Only the Curious Have Something to Find

Notes: I took the SAT, guys! I'm finally FREE! Thank you to everyone who wished me luck! And sorry this took longer than I intended. I was going to update last week but I've been pretty sick since two Tuesdays ago, I actually missed 4 days of school – which sucked. I hate making stuff up…anyway, I feel much better now, so here you go! Sorry for taking longer than I wanted.

Also, please note, Juliet is a senior. I don't think I made that clear, sorry for the confusion!

Enjoy!

--

"SHAWN!" The half-asleep injured teen jerked violently, opening his eyes as his name was screamed. He looked down the hall about a hundred feet to see Buzz McNabb barreling towards him like a bat out of hell. Shawn pushed himself from the locker he'd been dozing against, giving his best friend a sideways glance. Gus, to his credit, had managed to keep the smirk off his face. Buzz was…well, he was a scatterbrain, to put it politely.

"Shawn, Shawn, Shawn." He panted as he skidded to a hault. "Shawn, oh my God, what did they do?!" He threw his arms around the psychic as tears sprung into his eyes. "I am SO sorry!"

"Unuhg—Buzz?" He choked out, the boy crushing his already bruised ribs.

"Buzz…Buzz you're hurting him." Gus said quickly, looking at Shawn's pained face.

"Oh, God, I'm sorry!" Buzz pulled back, blinking rapidly. "Becky told me what they were planning on doing to me …what they did to you. She said you told Hilliard what they were gonna do to me, so they beat you up!" He hiccuped, "I can't believe you did that for me!" He went to hug Shawn again, but Gus put his arm up, and Buzz quickly nodded, taking a step back. Shawn was going to ask how Becky found out, but images of Angela Loy telling Becky how she heard Lisa and Jacob talking about it danced around in the back of his mind. He shook his head and smiled warmly.

"No need to thank me, Buzz. You're my friend, I'm sure you would'a done the same for me."

Buzz's eyes widened and his lower lip quivered, he looked like he was going to pounce on Shawn again, Gus took a small step in between the two. "Shawn," He practically sobbed out, "Th-thank you so much. If you ever, ever need anything, just ask me, and I'll do it. I promise. I swear. I'll do it. Anything you need." Gus covered a snort with a cough rather convincingly. Shawn didn't bother hiding his laughing grin.

He opened his mouth to respond, when a short girl with brown hair flittered over, placing a hand on Buzz's shoulder as she stopped. "Buzz, I think he gets it." She smiled warmly at Shawn, "I really can't believe you did it, but thank you Shawn." She said whole-heartedly. She was Frannie Edwards, Buzz's girlfriend.

Shawn just shrugged, "Again, it was nothing you wouldn't do for me. There's no need to thank me, Buzz, really. I mean it."

Buzz opened his mouth to thank Shawn again but Frannie slowly began to pull her boyfriend away. She smiled one last time at Shawn and Gus before the two walked away at her lead.

Shawn let out a breath he'd been holding and pressed his hand to his chest. "Holy crap, he hugs harder than my grandma—well, if she still hugged me."

Gus ignored the last part of the sentence, not wanting to get into the depressing topic of Shawn's grandparents on his mom's side and their hatred of him. He instead asked, "You ok?"

"Yea, give me a minute." Shawn bent over slightly, putting his hands on his knees, he took a few deep breaths before straightening himself and answering "Ok, we can go now."

--

Shawn could hear clarinet music flowing down the hallway as he made his way to the orchestra room. When he hit the room he leaned against the doorframe and watched Gus until he stopped playing and looked at him. "This is how we're gonna spend our free period?"

Gus rolled his eyes and responded, "You know I need to work on this song, Shawn." Gus took his position as first chair very seriously. "I don't want to screw up the solo."

"Dude, you get a solo?" Shawn grinned and pushed off the doorframe. "Need help?"

Gus bit his lip, as if unsure, before nodding. "Yea…I think so. The flute has the opposite part through the whole song. Snyd said it's a battle between the two instruments, Annie and I are 'battling' through the whole song." Annie Sunsung was a senior who'd been playing the flute since she was in the womb, basically. Ms. Snyd was one of the orchestra instructors.

