Disclaimer: The only characters in this story I own are Jessica, Alan, Jessica's mom and Jared. Everyone else is not own by me nor do I know him or her or have any connections to them.
This story takes place a few weeks after the MORP.
HIGHER GROUND
HOW DEEP IS YOUR LOVE?
"What do you think you're doing? How could you do this Jessica?" Jessica's mom yelled at her with a tone she had never heard before. That was the first of Jessica's troubles and it wasn't going to be the last. "Go to your room. We will be in there once we talk to your brother." Her mother pointed her finger and in tears Jessica ran to her room. After an hour or two, her mother barged into her room.
"I've...I've thought about your behavior today and I just want to know what did you think you were doing?" Her mother had mascara smeared on her cheeks and her eyes were puffy.
"What do you want me to say? I'm sorry mother dearest, please forgive me mother dearest." Jessica said through her teethe.
"That's all you have to say? All you can do is be sarcastic. Was that your first time to do it? Oh, what happened to my little girl."
"What happened to my mom?"
Her mother looked up at her and Jessica had never seen this look from her mom before. Jessica knew her mom hated her from that moment on...
CHAPTER ONE
"Hello Jessica, I'm Peter Scarbrow, headmaster at horizon." Peter extended his hand to her and he knew she was different from the others, she shook his hand. "Your intake went well and I already assigned you too a group."
"Group?" Jessica asked. "What do you mean group?"
"I mean there's too many students here to keep up here with so I divide them into groups, plus is helps when we have activities and such. Your group is the cliffhangers and in a few moments Auggie will give you the tour." Peter sat down and looked over her records.
"Peter, what do they say?" Jessica asked.
"What do what say?" He asked.
"My records. What do they say?" She looked at Peter and he saw a look in her eyes that weren't like the others students.
"You don't know?" Peter asked and Jessica shook her head only to be cut off by a knock at the door.
"Come in." Peter yelled and Auggie walked in.
"Hey what did you want to see me for?" Auggie asked.
"Aug, this is Jessica. She is a cliffhanger now and I want you to give her the tour." Peter said and Jessica stood up.
"Hi I'm Augusto, but you can call me Auggie." He extended his hand and she shook it and nodded.
"I'm Jessica." Jessica and Auggie walked out off Peter's office and went for the tour.
"Over there is the lake. And over there are the dorms. That one is the boys and that one is the girls." That was when Jessica realized something.
"I've seen guys running around here but no girls. Am I the only girl here?" She asked while looking around.
"Lucky you, they left on a hike earlier today. Be thankful you don't have to go on it." Auggie saw Scott sitting down reading with Ezra.
"Come on I'll introduce you to some of the other cliffhangers." They walked towards Scott and Ezra. Scott and Ezra's back was turned from them but Jessica started to feel uneasy, like she knew whom the young blonde one was.
"Scott, E.Z., this is Jessica, the newest cliffhanger." Scott groaned before turning around.
"Another newbie? Why does Peter always assign them to us?" He turned around and his mouth dropped. Ezra looked at him then Jessica, whose mouth was also dropped, and figured they were overwhelmed, by looks.
"Scott you're drooling." Ezra said and Scott came back to reality.
"Jessica, what are you doing here? It's been so long." Scott stood up and walked in front of her.
"Mom and Alan sent me here." Jessica, nor Scott, blinked. But at the same time, they hugged each other. When they released, Jessica looked at him. Both were in shock.
"We need to talk." Jessica said to Scott.
"Auggie did you finish the tour?" Scott questioned.
"Nope, almost done though." Auggie replied.
"I'll finish it for you." And before Auggie could answer, Scott and Jessica walked away in a hurry.
"So... why are you here?" Scott asked. Jessica got nervous.
"I was caught smoking so I got sent here. I only tried one cigarette and this is what I get. Mom and Alan think I'm a crack head or something." She said.
"No that's not it. I know your mom and dad and they would get all the facts and stuff. Why are you really here?" Scott stopped and looked at her.
