SCHOOL OF LOVE

RATING: T (just to be sure)

CHARACTERS: Shelby, Wendy, Scott, Brian, Alice, Walt, Jess, Mark

SUMMARY: AU. Shelby, Wendy, Scott, Brian and the others are all in high school. Walt still exists, but is slightly different in comparison with the show. Elaine happened but is now out of the picture.

DISCLAIMER: I don't own any of the original characters. The others are completely made up, unless my subconscious worked on things I saw on TV or something…

CHAPTER THREE

Monday

"It's natural to find him attractive Shelby. I mean, he's good looking and pretty intelligent." Wendy said as they both were watching Brian laughing with Scott about some dumb joke he had just said. Shelby didn't answer, her eyes fixed on the guy she was falling in love with. His smile was contagious. Shelby smiled as she watched him laugh again when Brian was telling him something. "Shel? You're still with me?" Wendy's annoying voice snapped Shelby out of her daydream.

"Oh yeah, sorry." She apologized, tearing her eyes away from the two guys.

"Why don't you make a move?" She asked and Shelby shook her head slightly.

"No!" Shelby said raising her voice slightly.

"Why not? I'm sure he would find you appealing." Wendy mischievously said, nudging her in the ribs suggestively. Shelby rolled her eyes at her, not amused at all by her innuendos.

"Because I'm not interested." Shelby replied, now beginning to be annoyed by her friend's statements. If only she knew…

"Liar. I saw how you were looking at him last Saturday, and it was nothing but innocent watching." Wendy accused, turning to her locker and doing the pin number of her padlock. The girls had gone out, like expected but it wasn't to go to the movies like Alice had thought. They indeed went to a club that was one of the headquarters for all the cool people of the school. And there, they had met Brian, Scott and their friends. Shelby suspected it wasn't a coincidence since she knew how protective Scott was with them both but didn't really care as long as he didn't interfere.

"No, I'm not lying. But why don't you go talk to him since you seem to be so interested?" The blonde replied with a smirk.

"Because I'm still waiting for Ben." Wendy dreamingly replied, and put her books in her locker. She wrinkled her nose at it was not smelling good inside. "Shel, can you tell me if you think it sinks inside?" She asked her friend, letting her have a look inside. Shelby rolled her eyes but complied with her request.

"Definitively. Either it's a joke, or you forgot something inside…You should write to him. Maybe he just doesn't know what to say?" Shelby asked her, leaning against her own locker.

"Or maybe he has someone else now…"

"I thought he told you he loved you?" Shelby wondered, trying her best not to look in Scott's and Brian's direction.

"He did; but that didn't mean anything. He just wanted to fuck me." Wendy harshly said, not caring if her language was shocking her bestfriend.

"If he wanted that, he would have gone out with you once, not everytime you two could." Shelby reasoned her, trying to make her hope again. The guy seemed fine, after all.

"The fact is that everytime we went out, we banged like animals." Wendy said with no shame or sense of decency. Sex was no taboo for her and Shelby was used to it with her anyways.

"Not the first time, though, uh?" Shelby made sure, a bit surprised she hadn't told her yet.

"The first time also." Wendy admitted softly, looking down at her just French-manicured nails. She was quite satisfied by their look but knew it wouldn't last long before she got them broken or worse, if she bit them by anxiety or boredom…

"You shouldn't have done it with him." Shelby replied softly, taking the books Wendy was handing her.

"I wanted to lose my virginity before being sixteen." The brown haired girl recognized. "And I should have known better than choosing him to do the task, I admit." She added bitterly and Shelby rolled her eyes, completely hallucinating over her words.

"What about love?" She then asked her, concerned about her bestfriend's feelings. She didn't understand why Wendy absolutely wanted to have experience in sex to be good the day she would fall for someone. Shelby believed that it didn't really count to be experienced if the guy she was with loved her.

"What?" The brown-haired girl asked confused.

"I mean, what about the feelings you're supposed to feel when you're making love? It doesn't happen if you're just screwing someone." Shelby said simply, and opened her locker to drop her books inside.

"How would you know? You're still virgin." Wendy asked her, rolling her eyes at her bestfriend's statements. She was so naïve sometimes.

"But I… no, drop it, you know better than me." Shelby backed down, before turning back to Scott and Brian who were resuming their conversation. She was about to say to her bestfriend that she falling for her brother…imagine the scene Wendy would have made. Scott and Brian said goodbye and shook hands and Scott walked to the girls, slipping an arm around his sister's waist from behind. Wendy leaned against his hard chest, smiling up at him.

"Are you ready to go back home Di?" He asked her, smiling at Shelby who was strangely gazing at him.

"Yeah okay. See you tomorrow Shel." Wendy replied, kissing her bestfriend on the cheek and winking at her as she noticed Brian was still hanging in the corridor. Scott noticed and frowned a little. Not Brian. Shelby could date every guy but Brian. He wouldn't be able to handle seeing her with his bestfriend.

"Okay, bye siblings." Shelby replied, taking her books she needed for tonight and turning to go to the study room.

