At first light, the Cliffhangers were standing in a circle outside their dorms, bags packed and ready for a hike.
"Where's Peter?" complained Juliette. "I just want to get this over with."
"Relax, princess, he'll be here," said Shelby.
Just then Peter and Sophie joined the group. "Good morning!" Peter was all smiles. "Everyone ready?" He took the complete silence to mean yes and began to explain what they would be doing over the next few days. "We'll hike all day today. We won't make camp until we lose daylight. That should leave about 5 miles for tomorrow. Then we've got some group activities planned. We should be back in four days."
"Four days?" groaned Juliette.
"You'd prefer more?" asked Sophie.
Juliette shook her head.
"Okay then, " announced Sophie. "Let's get going."
The group immediately split into smaller groups. Scott and Shelby paired up, as did Jules and Auggie. Daisy paired with Ezra while David floated between groups irritating everyone. Finally Sophie caught up with him and became his partner. All this left Sarah by herself. Or so she thought. About twenty minutes into the hike Peter was beside her, trying to start a conversation.
"Is this your first hike?"
Sarah shook her head. "Look Peter, I really don't feel like talking right now, okay?" She thought she should lay down the ground rules. She might be forced to go on this stupid hike, but he couldn't force her to make small talk.
"That's fine. But all the same, I'd like to walk with you."
Sarah shrugged. The group marched on, stopping occasionally for water or food, but mostly just hiking. Sarah was exhausted by the time they made camp for the night. Peter, true to his word, never made Sarah say a word.
The next morning the group started out again. They were a somber bunch, but didn't have very far to go. It was still early morning when they reached the clearing in the woods that Peter and Sophie had selected as the final destination.
"Okay, gang," yelled Peter. "This is it. Let's set up camp."
It wasn't long before Peter and Sophie had the group sitting in a circle around the fire. "How about those English poems?" asked Sophie. "Anyone want to volunteer to go first?"
Juliette's hand immediately shot into the air and Sarah said a silent prayer of thanks for Jules's enthusiasm.
Peter gave a nod of approval and Juliette pulled out her journal and stood up. "I call this 'Puncture the Skin.'" She looked around and then turned back to her paper.
"It's dark inside of my world,
Where the pain can swallow you
And spit you back out
Your heart fills with pain and sadness
People will mock and stare and laugh
There's no where to hide and no one understands
Just find a way to relieve all the pain
Get drunk, get high, or puncture your skin
Just make the pain go away again
I sit all alone, with the knife in my hand
Think about it, plan it, and how I will hide it
How I will cover it, and what I will say
I take a long drink, it helps ease the pain
Then close my eyes and think of the past
Of what has hurt me, and who has left me
And let the tears fall as I puncture the skin
Just to make the pain go away again
Tears mixed with blood
Now I cut it again and again and again
Deeper and longer
Make it hurt some more
The pain inside is coming out
Running out with the blood
Now if someone asks why I cry
I can show them my scars
Show the past where I punctured my skin
To make the pain inside me go away again"
Jules glanced around and then sat back down. "That's it."
Peter nodded. "That was good Jules. Anyone have anything they'd like to add about Jules's poem?"
While the rest of the group shared their thoughts about the poem, Sarah was quiet. She was thinking about what Jules had said. Maybe someone did understand what she was going through. Jules had described exactly how Sarah felt every time she cut. She looked Juliette over. Juliette didn't seem like that kind of girl. Sarah wondered if people thought that about her. Maybe people looked at Sarah and thought she looked normal too.
Sarah didn't say a word while the rest of the Cliffhangers read their poems, including David's not-too-appropriate-limerick that earned him a week on kitchens when they got back.
At last, Sarah was the only person left to read her poem. "Sarah, you're the only one left," announced Peter. "Why don't you read us what you wrote?"
Sarah didn't stand. She flipped to the back of her notebook where she kept all of her poems and tried to find something appropriate to read. "I call this 'Wings of Madness,'" she said barely above a whisper.