"Well when you left, I came looking for you. Your dad told me that you went to stay with your mom. I figured you would call or something but you didn't. I got depressed and mom and ALAN, figured I needed to get some help. I went to counseling and it didn't help so they told mom and Alan about horizon and here I am." She looked at him and he could tell she was depressed.
"That's it, that's why you're here?" Scott questioned.
"Yeah why? Not extreme enough for you?" She was getting upset.
"No, it's just that... that most people here went through some tough stuff, they would have given anything for what you went through instead of what they had to go through."
"Why are you here? Why didn't you ever tell me bye? And why did your dad lie to me?" She looked into the eyes she once looked into a year before.
"You were at your aunt's when I was sent here. My dad was ashamed that his pride and joy had to spend the rest of his high school years here I guess."
"I missed you Scott."
"I missed you to Jessi. You know that."
"Well where do we stand now?" She looked down at the ground. She could feel tears coming on. He lifted her head and looked into her big, brown eyes and moved her think, brown hair, which hung three inches past her shoulder, behind her ear.
"Right where we left off I guess." He took her hand and they walked to the docks. Jessica sat down and let her feet dangle. They didn't even touch the water. Scott sat down beside her and let his feet, which didn't touch the water either, do the same.
"Well who is this?" a voice from behind said. Scott and Jessica turned around only to find David.
"This is Jessica, Jessica this is David." Jessica looked at David and gave him a friendly grin. Scott got up and walked up to him.
"If you leave now and don't say anything to her about Shel, I'll do your kitchen for a week." He whispered to David.
"And garbage?" David questioned back.
"Deal." Scott said and with that David walked away. Scott sat back down with Jessica.
"What's its like here? Is it really, I don't know, boot campy?" Jessica asked.
"No, it's like a permanent summer camp for high school in which you do chores and learn lessons." Scott answered.
"You never did answer me earlier. Why are you here?" Jessica asked again.
"You know about it all. I was into drugs and stuff." Scott said.
"Yeah but I thought you quit. You told me you did."
"Yeah well you threatened to break up with me if I didn't and I tried but it was too hard so I lied." Scott placed his hands on hers.
"I going to my cabin." Jessica started to get up.
"You're not mad, are you?" Scott stood up.
"No, just scared." Jessica walked away and went to lie down. She fell asleep for a few hours, only to wake up to Peter shaking her.
"Hey Jessica, its time for supper. Come on." Jessica looked around and was sorta panicked until she remembered where she was. She wasn't at home anymore.
"I'll be there in a sec." Jessica went to the bathroom and looked at her hair, which was a mess. She pulled up to the top of her head in a ponytail and went to eat supper.
Jessica got her food and was looking a place to sit. Scott walked up behind her.
"Lets go sit by the window." Jessica and Scott sat down at the window and Scott started to eat while Jessica picked at her food.
"Are you ok?" Scott asked.
"No!" She while looking at her plate.
"Well talk to me. Tell me what's wrong?" Scott told her.
"There's nothing to tell." Jessica said, still looking at her plate of uneaten food.
"I have a feeling there is." Scott placed his hand on her chin and lifted her head. He saw tears rolling down her cheeks. "What's wrong?"
Jessica threw down her fork. "Jared is what's wrong. He's the reason I'm here, he's the reason I have no friends and no life anymore."
"What? Jessica calm down you're starting to yell." Scott tried to get to her calm down some but it wasn't working. Jessica pushed her tray off the table and ran out crying. Everyone turned eyes on Scott and he chased after her.
"Jessica wait up... Jessica... STOP?" He was chasing after her but she didn't stop. He caught up to her and grabbed her arm. "Jessica stop." Jessica looked up at him with tears coming down her face. "What did he do to you?" Her lip started to tremble.
"I don't want to talk about it." She said pulling her arm free.
"Ok, you don't have to talk about it now. Just calm down, everything is ok. You're not with Jared anymore you're here, with me." He held her close as if protecting her from the world.
"I was so scared Scott, I had no one, nothing. I was all alone."
"You could tell Peter and he can help you."
