Disclaimer: I do not own any Higher Ground characters. But I made up Janey and Keith.

Jabbing her pencil lead triumphantly at the geometric proof, Daisy smirked at Ezra. "And that is the answer!"

"I see," Ezra said slowly. He really understood every bit of math that had been taught earlier that morning, but he just couldn't pass up an opportunity to be tutored by Daisy.

"So you get it now?" she asked.

"Yup," he replied, looking at her rather than the paper. "Sure do."

"Good," she said.

"I was also kinda wondering—"

Ezra was cut off as Auggie, Juliette, and Keith came over. He leaned back, frustrated.

"Hey Ezra, Daisy!" Juliette said cheerfully. "This is Keith. He's the new kid."

"Ah, the infamous 'new kid,'" Daisy said, giving him a practiced once-over. Keith watched her nervously. Daisy's once-overs were apt to make people nervous.

Ezra stood and offered his hand. Keith shook it. "Good to meet you," Ezra said politely. He sensed Keith's timidity.

"You too," Keith muttered, his eyes trained fearfully on Daisy.

"Yo, man, she don't bite." Auggie chuckled. Keith looked away, instantly ashamed of himself. He mentally kicked himself for being so shy.

"Did I frighten you?" Daisy asked, looking amused.

"No," Keith answered quickly.

"Rumor's going around that you're gettin' a visitor," Auggie said to Daisy, changing the subject.

"My, good news travels fast," Daisy said brightly. "And bad news travels faster."

"Your dad?" Juliette asked.

"Yep," Daisy replied. "Dear old Dad. Supposedly, a visit from the man who has no inkling of fatherly emotions will awaken a fervor of healing in me."

Keith winced at that. It sounded like she hated her father. And judging from the sympathetic, understanding looks that others were giving her, they had problematic parents too. His mother had been wrong: he wouldn't fit in here. He wasn't on drugs, didn't hate his parents with a passion. He didn't belong here.

Auggie had an eye on Keith and saw the flash of frustration in his expression. "Come on, man. I'll show you the dorms."

Keith nodded his consent. Juliette patted Auggie's shoulder. "I'll hang out here for a bit," she said.

"Okay," Auggie agreed, hoisting two of Keith's bags. Keith grabbed the last and followed Auggie out of the lodge.

Juliette collapsed into a chair across from Ezra and next to Daisy. The latter two looked at her expectantly.

"He's kinda weird," Juliette said, a thoughtful expression clouding her typically cheerful features.

"Really shy," Ezra added.

"There's a strange aura around that one, indeed," Daisy intoned. "I'll have to read in on him."

Juliette rolled her eyes, and Ezra gazed at Daisy patronizingly.

Dropping the bags on the floor, Auggie gestured broadly at the dorm room.

"This is it, man. Home sweet home." He flopped onto his bed. Keith watched him. "Get used to it. People who come here tend to stick around for a while."

Keith sat gingerly on the edge of the only empty bed. This Auggie person seemed nice enough.

"Who was that girl in Peter's office?" he asked, then wished he hadn't.

"Name's Janey," Auggie replied. He looked at Keith suspiciously. "Why?"

"Just curious," Keith said hastily.

Auggie's hard features softened slightly. "I saw you makin' eyes at Shelby. Scott don't take too well with people messin' with his girl."

"I wasn't," Keith protested, but he knew he was cornered.

"Just letting you know," Auggie said, throwing his hands up.

To change the subject, Keith said, "Did I meet everyone?"

"Almost," Auggie said. He made a face. "There's still David."

"David?" Keith asked. "What's wrong with him?"

"Most annoying pain in the butt you'll ever meet," Auggie said, raising his eyebrows.

Keith laughed briefly. He hoped that he sounded normal.

But Auggie was looking at him with obvious curiosity. "You're pretty cool for a newbie," he said slowly. "You know, most new kids don't talk, or maybe they flip out."

