Author's Note: A warning, before you begin this fic. ;) It's weird. Lol.. I'm not kidding. I originally wrote a story, some 7k words long and split it into 7 chapters, and that was the end of it. But then I kept continuing to write it. Next thing I know, I have over 40 chapters, lol. The storylines are everywhere. But a lot of them only get started late in the story. When I first began writing APWL, I didn't really have a story in mind after the original 7 chapters. But it's now, part newbie fic, part romance, part angst, part everything. There's love, revenge, betrayal, lies, gold-diggers, bizarre revelations, deceit, scheming, redemption, injustice, death... It's crazy. But it really only gets started with the S&S storyline.. Which is crazy, btw. This whole story is crazy. It goes up, and down, and up again, at back down at a breakneck pace.

In actuality, I started this fic before I'd even seen the entire season of HG. I'd seen most of it, but not those last, great episodes. So there's a lot of inconsistencies with the original season, and mine. In APWL, it's the Cliffhangers' second years at Horizon, the next season type thing. But Kat's still here. And Scott has kept his secret about Elaine from everyone but Shelby, and the counsellors.. And there's a couple other things.

I hate my first several chapters. I'm thinking of completely rewriting them altogether. I would, except that it would take way too long. I had no idea what I was doing when I first began this fic. But, oh well. :) Whatever.

There's a lot of swearing. One of my characters seemingly can't speak without littering their speech with profanities. There's a lot of.. Interesting situations. My pg-13 rating may be a bit generous. Late in the story, it becomes very soap-opera-esque. My characters are really extreme.. ;) There's a couple chapters where practically every character is miserable. There's one hell of a lot of themes, and questions asked.



Thanks! -Jazz



A blue Mercedes sped off into the day, following a dirt road in the wilderness and isolation of the mountainside.

"Erika.."

"Mom, I don't care! I don't want to hear it! What the fuck is up with you today? First you frickin kidnap me, throw me into the car and then you actually expect me to look at you without puking, let alone TALK to you! And I'M the one getting help?!" the teenager raged, shaking her head defiantly.

"I'm your mother, don't you dare speak to me that way!" The car abruptly stopped. The driver, an average-looking blond woman had stopped the car and turned to face her daughter. Erika met her gaze defiantly, expectantly. "What kind of choice did you leave me?!" The car began again. "With the way you were acting, you were practically BEGGING for this! I thought I could control you, thought I could get you back on track.. Look, this Mount Horizon's supposed to be a great school, got a great reputation."

"Don't you get it? I don't give a fuck! You're abandoning me, guess I was too much for you to handle. So you just gave up, decided one day, hey I'll go dump my daughter off at some school for screw ups and I'll be done with her. Hallelujah! That's what you were thinking, wasn't it, mother?! Not that I give a shit. You're not apart of my life. Never were. Liked to pretend you were, though, in our perfect little family."

"Hey, Mr Claypool," the teenager's daughter said to a large African American man who worked for Horizon and had helped her daughter into the Mercedes, sitting beside her now to assure she wouldn't make a brake for it, and had handcuffed her hands, "Think you can bind her mouth as well?"

The heavily muscled man just chuckled. "Sorry, didn't bring the duct tape along with me."

"You just can't bear to hear the truth. What a lousy excuse for a mother."

"Every time you open your mouth, the less I can wait to be rid of you! You won't be my problem anymore!" The driver raged. "I never thought I'd have to say that to my own daughter." she continued, muttering.

"You're making a mistake, you're just weak, can't handle me. I don't belong there!"

"The only mistake I made was not taking you there earlier."

Roger Claypool stared off into the scenery through the car window, very familiar with the kind of conversation that was ensuing. He had heard it many times before, transporting other kids to Mount Horizon. None of them were much different than Erika, and with the progress they had made with the other kids, he was sure she could be helped too, in time. This was just the beginning...

Peter Scarbrow flicked open the blinds to his office as he heard the sound of a car approaching. He had anticipating a new admit today by the name of Erika Lavalier, he figured it was her and Dave Claypool pulling up now in the blue Mercedes. Another teen, another lost soul he would try to reach. He had checked her file minutes before, and had not been shocked at what he had found. She was a 16 year old truant, a drug user, and hostile towards everyone around her with a vicious temper. She was an only child, raised by her single mother, but had somehow gotten off the wrong track, it had said, he recalled. He watched though the window as her mother, alongside Dave, exited from the car. It was about a parent's worst nightmare, to have no other option than to bring your child here. And it was his job, to make sure these kids got back on that right track.

