Mouth whistled a happy tune as he made his way down the outside walkway of the school that led to the courtyard. It had been a good day, despite the recent events that had plagued his inner circle. Everyone was still reeling from Brooke Davis' unexpected sex scandal and the graphic tape revealed at Tim Smith's party. For Brooke it had been particularly humiliating and it had cost her a relationship with Chase. For the moment, she had been lying low and no one could blame her for that. Mouth felt terrible for his friend and had been there for her every step of the way but at the same time, he couldn't deny his own happiness.

He couldn't remember a time when life seemed so happy and normal. And it was all because of Shelly Simon and what she had brought to him. More than anything, he was looking forward to spending the afternoon with her. He had made tentative plans but it didn't matter. Whatever she wanted to do, he was fine with, just as long as he was next to her. God, how he loved that feeling.

"Guess who?"

He spotted her by the parking lot and ran up behind her, putting his hands over her eyes. She tensed and gasped, breaking away from his touch.

"Mouth…"

"What?" he grinned, leaning in for a kiss. "Were you expecting your other boyfriend?"

She shifted uncomfortably and looked away.

"I, I, um, was just heading home."

"Do you have to go straight there? I was thinking maybe we could hang out today or something."

"I don't know…"

"We could go to my house or to the park. Maybe stop off for some ice cream."

"Mouth…"

A mischievous twinkle settled in his eyes.

"Or we could always go somewhere and fool around. You know I'm always down for the hanky panky."

He let out a growl and nipped at her neck, causing her to recoil. Shelly looked around. It looked like the eyes of the whole school were upon her, upon them. Quickly, she stepped back.

"I can't. I have a lot of homework to do."

"We could study together. I…"

"Mouth, no!"

Her voice sounded surprisingly forceful. For the first time, he took a good look at her. She looked upset, uneasy, like she was having a bad day.

"What's the matter, babe?" he asked softly. "Talk to me."

Shelly looked away again. Sure enough, there they were. It was her brainchild that had created the pure and proper almighty Clean Teens. They had a mission, a purpose, they stood for something. It was her baby and she was their fearless leader. Incorporating Brooke into their circle had been a gamble but she had believed the brunette's intentions were true. But she had brought scandal to them. Nearly the entire student body had been witness to her recorded gangbang and ever since, the whispers and rumors had been running rampant.

Shelly never quite realized what a monster she had created. The Clean Teen members were outraged, calling for everything but Brooke to be hanged. But their concern wasn't just directed at Brooke. They had been quietly noticing Shelly's own behavior for weeks. She and Mouth had become quite the item, the talk of the school. The googly eyed looks, the shy smiles, the brushing of hands when they thought no one else was paying attention. But that was the thing about small towns and small schools. Someone was always watching.

Her loyal subjects had suspected their leader had deserted the very foundation of the club…secondary virginity. Gossip had it, she and Mouth were sleeping together and that would be sufficient reason for immediate impeachment. And those that had kissed her ass for months and seemingly looked up to her, were the very ones waiting in the wings licking their chops, waiting for her to mess up so they could take her place. But that was the least of her worries although she was concerned about her reputation.

There were bigger fish to fry. If word got back to her parents, it would be all over. Surely they would go ballistic. At the least, they would make her break things off with Mouth and ground her forever. At the most, they would send her away. Regardless, it was too much, facing their disappointment and subsequent wrath again. She had messed up before with boys and sex but this time was different. Why couldn't they all just see that? Mouth was one of the good guys and they were being careful. More importantly, they were in love. But in the eyes of everyone else, none of that seemed to even matter.

"I have to go, Mouth. Okay? I'll call you later."

She started to walk away but he stopped her. Something wasn't quite right.

"Shelly, what's going on? I mean, did I do something wrong?"

She bit at her lip and fought back the tears threatening to fall. She felt like she was losing her mind as her heart was breaking at the same time. She stroked the baby soft skin of his face.

"No," she whispered. "You didn't do anything wrong, nothing at all, Mouth."

"Then what? Shelly…"

"It's not you, it's me…"

Her words both stunned him and hit him in the gut like a powerful fist. It's not you, it's me. How many times had he heard that one before? And it never turned out good, at least not for him.

"What are you saying?"

She looked away, still blinking back tears.

"I…I, can't do this anymore."

"Can't do what?"

"This. You. Us."

"Shelly, I don't understand," he gulped. "I thought things were good between us. I thought you were happy."

Shelly closed her eyes and the tears fell. Of course he made her happy. In fact, she had never been happier. But it was wrong. They were wrong. It was all wrong.

"It's moving too fast. Things got really serious and I just think we need a break, that's all."

"I don't get it. A few days ago, everything was fine…"

"Please don't make this harder than it is. It's not a big deal."

"Not a big deal? Are you serious right now? It's a very big deal to me. I care about us, Shelly. If something happened, if someone said something, just tell me. Whatever it is, we can work it out."

She broke away from his touch for the second time.

"No, we can't. Look, Mouth, I didn't want to be mean and I didn't want to hurt your feelings but there is no us, okay? You're a nice guy and we had fun but it wasn't forever. You had to know that. I mean, we're in high school and we'll be graduating soon and then everybody goes their own separate ways. It's just a part of life, no need to get all upset about it. I'm moving on and I think you should too. So there it is."

"Shelly…"

"I'll see you around, okay?"

The tears had disappeared and once again she was the fearless, matter of fact, no nonsense queen of the Clean Teens.

"Why are you doing this?" he asked softly, heartbroken.

It took everything she had to look him in the eye and face the pain she was causing him.

"Mouth, it was bound to happen sooner or later. You had to know that."

"I don't even know who you are anymore."

"Maybe you never did," she replied.

She walked away and he couldn't believe it. Who was this girl and what had she done with his Shelly? How could she just turn her back on him like that, like it didn't even matter?

"Shelly!"

He yelled her name but she didn't stop.

"Shelly! Shelly! How could you do this to me? How could you do this to us?" he screamed. "I love you!"

All eyes were now truly upon them but Mouth didn't care. All he cared about was that his heart had just been broken and the girl he had fallen deeply head over heels in love with was gone. It was out of the blue and for no apparent reason.

"Shelly!"

She quickened her pace and kept walking. She walked until she could no longer him calling out for her. The boy was pouring out his heart, not caring that he was humiliating himself in front of the whole school. But she cared. She cared about him more than he could know. She was just scared. Scared to feel for another human being, scared of backlash from the Clean Teens, scared of her classmates and fellow church members finding out, scared of the past repeating itself. She had freaked out in the worst possible way. Mouth was a great guy and they had a good thing going but once again, she and her insecurities, mistrust, and fears had found a way to screw it all up.

"I love you, too," she said, only when she was alone and out of sight.

Only then could she admit her true feelings and let the tears fall freely.