ttac1 Kristy and Shelby walked out of the lodge after a particularly uneventful group session. "I don't understand why they subject us to that every other night," Kristy complained.
"Tonight was more for Ezra and Juliet. Just wait until it actually applies to you," Shelby said knowingly. "Aren't you doing something with Scott tonight?"
Kristy shook her head, "No we're kind of taking the night off."
Shelby teased her, "Oh how cute. Will you be able to stand it?"
"Of course I will. My mom sent me a stack of magazines yesterday. Let's just sit around and read them."
Shelby agreed, "Sounds fine, as long as you don't mind listening to Daisy bitch and moan every time she turns the page."
"I'll plug my ears," they walked inside their dorm and Kristy grabbed the magazines off her desk. Juliet practically danced with joy when Kristy handed her one of them.

~

Kristy -- Dec 10 01 -- … Going out with Scott is less stressful that I expected. I realize now that I had blown it all out of proportion in my head. Of course I'm still getting used to all of this and I can see that he gets annoyed when I don't feel like playing emotional show and tell but he understands and he knows that I'll tell him things eventually …


~

Kristy shivered and held Scott's hand a little tighter, "Are you going to tell me why we're outside?"
"We won't be for long," Scott led her down the path to the lake. When they got there he picked the lock on the shed and pulled her inside. "It'll be a little warmer in here."
"That's what you think," she pulled off her jacket and he did the same. "Are you sure we'll be okay here? I mean, we won't get caught?"
Scott shook his head, "Nope. We'll be fine." He smiled at her and shuffled his feet.
Kristy giggled, "Oh I see what this is about now."
"What are you talking about?" he was playing innocent. "I just thought we needed a little change of scenery."
"Of course you did," Kristy took a step towards him and put her arms around his neck. He bent his head to kiss her but she turned away and all he got was a cheek. "Did you bring me here to see the watercraft equipment, or to make out?"
"I wanted to show you the life jackets," he replied jokingly.
"Okay, just checking," the next time she let him kiss her on the lips. Kristy was pressed up close against Scott, it was times like this that he didn't mind his girlfriend having a shady past. He didn't like to think about it too much though.
That had been the problem with Shelby, she wasn't always in to the physical stuff when they were together. Scott always had to initiate things. When he was with Juliet, it was absolutely out of the question. She would giggle if he even put his arm around her. And let's just say the girls he had been involved with before Horizon were not afraid of a little one on one.
Scott reminded himself that he shouldn't be thinking about his ex-girlfriends while he was making out with his new one. He moved his hand underneath her shirt and rubbed her lower back. "See we can't do this in the study hall."
"What exactly are we doing though?" she asked quietly.
"What ever you want to," he replied. She nodded her head and rubbed up against him as they kissed. Just as she was reaching for his belt buckle someone started banging on the door, they both jumped apart and started adjusting their clothes.
"I don't care what you're doing in there, open up?" Shelby called from outside before knocking loudly on the door again. "Come on I'm freezing my ass off out here."
Kristy breathed a sigh of relief that it was Shelby and not a counselor, or ever worse Peter or Sophie, as she opened the door. "Oh it's you two!" Shelby said as she rushed inside.
"Did anyone ever tell you, you've got great timing?" Scott asked, annoyed.
"All the time," Shelby smiled at him. "Sorry to interrupt, whatever it is I interrupted but I really needed a smoke." Shelby walked over to the rack of life jackets and pulled a pack of cigarettes out of the pocket of a dark blue one. "Any takers?" she asked as she fumbled with a plastic lighter.
"No thanks," Scott answered. "I'm going to get out of here."
"See you at breakfast Shel," Kristy rushed out. She caught up to Scott, "Are you okay?"
He kept his eyes on the path, "Sure. Are you?"
She walked a little quicker to keep up with him, "I'm fine, but you seem mad."
"I'm not," he smiled reassuringly and grabbed her hand. "We were pushing our luck anyway."

~

Scott -- 12 dec, 2001 -- . . . So it seemed like a good idea at the time, taking Kristy to the waterfront shed. We never get any time alone together and I was just aching for it. Things were progressing a little quickly. As much as I'm disappointed that Shelby showed up when she did, I'm also relieved. I keep hearing Peter's voice, ringing in my ears, "Take it slow." Damn . . .

~

"So you're smoking again?" Scott said quietly to Shelby as they walked towards the dining hall at lunchtime.
"So you're boinking Kristy?" she shot back.
He caught her by the arm, "Don't piss me off just to avoid an uncomfortable topic."
Shelby smirked at him, "What exactly did I walk in on this morning Scott? Were you two about to break the inappropriate touching rule?"
"I don't kiss and tell."
"I should hope not," Shelby told him. "Don't hurt her Scott."
He looked confused, "I'm not going to. And don't think I didn't notice that you changed the subject. When did you start smoking again Shel?"
"The day my mom called to tell me the big Christmas plans," she muttered.
Scott understood immediately, she was anxious about going home for an extended period of time. Same thing happened every year, "Everyone's freaking out a little. What are you scared of? Walt's not there anymore."
"He might not be there, but everything in that house reminds me of it. I slept on the couch in the living room last time I visited because I'm afraid of my room. My mom is so, hurt, after everything that's happened. She can barely look me in the eye. I've had some time to deal with it. It's a fresh wound for her."
They made it to the cafeteria and got in line behind Kristy. "I'm going to eat with Shelby okay?" he whispered. "She's in a talking mood." Kristy nodded her head, reading between the lines, she went to eat with the rest of the Cliffhangers.
"It's so awkward going there," Shelby continued when she and Scott were eating at a table in one of the corners. "My mom doesn't know what to say to Jess or I, there's almost no talking."
"Why don't you sit down and try to talk to her about it?" Scott asked.
Shelby shook her head, "She won't, I tried before. She says she won't ruin our time together by talking about 'unpleasant' things like that."
Scott's fork hovered over his plate, "Maybe you shouldn't go."
"No I should go, at least for Jess. It's only a week and we're staying at my grandmother's the whole time. It won't be that bad."