"The song is a battle between you two? Dude that's so freaking cool!" Shawn grinned, although he knew all this already. He'd had four dreams about it since October, and Gus totally nailed his solo at the concert.

Shawn made his way to the back of the room where several violin, clarinet, flute and other instrument cases sat happily. "It would be sick if I played someone's flute, right?" Shawn asked over his shoulder, Gus didn't even answer but Shawn could feel his nod. It was then that a violin pressed against the wall caught his eye, on the handle in big letters read McNABB. "Yo, dude, do you think Buzz would care if I borrowed his violin?"

Gus scoffed, "After this mornings display I don't think he'd mind if you set it on fire." Shawn laughed as he bent himself oddly to get to the violin, once in his grasp he fell back and straightened himself. He could see a folder sticking out from underneath one of the flutes, it said Annie Sunsung's in neat letters at the top. He grabbed the folder, remembering which flute he'd seen it under and made his way to Gus.

He got the violin out and plopped down next to his friend, placing the music on a stand and quickly tuning the instrument to Gus' clarinet. "Ok, we can do this now."

The two played through the whole song a few times, by the last time both were playing it perfectly. Shawn was about to complain loudly when Gus suggested playing it again when someone cleared their throat to their right. The turned to see a rather pregnant woman standing in the door with a huge smile on her face. "Ms. Snyd." Gus said, sounding a little surprised.

"Gus, you've got your solo down pact, I'm impressed." She said with a proud smile. Gus blushed, looking back at his music. "And who do we have here? You're not on my orchestra."

Shawn shook his head, "I'm Shawn…and I'm not cool enough for this." Gus was always getting made fun of for being on the orchestra, several people in the school thought it was a nerdy club.

Ms. Snyd let out a hearty laugh. "Now I'm sure that's not true. You sound amazing for playing that for the first time. You have it down perfectly!"

Shawn shrugged, actually feeling a little embarrassed. "I've been playing for a while."

"Who's your teacher?" She sounded very intrigued, she waddled over, sitting down next to the two.

"Uh, well, my mom taught me how to play, I took lessons for a while from different people…but she was my best teacher. For the longest amount of time, anyway."

"Oh, I'd love to chat with her!"

Shawn could feel Gus shaking his head franticly behind him, Snyd got a strange look on her face. "So would I." Shawn laughed slightly, pushing past the painful thoughts. "She passed away two years ago."

"Oh good Lord, I'm sorry." She said quickly, "Uh—well, are you thinking of joining us?"

"The orchestra? I—I don't know. Like I said, I'm not cool enough. Or good enough."

"Are you kidding? You're very good!"

"And you're very pregnant." Shawn joked lamely, trying to change the topic.

Snyd laughed, "Very perceptive of you." Shawn all but pumped his fists in victory of changing the topic.

"She'll look just like you, don't worry."

Snyd tilted her head to the side, a thoughtful smile on her face. "What makes you think it'll be a girl?"

Shawn shrugged, "Just a thought."

The two chatted politely with Snyd for a few more minutes before she waddled out, leaving the two to start putting away the instruments. Shawn was placing the folder under Annie's flute and Gus was placing his clarinet with the others as the bell rang. The two froze where they stood.

"Isn't it lunch time?" Shawn asked slowly, turning to Gus, who was nodding. "Dude, we gotta go!" The two bolted out of the room, tripping over various chairs and instruments – and each other – before throwing themselves out the door, not wanting to be late to their lunch date.

--

Shawn and Gus sat in their normal spot at the old wooden lunch table under the willow tree outside. When it was warm out the two always ate at this spot, it was so pleasant. Every once in a great while someone else would come and join the two at lunch if they needed help with something or their own lunch companions weren't there for some reason, but for the most part it was just Shawn and Gus.

The two sat with their bag lunches sitting in front of them, untouched. Though Shawn would never admit it, the two were very nervous. They were going to be eating lunch with their crushes…if they ever showed up.

"Maybe they don't know where we sit?" Gus offered.

"Its only five minutes into lunch, Gus, give them a minute."

"Maybe Lassiter forgot, or he didn't tell Juliet, or maybe they had to make up a test, or maybe they don't want to eat with us-"

"Gus, you need to calm down. They want to eat with us, don't worry."

"How can you be so sure?"

