Higher Expectations
Chapter 8: Whatever
A/N: Sorry for taking so long. Lots of homework and stuff.
*****
"Why can't we just drop the little bastard off somewhere. I hate him!" The screams echoed through the two story house like a hammer hitting a tin pan. A seven year old in his Spiderman pajamas turned over in his race car bed and put a pillow over his head to drown out the sound.
"Because, Joseph! He's your son! Because I love him! What is your problem with him? He's a good kid!" A females voice rang out over the still echoing sounds of the males. The boy sat straight up in his bed at the sound of his mothers voice. She never got loud. She would always be the quiet one during the night so she wouldn't wake him up.
"I hate him! He's all you talk about now. Tommy this, Tommy that. Well, Tommy can go to hell! I hate him. I guess you don't love me anymore, do you?" Silence. "DO YOU!?" He screamed out. Tommy shifted in his bed slowly as to not make a sound.
"I never said that." The woman said quietly, so she wouldn't anger her husband anymore.
"Are you calling me a liar, Kathy? Are you? Do you enjoy making me yell at you?! I DO THIS BECAUSE I LOVE YOU! Because I don't want to lose you, Kathy. But you make me. WHY DO YOU MAKE ME DO THIS TO YOU?! WHY?!" Joseph yelled out, raising his hand to his wife. Kathy winced as the hand came down across her face.
"I'm sorry, Joe. Really. I am. Just.. just think about Tommy. I don't want him to see this!" Joseph snickered at his wifes attempts to make him quit.
"See. See, Kathy. All you talk about is Tommy. I will NOT let that little bastard get in my way. I wont. I'll do what I planed on doing tonight.. whether he sees or not."
Kathy screamed out, and Tommy's eyes grew wide.
*****
A seventeen year old boy stared out of the window. The trees were passing him by.. the scenery was changing. 'Just like everything else,' He thought to himself. 'Everything changes.'
"We're almost there, Thomas" Roger Claypool called out from the front of the van they were in. "Just a few more hours.. mostly what it is is the drive way to the school. It's far into the mountains."
"Whatever," Thomas mumbled from the back. Thomas was quite a sight to old ladys. He wore huge pants with several zippers and buckles on them, large black shirts, usually with band names that no one knew anything about on them and his shoes were tattered black skater shoes. His hair was black with red tips and he wore a spiked choker and braceletts.
"You know Thomas," Roger said from the front as Tom was playing with his bracelets, "that you cant have those things at Horizon. They can be a danger to you and to others. You will also have to take those baggy clothes off. They are not permitted at the school."
"Whatever," Thomas replied again. Roger realized that the kid he was transporting didn't want to talk, but he tried anyway.
"So, I can assume you don't want to be called Thomas? What, do you like to be called Tom.. or Tommy?" Thomas clentched his hands.
"Don't call me Tommy. I hate that name." He spit out, viciously. Roger knew he had said the wrong thing.
"So Tom it is." He said, his ears going pink for some reason. Tom was getting fed up with this Roger guy.
"Whatever."
*****
Scott Barringer jumped high into the air to catch a football that Auggie had thrown him.
"Hey man!" Scott yelled out, laughing as he fell to the ground. "Think you threw it high enough?"
"Naw, meat. I think it's just that you're too short." Auggie exclaimed, going over to Scott to help him up. He reached his hand out and pulled Scott from the ground. Standing face to face, Scott was deffinately taller than Auggie, but he let it slide, now that Auggie was his friend.
"I'll let that little comment slide, Aug. Seeing as Shelby's coming back today, I'm a happy man!" Scott said, beaming at the thought of his girlfriend coming back.
"You've told me, man! Like, five hundred times in the last few hours." Auggie laughed and shook his head. Scott blushed a little and threw the ball at Auggie's chest.
"Just get back there and lets throw the ball." He said, playfully. Auggie rolled his eyes and jogged back to the other side of the field they were playing on. He threw the ball high into the air while running, and caught it when it came back down.
*****
Daisy sat looking through her magazing, checking every few minutes back at Juliette laying on her bed. She wondered what Juliette was going through. She had just said her mother said that she was happy she called. She decided to look into this the easy way. Not by talking to Juliette, but by using her tarot cards.
She reached under her bed and pulled the deck out onto her bed. Juliette had fallen asleep by now and Daisy layed them out on her bed.
Juliette tossed and turned on her bed. She was having a nightmare, no doubt but Daisy let her lay there for a minute, not bothering her so she could figure out what was going on.
