Part 1
"So, did you hear that we're getting a newbie in the Cliffhangers?" Scott asked as he plopped down next to Shelby on the couch. Juliette, Auggie, Daisy, and David were already sitting in the room.
"Great. Another messed up teen to the bunch. That's all we need." Shelby said.
"Oh, and what do you expect, Shelby? Someone with no problems in a place like this?" David asked sarcastically.
Shelby threw him a dirty look and then turned her attention back to Scott. "Daisy told me your father called you earlier. What did he have to say?" Shelby asked him.
"I didn't talk to him," Scott said scowling at the mention of his father.
Shelby dropped the subject. Instead of saying anything else, she leaned her head on Scott's shoulder.
Just then Ezra walked into the room. "Hey, guys, I just saw the newbie in Peter's office. Man, is she a fox!" he said excitedly.
David whistled. "Fresh meat," he said smiling devilishly.
"Oh, you are so disgusting," Daisy complained.
"So, tell us, E-Z. What did she look like?" Auggie asked ignoring the dirty look Juliette threw him.
"Well, she has straight blonde hair that stops in the middle of her back. I couldn't get a close look at her eyes, but I think they were green. She's pretty thin, but she has decent-sized br…well, you know. I can't explain her. You'll just have to see." Ezra said rubbing his hands together.
***
"She's getting her examination right now," Sophie said to Peter as she walked into his office. She sat down in a chair.
"She's reacting differently than most of the kids that come here for the first time," Peter noted.
"Well, she's not fighting us, if that's what you mean," Sophie said. "It almost seems as if she's glad to be here, yet she doesn't want to be here either. Does that make sense?"
"Nothing about her case makes sense. Her record is impeccable. She doesn't seem troubled. Her mother refused to give us any information on her at all. All she said was that Sydney had a lot of problems to deal with." Peter said.
"How is it that we accepted a student not knowing why she was even sent here? Come on, Peter. You should have made her mother tell you something. There has to be something her mother knows or she wouldn't have made Sydney come here." Sophie said.
"The truth is, Sophie, I didn't ask too many questions because I didn't want to push Mrs. Castelli. She just donated a lot of money to Horizon." Peter said.
"You mean she bribed you?" Sophie asked in disbelief.
"No, she didn't bribe me!" Peter said offended. "She donated the money to help us out with our finances and I just…."
"You didn't want to take the chance of her taking the money away if you pestered her for information on Sydney," Sophie finished for him.
"Sophie, we need the money. The kids need the money. Besides, we'll eventually find out what's going on with Sydney." Peter said.
"If there is anything going on at all," Sophie said. "You saw what her mother was like. What if she just sent Sydney here to get her daughter out of her hair? What if Sydney is just acting like a normal teenager and her mother just didn't want to deal with her?"
"That could be the case but we shouldn't jump to those conclusions. Sydney may really need our help. Plus, if what you're saying is true, Sydney will still have issues to deal with regarding her mother." Peter said.
"Well, let's finish up this paper work and then take her to meet the rest of the Cliffhangers," Sophie said picking up a pen.
***
Sydney stared at the wall as she sat outside of the office and waited for Peter and Sophie. She still could not believe that her mother had sent her here. She had fought it at first, but then she realized that there was a benefit to coming to Horizon – she would not have to live in that house for a little while. And there was another reason why she had decided to stop fighting it. "Could he really be here? Was Mother telling me the truth?" she wondered out loud. She jumped up when the door opened.
"All right, Sydney. Let's go and meet the rest of the group." Peter said.
Sydney followed Peter and Sophie. She looked around and tried to size up her environment. The kids looked like your average teenagers but she knew that wasn't the case. They all had their problems. Horizon was a little too rustic for her but it was nice enough. She was kind of nervous about the "quests" Sophie had told her about. She had never been a wilderness-loving person and she wondered if she'd be able to hack it here at Horizon.
"All right, gang, I want you all to meet the newest Cliffhanger," Peter said walking into the room.
Scott looked up to see the new girl. His eyes widened when he saw her come in right behind Sophie. "It can't be," he whispered.