Peter jogged out towards the school's entrance.

"Mrs Lavalier?" he said, putting out his hand to the girl's mother, a tall blond woman who looked to have aged well. "I'm Peter Scarbrow, the headmaster of Horizon."

"Oh, thank god. You've got a real piece of work in there," she said, motioning to the blue Mercedes.

"We'll take good care of her, Mrs Lavalier," Peter assured her.

"Thank you. I've run out of options." The woman threw her hands into the air in exasperation. "Just driving her here was a nightmare. I just don't know what to do with Erika anymore. Her life has spun out of control these past months, and I no longer have the motivation, or patience to help her. I don't even know what went wrong! She's beyond my help, I hope you can reach out to her."

"I can promise you that we'll do our best."

"Thank you, once again. I must be a really horrible parent, having to resort to bringing her here, or, rather 'kidnapping her', as she claims I did."

"Mrs Lavalier, unless you have reason to, you shouldn't blame Erika's being here on yourself, there are so many other factors to take into account. We'll take good care of her, do what we can, try to turn her life around."

"Thank you so much. I don't know what I would have done otherwise."

"So when did Erika's behaviour take a turn for the worse?"

"I don't know, I'd say around June. She's always been a manipulative girl, don't you be fooled by her." she said. "But it gradually just got worse, inexplicably. Her grades plunged, she started skipping school, even taking drugs! I don't know what to do with her! She won't even engage herself in a conversation that's remotely civilized! She lashes out at people, has quite the temper. She just has no respect! That's the trouble with today's youth, they don't have any respect."

Peter listened to the woman's rambling thoughtfully. "Was there any dramatic changes in her life at the time she stated acting out? Any traumas?"

The woman shrugged. "None that come to mind. You'll have a clear perception of her and her problems as soon as you meet her. She's rather extraordinary."

The woman advanced towards the Mercedes and opened a front door. "Mr Scarbrow, this is Erika."

The car door opened to a tall, broad-shouldered and lean girl. Her hair was a bright blond, upswept into a simple ponytail. Her facial features were well proportioned, but angular and sharp. Her eyebrows were an angular thin line of hair. Her ears were pierced entirely, with a multitude of silver hoops dangling from them. She also wore a silver chin stud. She was attired in loose, dark, baggy jeans and a solid black tank top, with silver chains protruding at various locations of her clothes. Her makeup was dark and dramatic. Her skin tone was fair, Peter guessing that blond was her natural hair colour given the fairness of her skin, and she contrasted it with dark, smokey eyeshadow and heavily lined her green eyes. My fingernails were short-cropped, with black nail polish chipping at the edges. As Peter opened the car door, she didn't even look at him, resting her gaze firmly ahead.

"Erika?" Peter asked.

The girl merely stared at the speaker, seemingly disinterestedly.

"I'm Peter Scarbrow, welcome to Mount Horizon, I'm the headmaster here."

Erika stifled a smile. "Yeah? Well tell me why I should give a fuck."

"Erika! Would it kill you to be nice for once?!" her mother said, exasperated.

Peter's gaze drifted to Erika's mother. Yes, she had been right, he thought, this girl was going to be a piece of work.

"Would you mind stepping out and joining us? This is all about you, there's a reason."

Erika hopped out of the Mercedes, looking thoroughly amused. She met Peter's gaze defiantly, nerved. "So now what, huh? You gonna try to get into my head, change me back to that perfect girl I used to be? You're wasting your time."

"We can't dwell on the past, I know that, Erika. What my job is is to change your future, not your past."

Erika turned to her mom. "Thanks mom," she said, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "Looks like I'm gonna have a blast here!"

"You might think you have it hard now, Erika, dealing with people who won't put up with your crap, people who want to help you, but you've earned it."

"I earned it?" Erika sounded incredulous. "You're the one who raised me. The choices I make now are the result of your fabulous parenting."

Peter stepped in. "Why don't you go inside, Erika? Dave will escort you in, you're scheduled for a pre-admittance physical, and your bags will be searched. Sophie, that's one of the counsellors, will put you into a dorm. Any last words you two want to share?"

"You'll get better here. Better off here than with me. You would never answer me. Never talked. Goodbye Erika." the elder Lavalier said, blowing a kiss and a wistful final glance at her daughter, and began towards the Mercedes.

Erika smirked. "Goodbye dearest mother," she said, her tone sarcastic and mocking, and she blew a meaningless kiss towards her mother. Disgusted with her daughter's unserious tone, Mrs Lavalier trudged into the Mercedes and sped away, away from her daughter, away from those problems.