"No, I can't tell anyone. This is my chance to start all over. Let me enjoy before I get asked questions." Scott took Jessica hand and they walked to gazebos.
"Jessica are you ok?" Jessica turned around and saw Peter standing there. "You Uh... created quite a stir up in there."
"I just want to be left alone." Jessica said while wiping her tears. And with that, Peter walked away and left her alone with Scott.
"Remember when... when we went to the mall and you bought that sweater your wearing now. The lady forgot to take the tag off so when we walked out all the alarms went off and we had to sit in a room until our parents came to get us." Jessica chuckled a little and wiped the remaining tears.
"Yeah, that was fun. Remember our first kiss? We were swimming at my house and I kissed you." Jessica laid her head on his shoulder.
"Yeah and then Elaine came in and totally ruined it by saying 'Scott, what would your father think? Making out in the pool tisk, tisk, tisk.' She totally ruined it I was so mad."
"Yeah I remember you got out of the pool and started to dry off. When she walked back inside you threatened you leave if she came back out. I remember when she asked what would my dad think about me kissing you. He would've thought, way to go son. You know, been proud I kissed a girl like dads are." Scott started playing with her fingers like he used to do.
"Yeah, I told Miranda about kissing you and she was so mad. She always had that stupid crush on you. I didn't mean to offend her by telling her."
"I know and she knows." Jessica looked up at Scott and into his eyes. He looked into hers and leaned in to kiss her. Their lips met and the kiss was like the first one. It seemed so right and perfect. Not a normal kiss but the world is going to end kiss. Scott put his hand on her cheek and wiped away the wetness of the tears. Scott took her hair out of her ponytail and ran his fingers through her long, thick, brown hair and when they released, it seemed the world had paused for a moment.
"Your hair is just like the way you use to wear it. Pulled up at the top of your head." Scott played with her hair some more before she took his hands into hers.
"I miss you Scott." Jessica said.
"I miss you too. And I don't ever want to be away from you again. No one can divide us." Jessica sled her fingers through his and laid her head back on his shoulder. Together they watched the sunset over the mountains.
This story takes place a few weeks after the MORP.
HIGHER GROUND
HOW DEEP IS YOUR LOVE?
"What do you think you're doing? How could you do this Jessica?" Jessica's mom yelled at her with a tone she had never heard before. That was the first of Jessica's troubles and it wasn't going to be the last. "Go to your room. We will be in there once we talk to your brother." Her mother pointed her finger and in tears Jessica ran to her room. After an hour or two, her mother barged into her room.
"I've...I've thought about your behavior today and I just want to know what did you think you were doing?" Her mother had mascara smeared on her cheeks and her eyes were puffy.
"What do you want me to say? I'm sorry mother dearest, please forgive me mother dearest." Jessica said through her teethe.
"That's all you have to say? All you can do is be sarcastic. Was that your first time to do it? Oh, what happened to my little girl."
"What happened to my mom?"
Her mother looked up at her and Jessica had never seen this look from her mom before. Jessica knew her mom hated her from that moment on...
CHAPTER ONE
"Hello Jessica, I'm Peter Scarbrow, headmaster at horizon." Peter extended his hand to her and he knew she was different from the others, she shook his hand. "Your intake went well and I already assigned you too a group."
"Group?" Jessica asked. "What do you mean group?"
"I mean there's too many students here to keep up here with so I divide them into groups, plus is helps when we have activities and such. Your group is the cliffhangers and in a few moments Auggie will give you the tour." Peter sat down and looked over her records.
"Peter, what do they say?" Jessica asked.
"What do what say?" He asked.
"My records. What do they say?" She looked at Peter and he saw a look in her eyes that weren't like the others students.
"You don't know?" Peter asked and Jessica shook her head only to be cut off by a knock at the door.
"Come in." Peter yelled and Auggie walked in.
"Hey what did you want to see me for?" Auggie asked.
"Aug, this is Jessica. She is a cliffhanger now and I want you to give her the tour." Peter said and Jessica stood up.