Keith snorted softly. "I don't belong here," he said, more to himself than to Auggie.

"That's what they all say." Auggie laughed genially. "We all got our own problems. We all got some reason for belongin' here. I'm sure you're not that far off, man."

Turning away, looking instead at the wall, Keith wondered why Auggie was in here. But he was not about to ask. As nice as he sounded, Auggie looked tough. Keith wasn't going to challenge that. But the silence between them thickened to a point of awkwardness, and before he knew it, he'd asked.

"Why are you here?"

Auggie looked slightly surprised. "I'll tell you, but you gotta tell me why you're here," he said, his own curiosity growing.

"I don't know why I'm here," Keith insisted.

"That's not gonna get you far with Peter," Auggie warned. "He always wants specifics. You don't know specifics, he wants your opinion."

Keith lay back on his bed uncomfortably. Auggie watched him for a few more minutes before shrugging and rising. "I'll be in the main lodge if you need anything," he said. Maybe Keith just needed some time alone. "Feel free to join us all."

Auggie left the room, and Keith rolled onto his stomach, burying his face in his pillow. He didn't cry, didn't sleep, but he lay there.

About a half-hour later, he heard footsteps, then a yell of faked, over-exaggerated enthusiasm. Keith looked up to see a dark-haired boy of seventeen jumping on a bed nearby his. Scott, the same blond boy from before, had also entered and was sitting on the bed directly across from Keith's, watching the dark-haired boy's antics with mild amusement.

Keith got up quickly and moved to the side of the dark-haired kid's bed. He caught the older boy's wrist, arresting the jumping action. The dark-haired boy jerked himself away, looking at Keith as if he were some kind of creep.

"I don't like to be touched," he said in a clipped tone.

"I didn't mean to scare you," Keith said soothingly. "I just didn't want you to hurt yourself."

"Yo," Scott said, rising and facing off against Keith. The teens were nearly the same height, but at 6'2, Scott had about two inches on the younger boy. "He's not a retard."

Keith's face tightened into one of fury. "Don't you ever say that!"

"What?" Scott asked, smirking. "Retard? Why? Are you one?" His sardonic smile vanished, and he looked angry. "I saw you lookin' at Shelby. Don't even think about it, retard."

"Shut up!" Keith yelled.

He launched himself at Scott, punching the taller boy in the face, knocking him to the ground. Keith dropped onto him and threw punch after punch at his face. Scott, regaining his senses after the initial surprise, pushed back. They rolled on the floor, taking turns having the upper hand.

The dark-haired boy sat on the foot of his bed, watching in silence, but grinning away.

Barely a few minutes after the fight started, Peter, who seemed to have a built-in radar for fights, barged into the dorm, followed by Sophie and Roger. Peter lifted Keith off of Scott and thrust him at Roger, who pulled him back, wrapping his burly arms around Keith from behind in a sort of restraining hug. Keith struggled for a moment, then realized what was happening and fell limp. Peter caught Scott by both of his shoulders, forcing the boy to look him in the eyes. Scott was bleeding lightly from the mouth. Sophie gave him a tissue. Roger had handed Keith a tissue for his bloody nose, and the younger boy had an arm curled tightly against his sore stomach, where Scott had gotten in several successive punches.

"What's goin' on, Scott?" Peter demanded furiously, meeting Scott's angry eyes with his own. Then, as though he realized now wasn't the best time, he set Scott firmly down onto his bed and turned to the dark-haired teen. "David, out."

Keith realized that this must be David, the one he had been warned against. David went out reluctantly, sorry to be missing the fireworks.

"Keith, take a seat," Peter said, gesturing at the bed directly across from Scott's. Roger released him, and Keith sat down nervously. His parents would kill him if he got kicked out of a school for rejects, he thought miserably.

"It wasn't my fault—" Scott began quickly.

Peter made a brief gesture with his hand, and Scott was instantly silenced. Keith looked down and blinked rapidly, holding back tears, much to his embarrassment.