"Because they're walking towards us right now." Gus' head jerked up to see the two making their way towards them, each holding a brown paper bag in their hand.

"Hey guys." Juliet greeted with a big grin, Shawn could feel the nervousness radiating off of the two, but it was well hidden. They were good.

"Hey!" Shawn smiled brightly, he decided since everyone here was nervous he was gonna be the icebreaker, he always was. He rested his elbows on the table, and then his head in his hands. He batted his eyelashes at the two and brightly asked "So, how's your day goin'?"

Lassiter blushed deeply and look down at his lunch, and Juliet laughed. "Mine's going fine, and yours Shawn?"

"A whole lot better now." Lassiter blushed even deeper, Shawn could feel all sorts of things radiating off of the older boy. Shawn's heart fluttered at the adorable-ness of the senior sitting before him.

"That's nice to hear." Lassiter offered, not looking up.

Gus, always trying to cut the awkwardness a little tugged on the collar of the orange shirt he borrowed from Shawn. "So…you guys enjoying senior year?" He practically slapped himself for the lame comment.

"I am." Juliet nodded, laughing a little. She seemed to be relaxing enough for both her and her friend, because Lassiter was not relaxing. Juliet paused and looked at Gus, "Gus I love your shirt, orange is a such a good color on you!" Gus glanced slyly at Shawn who was grinning widely.

The four chatted nicely for the rest of the period, even Lassiter relaxed a bit by the end, joining in on the conversation here and there. When they finished eating Shawn crumpled up his lunch bag and threw it like a basketball towards the garbage can. It hit the rim and bounced to the ground. Gus groaned and rolled his eyes, he grabbed his own garbage, mumbling an annoyed "I'll get it."

"Thanks, Gussy! You're the best!" Shawn laughed as Gus just shook his head.

Juliet glanced in between Shawn and her best friend, "Uh, here, Carlton. I'll throw this out for you." Lassiter got a panicked look on his face, about to say no but she quickly grabbed his garbage and made her way to where Gus was. Oh, she was good. Lassiter looked at Shawn, the two smiled a little awkwardly. They felt like they were back at Shawn's house, ready to eat dinner with that same awkward feeling, both unsure of what to say. But strangely enough Lassiter seemed more relaxed now that they were alone…Shawn would be sure to figure that one out later.

"So…" He trailed off, "Have fun?"

"I could definitely get used to eating lunch with you guys." Lassiter smiled and Shawn's heart fluttered.

"Does that mean you will?" He asked, a little too eagerly.

"Eat lunch with you guys again?" Shawn nodded quickly, but then tried to calm himself, trying to get suave look on his face. "I'd love to." The older boy said too quickly, he immediately cleared his throat and added "I mean…Juliet seemed to enjoy herself."

Shawn nodded, "Gus did too." The two smiled and held each other's gaze for a long moment. Just holding the other's eye felt so invigorating…the butterflies in their stomachs were doing the do-si-do it seemed.

Lassiter opened his mouth, "Shawn, I-" The bell rang. Lassiter looked about ready to scream, having been interrupted again. Shawn smiled laughingly, standing up, ready to leave. "Shawn, wait!" Lassiter said too quickly, standing up and nearly falling. "Shawn—would you…wouldyouliketohangoutsometime?" He said his words so quickly that they all ran together.

Shawn smiled, "I'm sorry?" He knew exactly what Lassiter had said…he just wanted to hear him say it again.

Lassiter took a deep breath, "I-uh—I said, would you, uh, would you like to hang out…sometime? With me?"

Shawn laughed a little, his smile widening. "I'd love to."

"What, um, what would you like to do?"

"We could see a movie?" Shawn offered, saying the first thing that came to mind. "The theatre near my house is playing Clue…you, uh, you wanna see that?"

"The one based off of the board game?" Shawn nodded, "I'd love to. How does Saturday sound?"

"It sounds fantastic." He said before Lassiter had even finished the word 'sound'.

Both boys smiled excitedly, "Cool, I'll-uh-I'll pick you at your house around…seven?"

"Seven sounds good." Shawn smiled, "Uh, we should go. We'll be late…I'll—I'll see you in drawing and painting…and then at lunch tomorrow too?"

Lassiter nodded. "See you, Shawn."