"Hi I'm Augusto, but you can call me Auggie." He extended his hand and she shook it and nodded.
"I'm Jessica." Jessica and Auggie walked out off Peter's office and went for the tour.
"Over there is the lake. And over there are the dorms. That one is the boys and that one is the girls." That was when Jessica realized something.
"I've seen guys running around here but no girls. Am I the only girl here?" She asked while looking around.
"Lucky you, they left on a hike earlier today. Be thankful you don't have to go on it." Auggie saw Scott sitting down reading with Ezra.
"Come on I'll introduce you to some of the other cliffhangers." They walked towards Scott and Ezra. Scott and Ezra's back was turned from them but Jessica started to feel uneasy, like she knew whom the young blonde one was.
"Scott, E.Z., this is Jessica, the newest cliffhanger." Scott groaned before turning around.
"Another newbie? Why does Peter always assign them to us?" He turned around and his mouth dropped. Ezra looked at him then Jessica, whose mouth was also dropped, and figured they were overwhelmed, by looks.
"Scott you're drooling." Ezra said and Scott came back to reality.
"Jessica, what are you doing here? It's been so long." Scott stood up and walked in front of her.
"Mom and Alan sent me here." Jessica, nor Scott, blinked. But at the same time, they hugged each other. When they released, Jessica looked at him. Both were in shock.
"We need to talk." Jessica said to Scott.
"Auggie did you finish the tour?" Scott questioned.
"Nope, almost done though." Auggie replied.
"I'll finish it for you." And before Auggie could answer, Scott and Jessica walked away in a hurry.
"So... why are you here?" Scott asked. Jessica got nervous.
"I was caught smoking so I got sent here. I only tried one cigarette and this is what I get. Mom and Alan think I'm a crack head or something." She said.
"No that's not it. I know your mom and dad and they would get all the facts and stuff. Why are you really here?" Scott stopped and looked at her.
"Well when you left, I came looking for you. Your dad told me that you went to stay with your mom. I figured you would call or something but you didn't. I got depressed and mom and ALAN, figured I needed to get some help. I went to counseling and it didn't help so they told mom and Alan about horizon and here I am." She looked at him and he could tell she was depressed.
"That's it, that's why you're here?" Scott questioned.
"Yeah why? Not extreme enough for you?" She was getting upset.
"No, it's just that... that most people here went through some tough stuff, they would have given anything for what you went through instead of what they had to go through."
"Why are you here? Why didn't you ever tell me bye? And why did your dad lie to me?" She looked into the eyes she once looked into a year before.
"You were at your aunt's when I was sent here. My dad was ashamed that his pride and joy had to spend the rest of his high school years here I guess."
"I missed you Scott."
"I missed you to Jessi. You know that."
"Well where do we stand now?" She looked down at the ground. She could feel tears coming on. He lifted her head and looked into her big, brown eyes and moved her think, brown hair, which hung three inches past her shoulder, behind her ear.
"Right where we left off I guess." He took her hand and they walked to the docks. Jessica sat down and let her feet dangle. They didn't even touch the water. Scott sat down beside her and let his feet, which didn't touch the water either, do the same.
"Well who is this?" a voice from behind said. Scott and Jessica turned around only to find David.
"This is Jessica, Jessica this is David." Jessica looked at David and gave him a friendly grin. Scott got up and walked up to him.
"If you leave now and don't say anything to her about Shel, I'll do your kitchen for a week." He whispered to David.
"And garbage?" David questioned back.
"Deal." Scott said and with that David walked away. Scott sat back down with Jessica.
"What's its like here? Is it really, I don't know, boot campy?" Jessica asked.
"No, it's like a permanent summer camp for high school in which you do chores and learn lessons." Scott answered.
"You never did answer me earlier. Why are you here?" Jessica asked again.
"You know about it all. I was into drugs and stuff." Scott said.
"Yeah but I thought you quit. You told me you did."
"Yeah well you threatened to break up with me if I didn't and I tried but it was too hard so I lied." Scott placed his hands on hers.
