Friday, Cafeteria, 11:45 A.M...
"Oh, for the love of Christ. Can you two get a room already?" Dean asked annoyed.
Seth and Bayley were kissing each other on the cheek, feeding each other food, and just showing all kinds of affection toward each other, and Dean hated seeing it. Shane, the only other one at the table, didn't really pay them any mind. He was just hungry. The rest of the gang were busy with their own stufg
"Seriously, you two have been playing kissy face with each other for the last two days, and I'm sick of it."
Seth chuckled.
"I can't help it, bro. Not when I got the cutest girl in the entire universe to do it to. Just look at how adorable she is."
Bayley giggled and blushed before kissing Rollins on the cheek once again.
Dean rolled his eyes.
"Screw this, I'm gonna go eat in the hallway."
And so, he took his tray, and sulked his way out of the lunchroom. Bayley frowned at Ambrose departing like that.
"What's wrong with Dean?" She asked.
Shane was also sitting with them, and he had the answer Bayley was looking for.
"He's still a little sore over the whole breakup thing from a while ago. Seeing you guys all happy together really gnaws at him, because it just reminds him of what he doesn't have anymore. He really really liked Alicia."
"I still don't get that at all." Seth said.
"Hey, me neither, but it made him happy. Speaking of girls though, I told him Becky likes him. You said he has history with her. Is that why he sort of freaked out when I mentioned it?"
Seth nodded.
"Yeah. Ya see, back in 7th Grade was when Becky came to America from Ireland. Dean thought she was the most beautiful girl in the world. Every day he'd go on and on to me and Roman about how perfect she was, and how no girl he'd ever seen came close to her in looks. Only prolem was, he had no idea how to approach her. Like no clue at all. Also, Roman kinda had a thing for as well. One day, I told him to just go up to her and say hi. He then told me to fuck off and that I was out of my mind. Yeah, even back then he had a mouth on him. Anyway, a few days later, Roman was sick and tired of Dean's constant talking, and told him to make a move, or he was going to. Dean punked out at the last minute cause he was scared, so Ro made good on his promise. We come to find out a week later that Becky and Roman were now dating. Dean was so pissed off by this, that he tried to fight him outside the school. Luckily, I was there, so I stopped anything from escalating even more than it already did. The thing is, Becky didn't know that the fight was over her, so logically, she was on her boyfriend's side. She yelled at Dean for like 10 minutes straight. Called him a sloppy bastard and an asshole from what I could recall. That kinda crushed his spirit, and he didn't show up to school for a while."
"Just like after Alicia dumped him." Shane pointed out.
"Yup. He was real down about it. I had to explain to Rebecca the entire story, and she was genuinely sorry for what she did. She never got to apologize though, because by the time Dean came back, her and Roman had gone their separate ways, and she didn't want anything to do with the three of us. Turns out big man cheated on her with some chick named Eva Marie, and since we were his best friends, well, like I said, she didn't want anything to do with us either. Since then, Dean's been terrified to be within 20 feet of the girl, and the prospect of going out with her scares him even more."
Shane nodded, absorbing all this new information. He knew exactly what he was going to do after a little thinking.
"Seth, coach gave us the day off from practice today, right?"
"Yeah, why?"
"I'm... I'm gonna take care of some stuff for my friend."
Bayley smiled.
"That's Shane, always helping out his pals."
"You know what would help me out a lot right now, Bayley?"
She giggled.
"I think I do. Seth, is it okay?"
Seth gave an approving wave.
"Knock yourself out, babe."
The bubbly girl went over to Mr. Price and, you guessed it, gave him a big ol Bayley hug. She nuzzled into his chest, while Seth looked on, smirking and shaking his head.
"I still don't get how that doesn't hurt you at all."
"Oh, it does. It's just, Bayley makes it work somehow."
"She sure does, bro. She sure does."
Outside School, 3:10 P.M...
Shane was currently standing in front of the school, waiting for a certain fiery haired lass to come out. His plan was simple. Just talk to her about the Dean stuff, and help her come up with a solution to the problem.
"This ain't nothin." He thought.
A few minutes of waiting later, and there she was, walking out of the school with two other girls. One he recognized as Liv Morgan, one of the cheerleaders. The other was unfamiliar to him, but she had a skin complexion similar to Paige, so that was something.
"Ay yo, Lass!" He called out.
She smiled when she spotted him, and she motioned for the two girls to follow her while she made her way over to Shane.
"Hey, you. How are ya?" She responded when her and her friends were in front of him.
"Hey, Shane!" Liv said, instantly remembering all the times he had made her and the rest of the cheerleaders laugh out loud.
