Author's Note: This is one long chapter! I hope you enjoy it! But anyways, this chapter is pretty important, especially the S&S conversation (so pay attention!), which comes into play for the entire duration of the rest of the story. What's coming is a mix of Moulin Rouge (minus the singing) and The Replacements (if you can believe it!). Can you figure it out? Ah, the wonderful world of writing. But it's going to be crazy, I can assure you of that. Btw- Erika WILL be back for more, and that's all I'll say about that for now, so don't get detached from her just yet! Thanks~ Jazz







Days have since passed.... days uneventful and long.

Juliette sat on the edge of her bunk, her bags packed beside her. She looked around, preserving what memories she could of the place that had become her home. Yeah, she was only visiting home for a weekend, but she would definitely miss it.

Juliette sighed in happiness. She loved her mom, even though her relationship with her was somewhat out of the ordinary. That she would live in civilization for some time blew her mind, after becoming so accustomed to Horizon. She laid down on her bunk. "I'm actually getting out of here!" she squealed, almost to herself.

Kat smiled. "I'm happy for you Jules," she said.

"I'm happy for me," Shelby said cynically.

"No one asked you, Shelby," Juliette said, adamant that Shelby wouldn't ruin her final moments here.

"Just get out of here."

Juliette bounded off her bunk. "Not before I say goodbye! Kat give me a hug," she said, bouncing over to Kat and putting her arms around her. Next to Kat was Daisy, and Juliette turned to her also. That she wasn't particularly close with Daisy didn't matter to her. She wanted to assure that she had thoroughly said her goodbyes. "Daisy, you too," Juliette instructed, and Daisy reluctantly gave in. Juliette turned around. "Amber?" she asked uncertainly. "Want a hug before I go?"

"I'll pass," was the curt reply.

"Alright," Juliette assessed. "Well goodbye everyone!" she squealed, waving her arms. "I'm going to miss.. Most of you." Juliette then focussed her attention to Shelby, lounging on her bunk reading a magazine. Juliette smirked, knowing exactly what would evoke a strong reaction out of her fellow Cliffhanger. "C'mon Shelby," Juliette said smiling. "I need a hug."

Shelby looked at Juliette like she was crazy. "No, you don't."

Juliette stood over Shelby. "Yes, I do," she insisted, smiling broadly. Juliette subsequently threw her arms around Shelby, to Shelby's amazement and bewilderment.

"Stop strangling me," Shelby said, prying Juliette's arms off of her. "Get out of here."

Juliette grinned in satisfaction. "Haha! I got a hug out of Shelby!"

"And it'll haunt me for the rest of my life," Shelby muttered.

Juliette giggled despite herself. "Well, now I gotta say goodbye to the guys! And especially Auggie. I'm going to miss him so much!"

Shelby looked at Juliette, irritated. "Are you gonna keep talking, or are you going to get out of here?" she questioned.

Juliette grabbed her bags and headed towards the dorm room door. "Bye guys! I'll miss you!"

"Bye Jules!" Kat called after her.

Juliette found the Cliffhanger boys, to none of her surprise at the basketball court, engaged in an intense match against another group. She set her belongings down on the sidelines and sat to watch for a few moments.

Scott had caught the ball, and dribbled it easily down to the other end of the court, the other team frustrated with their fierce opponents. Scott passed the ball to Auggie, who took a shot for the net at the three-point line.

When she saw that the ball had flown into the net, she cheered on her beau. "Yeah Auggie!" she squealed.

Noticing her presence, Auggie jogged over to her. The game was on hold. He subsequently noticed her bags, and realized that she was going. "Where do ya think you're going, twig?" he asked affectionately.

She grinned broadly. "Home! Give me a hug!"

"Alright," he said and put her arms around her. "Bye Jules."

"Bye Aug, I'll miss ya!"

"Hey, are ya cool with going home?" he asked suddenly, knowing her issues with her mom.

"Yeah, I miss everyone back home!" she replied. "But I'm going to miss you even more!"

"Not as much as I'm gonna miss you!" he smiled. "Have fun, twig."