She picked up the last tarot card she put down and read it. She shook her head at the sight. It was obvious now.
Juliette was lying about her mothers call.. something had set her off and she was now hurt by it. Though Daisy and Juliette had never been the best of friends, Daisy was still mad at whoever had hurt her.
*****
Shelby smiled as her school came into view. Mt. Horizon, School for At Risk Teens. She patted Jess on the shoulder lightly to wake her up.
"Are we there yet," Jess asked Shelby. Shelby nodded and as they pulled up to the entrance, Shelby knew that finally, she was home.
*****
Hearing the honking of a horn from the front entrance of the school made Scott jump. His eyes widened and his mouth formed into a grin. Auggie knew not to throw the ball because Scott took off running toward Shelby.
"Shelby!!" Scott yelled out. Shelby smiled as she opened the car door. She opened her arms and Scott jumped in them.
"I've missed you too, Scott." Shelby said smiling. "I want you to meet my sister, again," Shelby said, grinning.
"Hey, Jess." Scott said giving Jess a hug. The last time Jess was at Horizon was when she had ran away from home and Scott was glad to see that she was okay now. She looked so much like Shelby and had gone through so much of the same stuff Shelby had gone through, yet, somehow Jess was her own person. She was nice at first glance, and was more than willing to share her feelings or to help someone. When Scott had first met Shelby, he hated her. They were enemys for a long time. She was bottled up and hard on the outside. It took a while for Shelby to open up. They really were alot different.
"Hey, Scott." Jess said smiling. She pulled away from the hug as Peter Scarbrow came into view. "Hello, Mr. Scarbrow. Nice to see you again." Jess said happily. Peter smiled weakly at her, causing Shelby to look at him strangely.
"What happened, Peter?" Shelby asked, worried that something had happened to one of the Cliffhangers. "Is it one of the Cliffhangers?" She asked, frowning. Peter shook his head. "It's not a student. It's Frank." Shelby looked at him confused.
"Did he break a bone or something? What happened?" She asked. Scott turned to her and frowned.
"He died while you were gone, Shell." Scott said and Shelby looked down at her feet.
"Oh." She said. She had never been too fond of Frank, but it was strange. It's like when a celebrity dies that you didn't really like- it still bothers you because you know you'll never see them again on tv or anywhere. Frank was a major part of Horizon. He founded it.. and it kind of hurt that he was gone.
"I remember who Frank was," Jess said outloud. "He was that older guy that was making that one boy run errands for him while I was here the last time. Wasn't he?" Shelby smiled weakly at Jess' attempt to lighten the mood.
"Yeah, Jess. That was him."
*****
Dinner was pretty solumn that evening. All the students had something to think about. Shelby and Jess both had to think about the fact that Walt could get off for what he did, David and Scott had to think about what had happened to David at home, Juliette and Daisy both had to think about what had happened earlier.. and Auggie was worried about his test scores.. along with the fact that Frank would never be there again. That was fresh on all the student's minds it seemed.
"Peter I need to show you something." Daisy said as she walked up to him as soon as she finished her food.
"What is it, Dais?" Peter asked, furrowing his brow. Daisy sighed and handed Peter the knife Juliette had almost used earlier. Peter looked at it strangely. "Uh, I'm not sure I want your knife. I've got one of my own, but thanks any-"
"No, Peter. Juliette had that earlier. She was going to cut.. I don't think she actually got to it but I want to know what pushed her to it." She decided not to talk about the purging in the bathroom until later.
"What?" Peter questioned knowing fully well what had happened. "I think me and Juliette need to have a talk one on one." Peter said and got up. Daisy grabbed his arm for a second.
"Please, Peter.. just be easy on her. I know this sounds weird coming from a student, but she's got some demons she's facing. I don't think she needs any wood chopping demons if you know what I mean.." She said. Peter smiled.
"I've taught you well, young Daisy." He said and walked off to Juliette. "I'll do what I can." Daisy smiled, glad she had gotten Juliette some help. She hoped that it would work for her.
*****
David leaned against the bedpost once they had gotten out of the cafeteria after dinner. He was tired, and had been for the past day or two. He had been forced to wake up at daybreak at his house, because it was one of his dad's military things.
*FLASHBACK*
"Get up, David. Right now!" General Ruxton yelled out into his son's room. David groaned and rolled over, a drool spot still fresh on his pillow. "Did you hear me?" He asked, loudly. David grunted and sat up.
