fine," he answered again.

Shelly sat a table watching him as he moved various pieces of equipment back and forth. He was thorough and meticulous in his setup. She didn't know much about him but she remembered the old Mouth. The nice, happy go lucky guy that was helpful and polite towards everyone. She had even seen him outside of school, at various basketball games and the few times he had deejayed at TRIC. He was apart of that "in crowd" that included Brooke Davis and her friends. They had never talked before but he had always seemed like a nice enough guy. But in recent weeks he had changed and everyone around could agree it was for the worst.

"So," she tried to strike up conversation as he finished getting everything together. "You're friends with Brooke Davis, right?"

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"Nothing, I guess. She, um, joined Clean Teens last week."

Mouth chuckled in spite of himself. Brooke, a Clean Teen? His Brooke? That would be the day.

"Yeah right."

"No, I'm serious. She really did. Even I admit I was suspect at first but she paid her dues and she comes to the meetings, she even wears the shirts."

"That's…interesting."

"I thought so, too. So…what about the game tomorrow?"

Mouth let out an exasperated, pent up sigh.

"Shelly, you do know we can do this without talking. I mean, what's with all the chit chat?"

She should have known better but she was still taken aback by his rudeness.

"I was just asking. We don't have much time to get this done and we both have so much going on right now. I just wanted to get straight the days we can meet and for how many hours and all that stuff."

"Let's just get through today and take it from there."

There was a real coolness in his tone and it irritated Shelly. Aside from their little verbal altercation in English class, she had never done anything to him and even then what transpired had not been her fault. He was the one walking around with a mean spirit and bad attitude, taking his depression and anger out on everyone else around him. It wasn't fair and she wasn't his little doormat. She had tried to make amends that had only been met with more sarcasm and ill manners. Whatever the problem was, she wasn't going to put up with it much longer.

"Can I ask you a question?"

"I really wish you wouldn't."

"What's your problem?"

Mouth turned to face her.

"My problem?"

"Yeah, you. Lately you've been walking around mad at the world. You're short with everybody and that's on a good day."

"You don't know what you're talking about."

"Look, what happened between us in class got out of hand. We were both wrong. Let's just call a truce already."

"Didn't know we were at war."

Shelly bit her lip. He was unbelievable.

"I'm gonna let that go because I heard about your breakup with that Gigi girl."

"What did you say?" he quickly whipped his neck around.

She could see a transformation in his eyes, part anger, part sadness.

"I said…look, I meant…"

"I don't care what you meant. You don't know me, alright? And you don't know anything about Gigi or what happened between us."

"I guess I don't. Sorry. Listen, I wasn't trying to start anything or make you mad. It's just that we're gonna be cramped in this little room for a lot of days in and after school for the next week and a half or so and I don't want to spend it fighting with you or walking around on eggshells."

He closed his eyes. He wanted to explode but he controlled himself. It wasn't Shelly's fault. It had nothing to do with her or the yearbook or E.E. Cummings or even Gigi for that matter. It all had to do with him and the internal battle he was constantly fighting of loneliness, frustration and never feeling quite good enough. It had been going on forever, temporarily cooled by the attentions of pretty girls like Brooke, Rachel, Erica and Gigi. But eventually it all came to an end and he would come crashing down from his high. When that happened it sucked and he was tired of it.

"It's fine, Shelly. Look, I guess I'm having a bad couple of days. Just…look, I figured out a way we can get this done in time. Can you come over here so I can explain how all the systems work?"

It wasn't an apology but his tone had softened and she could see the pain and exhaustion written all over his face. He was probably heartbroken from his breakup and Shelly could certainly identify with that. She'd been hurt a time or two or ten herself by the opposite sex. While Mouth internalized his pain, she had fueled hers into creating Clean Teens. It was an escape, a way to deal and everybody had to figure out that own path, she supposed.

"Sure," she said and moved over to him and both took exaggerated breaths.

"Alright. Use this password to get into system A and we're gonna copy everything to this disc and…"

Shelly nodded. It was going to be a long couple of weeks ahead.