Disclaimer: I do not own Higher Ground or the characters in Higher Ground. If there is anyone in this story you don't recognize they are mine. Purely from my imagination.

Chapter 1-

"Full name?"

"Alicia Lyn Ashmoore."

"Age?"

"16."

We went through this whole little survey type thing for a full 15 minutes. They really wanted to know everything about me. When I say everything, I mean everything. The littlest thing that I normally didn't even think about they wanted to know. Even my mother's maiden name. I found the whole thing dull and useless. I wasn't going to be there long enough for them to get to know me . . . just like all the other places.

We walked out of the office and into 'the great outdoors'- or so I've been told. There was way too much fresh air. What I wouldn't give to be sitting in my basement with a few friends smoking and hanging out. Now that was totally out of the question. My friend's were miles away and I was stuck up on this awful mountain. What could be worse?

Then I met my roommates. One was too perky, one was too goth, one was too depressed, and the other was . . . well, normal. Depending on your definition of normal, that is. We were all supposed to live in this little cabin. There were two rooms- the bedroom and the bathroom. Needless to say, it soon became apparent we'd all be doing everything together. What a joy.

I was finally settling in (I had everything unpacked and I was resting on my bed) when our 'counselor' Sophie came in. I don't mean counselor like a camp. I mean counselor like a loser who thinks they're going to help you with your problems- or what they think your problems are- but in reality they're only there to make sure you do what they want you to do. In other words, she was our slave driver.

Anyway, she came in and told us it was time for dinner and right after we had group. Peter Scarbrow- the guy in charge of Horizon- had explained what group was to me earlier. It was where we all sat around and talked about our 'problems' and feelings and crap. So we all went down to the dining room and ate dinner. It was more disgusting then cafeteria food. I barely ate anything. But then again I hardly ever eat anything.

After dinner we went into the next room for group. I thought it was going to be bad. I figured since I was the new kid everyone would either a.) completely ignore me or b.) ask me way too many questions about things I didn't want to talk about. I was hoping for a. But what awaited me was not like anything I could have imagined. We were all sitting on couches (all the Cliffhangers- the girls in my cabin and these three guys Scott, Ezra, and Auggie) while Peter stood in front of us lecturing us about control and randomly asking us questions. He asked the question, "What controls you?" and wanted each of us to say one thing that controls us.

Everyone answered with things like, "fear", or "drugs". Stuff like that. Then it was my turn. I wasn't about to divulge anything personal to these people so I simply said, "You". I don't know if you can figure out what happened next but Peter wasn't too happy about my answer. Even though I thought it was a good answer since I told the truth. He was controlling me.

Well soon after my answer group was over for the day. Lucky for me, though, I'd get to join in again the next night. And Peter didn't waste any time informing me of this. I just smiled and told him I loved group and couldn't wait until tomorrow night.

On my way back to my cabin one of the girls, Shelby, started walking with me. "I wouldn't get on Peter's bad side if I were you."

"Oh? And why not?"

Shelby stopped and looked at me with a smile on her face. I stopped too and she said, "Because. If Peter doesn't like you he'll bug you even more." We started walking again, "He'll try to be your best friend because he knows you just want him to leave you alone."

"Yeah well- I'm not planning on staying here long enough for friends of any kind. Least of all Peter Scarbrow." With that I walked faster up the trail leaving Shelby watching me from behind.

Knowing I was leaving this place in a few weeks left me in a semi good mood. That is until I walked into my cabin. I found Daisy, Katherine, and Juliet all in the bathroom when I went in to take a shower. There was one shower in the room so I chose to wait until they were all done. In the mean time I sat down on the toilet and watched Daisy brush her hair. I never understood why girls brush their hair before bed. What's the point? It's just going to get messed up anyway.

Finally when they were out of the room I closed the door and went to lock it only to find that it didn't have a lock. "Oh great." I muttered to myself. I turned the shower on and hoped that Shelby wouldn't walk in. She didn't and once I was dressed and in the bedroom I found out why.

The three girls were all huddled around a window watching something. I walked over to them (since they were right next to my bed) and said, "Whatchya staring at?"

"Shelby and Scott." Katherine said. I peered out the window and saw Shelby and Scott sitting on a bench somewhat far away. Shelby was resting her head on Scott's shoulder. They were apparently talking.

"Wow . . . I didn't know they were together."

"She's so obnoxious." Juliet said walking away from the window. "She always gets what she wants and then flaunts it in everyone else's face."

Daisy followed Juliet and sat on her bed directly across from Juliet. "You're just jealous because he chose her over you."

"Come on you guys." Katherine said turning to face them. "Stop fighting."

"We weren't fighting, Kat." Juliet said.

Katherine sat down on the bed next to mine, "Well you were about to. Let's just forget about Shelby and try and get some sleep."

Juliet was quick to say sarcastically, "That won't be hard to do." Kat shot her a quick glare and got into bed. Everyone else followed her example but I stayed at the window. It was right next to Daisy's bed so she was the first to tell me to get into bed. The others told me soon after to get into bed but I just ignored them. I was interested in watching Scott and Shelby. They were both totally screwed up but somehow they made it work. "Too bad everything else in life isn't like that." I thought to myself. Then, to everyone's great enjoyment, I got into bed and turned out my light.