"I going to my cabin." Jessica started to get up.
"You're not mad, are you?" Scott stood up.
"No, just scared." Jessica walked away and went to lie down. She fell asleep for a few hours, only to wake up to Peter shaking her.
"Hey Jessica, its time for supper. Come on." Jessica looked around and was sorta panicked until she remembered where she was. She wasn't at home anymore.
"I'll be there in a sec." Jessica went to the bathroom and looked at her hair, which was a mess. She pulled up to the top of her head in a ponytail and went to eat supper.
Jessica got her food and was looking a place to sit. Scott walked up behind her.
"Lets go sit by the window." Jessica and Scott sat down at the window and Scott started to eat while Jessica picked at her food.
"Are you ok?" Scott asked.
"No!" She while looking at her plate.
"Well talk to me. Tell me what's wrong?" Scott told her.
"There's nothing to tell." Jessica said, still looking at her plate of uneaten food.
"I have a feeling there is." Scott placed his hand on her chin and lifted her head. He saw tears rolling down her cheeks. "What's wrong?"
Jessica threw down her fork. "Jared is what's wrong. He's the reason I'm here, he's the reason I have no friends and no life anymore."
"What? Jessica calm down you're starting to yell." Scott tried to get to her calm down some but it wasn't working. Jessica pushed her tray off the table and ran out crying. Everyone turned eyes on Scott and he chased after her.
"Jessica wait up... Jessica... STOP?" He was chasing after her but she didn't stop. He caught up to her and grabbed her arm. "Jessica stop." Jessica looked up at him with tears coming down her face. "What did he do to you?" Her lip started to tremble.
"I don't want to talk about it." She said pulling her arm free.
"Ok, you don't have to talk about it now. Just calm down, everything is ok. You're not with Jared anymore you're here, with me." He held her close as if protecting her from the world.
"I was so scared Scott, I had no one, nothing. I was all alone."
"You could tell Peter and he can help you."
"No, I can't tell anyone. This is my chance to start all over. Let me enjoy before I get asked questions." Scott took Jessica hand and they walked to gazebos.
"Jessica are you ok?" Jessica turned around and saw Peter standing there. "You Uh... created quite a stir up in there."
"I just want to be left alone." Jessica said while wiping her tears. And with that, Peter walked away and left her alone with Scott.
"Remember when... when we went to the mall and you bought that sweater your wearing now. The lady forgot to take the tag off so when we walked out all the alarms went off and we had to sit in a room until our parents came to get us." Jessica chuckled a little and wiped the remaining tears.
"Yeah, that was fun. Remember our first kiss? We were swimming at my house and I kissed you." Jessica laid her head on his shoulder.
"Yeah and then Elaine came in and totally ruined it by saying 'Scott, what would your father think? Making out in the pool tisk, tisk, tisk.' She totally ruined it I was so mad."
"Yeah I remember you got out of the pool and started to dry off. When she walked back inside you threatened you leave if she came back out. I remember when she asked what would my dad think about me kissing you. He would've thought, way to go son. You know, been proud I kissed a girl like dads are." Scott started playing with her fingers like he used to do.
"Yeah, I told Miranda about kissing you and she was so mad. She always had that stupid crush on you. I didn't mean to offend her by telling her."
"I know and she knows." Jessica looked up at Scott and into his eyes. He looked into hers and leaned in to kiss her. Their lips met and the kiss was like the first one. It seemed so right and perfect. Not a normal kiss but the world is going to end kiss. Scott put his hand on her cheek and wiped away the wetness of the tears. Scott took her hair out of her ponytail and ran his fingers through her long, thick, brown hair and when they released, it seemed the world had paused for a moment.
"Your hair is just like the way you use to wear it. Pulled up at the top of your head." Scott played with her hair some more before she took his hands into hers.
"I miss you Scott." Jessica said.
"I miss you too. And I don't ever want to be away from you again. No one can divide us." Jessica sled her fingers through his and laid her head back on his shoulder. Together they watched the sunset over the mountains.