Disclaimer : I own nothing except for Emma and Belle.
Sophie returned with Daisy fifteen minutes later. She found Emma looking dejected and sitting in front of Peter's desk. Peter was behind the desk.
"Hi, Emma? I'm Sophie. You're going to be in my group: the Cliffhangers. To help you settle in, I've brought Daisy along. She's going to be your first-week buddy. Anything you need, ask her, Peter, or myself." Emma nodded.
"Alright, come on, the others will be anxious to know you." With that said, Daisy picked up two of Emma's bags, leaving two for her. They left the office. Daisy led her straight to the girls' dorms. Shelby, Scott, and Jess were all still there.
"Looks like you found them," Daisy said, looking at Scott and referring to Shelby and Jess. They all looked quizzically at her and Emma, wondering whom the girl with Daisy was.
"This is the newbie: Emma. Emma, this is Shelby, Scott, and Jess. They're all in the Cliffhangers as well."
Shelby saw Emma making eyes at Scott and immediately hugged him so as to make it clear not to trudge on her turf. Shelby could look fierce if she wanted to, and in scaring off a potential rival, she was FIERCE! Daisy put Emma's stuff on the empty bed and went over to her own to read her tarot cards. She was curious as to what they would have to say about the new kid.
"Emma, you might want to know this. It's really interesting." Shelby rolled her eyes at Daisy and turned back to Scott, whispering something to him.
"I don't believe in that fate crap," Emma said frankly, and kind of rudely.
"Thought you ought to know, " Daisy said making it clear to her that her chance had come and gone with that remark.
Sophie entered at that point. Shelby and Scott separated at once.
"Hey gang, group in ten minutes. Scott, can you go let the guys know. They should be in the lodge or their dorm."
Scott left, giving Shelby a disappointed look over his shoulder. Shelby knew that Sophie had every intention of keeping those two physically separated. She also knew that Sophie was trying in vain.
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Scott entered his dorm.
"Hey guys?" he paused. "Where is everyone?" he looked around surprised and went to the lodge. No one was there either.
"Dude, they're out on the court, Peter got someone to shovel the snow off," one of the older kids from the Ridge Runners' group said.
"Thanks man!" He left for the basketball court. Auggie and David were avid basketball players and Ezra wouldn't let David beat him at anything, if he could help it.
"Guys, group's in like five minutes, we might as well start going now," Scott said, checking his watch.
"Hey meat! What happened with you and Shelby?" Auggie yelled out curiously.
"I don't wanna talk about it," Scott said, leading them to the lodge. David was walking between Ezra and Auggie. Auggie looked at him and shrugged. HE knew not to mess with Scott especially when he was in this sort of mood. In fact, David knew that too, but, as the other Cliffhangers had often suspected, David's prime goal in life was to annoy. He didn't disappoint.
"Man, we're going to GROUP," he said, emphasizing the word, "You'll have to talk!"
"David, you open your mouth one more time, and it's gonna be shoved up your ass!" Scott yelled menacingly, flashing his glare at David. The second Scott's back turned, David came up with a look of pure joy: he had succeeded. On the other hand, Ezra and Auggie were wondering: why on earth is he in such a crappy mood?
Scott walked off thinking to himself. He was still pissed off over Walt, Shel's step-father. He was also getting touchy because all the counselors without exception knew about him and Shelby and how much they were in love. Just like David in his mission to annoy, they had made it theirs to make sure that those two stayed within the rules of the school. But the main reason he blew up at David was simply because he just annoyed the heck out of him.
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Five minutes later, they were all sitting in the lounge. Some in armchairs, some on a couch, and several lounging on the floor. Emma came in last, attracting the attention of all the guys except for Scott. They still hadn't met her.
Sophie came in and started right off the bat.
"First of all, we have a newbie. So, everyone's gonna introduce themselves and say something about themselves such as why you're here, starting with Emma," she tossed her a staff representing her right to speak.
"I'm Emma Morgan. I have a horse named Belle and before I went to the streets I would play the piano and the violin," she said this all in a rushed fashion and tossed the staff to Auggie who sat beside her.
