New Kid at Horizon, pt 2 DISCLAIMER: I don't own any characters, only Sydney

carlie - yes, Scott and Shelby are together, but these aren't focusing on them right now. In later eps, I'll write about them.

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Sophie returned to the room. "Girls, you guys have therapy in here tonight. Peter isn't feeling very well and I have to go into town for a few things. Can I trust you to do it?"

"Yes, Sophie. We'll do it," Juliette said.

"Good. Goodnight, girls," Sophie said and then left.

"I really am sorry, you guys," Shelby said.

"What got into you, Shel?" Kat asked.

"I don't know," she said, sitting on the bed.

"Having problems with Scott?" Daisy asked. Shelby nodded.

"I don't know. He just seems so distant lately. He doesn't want to talk or anything. He just wants to hang with Auggie and Freakin."

"Sorry, Shel. He'll bounce back. He always does."

"Don't worry, Shelby. Auggie's acting the same way," Juliette said. It was silent for a few minutes. Sydney began to unpack the rest of her things.

"Well, lets get ready for bed and we can do therapy," Kat said.

The others agreed. An hour later, Sydney was unpacked and they were gathered on two of the beds. Kat and Daisy had talked at dinner after Juliette and Sydney left, trying to figure out how they could get her to talk. They came up with therapy in the dorm, so Sydney could get to know her roommates better.

"Okay...how do we start?" Daisy asked.

"We talk about how we feel. Hope we can figure out our problems," Shelby said in her sarcastic voice.

"Okay, I'll go first," Kat said.

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"So, it seems to me that we all have some sort of problem with our parents," Juliette commented. "What about you, Sydney? What are your parents like?" Without warning, Sydney burst into tears.

"Way to go, Princess," Shelby said.

"What is it, whats wrong?" Kat asked.

"I HATE my life!" Sydney burst.

"Why?"

"Its so screwed up. My parents were so screwed up!"

"Well, do you want to tell us?" Juliette asked. Sydney looked around, and saw that the four girls were truly concerned. She took a deep breath.

"Okay. It sounds really crazy, but its true. My parents always expected too much of me. I had to have 95 or higher in all my classes, and if I didn't, my dad would beat me. If my mom interferred, my dad would beat her, too. Then my mom began to blame me and say it was my fault. In 9th grade, it was particularly hard for me in science. I really didn't do well in science, but I managed to pull off an A, at least the first six weeks. Then I began to get low Bs, and that really ticked my dad off. I couldn't get higher than an 85 in science, no matter how much I studied or tried. At the end of my freshman year, my mom threatened that she would kill herself if I didn't have all As on my final report card. I tried so hard to do that, but I couldn't. The last 6 weeks was so hard in science and algebra, and I made a 78 in both. I didn't really expect my mom to carry out her threat, but she did. My dad really began to hate me, and he beat me whenever he felt like it. Finally, I ran away to my friend's house and they called a child protection agency. I stayed in two foster homes over the past four months. They ignored me, and my grades slipped, I got into fights at school, I did drugs, I cut myself...finally my social worker packed me up and brought me here," Sydney finished. The other girls just stared at her, speechless.

"So that was your social worker who brought you here today?" Kat asked. Sydney nodded.

"What about your dad, did he get locked up?" Shelby asked.

"No, he died in a drunk driving accident two months ago."

"Gee, I'm really sorry, Sydney," Daisy said. Sydney wiped her eyes and tried to smile. "But why didn't you want to talk?"

"I was so scared. I was afraid I would be ignored, just like I was at my foster homes and at school. I was a nobody there, and I was afraid I would be a nobody here. I haven't really talked at all for the past few months, because the people I tried to talk to just didn't care. I guess I thought you guys wouldn't care."

"But we do. See, we're all screwed up somehow, and the only way we can get through the hard times is to talk about it," Kat said. Sydney nodded. She felt better being able to talk about it, although she felt strange for bearing her soul to people she had just met.



I don't know whats going to happen next, I'll think of something. Please review!