"Can't be what?" Shelby asked turning to look at him. She followed Scott's gaze towards the newbie.
"This is – "Peter started to say.
Scott cut him off. "Sydney," he said standing up.
Sydney sucked her breath in. Even though her mother had told her that Scott was there, she had thought her mother had been lying just to get her to agree to go. Seeing him after so long made her knees weak. She grabbed on to a nearby chair to steady herself.
"You know each other?" Peter asked confused.
Scott ignored his question. He quickly got up from the couch and walked over to Sydney. "I can't believe it's you," he said engulfing her in a big hug.
"Uh-oh. It looks like you have some competition." David snickered at Shelby.
"Shut up," Shelby said narrowing her eyes as she stared at Scott and Sydney hugging.
"My mother told me you were here and why you were here, but I didn't believe her," Sydney said as she and Scott pulled apart from each other.
"Would one of you please tell me how exactly you two know each other?" Peter asked.
"She's my half sister," Scott said.
"You never mentioned a sister. It's not even in your file." Sophie said.
"It's a long really long story so I'll just give you the main points," Scott said. "My father was having an affair with Sydney's mother, Erica. Sydney and I happened to be conceived around the same time. My mother foolishly forgave my father and stayed with him. Erica and Sydney didn't live that far from us so we would see each other sometimes."
"My father was pretty much ashamed of me and he didn't like me being around," Sydney continued. "But once Scott and I got to middle school, we got along well so we started hanging out on our own even though we went to different schools. Then my mother and father got into a huge fight about something and she forbade me to have anything to do with my father or Scott. We were thirteen at the time. Pretty soon after my mother and I moved to Los Angeles and we lost contact. Actually, it was more like my mother refused to let me have any contact with Scott. She got married a year later."
"Whoa. What a story." Ezra said.
"So how did your mother know I was here?" Scott asked.
"She told me she ran into your dad while she was on vacation and they actually spoke," Sydney said.
"Well, we'll talk more about this whole thing later," Peter said. "Right now let me introduce you to everyone else."
Once Sydney went through the introductions, they were all free to do their own things. Scott pulled Sydney aside. "This is so weird that we're both here," he said as they sat down in two chairs.
"You look good," Sydney said smiling at him.
"And what about you? You're a knockout. Man, if we still lived near one another, I probably would've been beating up boys all the time for looking at you!" Scott joked.
Sydney laughed. "Oh, please. I do not have guys falling all over me!" she said.
Scott turned serious. "You know why I'm here, I guess. But why are you here?" he wanted to know.
"I'm not here for anything. My mother didn't want me around anymore so she made up some story and shipped me here." Sydney said not looking him in the eye.
"Why would she do that? She's always loved you even if she didn't always pay attention to you." Scott said.
"Things changed once we moved, Scott. She stopped loving me." Sydney said softly.
"Sydney, you know you can be honest with me. I've screwed up a lot so I won't hold anything against you." Scott said.
"I really don't have problems, Scott. My mother is just being selfish." Sydney said getting up. "I'm going to go unpack. I'll see you later."
"Sydney," Scott said getting up as she walked out of the room.
"Hey," Shelby said walking up to him. "How come you never told me you had a sister?"
"It just never came up. Besides, it upset me to think about her. Not only did my father treat her like crap, but also then we weren't even allowed to speak to one another. It was better just to not talk about it." Scott said.
"I thought for a moment that she…that…well, that she was an ex-love or something," Shelby said.
Scott couldn't help but smile. "You were jealous," he said pulling her close to him.
"No, I was just wondering!" Shelby said.
"Hey, you two, knock it out!" Sophie called to them.
Scott reluctantly pulled away from Shelby. "Anyway, she looks good, though. Slimmer than before but I guess she outgrew the baby fat or something. I can see that I'll have to keep David away from her." he said.
"Right now David has his sights set on Daisy," Shelby said. "But he is a pig so you should tell Sydney to watch out."
"It's just so weird to see her after so long. There's so much we don't know about each other now." Scott said.
"What is she in for?" Shelby asked.
"She said that Erica just sent her here to get her out of the way. I don't know if I should believe her or not." Scott said staring at the door that Sydney had walked out of.