"Do you want a drop home?" Scott asked before even thinking twice. He wouldn't let them have a change.

"Oh, well, no that's okay; mom should be here in a half an hour anyway." Shelby answered with a small smile playing on her lips that made Scott's heart take a slight jump.

"You sure? Because I have to go to practice anyway. Call your mother and tell her she can go directly home after getting Jess and Mark. " He insisted and Shelby nodded shrugging, but totally thrilled inside.

"Well, if you insist." Shelby said, trying to hide her happiness. She heard Wendy sighing but ignored her.

"I do, come on." Scott said, and then placed a hand on the small of her back to lead her to his car. Shelby felt butterflies by only feeling his touch and smiled to herself. She was definitively falling and very hard.

"Mom, I'm home!" Shelby yelled as she entered the house, with Scott at her toes. She had offered him to stay five minutes before going back to school for football practice. "Mom?"

"Yes baby, I'm here, in the garage!" Alice yelled back, as she heard the sound of her oldest child.

"What are you doing here?" Shelby asked puzzled as she glanced at her mother. Alice was lying under the car, working on it apparently.

"Don't you see? I'm repairing this damn car!" Alice said frustrated. Shelby took a step back and smirked at her mother. "I wanted to go buy a few things among some food and I just couldn't start." Alice explained, wiping her hands and face with a rag.

"You think she would want some good help?" Scott quietly asked Shelby and she shrugged.

"Scott's here mom, he could try something?" Shelby questioned her and Alice smiled at her daughter brightly.

"Ah, you two are talking now…where is he?"

"Right here Alice." Scott greeted, taking a step ahead and kneeling in front of her. "What is the problem with this car?" He said, imitating a shrink. Shelby let out a laugh and watched as he pulled off his shirt, once Alice had exposed the problem to him. "Shel, can you hold that for me please, while I'm helping your mother?"

"Of course." Shelby said with a stupid smile, making curls with a strand of her hair. She wasn't thinking straight and even Scott had noticed by now. But what could she do except looking at his toned abs and tanned skin? Of course, he still had a white wife-beater on but god, he looked so hot! He was handsome, it was a fact everyone could agree on.

"Shel? Shelby, honey please? Come back to earth!" Alice said, clicking her fingers in front of her daughter's eyes.

"Oh, sorry, what did you say again?" Shelby asked a bit dazed, not even embarrassed because she hadn't realized that her mother and Scott had noticed her staring. Scott shook his head amused and a bit pleased to see he was affecting her.

"I'm sorry I made you miss practice." Shelby apologized as soon as Scott came back from the bathroom where he had rinsed off the petrol and oil he had on his hands, arms and head. He had been forced to pull off his wife beater too, since it was completely dirty. He handed the wife beater to Shelby, who threw it in the basket of dirty linen.

"Oh, that's nothing really." He assured with a small smile. He looked around and sat on a chair.

"I'll give you this back the sooner I can." She said, referencing to the wife beater. Scott nodded and ran his hands through his messy hair.

"Thank you."

"Are you hungry?" She asked, as she was starving herself. Her tummy made a twitter and they both let out a laugh.

"Starving. What do you have in store?" He replied, still laughing and calming down.

"Pizza?" All Scott could do was smile. That smile made Shelby's heart melting. Scott noticed she always held her head down slightly as if she was ashamed or shy maybe.

"Sounds like fun. Where did your family go?" He asked, trying to make some conversation while the pizza was reheating.

"Uh…seeing a movie." She answered with a shrug.

"Oh, what movie?" He asked, slightly interested by the subject. He loved the cinema.

"I don't remember. I think it's a cartoon but I really don't have an idea… I put your shirt on the sofa if you want it." She said as she noticed he was shivering. Scott nodded and went to put it back. "I'm really sorry, you know…I shouldn't have asked you to help mom while I knew you had another thing to do." She apologized and he shook his head.

"No, I assure you everything's okay. I just have to find a good excuse; either way my father is going to make a crisis. And I don't even imagine how the coach would react." The timer went off and Shelby pulled out the pizza from the oven. She cut it in four pieces and put them on a plate.

"Well, thank you. You could tell you had a break down with your car, in front of my house?" She suggested and he smiled at her idea.

"Great, thanks, you'll be my alibi." Scott laughed and sat at the counter as she brought the hot pizza on it. Scott took a piece and Shelby went to take two glasses from the cupboard. She poured them some water and Scott took a bite of the pizza. Diner went by, them talking about everything and nothing but avoiding the subjects they didn't know how to handle.

"Do you-" They both began at the same time. Shelby blushed a bit and looked back at him.

"Sorry." Scott apologized, laughing a bit. "You go first."

"Thanks. Do you know what college you're going to attend to?"

"No. I wonder why everybody asks me the same question though."

"What? Don't you think we care about your future?" Shelby asked, and then bit her bottom lip, realizing that she had admitted out loud that she cared for him, or at least, what would become of him. She had let it slip without even thinking… Maybe he hadn't noticed…

"I don't know, that's weird I think." Scott muttered doing circles with his fingers on his glass, where the freshness of the water had created condensation.

