On the Horizon
Part 3: Review
Cassandra Frasier emerged from the lodge and joined her 'inmates,' who were sat around the picnic tables on the lawn. She was clad in a camouflage jacket and trousers, with boots and a plain black t-shirt. Her hair was tied back in a neat French plait.
"Hey Ez, looks like she's wearing the trousers in this relationship," David grinned. "Hey Cassy, you know my Dad is a General? I'm an army brat too."
"Nope. You're just a brat Dave," She said as she sat between Ezra and Juliette, rolling her eyes.
"Morning guys," The Scarbrows greeted the group.
"Yeah, thanks for making us get out of bed at 8am on a Saturday, by the way. That was really nice of you," Shelby called out in her usual, sarcastic tone.
"You're welcome," Sophie smiled, choosing to ignore the sarcasm. 'You pick a fight with Shelby and it will never end.' She knew she had to pick her battles. Mere attitude was nothing. "It won't take long. Then you can return to your oh so important lounging around in your pyjamas all day."
"Hear it's a new sport it's that exciting," Peter mumbled, grinning.
"It's just over the ridge guys, so lets get going," they lead the way, the group slowly and reluctantly following.
"How can you afford to build an assault course when you almost went bust recently?" Shelby wondered.
"Rope, wood, nets. Cheap material. Really...And it's going to be here for a while. It's like the high ropes course you did a few months ago. But better."
"And not as high, I hope?" Shelby said, actually serious for a minute. She wasn't too keen on heights, and had walked away from the High Ropes. Of course, then, a little girl called Gracie had gone missing and Peter had made the whole school search for her, for some reason, and Shelby had been the one to find her, literally, Cliffhanging. She had to fetch her from the cliff and successfully bring her back down. Only Ezra knew she had saved Gracie. He had taken the praise, but only because Shelby had asked him too. Rather, threatened.
"Not quite."
"I don't quite see what it teaches us. Except how to be extremely tired," Ezra shrugged.
"Or competitive. You tell us not to be competitive," Auggie pointed out.
"You need exercise. And it teaches that you can overcome anything, no matter how horrible it looks. For instance, Juliette, do you want to do this?" Peter asked.
"No."
"Can you?" Peter asked.
"Doubt it," She sighed.
"We'll see, won't we," He said. He could see her panicking, and the others, except for Cassy, didn't look too thrilled. They weren't worried like she was, just not quite awake or willing. But Cassy didn't look at all bothered. "Cass, wanna go first?"
"I guess," She nodded. "Time me."
"Okay, but it is not a competition. Understand?" Sophie asked, clipboard, pen and stopwatch ready.
"Whatever. Can I go?"
"Yep. On three," Sophie nodded. Cass got herself ready and looked back at Soph. "One, two, three. Go."
Cassy shot up the wall, abseiling down the other side in forty seconds flat. She ran through the tyres, and through the wire 'tunnel,' and up the net, across, and tumbled down the net, leaping on to the platform, then the monkey bars as gracefully as a gymnast. She jumped down on to the decking and climbed the ladder, up to the high platform, and zip lined down on to the crash mat. David watched carefully, knowing he had to do much better.
"How did I do?" She asked, jumping to her feet and walking back over to Juliette and Ezra.
"Way to go Cassy!" Juliette congratulated her, wishing she was as good as her new friend.
"It was nothing. Done harder ones in my sleep."
"You do this for fun?" Shelby frowned, giving her a look that said 'you are weird.'
"I tag along sometimes with the guys when they do this back in Colorado. And paint balling too. For some reason, Uncle Murray loves it," she replied, not even out of breath.
"Good...very good Cassandra. Two minutes fifty. No one has done it under three and a half," Peter grinned. He was in a very good mood today. Although, that was pretty normal. He usually was.
Half an hour later, the Cliffhangers had all completed the course, except for Juliette. Cassandra, Auggie and Ezra in particular were cheering her on. Scott was also smiling at her as she looked in his direction. "Well done Juliette. See? That's what this teaches you. You didn't believe you could do that, did you? And look, you've done it."
"Did you time me?" Juliette asked, beaming. She was really proud, and Peter didn't want to burst her bubble. He looked at Sophie but she nodded.
"Three and a half. That's pretty good J," Sophie told her. Juliette squealed in excitement, hugging Peter and then Auggie.
"Great. I'm very proud," Peter agreed. "You don't know what you can do until you try it."
