Chapter 1-

It had been a year since Lucy Burnes-Scarbrow had started at Horizon. She was now a senior and almost finished with Horizon. All the Cliffhangers were all still there and Shelby's sister Jess had started at the beginning of the year. Kat graduated at the beginning of the summer and from what she told Lucy in letters she was having a great time at college.

On one particular day Lucy, Daisy Lipenowski, Jess Merrick, and Charli Peters were eating lunch together outside when they saw a new silver Mercedes pull up in front of the administration building. A girl about the girls' age and two adults- who they took to be the girls parents- stepped out of the car. The girl had long shoulder length blond hair but had about 50 different multi-colored streaks running through it. They all new what it had to mean. Newbie. Secretly they all prayed she wouldn't be assigned to the Cliffhangers but they knew she would be. They had an open bunk.

"What do you think her problem is?" Charli asked.

They were all quiet, thinking. "I'd say she keeps the windows locked while she puts those streaks in her hair." Lucy replied.

The four girls smiled. Jess noticed the girls arms covered nearly up to the elbow with bracelets and said, "She cuts herself."

"And how do you know that?" The ever friendly Daisy asked.

Jess shrugged, transfixed by the girls arms. "The bracelets. All the girls at my old school that wore that many bracelets cut themselves."

While the girls were talking Lucy's dad, the administrator of Horizon, Peter Scarbrow and another counselor, Sophie Becker, walked over to the girl and her parents and started talking to them. While her parents were talking the girl looked over at the four cliffhanger girls. She saw them all gawking at her and gave them the finger. They all snorted back their laughter. Lucy smiled and said, "Well- at least now we have a nickname for her."

"What's that?" Charli asked.

Lucy held up her middle finger at the girl and said, "Chuck."

Charli laughed, "Yo, that was so lame."

"What can I say? I'm, like, the queen of lame."

"You can say that again." Jess mumbled. Lucy opened her mouth to say it again but Jess held up her hand. "Don't." she warned Lucy.

In a second Sophie was leading the girl and her parents into the administration building and Peter was hovering over Lucy and her friends. "Hey, Dad." Lucy said.

"Hi. So, Luce- you're on kitchen this week?" he asked pleasently.

Lucy narrowed her eyes. "No, I was on last week."

"Consider yourself back on. I saw how you welcomed our newest student." He gave her his infamous 'I'm cool-don't mess with me look'. Lucy groaned and gently dropped her head onto her crossed arms lying on the table.

Before Peter could walk away Charli asked, "What's her name?"

"Samantha Parks."

That night Sophie and Lucy piled into Sophie's pick up truck for their weekly Wednesday night dinner with Peter. It was common knowledge around Horizon that Sophie and Peter were somewhat of a couple. Though none of the students had ever seen a real show of intimacy between the two (except for that time at the Morp) the rumor mill was buzzing.

Every time Lucy climbed into the pick up with Sophie she felt something weird creep up her spine. She liked Sophie well enough but hanging out with her at Lucy's father's house was a little weird. And although they had had dinner like this a million times Lucy still could not shake the feeling.

On the way to Peter's house, which was only a mile or two away, Sophie tried to start a conversation. "Have you gotten to talk to Samantha yet?" she asked.

Lucy snapped her head up from staring at her sneakers to look at Sophie. Normally they didn't speak on the trip to and from Peter's so Sophie's sudden urge to talk surprised Lucy. "Wh-who?" she asked.

"Samantha Parks? The new girl." Sophie replied.

"Oh!" Lucy nodded, the initial shock waring off, "Right, sorry. Um- I haven't seen her much today actually. But what I've seen is . . . different."

"How so?"

Lucy shrugged. "I don't know. Never mind." She turned her attention to the passing woods on her right and prayed Sophie would get the picture that Lucy didn't want to talk. As it turned out Lucy's prayers were in a way answered because right then they pulled into Peter's driveway.

The first step into the house and all Lucy wanted to do was run into the kitchen and eat whatever Peter was cooking. It smelled so good. Lucy pulled her coat off as Peter came into the entryway. "And how are my two favorite girls?" Peter asked his standard welcoming question.

"We're good." Sophie said- her standard reply. Tonight, for some reason, although everything so far (minus the attempted conversation in the truck) was completely normal, things were different. Lucy could feel it. And see it. Peter and Sophie's hug lasted a little too long and the look they gave each other after told Lucy something was definitly going to happen tonight at dinner.

During dinner Lucy brought up the subject of Samantha again. "So, what's up with the new girl?"

Peter and Sophie gave each other a look from across the table. Peter cleared his throat and asked, "What do you mean?"

"I mean, whys she here? What'd she do?"

"You know we're not allowed to give out information like that, Luce." Sophie told her.

Peter added, "Why don't you ask her tonight?" Lucy just raised her eyebrows and shrugged. Peter cleared his throat again and said, "Luce, we actually have something to tell you."

Finally! The tension in the room was so thick you could cut it with a knife. "What's up?" she asked.

"Sophie and I are . . ." There was that annoying throat clearing again. "We're getting married."

Lucy froze with her fork full of peas halfway to her mouth. The peas fell of and she put the fork down. Now it was her turn for the awkward throat clearing. "Really?" she asked. She was shocked. She knew Peter and Sophie probably loved each other but she didn't know they were anywhere near marriage. It pretty much freaked her out, terrified her, and made her want to say "ew" about a million times. "That's cool." she said.

"Really?" Peter asked, seemingly surprised, "You don't mind at all?"

Lucy shrugged, "Why should I? If you guys want to get married I'm all for it." she smiled at them but in her head she was screaming "No, no, no, no, no!"