"What's weird? That you have to choose?" She asked again, before taking a sip of her water.

"No, that I'm the only one that isn't really interested." Scott admitted, looking down at his food. Shelby realized he didn't want to talk about it and decided to drop the subject.

"I think you should really begin to think about it. What was your question?"

"Oh, yeah, do you still have a relationship with Lex?" Scott asked and noticed Shelby's cheeks were becoming red. He kicked himself when he realized it wasn't the wisest question he had asked. But god, he wanted to know so much!

"Why do you ask?" She questioned him, nervously putting a strand of hair behind her ear.

"Oh, I'd like to apologize to him." Scott was lying; he didn't want to apologize at all. The guy was a stupid bastard. He asked himself the reason of his question and only a solution came to his mind: he only wanted to know if he stood a chance with Shelby!

"Well, I don't have any way to contact him…maybe you could try on the internet but I'm not sure." Shelby responded, getting up to take napkins.

"Uh, Wendy told me you didn't subscribe for the basketball team?" Scott changed the subject, seeing as she was embarrassed in talking about the guy.

"The subscriptions are open until next week and I wasn't sure if you still wanted to train me." She said, opening the freezer to take ice scream out.

"I don't think you need me to coach you again, this year. You might be better than me, now." Scott said, slightly teasing her. She put the ice scream pot on the counter and pulled out two tablespoons.

"You think?" Shelby asked, flattered he thought she was that good.

"Yeah, I saw you playing your last game before the end of school last year and damn, you were very good." Scott liked his lips, and took a mouthful of ice cream.

"Thanks." She shyly told him and looked up to see the clock turn to 9.

"I'm only saying the truth. Hey, do you think we could play a game for fun together? To see if I'm right about you being more talented?" Scott continued, now almost asking her out, in his own way. Shelby licked her spoon and shrugged.

"Yeah, why not? It would be fun to kick your butt." She teased him, relaxing a little. At first, she thought it would be hard to get past her crush on him, but once she talked and joked with him, more she developed stronger feelings.

"Kick my butt, really?" Scott asked with a smile, shaking his head and laughing. She, playing better, didn't mean he was going to lose without credit. Shelby smiled back, conquered by his coquettish smile. They were almost flirting and maybe they could have gone further if Shelby hadn't seen her whole family standing in the doorway of the kitchen.

"Already back?" Shelby asked her mother, who was looking at her with a strange smile. Alice sensed that her daughter was slightly disappointed.

"The showing was cancelled." Walt answered with a shrug.

"Oh…"

"Well, I better go, my parents are probably wondering what I'm doing." Scott announced a bit embarrassed now that the light and romantic atmosphere had vanished. "Thanks for the diner Shel."

"Okay, bye Scott." Alice said then hugged him quickly.

"Bye Scott." Walt, Mark and Jess both waved at him.

"Bye everybody."

"Oh, and thanks for the car." Alice gratefully said as she watched her daughter leading Scott out. "I think our daughter's got a big crush." She whispered in her husband's ear. Jess took Mark's little hand in hers and led him upstairs to change him into his pyjamas.

"What? Scott? No! They're just friends." Walt said a bit reluctant to see his step daughter being involved in a relationship. He thought she was too young. And there were still his own mental problems: he was still attracted to her, in spite of the fact he was seeing the psychiatrist Alice had found him.

"We'll see." Alice answered with a small smile. She noticed Walt was not smiling at all. "What's wrong honey?"

"She's becoming a woman and I still want her." He admitted, a tear escaping from his eye.

"Walt…" Alice trailed off, not really knowing what to say. She pulled him towards her and enveloped him in a big hug.

"If she hadn't said anything to you, I know I would have raped her." He added, sobbing in his wife's hair. Alice ran a hand through his hair and softly whispered sweet comforting words in his ear.

"Walt, it didn't happen, okay?"

"But…what if-" Walt began but was cut off by his wife. He was feeling so guilty and didn't know what to do with those nasty feelings. Shelby had forgiven him but he knew she still had some difficulties being alone in a room with him and trusting him.

"It didn't happen, okay?" Alice said, trying to convince him. He nodded and walked to the living room, with his wife.

"Thank you for everything." Shelby said, as Scott and she got down the three stairs that led to the driveway. Scott felt her arm brushing his and looked beside him, smiling at the pretty girl walking by his side. He reached for his keys in his coat pocket and pulled them into his car door lock and opened it.

"You're very welcome. I see you tomorrow, okay?" He said and stepped inside, closing the door behind him. He pulled down the window and passed a head outside. Shelby bent down a little and gave him a small kiss on the cheek. Saying Goodbye to him had never been so awkward before. Now, she couldn't even think of kissing his cheek platonically without wishing more or blushing because of the simple gesture.

"Sure. Night." She replied and he smiled gently at her.

"Goodnight Shelby." Shelby smiled at him then took a step back as he started the car, dreamingly thinking of the girl he had spent a part of the evening with. Now, it was time to affront his parents and justify the reasons why he had skipped football practice.

Please R&R.