"I'm Augusto Ciceros, but everyone calls me Auggie. I'm here because I was in a gang and got into drugs." With that he threw the stick to Scott. Scott caught it and answered.
"I'm Scott Barringer. In here for drugs among other things," he added flatly and handed it to Shelby who sat beside him on the couch.
"Shelby Merrick. Abuse," and that was all she had to say to the girl who gave her guy eyes. She tossed it to Daisy.
"I'm Daisy Lipenowsky, as you know. I'm here for conking my dad on the head with a seven iron." Daisy seemed almost proud of this statement. Emma winced. Ezra eventually got the staff.
"I'm Ezra Freidkin. I'm in here for drug and gang related problems."
"I'm Juliette Waybourne, that's Jules for short. Bulimia and cutting were my problems." She flashed Emma a smile. Emma immediately drew away from her. The way Jules had said that was so light, bubbly, and happy. She didn't want that sort of person around her. Jess got the staff next.
"I'm Jess, Shelby's sister. I had a problem with my step-dad and my mom," she said sweetly. Emma was immediately disposed to like her. She was honest, nice, and polite.
"And I'm the only one you need to know around here."
"DAVID!!!" The others yelled out in an exasperated tone.
"Fine, fine... I'm David Ruxton. I'm the only one here that is any fun. So if you're up for a good time, you know who to call," he said joyfully, winking at Emma. She gave him a sly smile. Sophie looked at him warningly.
"Alright, that's enough," Sophie said as she got the staff back from David, who still had that huge grin on his face. "Okay, guys, finish this sentence: I am..." They all received and passed the staff in this order: Emma, Auggie, Scott, Shelby, Daisy, Ezra, Jules, Jess, and the David.
"A girl who misses her horse." Everyone looked at her curiously. How could she be so attached to something like that? Only Scott, Shelby, Jules, and Auggie understood. Especially Scott and Shelby. If one was separated from the other, they would feel sick. They loved each other so much it hurt sometimes. Then again, as Daisy had often told Shelby, her best friend, it had been ironic, or maybe lucky, but it was so unusual that they had found their true love, their soul mate, in a place to cure hate.
It was now Auggie's turn to answer the group question. "I am alive, healthy, and relatively happy."
"And I am mad, " is all Scott said and only Sophie, Jess, and Shelby knew why. The latter looked at him with a reassuring air. She gave him smile as if to say it's alright, he can't hurt me anymore. I'm safe here.
"Well, I'm in the position of making a hard decision and it's confusing me," Shelby said in an effort to remain calm and honest.
"I'm indifferent. I'm me," Daisy said. She was always honest. This is why Sophie started to worry. Why was she indifferent? She had a newbie to take care of, Shelby and Jess to support, Scott to calm, and David to watch. He was after all her "boyfriend," that is, if Daisy had boyfriends.
Ezra was happy: "I am in a great mood." He winked at Daisy. She had been reading his tarot cards. He normally hated that sort of thing, but this was Daisy, and he would put all pride aside to be with her.
"I'm me, I'm who I want to be right now, and that's all I need to know," Jules said, pensive. Auggie gave her a smile.
"I'm real confused," Jess said, her face portraying this emotion marvellously.
"I am David and I love being me," David said fervently. This brought laughs from the rest of the group.
"That's good," Sophie said. "Alright, before we split, is there anything anyone wants to share?"
"NO!" was the unanimous response. Sophie understood that they wanted to be dismissed and did this.
The girls went off to their dorm and the guys to theirs. Only Scott and Shelby remained.
"Sophie, can I ask you something?" Shelby asked. Her most hated activity was being forced to open up, but when she did it on her own, everyone was happy.
"Sure, what's up?" Shelby gave Scott a glance and he encouraged her with his eyes.
"Should I allow my Walt to come down for the week-end? It wouldn't be any longer than that."
"Well, it all depends. How do you feel about it?"
"I still hate him with a passion. But I know Jess is more apt to reconciling with him. Nothing's gonna happen with me. I don't want to see him, let alone talk to him," she said fiercely.
"All is lost, when hope is lost. You know that right?"
"Our relationship was lost the second he stepped in my bedroom."
