Disclaimer: I do not own the character's in this story, except Amber.
Editor's Note: Hope you like it. Its my first. Hit me up with reviews, good or bad. I just wanna be a better writer and what can I say I love Higher Ground.
I woke up in the car. Climbing the mountain. I had a horrible headache. For some reason my parents had insisted on driving me all the way to Horizon from our "home" in Tennessee. I could barely see anything because I'd slept in my contacts and the crushed Doritos embedded in the car seat were on my last nerves. But finally we were there and I heard us pull up on a thick rocky gravel to a place that looked like it would be my worst hell and my greatest sanctuary. I quickly stepped out of the car. I hated that car. I looked down at the rocks. For some reason they seemed so inviting. Slate gray. And big enough to do a good amount of damage to something. A older man approached the car. He was muscular and not half bad looking. "Hi! I'm Peter." "Oh yes, we spoke on the phone. You run horizon, don't you?" "Yes, a passion and a curse," he said with a cute smile and a little laugh. Quickly why both my parents and Peter's attention was adverted I found a stone and placed my razor under it. I knew how rigid the checks were. I'd heard the stories. I was prepared.
After the talks and initiations they sent me off to my dorm. I was to be a cliffhanger. It sounded morbid to me. Especially for a place like this. I wonder if one of the students made it up.
I laid my bag down on my bed. I remembered packing. Crying over having to leave my friends. The only family I had, and I didn't even have many pictures of them. So the few I did have I stuffed in an envelope. I pulled out the envelope now and took the pictures and my tape and taped them to my window. I hated sunlight anyway. Then I remembered my razor. I hated leaving it out there. What if it rained? So I went back out and tried to act like I was just looking around, grabbed my razor and stuffed it in my pocket and took off towards the dorm. I was just sliding it into my drawer when I heard a voice come from the doorway.. "I wouldn't do that if I were you. They always check the newbies several times after they get here." It was a girl. She had blonde hair, blue eyes. But she wasn't your all-American sweetheart. She had a vengeance in her eyes. "I'm Amber," I say as I struggle to get up and shake hands. Old habit. She looks at my hand and then up at me as if I'm the dumbest person on earth. "I would introduce myself, but it doesn't look like you're going to be here long." "Well, this is my first school, at least I got it past first checks, and hey I grew up in the South. We're bred to shake hands and curtsy and shit," I said to my defense. She looked at me again. She had a little grimace on her face. "Fine. I'll show you my hiding spot. But if you tell a fucking soul you'll regret it the rest of your life. Oh, and by the way, my name's Shelby."
We walked to the back of a big pile of wood under a shed and there were a few bricks lying around back there too. "These are perfect for hiding things in. Just don't mess with other people's stuff, or they get really pissed and hunt you down." She began to walk off. "Wait," I said, feeling a bit helpless and dumb, "I don't think mine will do well in this environment." I flash her the razor. She laughs sarcastically. Don't worry baby, you can sneak a plastic bag from the kitchen during clean-up. Just put it there like it is for now." She walks off. You place your razor in the very middle of all the bricks. You know its stupid. But its yours, and in a new place like this, its one of the few things you have to yourself.
"Hey Amber, I'm glad I found you." It was Peter. You'd been walking around the campus trying to find the good spots to get away. "You have group in the main building. Come on, I'll take you there." You walk with Peter into the building. The whole place is a log cabin nightmare. It reminds you of old vacations with your family. You begin to feel sickly and want to run the other direction. But you know you can't. You know there are worse places than this. So you sit down in the only available seat, and the charade begins. "Okay everyone, this is Amber, if you haven't already met her," says Peter, "This is your counselor Sophie and the other cliffhangers Scott, Juliette, Auggie, Shelby, Daisy, and Freakin as he likes to be called." You look at everyone, draw in your knees and try your best not too look like a cry baby, as you figure Shelby has already spread word. "So whats your diagnosis?" asks the dark haired girl identified earlier as Daisy. "Bipolar with social anxiety. Tried to kill myself, unsuccessfully. I was on homebound in school and I still couldn't go back so my parents decided they couldn't take anymore of me and sent me here." You stare at all of them. What are they thinking of you? You hate this part. You hate not knowing.
