Adrian Garret wandered in the wilderness that Horizon provided, sketchbook and pencil in hand. He had never before been exposed to such beautiful, preserved nature . Life wasn't always ugly, he had known all his life, but he had just believed it at that moment. He had wandered into a forest close to the school, but was careful not to venture so far that he wouldn't be capable of retracing his steps back. He sat down onto the forest floor, and sketched the scene before him. His sketch was a quick one, mostly scribbles, that amazingly formed together into a piece that captured the mood of the forest perfectly. He was meticulous with detail and in minutes he had produced an impressive piece of art.

Adrian rose from the earth floor and began to retrace his steps out of the forest when he caught a glimpse of a wildlife rustling in the foliage. He seated himself on the forest floor once more and, flipping to a fresh piece of paper, drew what he could see from the awkward point of view. He could only barely make out the shape of a red bird, fluttering its wings. The bird fluttered away in the blink of an eye, but he recollected what he had seen from memory and conveyed it onto his paper in a few quick strokes of his pencil. This was his idea of heaven- drawing from wildlife first-hand.

Adrian lingered on the forest floor some moments longer, dissecting the forest with his mind, seeing the strokes in his head to create a piece of art. He saw life a certain way.. saw the lines around objects, the strokes required to produce a masterpiece in his head. Truly, he was blessed with a gift. This gift was what kept his thoughts steered away from the cold, hard truth of reality. His mom was dead, and she had been the strongest person he had ever known. But she had always told his to pursue his dreams, to never give up on them like she had. He had no intention of not heeding her advice.

Adrian retraced his steps out of the forest and walked back to his dorm. He opened the door to find that the rest of the Cliffhanger boys were all there, lounging on their bunks. Scott was in the midst of packing his things for who knew what reason, going on about something to Auggie and Ezra.

"And so now he's making go on a buddy hike back with her!" Scott complained to them, incredulous.

"Weren't you the one to throw the first punch?" asked Ezra.

"You should have heard the trash this girl talked," he replied, still convinced the punishment was unjust.

"Hey newbie, where ya been?" Auggie asked Adrian as he entered the boy's dorm.

"Been sketching," he replied.

"Yeah?"

"This place has such amazing scenery, how could I not?" Adrian said, almost absently. Scott glanced from his packing to the newest Cliffhanger member.

"Yo meat, you sound serious," observed Auggie. "Can I see your stuff?"

Adrian shrugged and tossed his sketchbook lightly onto Auggie's bunk. Auggie picked it up and flipped through the pages.

"Hey, meat, this is real good," Auggie commented, glancing towards Adrian. "Scott, EZ, check this out."

Scott packed another item into his bag, and walked over to Auggie's bunk. "Whoa, shit," he commented, and returned to his bunk.

Adrian grinned despite himself.

"E-z, get over here!" Auggie called.





Shelby Merrick ambled back to her dorm, deep in thought. The sun set behind her, with the mountains in the distance. She approached her dorm, and let herself inside.

Daisy was in the midst of telling a captivated Juliette what the tarot cards had to say about her future. Shelby noticed Erika at her bunk, packing. She resisted the urge to strangle the girl right then, and walked towards her own bunk.

Shelby flopped onto her bunk, and laid there, absorbed in her thoughts, when Daisy's voice interrupted her thoughts.

"Shelby? I think there's something you should know," Daisy said, pointing to her tarot cards.

Shelby moved towards the edge of her bunk, and sat there, her feet dangling to the floor. "Okay, let's hear it," she said. She wasn't sure if she truly believed in what Daisy's tarot cards had to say, but it was interesting concept, for sure.

"Chariot," Daisy announced, pointing to the flipped card. "It means decisions are to be made, as the enquirer is being pulled in two different directions."

Shelby looked at Daisy skeptically. "Translation?" she said.

"I just read 'em. You're the one who will decipher the card's meaning."

"You know, that's really not much help."

"You should have heard the one I ended up with," commented Juliette, braiding her hair in her bunk.

"And what was it Queenie?"

"It was called 'temperament' or something or other."

"Temperance," Daisy corrected.

"Close enough," said Juliette. "Hey, Erika, what are you packing for? You're not trying to leave again are you?"

"I have no choice this time," Erika responded.

"Buddy hike back," Shelby explained to Juliette.

"How do you know that?" Erika questioned Shelby.

"Scott informed me."

"Yeah, I heard you guys are an item. Does he really like you, or is he just desperate?"

"Erika.." began Juliette.

"It's your fault he's in this mess," Shelby accused, and the two blonds confronted one another.

"Here we go again," muttered Daisy.

"Hey, listen," Erika said to Shelby. "I don't want to do this anymore than he does. I don't know what he told you, and I don't care."

Kat entered the dorm to the sound of Erika and Shelby arguing. "Guys, are you at it again? Give it a rest."

The two didn't register her voice, and Kat plopped onto Daisy's bunk beside her.

"What do they say?" she asked, referring to the tarot cards.

"Life is full of secrets, and twists that most people are oblivious to. Not me, I have them all right here in these cards. Of course, they don't all make sense at first glance, but that changes in time."

"What about Shelby and Erika? Think that'll change in time?" Kat said, glancing towards the two blonds.

"Right now, they're just experiencing shock."

"Shock?" Kat asked skeptically.

"From seeing so much of themselves so close," Daisy replied cryptically.

"Right, Dais," said Kat, not fully comprehending Daisy's words and putting a hand on her shoulder. She walked back to her own bunk and climbed into the blankets.

"Get to sleep already, guys!" said Kat. "I'm trying to sleep here."

"You two should really give it a rest," Juliette added, putting a hair elastic at the end of her braid. She climbed into her own bunk. "It's almost lights out."

Shelby and Erika went their separate ways to their bunks, and changed into their pyjamas. They crawled into their own beds.

As the lights dimmed, Erika remained awake. Her thoughts swirled to the events of the day and the more she thought, the more she regretted many of the actions she had taken. Her eyes drifted to the alarm clock of the dorm, neon red letters flickering in the darkness, a few minutes past 10pm. She could hear Kat's light snoring in the bunk beside hers. Erika stared at the ceiling. She was in for quite the adventure the next day, she knew. She didn't have all that much experience with the outdoors and was somewhat nervous, but at the same time excited with the challenge presented. She was somewhat of an adrenaline junkie.

Erika's rested her eyes closed, but she was still awake. A muffled awakening in the bunk across from hers alerted her senses. Shelby? What was she doing up? She watched as Shelby tiptoed across the dorm and grabbed her coat. She put it over her shoulders and slipped into her shoes. In the darkness, Erika sat up in her bunk, quietly so as not to alert Shelby of her being awake. She watched as Shelby quietly slipped out of the dorm. Erika rose from her bed, confounded. Where was Shelby heading at this time? Erika approached the nearest window, and glanced outside. Shelby walked towards the docks, and a tall figure awaited her there. Scott, no doubt, Erika thought. Erika absorbed this new piece of information and returned to her bunk.