"Then let Peter know it's Jess's decision and that she wants to let him come, but that you don't want any interaction."
Shelby accepted that and left to go find Peter.
"Are you okay?" Sophie asked Scott.
"Yeah, now I am. I just don't like the fact that that ass-hole is even considering seeing them again. He doesn't deserve it and I don't want Shelby to get hurt."
"I understand, Scott. Just remember that profanity isn't allowed," she said with a warning glance.
"Yeah, yeah, no need to give the lecture. I've heard it a million times already." He left. Sophie had a short-lived laugh at that one and thought to herself that some people never really did change.
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"I respect your decision, but may I have a legitimate reason?" Peter asked as Shelby told him her decision on the matter of Walt.
"I don't want to see him. It'll bring back too many bad memories that I'm not ready to face yet."
"I respect that. Alright, we'll find you something to do while he's here." Normally Peter didn't let the students avoid their parents for so long, but when it was something like Shelby's case he couldn't force her. For one thing, he knew she would do anything to get away from it, include run. He also knew Scott would protect her with his life which would mean hospitalisation at the very least for Walt. Then there was the fact that Shelby had taken a long time to get even a inch through her hard shell and he wanted to keep her confidence.
"Thank you, Peter," she said. "Oh, and keep an eye on Jess while he's here." She looked very relieved. She left a little later to go and find Scott. She just had one more thing to ask of Peter.
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"Hey cowboy! I talked to Peter. He said that he accepted my wishes to remain without Walt for the time he's here. So, I asked him if he would give us a buddy hike-back, for fun, with food and without restraints. He agreed! I couldn't believe it! S? That work for you? We will have one of the other counsellors with us however, but they'll only be shadowing us..." She said this very excitedly for her normally sarcastic self. A grin spread across Scott's face. "What?" she asked teasingly.
"Nothing. You are just so cute when you get excited. I would love to do that with you Shel."
They had been walking around campus during this conversation. Shelby saw a big oak tree and pulled Scott behind it out of sight. She then gently, but passionately, kissed him. He was taken aback at first, but no complaints. She then pulled away, looked into his eyes, and hugged him.
Sophie returned with Daisy fifteen minutes later. She found Emma looking dejected and sitting in front of Peter's desk. Peter was behind the desk.
"Hi, Emma? I'm Sophie. You're going to be in my group: the Cliffhangers. To help you settle in, I've brought Daisy along. She's going to be your first-week buddy. Anything you need, ask her, Peter, or myself." Emma nodded.
"Alright, come on, the others will be anxious to know you." With that said, Daisy picked up two of Emma's bags, leaving two for her. They left the office. Daisy led her straight to the girls' dorms. Shelby, Scott, and Jess were all still there.
"Looks like you found them," Daisy said, looking at Scott and referring to Shelby and Jess. They all looked quizzically at her and Emma, wondering whom the girl with Daisy was.
"This is the newbie: Emma. Emma, this is Shelby, Scott, and Jess. They're all in the Cliffhangers as well."
Shelby saw Emma making eyes at Scott and immediately hugged him so as to make it clear not to trudge on her turf. Shelby could look fierce if she wanted to, and in scaring off a potential rival, she was FIERCE! Daisy put Emma's stuff on the empty bed and went over to her own to read her tarot cards. She was curious as to what they would have to say about the new kid.
"Emma, you might want to know this. It's really interesting." Shelby rolled her eyes at Daisy and turned back to Scott, whispering something to him.
"I don't believe in that fate crap," Emma said frankly, and kind of rudely.
"Thought you ought to know, " Daisy said making it clear to her that her chance had come and gone with that remark.
Sophie entered at that point. Shelby and Scott separated at once.
"Hey gang, group in ten minutes. Scott, can you go let the guys know. They should be in the lodge or their dorm."
Scott left, giving Shelby a disappointed look over his shoulder. Shelby knew that Sophie had every intention of keeping those two physically separated. She also knew that Sophie was trying in vain.
********************************************************************************
Scott entered his dorm.
"Hey guys?" he paused. "Where is everyone?" he looked around surprised and went to the lodge. No one was there either.
"Dude, they're out on the court, Peter got someone to shovel the snow off," one of the older kids from the Ridge Runners' group said.