Editor's Note: Hope you like it. Its my first. Hit me up with reviews, good or bad. I just wanna be a better writer and what can I say I love Higher Ground.
I woke up in the car. Climbing the mountain. I had a horrible headache. For some reason my parents had insisted on driving me all the way to Horizon from our "home" in Tennessee. I could barely see anything because I'd slept in my contacts and the crushed Doritos embedded in the car seat were on my last nerves. But finally we were there and I heard us pull up on a thick rocky gravel to a place that looked like it would be my worst hell and my greatest sanctuary. I quickly stepped out of the car. I hated that car. I looked down at the rocks. For some reason they seemed so inviting. Slate gray. And big enough to do a good amount of damage to something. A older man approached the car. He was muscular and not half bad looking. "Hi! I'm Peter." "Oh yes, we spoke on the phone. You run horizon, don't you?" "Yes, a passion and a curse," he said with a cute smile and a little laugh. Quickly why both my parents and Peter's attention was adverted I found a stone and placed my razor under it. I knew how rigid the checks were. I'd heard the stories. I was prepared.
After the talks and initiations they sent me off to my dorm. I was to be a cliffhanger. It sounded morbid to me. Especially for a place like this. I wonder if one of the students made it up.
I laid my bag down on my bed. I remembered packing. Crying over having to leave my friends. The only family I had, and I didn't even have many pictures of them. So the few I did have I stuffed in an envelope. I pulled out the envelope now and took the pictures and my tape and taped them to my window. I hated sunlight anyway. Then I remembered my razor. I hated leaving it out there. What if it rained? So I went back out and tried to act like I was just looking around, grabbed my razor and stuffed it in my pocket and took off towards the dorm. I was just sliding it into my drawer when I heard a voice come from the doorway.. "I wouldn't do that if I were you. They always check the newbies several times after they get here." It was a girl. She had blonde hair, blue eyes. But she wasn't your all-American sweetheart. She had a vengeance in her eyes. "I'm Amber," I say as I struggle to get up and shake hands. Old habit. She looks at my hand and then up at me as if I'm the dumbest person on earth. "I would introduce myself, but it doesn't look like you're going to be here long." "Well, this is my first school, at least I got it past first checks, and hey I grew up in the South. We're bred to shake hands and curtsy and shit," I said to my defense. She looked at me again. She had a little grimace on her face. "Fine. I'll show you my hiding spot. But if you tell a fucking soul you'll regret it the rest of your life. Oh, and by the way, my name's Shelby."
We walked to the back of a big pile of wood under a shed and there were a few bricks lying around back there too. "These are perfect for hiding things in. Just don't mess with other people's stuff, or they get really pissed and hunt you down." She began to walk off. "Wait," I said, feeling a bit helpless and dumb, "I don't think mine will do well in this environment." I flash her the razor. She laughs sarcastically. Don't worry baby, you can sneak a plastic bag from the kitchen during clean-up. Just put it there like it is for now." She walks off. You place your razor in the very middle of all the bricks. You know its stupid. But its yours, and in a new place like this, its one of the few things you have to yourself.
"Hey Amber, I'm glad I found you." It was Peter. You'd been walking around the campus trying to find the good spots to get away. "You have group in the main building. Come on, I'll take you there." You walk with Peter into the building. The whole place is a log cabin nightmare. It reminds you of old vacations with your family. You begin to feel sickly and want to run the other direction. But you know you can't. You know there are worse places than this. So you sit down in the only available seat, and the charade begins. "Okay everyone, this is Amber, if you haven't already met her," says Peter, "This is your counselor Sophie and the other cliffhangers Scott, Juliette, Auggie, Shelby, Daisy, and Freakin as he likes to be called." You look at everyone, draw in your knees and try your best not too look like a cry baby, as you figure Shelby has already spread word. "So whats your diagnosis?" asks the dark haired girl identified earlier as Daisy. "Bipolar with social anxiety. Tried to kill myself, unsuccessfully. I was on homebound in school and I still couldn't go back so my parents decided they couldn't take anymore of me and sent me here." You stare at all of them. What are they thinking of you? You hate this part. You hate not knowing.