Adrienne looked out the window as the plane landed. It had been along time since she had been home. Case was waiting for her outside of the baggage claim.

"Hey," she greeted him with a smile.

Case gave her a hug, and they walked to the parking garage where Case had parked his car.

Once inside the car, Case said, "Rachel is coming with us to the funeral."

"You are such a jerk," Adrienne told him.

"Oh, so because you don't like her, she can't attend the funeral?" Case questioned.

"Yes," Adrienne answered.

"How is school?" Case asked changing the subject.

"Okay, I don't want to go back," she told him.

"You have to," he said.

"I don't have to do anything," Adrienne informed him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Meanwhile at Horizon ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"The sun is shining and the grass has never been greener," Scott announced to his fellow classmates.

"Yeah, you've been smoking something that is greener," Shelby teased.

"Thank you for your support, Shelby," he said.

"Anytime," she replied.

"Really, I think there is going to be a heat wave in February," Scott explained.

"Scott, didn't you get a D on your last science test?" Daisy asked.

"Yeah, so," he answered.

"The test was over metrology and weather patterns," Juliette reminded him.

"Oh, anyway, everyone come on outside," Scott told them.

"We have to study," someone complained.

"No, you don't, let's go," Scott said pulling Shelby off the floor.

The air was still cool but much warmer than the days past. Peter watched the group from a window wondering what they were up to. Everything seemed too perfect.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Back in Alabama ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Adrienne, when are you going to get over this?" Case asked.

The traffic was heavy, and Adrienne knew Case should have been paying attention his driving instead of her.

"I understand the age thing, but that wasn't the problem for the people here. They were horrified that Jacob Price's daughter could love a black man," she replied coolly.

"That isn't true," Case argued.

"It is and you know it," Adrienne explained.

"Adrienne," Case turned at looked at her, "I want you to get over Mr. Della, because I want us to be more than friends."

The words hit Adrienne by surprise maybe if he hadn't said this she would have been able to warn him sooner. By the time, she noticed the truck and screamed, it was too late.

Rachel was waiting on her front porch when the call came. Her mother opened the front door, and Rachel knew something was wrong.

"Rachel, honey, Case isn't coming to pick you up," her mother said barely able to get the words out.

"Why?" Rachel asked.

"There was an accident and." her mother's voice trailed off.

"What?" Rachel pleaded. "Case isn't dead is he? He can't be!"

"I sorry, he was gone before he even reached the hospital," her mother said.

"What about Adrienne?" Rachel asked tears were streaming down her face.

"She is alive, but it's bad," her mother explained.

"I need to talk to Adrienne," Rachel told her.

"I don't think it is a good time."

Rachel didn't let her finish, "Drive me to the hospital or I'm driving myself."

Rachel was alone in the room with Adrienne, or with the lump of charred flesh that used to be her best friend.

"Adrienne, I'm sorry if I hurt you. Please, get better I need to you," Rachel said.

The door creaked open, and Mr. Price and a doctor entered. Mr. Price didn't acknowledge Rachel, and she didn't care.

"Is she going to die?" Rachel asked.

Mr. Price couldn't look at Rachel, the doctor said, "Her burns are to sever. We can only make her comfortable for her last few hours."

Rachel only remembered feeling very dizzy. She woke up on the floor; the doctor was trying to examine her head.

"I'm fine," Rachel told him pulling away, "Fix her." She pointed to Adrienne.

Rachel sat on the floor watching various family members come and go. Bryce came and sat with her for a few moments until Eden found him and pulled him out of the room. Hours later, a group of people Rachel had never seen before entered the room.

One of the boys noticed her, and he asked, "Are you Rachel?"

She nodded, and he handed her an envelope. She stared blankly at him.

"Adrienne wrote that a week ago, I thought you might want to read it," he told her.

"Thanks, you're all from that school right?" she asked finding her voice.

"Yeah, I'm Auggie," he told her.

Each one them left one by one, and soon they were all gone except the man who had been with them.

"You're that Peter guy," Rachel said breaking the silence.

"Yes," he answered.

"Case told me about you. Thank you," Rachel told her.

"For what?" he asked.

"For helping when no one else would," Rachel explained.

"Adrienne helped me in her own way," Peter said.

"She helped everyone, and she didn't even want to." Rachel couldn't stop the tears.

At three o'clock in the morning, Adrienne left the world of flesh. In less than two months she had loved, lost and nearly found herself. As much as she wasn't liked at Horizon, the school seemed empty without her.

Peter was walking towards woods, when he noticed Auggie and Scott carrying rocks and setting them on the ground. Shelby and Natalie appeared a few moments later also carrying rocks.

"What are you doing?" Peter asked.

"Building a wall," Shelby explained.

"Not a tall one, not even a long, just one that you can cross over whenever you want," Scott elaborated.

Years later the small wall remained. Students smiled, cried, and thought things out next to that pile. A tradition began that you had to place a rock down every time you came to the wall. As the years past, no one knew how or why the wall had started, but everyone knew it was called Adrienne's Wall.

~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~

I surprised myself by ending the story like this, because I wasn't planning to end it at all. I'm not sure if or when I'll begin another Higherground story (I was thinking about having Rachel come to Horizon). I have a lot of work to do with my other stories (online and one I'm writing for a friend). It has been my pleasure sharing this story with you, and I'm looking forward to reading your reviews.

Kelly aka Banana Belle