*Screw you State of Michigan, I hate your test. Screw you high school for making me take it all week instead of just one day. Screw you freshmen, sophomores, and seniors for getting to sleep in. All right, now that I'm done ranting I feel better, and maybe, just maybe, I'll write a halfway decent chapter! One can dream.

~~~~~~ The Story ~~~~~~

Adrienne sat in Peter's office waiting to find out what her punishment was going to be. She had arrived back at Horizon in the dead of night with little fanfare. It was now a few minutes after noon, and Peter had just stepped out to deal with another student. Adrienne tried to soak up her last moments of freedom.

"Sorry about that," Peter apologized stepping back into the office.

"Not a problem," Adrienne replied honestly.

"Yes, where were we now? Oh, I believe I was lecturing on why we have rules," Peter said. "The rules are for your safety; it was safe to run at the hospital. What if something had happen to you? I'm responsible for every student at this school. What if all the students tried to run, what would we do then?"

"Put up a fence," she offered.

Peter ignored her and continued, "I have been thinking long and hard to come up with a punishment that would actually punish you. Since you have decided not to try to get know your fellow cliffhangers, I'm going to make you."

"You can't make me be friends with people," Adrienne told him.

"I can't? I was under the impression that I was the headmaster at this school," Peter said.

Adrienne sent him the glare of death with her eyes.

"You are going to be spending one week with each of the cliffhangers, you'll eat with them, sit by them in class, and do everything else with them. At the end of each week, I want a report on what you learned about the person you spent the week with. If I don't think you're trying, you'll start all over again until each week is done correctly. Any questions?"

"Do I have to shower with the other person?" she asked.

"No," Peter answered calmly. "Who should you start with? I'll go easy on you and pick someone I've seen you speaking to before."

"Not Auggie, not Auggie, not Auggie," Adrienne repeated in her head.

"Auggie, I'll let everyone know about it at group tonight," Peter explained. "You can go back to class now."

Adrienne stood up and walked out of the room, and she took her sweet time making her way back to class. Geometry wasn't her cup of tea; not that geometry is anyone's cup tea.

She sat through the rest of the class and even managed to finish a few proofs. The rest of the day went to quickly and soon it was time for group.

In the middle of group, Adrienne decided that Peter must be a masochist because he didn't say anything about Adrienne's punishment until the very end. When he did Adrienne zoned out and stared blankly at the floor; she didn't want to see or hear the others reactions.

"Hey, Buddy," Auggie said to her after words. "How did you get off so easy?"

"I wouldn't say this is going to be easy," Adrienne told him.

"Yeah, well, at least it isn't shuns," he stated.

"I would have rather been on shuns for the rest off my life," she said coolly as she walked away leaving Auggie behind her.

Adrienne awoke the next morning with a heavy cloud hanging over her head, and not the one looming off to the south of Horizon. She knew what today was; it was the start of her many weeks of budding around with people.

Later that day, Adrienne and Auggie are sitting together working on homework.

"Are you done yet?" Adrienne asked.

"Why? Do you have someplace to go?" he asked.

"No, but I'm bored," she replied. "How long is it going to take you to read that book? You've been at it for a half hour."

"Sorry, I'm dyslexic, and sometimes it takes me little while to work all the words out," Auggie explained.

"What does it look like when you see the words?" Adrienne asked.

"It depends, everything looks crazy, but other times just a few words a switched around," he told her.

"Does anything look strange now?" she asked.

"No, I have been on this page for awhile," Auggie said.

"Turn the page and tell me if anything looks weird," she instructed him.

"Are you making fun of me? he questioned.

"No, I'm just curious what you see? Adrienne elaborated.

"Here," he said grabbing a piece of paper and copied down what appeared to be a mess of letters.

"Wow," she responded, "that is bizarre."

"Yeah, whatever, it's almost time for dinner," Auggie stated.

"You aren't still mad at me for not wanting to go out with you are you?" Adrienne asked.

"Kind of, Juliette won't even talk to me anymore; everything I had with her is gone," Auggie explained.

"I'm sorry," she told him.

"Whatever, let's go eat," he said.

After dinner, they joined the other cliffhangers in the kitchen; it was their turn on dishes. Adrienne and Auggie had to work side by side, and Juliette wasn't taking this too well. Several times she "bumped" into Adrienne. This last time, Adrienne snapped.

"I don't want your boyfriend," Adrienne told her.

"You wouldn't would you, because he's not old enough for you," Shelby said stepping in.

"This has nothing to do with you," Adrienne told her.

"I don't care. You have been putting on a whole little sweet and innocent act since you got here, and I'm sick of it," Shelby said.

"Screw you," Adrienne yelled and stormed out of the kitchen.

"You shouldn't have said that, Shelby," Juliette said.

"I just had your back," Shelby explained.

"Is it that, or are you just afraid she'll make a move on your man?" Juliette questioned.

Shelby didn't answer, the other cliffhangers stood around in shock. None of them knew what to do.

"I'd better go find her," Auggie finally said. "Or Peter will go postal when he finds out we aren't together."

Auggie found Adrienne sitting in a bench.

"I can't do this anymore," she told him.

"Do what? He asked.

"I can't try to be nice to these people. I try, and they treat me like crap," Adrienne said.

"Were you really trying?" Auggie questioned.

"Peter, is that you?" Adrienne asked sarcastically.

"Really though, don't worry about them; they'll come around. You know why the girls treat you like that," he said.

"Because they're jealous," she told him.

"That and they don't understand you," Auggie said. "Come on, we'd better go back before we're missed."

They walked back to the kitchen together, side by side.

~~~~~~ That Night ~~~~~~

Peter walked up the stairs to the second floor of his house. As he passed his daughters' room, he couldn't help but go in. Leah was curled in a ball; her chest moved in and out slowly. Peter watched her for a few moments, and he moved across the room to Ivy's crib. She also slept quietly, deep in her REM cycle. He touched her forehead, and a smile formed with her lips.

Peter walked across the hall to his own room.

"Hey, you," Sophie said as Peter slipped into bed. "How was your day?" she asked.

"Interesting," he answered.

"That's good," she stated with a yawn. "Leah tried to walk today."

"She took her first step?" Peter questioned.

"No, she tried to step, but she fell over.

"What about Ivy?" he asked.

"She's fine, don't worry," Sophie said.

Peter was concerned something was wrong with Ivy. She seemed to be developing much slower than her sister was.

"Are you sure?" he asked.

Sophie was already asleep. Peter closed his eyes and drifted off a few moments later.

~~~~~~ At Horizon ~~~~~~

Adrienne sat on her bed trying to sort out today's events. She reached for a notebook and started to write about her day with Auggie. Somehow, she had to put everything together to write a paper. Adrienne recalled what Auggie had written for her earlier. If she wrote the whole paper like that she would risk having to repeat this week again, and that wouldn't do.