"Thanks man!" He left for the basketball court. Auggie and David were avid basketball players and Ezra wouldn't let David beat him at anything, if he could help it.
"Guys, group's in like five minutes, we might as well start going now," Scott said, checking his watch.
"Hey meat! What happened with you and Shelby?" Auggie yelled out curiously.
"I don't wanna talk about it," Scott said, leading them to the lodge. David was walking between Ezra and Auggie. Auggie looked at him and shrugged. HE knew not to mess with Scott especially when he was in this sort of mood. In fact, David knew that too, but, as the other Cliffhangers had often suspected, David's prime goal in life was to annoy. He didn't disappoint.
"Man, we're going to GROUP," he said, emphasizing the word, "You'll have to talk!"
"David, you open your mouth one more time, and it's gonna be shoved up your ass!" Scott yelled menacingly, flashing his glare at David. The second Scott's back turned, David came up with a look of pure joy: he had succeeded. On the other hand, Ezra and Auggie were wondering: why on earth is he in such a crappy mood?
Scott walked off thinking to himself. He was still pissed off over Walt, Shel's step-father. He was also getting touchy because all the counselors without exception knew about him and Shelby and how much they were in love. Just like David in his mission to annoy, they had made it theirs to make sure that those two stayed within the rules of the school. But the main reason he blew up at David was simply because he just annoyed the heck out of him.
********************************************************************************
Five minutes later, they were all sitting in the lounge. Some in armchairs, some on a couch, and several lounging on the floor. Emma came in last, attracting the attention of all the guys except for Scott. They still hadn't met her.
Sophie came in and started right off the bat.
"First of all, we have a newbie. So, everyone's gonna introduce themselves and say something about themselves such as why you're here, starting with Emma," she tossed her a staff representing her right to speak.
"I'm Emma Morgan. I have a horse named Belle and before I went to the streets I would play the piano and the violin," she said this all in a rushed fashion and tossed the staff to Auggie who sat beside her.
"I'm Augusto Ciceros, but everyone calls me Auggie. I'm here because I was in a gang and got into drugs." With that he threw the stick to Scott. Scott caught it and answered.
"I'm Scott Barringer. In here for drugs among other things," he added flatly and handed it to Shelby who sat beside him on the couch.
"Shelby Merrick. Abuse," and that was all she had to say to the girl who gave her guy eyes. She tossed it to Daisy.
"I'm Daisy Lipenowsky, as you know. I'm here for conking my dad on the head with a seven iron." Daisy seemed almost proud of this statement. Emma winced. Ezra eventually got the staff.
"I'm Ezra Freidkin. I'm in here for drug and gang related problems."
"I'm Juliette Waybourne, that's Jules for short. Bulimia and cutting were my problems." She flashed Emma a smile. Emma immediately drew away from her. The way Jules had said that was so light, bubbly, and happy. She didn't want that sort of person around her. Jess got the staff next.
"I'm Jess, Shelby's sister. I had a problem with my step-dad and my mom," she said sweetly. Emma was immediately disposed to like her. She was honest, nice, and polite.
"And I'm the only one you need to know around here."
"DAVID!!!" The others yelled out in an exasperated tone.
"Fine, fine... I'm David Ruxton. I'm the only one here that is any fun. So if you're up for a good time, you know who to call," he said joyfully, winking at Emma. She gave him a sly smile. Sophie looked at him warningly.
"Alright, that's enough," Sophie said as she got the staff back from David, who still had that huge grin on his face. "Okay, guys, finish this sentence: I am..." They all received and passed the staff in this order: Emma, Auggie, Scott, Shelby, Daisy, Ezra, Jules, Jess, and the David.
"A girl who misses her horse." Everyone looked at her curiously. How could she be so attached to something like that? Only Scott, Shelby, Jules, and Auggie understood. Especially Scott and Shelby. If one was separated from the other, they would feel sick. They loved each other so much it hurt sometimes. Then again, as Daisy had often told Shelby, her best friend, it had been ironic, or maybe lucky, but it was so unusual that they had found their true love, their soul mate, in a place to cure hate.
