A black SUV rolled down the road, winding through the thick wooded landscape. Sitting in the front seat was a steely-faced woman with her blonde hair pulled tightly in a bun. She pursed her lips with uncertainty as she looked over at your companion who stared distantly out the window.

"I know this is probably the last thing you want - to be moved around like this." She had tried to get the girl sitting next to her to say anything over the course of their two hour journey, only to fail each time. The closest she'd managed to get to an actual conversation was a five-word response: Please don't talk to me, she had said, sounding tired and hopeless.

A large wooden sign slowly came into focus just inside the clearing from the wooded forest. "Mount Horizon," the woman read. "This is it." She anxiously tapped her fingers on the steering wheel. "Are you excited, nervous, scared…" she glanced at the young teen; "all of the above?" The only reply is a deep sigh. "Alright, then; let's do this."

He watched from a distance as the SUV pulled to a stop a few yards away from where he stood. He had been anticipating the new student's arrival for the past couple days since he'd received a phone call from Carolyn, the family's attorney. As the two passengers emerged from the dark vehicle, he slowly made his way over to them; he tried to put on a pleasant, welcoming face but could only imagine what the young girl must have been feeling, considering the past week she'd had.

"Hi, there," he reached the woman and stretched out his hand. "I'm Peter. You must be Carolyn," he said as he shook the blonde-haired woman's hand.

"Yes, we spoke the other day on the phone," she replied warmly. "This is Taylor." Carolyn motions to the dark-haired, dark-eyed, expressionless girl at her side. Both Peter and Carolyn look to Taylor, unsure of her initial response to her new home. He finally felt a sense of encouragement when Taylor extended her and out to him and offered a forced, yet polite, smile. He took her hand in his and smiled reassuringly.

-- -- -- -- -- -- --

Just over an hour later, Peter sat behind his desk in his office, reading his newly composed – and very vague – file on Taylor. His heart went out to the girl for what he could learn about her. A year ago, she led a pretty normal life. She lived with her father – a firefighter and paramedic – and her older sister. She was a good student and actively involved in martial arts. Then there was a car accident…

His thoughts were interrupted with a knock at his door. "Yeah," he closed the file and looked towards the door. "Come in," he said as Sophie opened the door, showing Taylor standing at her side.

They stepped into his office as Peter rose from his chair. "Here's Taylor's medical report," Sophie said as she passed a few papers over to Peter.

"Well, I see you two have already met; that's good. Sophie is going to be your counselor, Taylor." He briefly scanned through the report as Taylor offered a meek smile to Sophie. "Have a seat, Tay. You'll see Sophie again in group after dinner. Thanks, Soph," he said, looking up to her as she started towards the door.

Sophie stepped out of the office. "It was nice meeting you, Taylor," she said as she closed the door.

Taylor took a seat on the edge of the couch, nervously taking in her surroundings. "So you like martial arts?" He asked, hoping to start their first official meeting with a comfortable topic.

"Um, yeah," she softly replied, somewhat unsure of what all he knew about her and where he had learned it.

"It says that in your file," he motioned to the papers on his desk. "I like martial arts too. Maybe we can practice together sometime?"

"Well, I haven't really done it in a while…" She nervously played with her fingers in her lap and darted her eyes around the office. She finally came to a halt on Peter's face and realized that he had been waiting to make eye contact.

"Right, it says you broke your leg?" He asked, hinting for the story behind the injury.

She nodded. "In a car accident," she said blankly.

"Can you tell me about it?" He asked, hoping she would open up without needing too much force.

She takes a deep breath and said, "I'd rather not." She cautiously looked up at him, worried that her answer would not be sufficient enough for him to move on.

"That's okay," he warmly reassured her. "We're just getting to know each other so we don't have to talk about anything you're not ready to talk about." He paused as she nodded in understanding. "But I hope you'll get comfortable enough to open up sooner rather than later. I never like to push my students, but I can't really help you unless you let me. Understand?"

She slowly nodded her head again and turned her attention to the window. Just as Peter was about to conclude that she had shut herself off from him and the possibilities before her at Horizon, she wearily spoke up. "I, um…I never really...it's just hard to talk about certain things."

"I get that," he replied, formulating an idea to begin to help her. "That's completely understandable. How about this: I want you to write something for me – I'm a pretty big fan of assigning papers around here, you'll learn that fast. I can see that you've had a pretty rough year. Write about it. You don't have to go into too much detail if you don't want to, but I want you to hit all the major events. Think you can do that?" When she nodded in agreement, he stood from his chair. "Okay, then. I assume Sophie told you that you'll be in the Cliffhanger group?" Again, she nodded. "I'll take you to your dorm and you can start to settle in before dinner. Ready?"

Taylor smiled softly and rose from the couch. They both grabbed her bags and moved toward the door, the door that will open to her new life, whether she is ready or not.