"Thanks Aug!" Juliette turned to Scott, who stood nearby. "Scott, give me a hug!" she ordered.

"You going home?" he asked as they hugged.

"Yup!"

"Well enjoy it for all of us," he said.

"I will!"

"See ya Juliette."

"Bye Scott! Ezra you too!"

Ezra sped over to her."Alrighty," he said. She gave him a hug, and they said their goodbyes.

Seeing Adrian on the court also, she called to him. "Adrian get over here and give me a hug!" she demanded.

He made his way over to her, and gave her a farewell hug. "Bye Juliette," he said.

"Bye," she replied, and he went back onto the court, taking his place as the play began once more. Seeing that she had hugged everyone and that the game back in process, she said one final goodbye. "Bye everyone!" she squealed.

Juliette subsequently made her way to Peter's office.

Opening the door, she immediately greeted her headmaster, who was seated behind his desk. "Hi Peter!" she said.

"Juliette," he returned, rising from his seat. "You got your bags?"

"Yep!" she assured him, raising her duffle bags.

"Your mom is about to pull up any minute," he informed her.

"I know!"

"Are you ready for this?" Peter questioned seriously.

"I know I am," she assured.

"You have tools you never had before," Peter stated. "Be sure to use them."

"I will!"

Seeing the jaguar pull up through his office window, Peter turned to his student one final time before her departure. "Good luck," he said.

Juliette rushed to her mom outside. "Hi mom!" she greeted, putting her arms around her impulsively.

"Hello Juliette," her mom said delicately, patting her daughter's back. She turned to the man who stood beside her. "This is Andrew," she introduced.

"Nice to meet you!" Juliette squealed, shaking his hand.

He smiled charismatically. "The pleasure is mine."

"Well, let's head home, shall we?" Juliette's mom said, twirling her car keys.

"Yes!" Juliette squealed.

Juliette watched as her mom twisted the key to her front door. She couldn't believe how excited she was to merely see her house. The door swung open. Inside, it was exactly as she had pictured it, preserved by memory. She entered her home, and removed her shoes. She slid her socked feet against the impeccably clean, smooth surface of the hardwood floor. Her eyes glanced upwards, remembering the chandelier that hung above her, encrusted with crystals.

"This is so surreal," she remarked.

"I'm glad to have you home, Juliette," her mom stated. "It has changed since you were last here, certainly, but for the better."

It didn't take long to notice the 'changes' of which her mom spoke. The halls were not the olive colour she had remembered them to be. It was now a more tasteful beige. She noticed that it had been refurnished, with new pieces of furniture, and unfamiliar paintings hanging on the walls.

"I'm going to check on my room," Juliette informed her mom. She danced up the spiralling hardwood stairs to the 2nd floor of her house, or rather, her mansion.

Juliette found the door to her room, and opened it cautiously. It was untouched from since she had last been there. She slid her feet across the smooth floor to her bed, perfectly made. She sat down at the edge of it, awkwardly. Recollecting, she reached under the covers, and slid her arm under the fringed, decorative pillow. Her hand enclosed a familiar little container, and she closed her eyes. Despite her will, she removed it from under the pillow.

"I never wanted to see these again," she said to herself. She looked at them indecisively. What to do with the diet pills, once her prized possessions. She gingerly put them back under the pillow.

Juliette took a good, hard look around her. The last time she had been here, she had been sick, both physically and mentally ill. Her eye caught sight of the cordless telephone, and she bounded towards it.

She knew which number she wanted to dial, but couldn't remember it. She reached for her personal telephone directory, which was nearby. Once she found the number she was searching for, she dialled it, and put the phone to her ear. She grinned, biting her bottom lip to control her excitement.

"Hello, can I please speak to Leigh?"

"Who is this?"

"Juliette Waybourne!"

"One moment please."

"Hello?"

"Hey, Leigh! It's Juliette!"

"Waybourne?"

"Yeah!"

"Oh hi! Where have you been? No one could figure it out! You just, like, disappeared! We thought you had been like, shipped off to boarding school or something!"