"Scott." Peter sighed, calming himself before continuing. "How many fights in the last week? At least three."

"I didn't do anything!" Scott exclaimed. "Not this time!"

Peter threw a thumb in Keith's direction, indicating the new teen's bloodied nose and sore stomach. "Nothing, Scott?" He stood up and paced. "Am I not getting through to you? KP, laps, extra chores, discussions…What does it take?"

Scott rocked back and forth furiously, clutching the tissue to his lip. Keith felt increasingly guilty. After all, he had initiated the fight, he had thrown the first punch. It didn't excuse what Scott had said, but…

"I started it," Keith said slowly. "I hit him first."

Peter whirled on him. But Keith looked so despondent and meek that he softened. "Why?"

Keith shrugged. He knew better than to rat someone else out.

"Scott?" Peter asked. "What did you say?"

"Why do you always assume—" Scott began indignantly.

"Scott." Scott knew that Peter meant business, and he knew from experience not to mess with him when he was in this particular kind of mood.

"I called him a retard," Scott admitted. "I didn't mean it."

"That made you angry?" Peter asked Keith, feeling more in control of the situation.

"Yeah," Keith said quietly.

"Tell him why," Peter prodded.

Keith's eyes flashed as he glanced at Scott. "Don't ever say that. You don't understand what it means. You're misusing it. A retard is someone who is mentally retarded. It is not a word to be tossed around lightly—and especially not as an insult. To do that is rude and disrespectful. It's just mean. When you just call someone a retard like that, you're insulting people who are actually medically diagnosed as retarded."

Scott looked adequately chastened. Peter nodded, noting that Keith had a tendency to have sudden flashes of anger, then long periods of sheepish calm.

"Scott, you've got shuns for a week," Peter said finally.

"What!?" Scott yelled, outraged.

"You heard me." Peter raised his eyebrows. "Third fight? What do you want me to do?"

Sophie moved forward. "Come with me." Scott stood up slowly, taking his time, and slinked out of the cabin behind Sophie. Roger nodded to Peter and followed them in case Scott's temper flared again and Sophie needed backup.

Keith dropped his spent tissue on the bed; his nose had stopped bleeding. He stretched his back slightly, feeling the dull pain in his stomach. Peter sat at the foot of Scott's vacated bed, across from Keith.

"Keith, I don't know what you've come here thinking," he said. "But at Horizon, we solve problems with words, not fists. I'd advise you not to test me on this one."

"I'm sorry," Keith muttered. He looked down, feeling the tears rising back up. He gritted his teeth and swore that Peter wouldn't see them.

Peter tried unsuccessfully to catch Keith's eyes. "You wanna talk?" he asked. "Maybe about why you're here?"

"I don't know."

"You don't know if you want to talk?"

"No," Keith said. "I don't know why I'm here. I shouldn't be."

"Why's that?" Peter asked.

"Because I don't belong here," Keith answered.

"Why do you think that?" Peter asked. "Somebody obviously thought you should be here. Why don't you think so?"

"I'm not on drugs," Keith said, sniffing once. "I don't hate my parents. I didn't commit some crime. I don't have a police record."

"Then why do you think you ended up here?"

"I don't know," Keith repeated.

"What's your opinion?" Peter asked, just as Auggie had predicted. "I don't care about facts or evidence. Why do you think you're here?"

"I don't know," Keith repeated again.

"You need to think about it," Peter said. "I want five hundred words by tomorrow. Either on the justifications of the rules and regulations of Horizon, or…why you're here." He started out, then paused. "And Keith? Stay out of fights. Next time, I won't go so easy on you." With that, he left.

Keith curled up on his bed, once again burying his head in his pillow, this time with increased misery. Since he'd arrived, he'd fallen in love, made two enemies (he worried that David hated him as well as Scott), gotten into a fight, and been bawled out by the school's head honcho. Quite a start to a new experience.