~

Shelby -- dec/14/01 -- . . . The thing is that I know I have to go back there. My mom would be upset if I didn't at least show up. And Jess tells me every chance she gets that she misses me. It's just that my mom is still stunned by everything that happened and going to visit them is like living it all over again . . .

~

Peter sighed and rested his elbows on his desk, "I hate the holidays."
Shelby was perched on the side of the desk, "If I didn't know any better I'd say you're more stressed out than some of the kids are."
"I just might be." He raised his head, "This is the worst time of year. It's not like there's only one going home. It's most of them. Every one is worried, so the whole place is electric. Half of them are being forced to visit their parents and…"
"And?" she prodded him.
"There's always the chance that they'll mess up and revert to their old ways. It's too much pressure, for them and for me. I spend pretty much all of December worrying and then, January I have to pick up the pieces. The holidays set us back every year."
"It'll be fine Peter," she rubbed his back. "They're another year older, they can handle. You wouldn't let any one of them leave if they weren't ready for it."
"Sometimes I don't have a choice."

~

Juliet -- December 18, 2001 -- . . . I'm a little concerned about going home fore Christmas because I haven't really had a chance to get to know stepfather number five. And apparently this one comes with a few stepsiblings too. Whoopee. This is sure to be an interesting visit . . .

Daisy -- dec, 20, 2001 -- . . . I just remembered why I don't like the holidays. Things may be getting a little better between my dad and I, but it's still going to be difficult. My parents drank a lot around the holidays, so besides the fact that it's the first Christmas with out mom, my dad will probably be dying for a sip . . .

Auggie – DEC, 21, 2001 -- . . . I might just be the only Cliffhanger that isn't freakin' out about going home for Christmas. I think I've got the whole family deal pretty much nailed down. There won't be any drama. Just my mom trying to feed me constantly and then of course her crying her eyes out when I have to leave again . . .


~

"You can always tell when Christmas is approaching," Ezra smirked as the Cliffhangers followed him out of the lodge and down the path. "Group is so much more lively." Auggie snickered and threw a snowball at him. Ezra wiped the snow off his jacket, "Apparently so is the time in between sessions."
Pretty soon it was a full-fledged snowball fight.
Peter and Sophie watched from the porch. "Do you want to break it up?" Peter asked.
"No," Sophie smiled. "They need a little time to unwind. Most of them are leaving tomorrow. Besides they're not breaking any rules. Let them have their fun."
"All right. Let them know they've got an hour until lights out," he went back inside. Sophie warned the group and went inside as well.
Ezra and David were having a little war of their own on the snow covered basketball courts. Of course Ezra wasn't doing very well but he refused to give up. The others were goofing around, playing for fun.
Kristy jumped up on Scott's back and rubbed some snow in to his hair. He laughed at her and pushed her backwards. Kristy fell down, but Scott helped her get up, "Let's get out of here." She only nodded at him. They slipped away and walked towards the waterfront shed.

~

Kristy – Dec 21 01 -- … Scott and I snuck off to look at the canoes tonight, at least that's what I'm going to call it in case anyone reads this. It's like the only place we can be alone here. Nothing much happened, a little more than before though. Just a little send off since he's leaving tomorrow. We said our goodbyes. I can't believe that I'll be here alone with out him and Shelby …

~

Kristy held Scott's hand tightly as they walked towards the parking lot. He put his suitcase with everyone else's in the back of the Horizon mini-van. The other Cliffhangers were milling around waiting for Peter to finish whatever he was doing in his office.
"You know there's still time to fake sick," Kristy joked.
Scott laughed, "You want to hop in my bag?"
"Don't tempt me. I'm pretty sure that Peter would notice," she replied sullenly. "Did you know only seven kids are staying. And three out of the seven have parents coming to visit. I have to stay in the Ridge Runners dorm with Amy the gambling addict. She'll probably want to bet on which of us will fall asleep fastest."
"Maybe you can make some money."
"If I want money, I'll just sell all the stuff my mom sends me." She could probably make a small fortune that way. Her mother had sent her a gift every day for the last week. Just that morning a big box had arrived from FedEx.
Peter jogged down the steps of the lodge, "Okay you guys. Let's get this show on the road."
Kristy got a panicked look on her face. "I'll be back before you know it," Scott smiled at her. "I get back Boxing day."
"Okay." They hugged quickly and Scott kissed her on the forehead since Peter was around. "You better go," Kristy told him. He climbed in to the back seat beside Shelby. Kristy waved and walked towards the lodge rather than waiting around to watch the car leave.