"Oh, well it's a long story!"

"Well, I have some time on my hands. Meet me at the forest park in a few minutes and you can tell me all about it!"

"Alright! See ya there!"

Juliette hung up the phone grinning- and bolted out of the door.



"My mom shipped me off to this school in the middle of no where!" Juliette explained. She and Leah had met at a nearby park, a place they both knew well, and were seated on the grassy field.

"Whoa, why?" Leah asked. She brushed her long, straight auburn hair out of her eyes, and returned her green eyes to the friend she hadn't seen or heard from in countless months.

"She found out about the diet pills and laxatives and everything and decided she couldn't handle me anymore, or something, I don't know," Juliette said.

"Oh, that sucks!" Leah remarked.

"Yeah," Juliette agreed. "But aside from the rules and the fact that there is like no civilization there, it's actually not that bad! I made some really good friends!"

"So what kind of people go there?" Leah wondered idly. "Like delinquents and druggies?"

"You know, just like people who got their lives mixed and messed up."

Leah smiled mischievously. "I bet there's some hot guys there too, huh?"

Juliette grinned despite herself. "Yeah. Here, I even have a picture." Juliette reached into a pocket in her jeans, and removed a camp photo. "This is my group. We're called the Cliffhangers."

Leah examined the photo. "Wow. Who's that?" she asked, pointing to a particular someone.

"Oh, that's Scott."

"Hottie," Leah assessed.

"Yeah," Juliette agreed. "I went out with him when he first arrived. Then we broke up. See that guy?" she asked, pointing to another person in the photo.

"Him?"

"Yeah. That's Auggie. He's my boyfriend and my best friend there." Even though Auggie wasn't there, Juliette beamed like he was.

"What happened with what his name, Scott?" Leah asked curiously.

"What do you mean what happened?" Juliette questioned.

"No offense, but I'd take the gorgeous all American boy any day over him," Leah said, pointing to Auggie in the photo.

"There's more to people than their looks, you know," Juliette said defensively. "And besides, he has Shelby."

"Which one is that?"

"The blond girl."

"This one?"

"No, that's Erika. The other blond girl."

"Her?"

"Yeah."

"Oh."

"So what's happened around here?" Juliette asked finally.

"Oh, not that much," Leah assessed. "Erin got pregnant and had to drop out of school."

"Really?" Juliette asked in disbelief. "Erin?"

"Yeah, her parents were so pissed," Leah replied. "And no one but her seems to know who the dad is. Maybe she doesn't even know, no one really knows anything, we're all kind of in the dark. Of course, she is the subject of a lot of gossip at school."

"Alright, what else?"

Leah shrugged. "Everyone's just kind of changed, but that should be obvious, I mean everyone like changes in time. Kira got into drugs and started skipping school to get high. Her parents don't care, they don't even know. That's the advantage of being a spoiled rich kid like her. Your parents don't give a damn about you. And I got a boyfriend not long ago that I really dig."

"Oh cool, Leah. I'm so happy for you!" Juliette squealed.

"We've missed ya, Jules!" Leah said. "We had like, no one to buy our diet pills from once you were gone!"

Juliette's eyes widened, but she had to wonder why she was surprised. "You guys still do that?"

"Yeah, course," Leah responded easily. "You put on a lot of weight, I can tell. What happened to you? Do they like force-feed you there?"

"Leah.." Juliette began.

Leah interrupted her. "Like remember the pact we made? We made a pact, Jules, remember?"

"Yeah, but I've stopped with all that stuff," Juliette tried to explain.

"Really? No way. You- Juliette Waybourne stopped with diet pills and everything?"

"Yeah."

"Did they like brainwash you?" Leah said in disgust, rising. "Call me when Juliette Waybourne reinhabits your body."

Juliette shrugged. "I don't know what to tell you, Leah. This is who I am now."

"Do you binge and purge still?"

"I try not to."

"You've changed girl," Leah assessed. "So much."

"Yeah, I have," Juliette agreed.

"You've changed too much."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Leah shook her head. "We're not in the same crowds anymore, Jules."

"Yeah?"