"Yeah, I heard 'ya."
*END FLASHBACK*
He sat up straight at the thought of his father's voice. He could have sworn he heard it somewhere but knew better. Scott, then walked in the door. He gave David the guy nod and went over to his bunk. David looked quizically at Scott for a moment then spoke out.
"You going to tell Peter?" He asked. Scott looked at David for a second.
"Not if you don't want me to. But, David, I know from experience, It's hard at first.. when you first let it all out.. but it gets better. I don't know how to explain it.. you'd just have to trust me." Scott told him. David looked down toward his legs.
"I don't trust, Scott.. and you know that." Scott sighed and walked over to David.
"Well, believe me then, don't trust me. Believe me when I say, it will get better instead of getting worse, once you tell." He said and patted David on the shoulder.
"Ah, don't touch me!" He exclaimed. Scott laughed and rolled his eyes at David's hate to be touched. He had never really gotten over that.
"Okay, man." Scott said and walked to his bunk. He took his shirt off and his pants and layed down on his bed, getting ready for the night. "Just remember what I said." David nodded and Scott turned out the lights. Auggie grunted in his sleep at the change of environment, but soon him and the rest of them, were all asleep.. long before lights out was called.
*****
It was 10:02 in the night when Roger Claypool and Thomas finally arrived at Horizon. Peter knew of his arrival and was there to greet him.
"How are you doing, Thomas?" Peter asked, and held out his hand. When his gesture was not returned, he pulled his hand back to his side. He had expected this. "I expect the ride was good? Roger wasn't mean now was he?" Peter asked laughing at Roger.
"Of course not." Roger said, smiling back at his friend. Thomas looked at the two like they were stupid.
"Now what do I do?" Thomas asked.
"Well, for the time being, since it's so late, just get into your sleeping clothes and I'll have Roger bring you to the lodge for the night. I have a male Cliffhanger, the group you will be in, there to watch over you. His name is Ezra Friedkin.. he's a senior Cliffhanger and will tell you some of the rules as you get ready for bed." Peter informed both of them. Roger nodded and Thomas rolled his eyes.
"Whatever." Thomas replied.
****
Hope you liked ^_^ more later.
Chapter 8: Whatever
A/N: Sorry for taking so long. Lots of homework and stuff.
*****
"Why can't we just drop the little bastard off somewhere. I hate him!" The screams echoed through the two story house like a hammer hitting a tin pan. A seven year old in his Spiderman pajamas turned over in his race car bed and put a pillow over his head to drown out the sound.
"Because, Joseph! He's your son! Because I love him! What is your problem with him? He's a good kid!" A females voice rang out over the still echoing sounds of the males. The boy sat straight up in his bed at the sound of his mothers voice. She never got loud. She would always be the quiet one during the night so she wouldn't wake him up.
"I hate him! He's all you talk about now. Tommy this, Tommy that. Well, Tommy can go to hell! I hate him. I guess you don't love me anymore, do you?" Silence. "DO YOU!?" He screamed out. Tommy shifted in his bed slowly as to not make a sound.
"I never said that." The woman said quietly, so she wouldn't anger her husband anymore.
"Are you calling me a liar, Kathy? Are you? Do you enjoy making me yell at you?! I DO THIS BECAUSE I LOVE YOU! Because I don't want to lose you, Kathy. But you make me. WHY DO YOU MAKE ME DO THIS TO YOU?! WHY?!" Joseph yelled out, raising his hand to his wife. Kathy winced as the hand came down across her face.
"I'm sorry, Joe. Really. I am. Just.. just think about Tommy. I don't want him to see this!" Joseph snickered at his wifes attempts to make him quit.
"See. See, Kathy. All you talk about is Tommy. I will NOT let that little bastard get in my way. I wont. I'll do what I planed on doing tonight.. whether he sees or not."
Kathy screamed out, and Tommy's eyes grew wide.
*****
A seventeen year old boy stared out of the window. The trees were passing him by.. the scenery was changing. 'Just like everything else,' He thought to himself. 'Everything changes.'
"We're almost there, Thomas" Roger Claypool called out from the front of the van they were in. "Just a few more hours.. mostly what it is is the drive way to the school. It's far into the mountains."
"Whatever," Thomas mumbled from the back. Thomas was quite a sight to old ladys. He wore huge pants with several zippers and buckles on them, large black shirts, usually with band names that no one knew anything about on them and his shoes were tattered black skater shoes. His hair was black with red tips and he wore a spiked choker and braceletts.