It was now Auggie's turn to answer the group question. "I am alive, healthy, and relatively happy."
"And I am mad, " is all Scott said and only Sophie, Jess, and Shelby knew why. The latter looked at him with a reassuring air. She gave him smile as if to say it's alright, he can't hurt me anymore. I'm safe here.
"Well, I'm in the position of making a hard decision and it's confusing me," Shelby said in an effort to remain calm and honest.
"I'm indifferent. I'm me," Daisy said. She was always honest. This is why Sophie started to worry. Why was she indifferent? She had a newbie to take care of, Shelby and Jess to support, Scott to calm, and David to watch. He was after all her "boyfriend," that is, if Daisy had boyfriends.
Ezra was happy: "I am in a great mood." He winked at Daisy. She had been reading his tarot cards. He normally hated that sort of thing, but this was Daisy, and he would put all pride aside to be with her.
"I'm me, I'm who I want to be right now, and that's all I need to know," Jules said, pensive. Auggie gave her a smile.
"I'm real confused," Jess said, her face portraying this emotion marvellously.
"I am David and I love being me," David said fervently. This brought laughs from the rest of the group.
"That's good," Sophie said. "Alright, before we split, is there anything anyone wants to share?"
"NO!" was the unanimous response. Sophie understood that they wanted to be dismissed and did this.
The girls went off to their dorm and the guys to theirs. Only Scott and Shelby remained.
"Sophie, can I ask you something?" Shelby asked. Her most hated activity was being forced to open up, but when she did it on her own, everyone was happy.
"Sure, what's up?" Shelby gave Scott a glance and he encouraged her with his eyes.
"Should I allow my Walt to come down for the week-end? It wouldn't be any longer than that."
"Well, it all depends. How do you feel about it?"
"I still hate him with a passion. But I know Jess is more apt to reconciling with him. Nothing's gonna happen with me. I don't want to see him, let alone talk to him," she said fiercely.
"All is lost, when hope is lost. You know that right?"
"Our relationship was lost the second he stepped in my bedroom."
"Then let Peter know it's Jess's decision and that she wants to let him come, but that you don't want any interaction."
Shelby accepted that and left to go find Peter.
"Are you okay?" Sophie asked Scott.
"Yeah, now I am. I just don't like the fact that that ass-hole is even considering seeing them again. He doesn't deserve it and I don't want Shelby to get hurt."
"I understand, Scott. Just remember that profanity isn't allowed," she said with a warning glance.
"Yeah, yeah, no need to give the lecture. I've heard it a million times already." He left. Sophie had a short-lived laugh at that one and thought to herself that some people never really did change.
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"I respect your decision, but may I have a legitimate reason?" Peter asked as Shelby told him her decision on the matter of Walt.
"I don't want to see him. It'll bring back too many bad memories that I'm not ready to face yet."
"I respect that. Alright, we'll find you something to do while he's here." Normally Peter didn't let the students avoid their parents for so long, but when it was something like Shelby's case he couldn't force her. For one thing, he knew she would do anything to get away from it, include run. He also knew Scott would protect her with his life which would mean hospitalisation at the very least for Walt. Then there was the fact that Shelby had taken a long time to get even a inch through her hard shell and he wanted to keep her confidence.
"Thank you, Peter," she said. "Oh, and keep an eye on Jess while he's here." She looked very relieved. She left a little later to go and find Scott. She just had one more thing to ask of Peter.
********************************************************************************
"Hey cowboy! I talked to Peter. He said that he accepted my wishes to remain without Walt for the time he's here. So, I asked him if he would give us a buddy hike-back, for fun, with food and without restraints. He agreed! I couldn't believe it! S? That work for you? We will have one of the other counsellors with us however, but they'll only be shadowing us..." She said this very excitedly for her normally sarcastic self. A grin spread across Scott's face. "What?" she asked teasingly.
"Nothing. You are just so cute when you get excited. I would love to do that with you Shel."
They had been walking around campus during this conversation. Shelby saw a big oak tree and pulled Scott behind it out of sight. She then gently, but passionately, kissed him. He was taken aback at first, but no complaints. She then pulled away, looked into his eyes, and hugged him.