"Well, see, Kira wasn't the only one who got into drugs. We all did. After you left we couldn't get our hands on diet pills, but we could get ahold of pot."

Juliette closed her eyes. "Stop- I don't want to know more."

Leah ignored her. "Then we figured out as long as we were high we didn't have to worry about our weight. We don't have to worry about anything! I love getting high. It's way easier and way more fun then starving ourselves. I can hook you up if you want."

"I'll pass, Leah. You're disgusting."

"Say what you want. See ya Jules."

"Yeah, bye."





Scott inhaled deeply in the mountain air. Life couldn't get much better than this, he thought, feeling the weight of Shelby's head draped against his chest. This was freedom, this was bliss, being alone and so close with the one girl he loved. They didn't speak, but simply laid there, taking in the other's company. They didn't need words.

This moment was perfect. A moment unlike his life.

He could feel Shelby stir. "Screw class," he heard her say. "I'm not moving for the world."

This brought a smile to his lips. This just was how it was- she completed him. She was his other half, and there wasn't a thing he didn't love about her. "Yeah, me neither, Shel. I'm never going to leave you, you know that? Not ever."

At this remark, she sat up and lost herself in his breathtaking blue-grey eyes. She smiled. Wasn't he just the greatest sight to take in? She could see the sincerity in his eyes like she could the most obvious thing in the world. But that didn't stop her from saying, "Yeah, right."

But in truth, she knew that what he said, he meant with every ounce of who he was. It was conspicuous.

Scott had to smile at Shelby's cynicism. "I'm serious, Shel," he replied. He reached over to her and brushed a stray lock of hair out of her eyes. She was, by far, the most beautiful thing in his life. "You know, now that I think about it, I'm so glad my dad sent me off here."

Shelby face maintained a genuine smile. "Yeah, why?" she asked, despite that she knew his answer as well as he did.

She couldn't believe he loved her. That was just mind-blowing to her.

"Because of you, of course," he answered, smiling.

Shelby's smile grew broader at hearing the sincerity in his words. If this wasn't the greatest feeling in the world, she didn't know what was.

"You're too cute," she said.

Scott raised his eyebrows. "Cute?" he asked skeptically.

Shelby grinned. "Haha.. Yeah," she said as she poked him playfully.

He caught her hand, and held it.

Shelby felt his hand enclose hers, his warm touch. How she had managed to live without him, she couldn't fathom.

He smiled, that beautiful smile of his that always managed to take her breath away, regardless of how many times she had seen it.

"No, I'm serious," he said. "There's a reason I came back to you during the morp- 'cause I'd rather be happy here with you than get some scholarship."

Shelby shook her head at the craziness of it all. He'd rather have her than ensure his future. She marvelled at him. "You're crazy, Scott," she said finally. "But I love you for it."

Scott grinned despite himself. "I know," he replied playfully. "Well, what I'm trying to get at, is that I've been thinking about what you said last time we were at the docks."

"Uh huh?" she asked.

"Yeah. About what we're going to do when we graduate, it's only a few months away. I've already passed up a scholarship for you, Shel. It would be stupid for me to pass something like that up for someone and then not continue on with it."

Shelby couldn't help but feel that it all was surreal. Here she was, in the wilderness of the forest, with an incredibly gorgeous boy, her boyfriend. And he loved her. He loved her more than the world.

"What are you saying?" she asked, but knowing already.

Scott touched Shelby's cheek tenderly. "How about it Shel- you and me, outside of Horizon."

Shelby fought to control her emotions. "Sounds good to me," she replied. "I love you, Scott," she continued, leaning towards him impulsively. Their kiss was passionate, and lingering, and she wished it could last forever.

When they broke apart, Scott answered, "And I love you, Shel. I'm never going to leave you, Shel, I promise. Unless you want me to go, and then I'll be gone in a heartbeat."

Shelby smiled. "Trust me, that day will never come."

"I'm glad, Shel."

"You're amazing," Shelby said aloud, before she could stop herself.

Scott returned her smile. "Nah," he replied. "But I'm glad that you think so."