"You know Thomas," Roger said from the front as Tom was playing with his bracelets, "that you cant have those things at Horizon. They can be a danger to you and to others. You will also have to take those baggy clothes off. They are not permitted at the school."
"Whatever," Thomas replied again. Roger realized that the kid he was transporting didn't want to talk, but he tried anyway.
"So, I can assume you don't want to be called Thomas? What, do you like to be called Tom.. or Tommy?" Thomas clentched his hands.
"Don't call me Tommy. I hate that name." He spit out, viciously. Roger knew he had said the wrong thing.
"So Tom it is." He said, his ears going pink for some reason. Tom was getting fed up with this Roger guy.
"Whatever."
*****
Scott Barringer jumped high into the air to catch a football that Auggie had thrown him.
"Hey man!" Scott yelled out, laughing as he fell to the ground. "Think you threw it high enough?"
"Naw, meat. I think it's just that you're too short." Auggie exclaimed, going over to Scott to help him up. He reached his hand out and pulled Scott from the ground. Standing face to face, Scott was deffinately taller than Auggie, but he let it slide, now that Auggie was his friend.
"I'll let that little comment slide, Aug. Seeing as Shelby's coming back today, I'm a happy man!" Scott said, beaming at the thought of his girlfriend coming back.
"You've told me, man! Like, five hundred times in the last few hours." Auggie laughed and shook his head. Scott blushed a little and threw the ball at Auggie's chest.
"Just get back there and lets throw the ball." He said, playfully. Auggie rolled his eyes and jogged back to the other side of the field they were playing on. He threw the ball high into the air while running, and caught it when it came back down.
*****
Daisy sat looking through her magazing, checking every few minutes back at Juliette laying on her bed. She wondered what Juliette was going through. She had just said her mother said that she was happy she called. She decided to look into this the easy way. Not by talking to Juliette, but by using her tarot cards.
She reached under her bed and pulled the deck out onto her bed. Juliette had fallen asleep by now and Daisy layed them out on her bed.
Juliette tossed and turned on her bed. She was having a nightmare, no doubt but Daisy let her lay there for a minute, not bothering her so she could figure out what was going on.
She picked up the last tarot card she put down and read it. She shook her head at the sight. It was obvious now.
Juliette was lying about her mothers call.. something had set her off and she was now hurt by it. Though Daisy and Juliette had never been the best of friends, Daisy was still mad at whoever had hurt her.
*****
Shelby smiled as her school came into view. Mt. Horizon, School for At Risk Teens. She patted Jess on the shoulder lightly to wake her up.
"Are we there yet," Jess asked Shelby. Shelby nodded and as they pulled up to the entrance, Shelby knew that finally, she was home.
*****
Hearing the honking of a horn from the front entrance of the school made Scott jump. His eyes widened and his mouth formed into a grin. Auggie knew not to throw the ball because Scott took off running toward Shelby.
"Shelby!!" Scott yelled out. Shelby smiled as she opened the car door. She opened her arms and Scott jumped in them.
"I've missed you too, Scott." Shelby said smiling. "I want you to meet my sister, again," Shelby said, grinning.
"Hey, Jess." Scott said giving Jess a hug. The last time Jess was at Horizon was when she had ran away from home and Scott was glad to see that she was okay now. She looked so much like Shelby and had gone through so much of the same stuff Shelby had gone through, yet, somehow Jess was her own person. She was nice at first glance, and was more than willing to share her feelings or to help someone. When Scott had first met Shelby, he hated her. They were enemys for a long time. She was bottled up and hard on the outside. It took a while for Shelby to open up. They really were alot different.
"Hey, Scott." Jess said smiling. She pulled away from the hug as Peter Scarbrow came into view. "Hello, Mr. Scarbrow. Nice to see you again." Jess said happily. Peter smiled weakly at her, causing Shelby to look at him strangely.
"What happened, Peter?" Shelby asked, worried that something had happened to one of the Cliffhangers. "Is it one of the Cliffhangers?" She asked, frowning. Peter shook his head. "It's not a student. It's Frank." Shelby looked at him confused.
"Did he break a bone or something? What happened?" She asked. Scott turned to her and frowned.
"He died while you were gone, Shell." Scott said and Shelby looked down at her feet.