"What up, Morgan? You still... Livin life to the fullest?" He asked, the corniness just oozing from his voice.
She rolled her eyes at the boy and laughed.
"You know it, babe."
Shane then turned his attention to the pale girl who hadn't said a word yet. Like he did to everyone else, he reached out his hand and introduced himself to her.
"Hi, my name is Shane Price. I don't think I've seen you before. Nice to meet you."
The girl was hesitant to shake his hand, but did it anyway.
"I'm Ruby Prange."
"Most people call her Ruby Riott though. With two t's cause it's cooler." Becky added.
"It's not as cool though when you explain it like that. You're the one who added the other t for no reason in the first place, Becky." Ruby complained, not being serious.
"Where did the name come from?" Shane asked.
"Let's just say, Ruby's got a reputation of... Going against the grain a lot." Liv explained.
"Hey, I can respect that. Fuck being normal sometimes."
Ruby smiled at that comment from Shane.
"This guy gets it."
"Yeah, he's cool. Anyway, what's up, Shane. Whaddya need?" Becky asked.
"Oh, actually? I kinda needed to talk to you about.. That thing we've been talking about?"
Becky got the hint immediately.
"Okay. Girls, I'll see you later. I've gotta take care of some business with Price over here."
Ruby and Liv nodded and left the scene, with Liv jumping on the pale girl's back to her surprise and slight annoyance.
"Come on, again with this?"
Liv giggled.
"Yup! Always with this. Now carry me."
Ruby sighed and moved forward. Becky and Shane looked on at this, chuckling at the scene before setting out on their own journey home. They walked to the train station, and it was during the trek that Price decided to begin.
"So... I found out some interesting stuff today from Seth about you." Shane started.
"Oh yeah? And what would that be, my fellow countryman?" Becky responded jokingly.
"You know, a few days ago I told Dean about you having a thing for you, and his reaction was... A little weird to say the least."
Becky sighed.
"Okay, I see where you're going with this. Damn it. Are you mad at me?"
"Mad? Nah, I'm not mad at you. You didn't know, and you were sticking up for your guy. You did the right thing in that situation. I'm just confused. Why didn't you tell me about it before? I wouldn't have just come out and told him if you did."
"I know, I just... I don't like looking back at that point in my life. I was hurt really bad by... I'm assuming Seth told you that part too, huh?"
Shane nodded.
"Yeah, and honestly? It pissed me the fuck off. How you gonna go and cheat on a girl as awesome as you? It's some bullshit. Man had a good lass on his arm, and he threw it away for some skank. What kinda shit is that?!"
The boy's angry outburst surprised Rebecca a little bit, and Shane noticed it.
"Oh shit, my bad. I don't normally get all aggro like that. I apologize."
"It's.. It's fine. I appreciate it actually. You think I'm a good lass?"
"Are you kidding me? Of course! You're funny, athletic, gorgeous, and most importantly... Say it with me."
"IRISH AS FUCK!" They both yelled simultaneously.
"Ha, yup. You're definitely a good lass."
"Careful there calling me gorgeous. You got a lady friend, don't ya?" Becky said.
"Shane Price is many things friend, but he is not, nor will he ever be, a cheater. Don't worry about me."
Becky chuckled.
"Okay, I won't. But I am still worried about this Dean thing. What am I gonna do?"
"We'll figure something out, I promise. You guys are a whole 4 years older, and Roman's not around anymore. All we need to do is get Dean to realize that there's nothing to be afraid or ashamed of. As for how we're gonna make that happen? Well, leave that to me. I'll even get Seth to help out, since me and Rollins are his closest friends. It's my mission to get you two together. You need a boyfriend that will treat you right, and Dean needs someone to get him out of this rut."
"You're not wrong at all. Thank you for going out of your way to help me like this."
"Please, it's my pleasure to help out a friend. With this, I'm helping out two of em!" He proclaimed happily.
"You're a nice guy. Your girl's lucky to have you." She complemented.
"Man, it's more like I'm lucky to have her. Like I said before, she's a princess."
"I hope to be Dean's princess soon."
Shane saw an opening.
"You know what you being a princess means right?"
Becky facepalmed.
"Oh God, are you about to make a Merida from Brave joke? She's Scottish! I keep telling people this, but everyone does it anyway!"
"Yeah, she's Scottish... but I'm still gonna do it. IF YOU COULD CHANGE YER FATE, WOULD YA?!"
"You bleedin' moron." She chastised.
Shane smirked at the insult.
"Hey, man. Guilty as charged."
