Shelby Mercer (Mischa Barton) is the villainess of the 2009 film Homecoming.
History[]
Shelby was a former student at Mt. Bliss High School and was the girlfriend of football player Mike Donaldson, who would later describe their relationship as difficult due to Shelby's high standards for him. Mike ultimately ended his relationship with Shelby when he left Mt. Bliss to go to college.
After Mike left, Shelby began taking care of her sick mother, though she eventually grew tired of doing so and killed her by poisoning her, covering her tracks by asking that an autopsy not be done on her. Shelby also came to believe that she and Mike were still together, even going as far as to build on to her house to accomodate the family she believed they would have together.
Events[]
In the film's present events, Shelby became ecstatic upon learning Mike was returning home for homecoming weekend and the retirement of his jersey, believing it would be their chance to rekindle their relationship. When Mike met with Shelby in the back room of the bowling alley, Shelby passionately kissed Mike and informed Mike that she forgave him for abruptly breaking up with her. When Mike told Shelby that he had a new girlfriend from college, Elizabeth Mitchum, Shelby intially appeared shocked, but later come out and warmly greeted Elizabeth, later sharing tequila shots with her and bonding over their relationships with Mike.
When Elizabeth (now drunk) mentioned that she was on the verge of meeting Mike's parents for the first time, Shelby implied that Mike's parents were big on first impressions, leading Elizabeth to decide to spend the night at a hotel to sleep off her intoxication. But after being dropped off at a motel with no vacancies by Billy, Elizabeth began walking to find someone to drive her to another motel, leading her to be accidentally struck by Shelby as she drove home crying (as shown in the movie's opening). Shocked, Shelby placed the unconscious Elizabeth into her truck and drove her back to her house, where she placed her in a bed and hooking her up to an IV. When Elizabeth awoke the next day, Shelby claimed that she had found her on the side of the road after being the victim of a hit-and-run, while also claiming her injuries were too severe for her to leave. Shelby also claimed she'd left Mike a voicemail explaining what happened (when she'd actually ignored Mike's attempt to call Elizabeth) before giving Elizabeth a sedative.
Shelby then walked back to the bowling alley to retrieve her car, ignoring Mike again when he tried to text Elizabeth. While Shelby was out, Elizabeth managed to get out of bed and hobble into Shelby's bedroom, which she saw contained several newspaper articles and itmes from Mike's football career in high school as well as several photographs of him and Shelby from when they were dating, fully revealing Shelby as having become obsessed with Mike. When she heard Shelby return, Elizabeth managed to make her way back to her bed, but Shelby was alerted to Elizabeth going into her bedroom by the fact that Elizabeth accidentally pulled a photo strip off the doorway, with the villainess punishing Elizabeth by re-breaking her ankle and putting a lock on the outside of the bedroom door.
After seeing Mike continue to contact Elizabeth, Shelby took advantage of the situation to invite Mike out to lunch at the bowling alley, falsely claiming that Elizabeth drunkenly told her she was having doubts about her relationship with Mike and that she was considering getting back together with her ex-boyfriend Eddie. Back at Shelby's house, Elizabeth attempted to use the phone to call for help while Shelby was out chopping wood, only for Shelby to appear and use her axe to cut the phone line, angrily proclaiming that she was trying to help her and accusing Elizabeth of being selfish and ungrateful. Shelby additionally claimed that Mike also thought Elizabeth was a "selfish bitch" before threatening to harm her if she didn't get back into bed, taping her IV to her wrist to continue routinely sedating her.
Shelby then texted Mike on Elizabeth's phone claiming she had gone back to college, leading Mike to believe she was breaking up with him and joining Billy and their friends for a night out at the local bar. After boasting to Elizabeth that she was going to meet Mike at the bar with the intent of seducing him, Shelby went to the bar and was eventually followed by a drunk Mike into the bathroom, where the two began kissing. But eventually, Mike came to his sense and told Shelby that he couldn't go through with rekindling their relationship, leaving Shelby to cry after she failed to convince him Elizabeth didn't love him. Shelby later opened up to Elizabeth while giving her breakfast about her mother's death and how it left her with her mother's "loose ends", and callously revealed her intentions to steal Mike from her before she had the chance to heal.
Just then, Lloyd Christiansen arrived at the house, having been contacting Shelby regularly about the payments she was missing on the bowling alley. After knocking Elizabeth out with a punch, Shelby talked with Lloyd in an attempt to appease his concerns, only for Lloyd to inform her she was on the verge of losing both the alley and her house, which she'd been using as collateral. Shelby angrily ordered Lloyd to leave, stopping Elizabeth as she attempted to call for his help and blaming her for her inability to save her business and home. Shelby then locked Elizabeth in the bathroom when she tried to sympathize with her, claiming that her statements were lies and calling her pathetic as she pled for mercy. Shelby then left with the jacket Elizabeth planned to give Mike so she could give it to him herself, finding the note Elizabeth attempted to leave for him inside and sliding it under the bathroom door to her.
After going to Mike's house, Shelby presented him with the jacket and attempted to kiss him, only for Mike to once again reject her and proclaim that it was a mistake to think they could be friends. In response, Shelby angrily revealed that she could've gone with Mike to college had her mother died earlier, while tearfully begging Mike not to reject her again. Mike consoled Shelby before she went back to her house, where she was shocked to see that Elizabeth had escaped the bathroom (after uncovering evidence proving Shelby had killed her mother). Elizabeth then surprised Shelby by knocking her out with the cistern lid before trying to escape, only for Shelby to stop her as she tried to escape in her car, tying her up in the basement As Elizabeth pleaded for Shelby to let her go, the villainess denounced her deceased mother as a monster before cutting Elizabeth's Achilles tendons with a pair of gardening scissors, leaving Elizabeth bound and gagged in the basement as she watched an old video of her and Mike at their school's Prom.
Defeat[]
In the film's climax, Billy came to Shelby's house to offer her a ride to Mike's jersey retirement ceremony, while also sympathizing with her for being rejected by Mike and assuring her a lot of men would die to be with her. Just then, Elizabeth turned off the electricity in an attempt to attract Billy's attention, with Shelby failing to stop Billy from going down to the basement. Billy went downstairs and saw the bound and gagged Elizabeth, with the evil Shelby suddenly appearing and attacking Billy with an axe, finishing him off by shooting him with his own gun and disposing of his body by hacking it up with her axe and setting the remains on fire.
Elsewhere, as Mike prepared for his ceremony, he noticed Elizabeth's initials sewn into the jacket Shelby gave him, causing him to realize she'd stolen it and infer that she was also holding Elizabeth captive. Mike ran to Shelby's house and demanded her to tell him where Elizabeth was, rushing down to the basement after hearing her cries and ungagging her. As he did, the evil Shelby came downstairs armed with a gun, briefly threatening to kill herself before shooting Mike in the leg. Mike then angrily charged at Shelby and pushed her against the wall, knocking her out and allowing him to carry Elizabeth upstairs. But as Mike looked for something to free Elizabeth from her leg binds, Shelby came upstairs armed with the axe, intent on killing Elizabeth. Mike then grabbed Shelby and struggled with her, with Shelby overpowering Mike and proclaiming that he'd promised her to stay with her forever as she began choking him with the axe handle. Elizabeth was able to finally subdue Shelby by striking her in the head with Mike's old football helmet, later bludgeoning her demented captor unconscious when she attempted to grab her gun. The movie ended with Mike carrying Elizabeth out of the house and Shelby opening her eyes to reveal she was alive, though it can be assumed Shelby was arrested (off-screen).
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