"Oh." She said. She had never been too fond of Frank, but it was strange. It's like when a celebrity dies that you didn't really like- it still bothers you because you know you'll never see them again on tv or anywhere. Frank was a major part of Horizon. He founded it.. and it kind of hurt that he was gone.
"I remember who Frank was," Jess said outloud. "He was that older guy that was making that one boy run errands for him while I was here the last time. Wasn't he?" Shelby smiled weakly at Jess' attempt to lighten the mood.
"Yeah, Jess. That was him."
*****
Dinner was pretty solumn that evening. All the students had something to think about. Shelby and Jess both had to think about the fact that Walt could get off for what he did, David and Scott had to think about what had happened to David at home, Juliette and Daisy both had to think about what had happened earlier.. and Auggie was worried about his test scores.. along with the fact that Frank would never be there again. That was fresh on all the student's minds it seemed.
"Peter I need to show you something." Daisy said as she walked up to him as soon as she finished her food.
"What is it, Dais?" Peter asked, furrowing his brow. Daisy sighed and handed Peter the knife Juliette had almost used earlier. Peter looked at it strangely. "Uh, I'm not sure I want your knife. I've got one of my own, but thanks any-"
"No, Peter. Juliette had that earlier. She was going to cut.. I don't think she actually got to it but I want to know what pushed her to it." She decided not to talk about the purging in the bathroom until later.
"What?" Peter questioned knowing fully well what had happened. "I think me and Juliette need to have a talk one on one." Peter said and got up. Daisy grabbed his arm for a second.
"Please, Peter.. just be easy on her. I know this sounds weird coming from a student, but she's got some demons she's facing. I don't think she needs any wood chopping demons if you know what I mean.." She said. Peter smiled.
"I've taught you well, young Daisy." He said and walked off to Juliette. "I'll do what I can." Daisy smiled, glad she had gotten Juliette some help. She hoped that it would work for her.
*****
David leaned against the bedpost once they had gotten out of the cafeteria after dinner. He was tired, and had been for the past day or two. He had been forced to wake up at daybreak at his house, because it was one of his dad's military things.
*FLASHBACK*
"Get up, David. Right now!" General Ruxton yelled out into his son's room. David groaned and rolled over, a drool spot still fresh on his pillow. "Did you hear me?" He asked, loudly. David grunted and sat up.
"Yeah, I heard 'ya."
*END FLASHBACK*
He sat up straight at the thought of his father's voice. He could have sworn he heard it somewhere but knew better. Scott, then walked in the door. He gave David the guy nod and went over to his bunk. David looked quizically at Scott for a moment then spoke out.
"You going to tell Peter?" He asked. Scott looked at David for a second.
"Not if you don't want me to. But, David, I know from experience, It's hard at first.. when you first let it all out.. but it gets better. I don't know how to explain it.. you'd just have to trust me." Scott told him. David looked down toward his legs.
"I don't trust, Scott.. and you know that." Scott sighed and walked over to David.
"Well, believe me then, don't trust me. Believe me when I say, it will get better instead of getting worse, once you tell." He said and patted David on the shoulder.
"Ah, don't touch me!" He exclaimed. Scott laughed and rolled his eyes at David's hate to be touched. He had never really gotten over that.
"Okay, man." Scott said and walked to his bunk. He took his shirt off and his pants and layed down on his bed, getting ready for the night. "Just remember what I said." David nodded and Scott turned out the lights. Auggie grunted in his sleep at the change of environment, but soon him and the rest of them, were all asleep.. long before lights out was called.
*****
It was 10:02 in the night when Roger Claypool and Thomas finally arrived at Horizon. Peter knew of his arrival and was there to greet him.
"How are you doing, Thomas?" Peter asked, and held out his hand. When his gesture was not returned, he pulled his hand back to his side. He had expected this. "I expect the ride was good? Roger wasn't mean now was he?" Peter asked laughing at Roger.
"Of course not." Roger said, smiling back at his friend. Thomas looked at the two like they were stupid.
"Now what do I do?" Thomas asked.
"Well, for the time being, since it's so late, just get into your sleeping clothes and I'll have Roger bring you to the lodge for the night. I have a male Cliffhanger, the group you will be in, there to watch over you. His name is Ezra Friedkin.. he's a senior Cliffhanger and will tell you some of the rules as you get ready for bed." Peter informed both of them. Roger nodded and Thomas rolled his eyes.
"Whatever." Thomas replied.
****
Hope you liked ^_^ more later.