"See you, Lassie."

The two went off in different directions, identical dreamy smiles on their faces. They were so lost in thought they missed the triumphant smiles on the faces of their best friends.

--

Shawn and Gus were at their lockers, discussing what they needed for homework. Well, Shawn was trying to keep that as the topic but Gus kept wanting to go back to the topic of Shawn's date on Saturday.

"Is it gonna be another code teal?"

Shawn shrugged, a small smile on his face. "Maybe. Probably. I don't know. Yea, I think so."

Gus grinned, "Awesome. I already have an idea of what you can wear!"

"And I thought I was the gay one."

"That joke wasn't funny the first time, and it still isn't funny, Shawn."

Shawn opened his mouth to retaliate when a voice came over the loud speaker. "Will Shawn Spencer please come to the office? Shawn Spencer, to the office."

"Oh crap." Shawn mumbled.

"What'd ya' do now?" Gus laughed, but Shawn merely shook his head, picked up his packed bag, slammed his locker and made his way to the office. "I'll call you later!" Gus called and Shawn threw up his arm as indication he heard as he opened the office door.

"Uh…Mrs. Tartan?" The school secretary looked up.

"Mr. Hilliard and Ms. Washington are waiting for you in there, Shawn." She nodded towards the Principle's office. Oh crap, what had he done? Shawn couldn't think of anything recently besides getting the crap beaten out of him but no one ever told Hilliard about his beating…so what the hell had he done?

"Hello, Shawn." Greeted the vice principle, Ms. Washington. Shawn nodded, before cautiously sitting down.

"Did I do something wrong?" He asked slowly, a little panicked.

Hilliard laughed, "Shawn, I-" but he was cut off by a knock at the door. The three turned to see Henry walking in.

"Dad?" Oh shit.

"Shawn…Mr. Hilliard what's my son done now?" Shawn could see his father's angry look on his face but something was off…Shawn couldn't feel his father's anger as he usually could. No, he was feeling…giddiness? Why was his father feigning rage? Why wasn't he actually mad?

Both the Principle and Vice Principle smiled at Henry's words and now Shawn was really confused. "Ok, can someone tell me where I took a wrong turn into the Twilight Zone? What's going on?"

"Shawn, you're not in trouble, don't worry."

"Then…why's my dad…" Shawn glanced at his father who was fighting a smile and losing terribly. "What do you know that I don't?" He asked his father with narrowed eyes.

"Mr. Spencer, we've gotten your SAT scores…" Ms. Washington trailed off and Shawn tilted his head to the side. Had he done so badly that he was getting kicked out of school? Can they even do that?

"Shawn, you…you got a perfect score." Said Mr. Hilliard, only looking partially astonished.

"I—wait, what?" He turned to his father, completely confused, to see him not even fighting a smile anymore. He looked proud.

"How is that even possible? I thought only smart kids could do that?"

Ms. Washington rolled her eyes, "You may be a slacker, Mr. Spencer, but you're not dumb. You've got an almost perfect GPA…I'm honestly not surprised at all you got a perfect score." Ms. Washington hated him, why was she saying these things?

Shawn shook his head, their words not registering. "I—I…"

"You're speechless, that's a first." Henry guffawed at that.

"I—I really…holy crap." Henry stood and ruffled his son's hair, only to have his hand smacked away. "You came down here just to hear them tell me something you already knew?"

"I wanted to see you speechless. It only happens once in a blue moon." Henry laughed again, Shawn's principles joining in, as Shawn rolled his eyes. "Come on, son. Let's go celebrate. Thank you Ms. Washington, Mr. Hilliard." Henry nodded to them as Shawn stood, still utterly confused, and the two walked out.

"You knew and you didn't tell me?" Shawn asked incredulously.

"I'm shocked you didn't figure it out on your own, Mr. Psychic." Henry mocked, only to be pushed sideways into the lockers.

--

This chapter seemed a little off to me...maybe I'm still a little off...

Also, I always wanted to make sure everyone understands Shawn can feel other peoples feelings, I wasn't sure if I was conveying it well enough…anyway, thank you so much for reading, until next time!

-claire

PS: Sorry for throwing that SAT scene in there…after dealing with it for so long I just had to! I get my score on Thursday! Woo!!