"Final scores?" Scott piped in, wondering if he'd beaten Auggie and David.
"All right. They were all great scores. Juliette – 3.30, Shelby – 3.27, Daisy – 3.08, Ezra – 3, Auggie – 2.59, David – 2.56, Scott – 2.28, and finally Cassy – 2.25. I'm sad to announce you all stink so go and shower, now. Then the day is yours!" Peter announced. "Very good, all of you. As a whole group you beat the others by miles. Only the Ridgerunners came close."
"How did you do that? You beat Scott who is like the uber-athlete!" Juliette asked on the way back to the dorm.
"I have a lot of anger. I focus everything on what I'm doing. It's like a fuel. I also feel much better when I've done something like that."
"I feel disgusting and dirty. I need first shower!" Shelby announced.
"No showering is going to help that," Cassy teased, walking ahead with Juliette, who was smiling. Daisy however didn't find that so amusing. She had heard something they hadn't from Shelby.
~/~
"Every day in the shower, I stand there – every day, and I think to myself – what a waste, what a waste, because I'm never gonna get clean..."
~/~
"Shelby, Shelby, she doesn't know. If she knew, she wouldn't say that. She's not a bitch." Daisy reminded her, putting her arm around her. Shelby removed it.
"You're sweaty, Graves. Get off of me."
Cassandra took a quick shower and then changed in to her favourite black sweater and jeans, her plait still perfect. Five minutes later, she was off to see Ezra.
Her search took her to the lodge, where he was sat talking with Scott. "Hey, sorry to steal him away, but..."
"Trust me, you're doing me a favour here," Scott laughed. Ez stood up and grabbed her hand. She grinned and whispered something in to his ear. His smile grew and his eyebrows raised.
"Cassandra Frasier!" Ezra exclaimed. "Hey, umm, Scott. Do you know if anyone's going out? Or using the equipment shed?"
"Not that I know of. Peter, for one, is buried under a mountain of paperwork. I think they all are. Have fun," He smiled, shaking his head. Shelby arrived on the scene just in time to see them leave.
"Where they off to in such a hurry?" She asked.
"Shed."
"Oh happy memories...wait...ewww. It'll be tainted now!" She sighed.
"It's good Ezra has a girlfriend." Scott said, as Shelby fell down beside him.
"I have to agree. Way to go germ, landing a girl like Cassandra. She's like...a seven!"
"Eight," Scott replied, before jumping in again with "but you're hotter. She's nice, you're perfect."
"Nice save. Wanna sneak down to the lake?" She asked, with the same look as Cassy had had in her eye moments before.
"Not that I'm against the whole 'making out with a cute dysfunctional adolescent' thing," Ezra said, pulling away for a moment. "But, why would you be interested in me?"
"Ezra. Shut up and kiss me," She commanded.
"You're so sexy when you boss me around, dear," He replied before complying.
"This is Cassandra Frasier's one month review. Thoughts, observations, comments?" Peter asked Sophie, Jeff and Roger, the senior staff members at Horizon. Frank had departed a while ago.
"Yes. She's very popular. And strong – the assault course the other day..." Sophie began.
"Okay, lets look at the sheet. (1) Is he/she in any danger here? If so is it more danger than at home?" Peter read.
"No. She hasn't opened up at all, but she is safe here. I have no doubts," Sophie jumped in straight away.
"She hasn't shown any signs at all," Jeff and Roger agreed. Peter nodded in agreement and scribbled some notes down.
"Question (2) Is she a risk to herself or others here?" Peter continued, already knowing the answer. "No."
"No, No more than Ezra or Juliette. And they are still here," His wife answered.
"Number (3) Has she settled in? Would she benefit from leaving for moving groups? Does she have one good friend?" Peter read.
"She and Juliette are really good friends. And Ezra. Daisy I think, as well. She seems to get on okay with the guys, maybe apart from David, but, it's David here," Sophie knew she shouldn't talk badly about David but he was so aggravating.
"And one of my girls...Jessica Merrick," Roger noted. "She should stay where she is. She comes to me as another point of call. If we change it she might not feel she can turn to me or anyone else. She trusts me and wants me to be her 'Non-counselling counsellor.' I believe that's the term she used. Besides, I mean, why move house just because your friends are across the street?"
"Agreed. She should stay with the Cliffhangers. Number (4) Is she making sufficient progress at Horizon, or will she in the near future?" Peter asked, he knew this would be a stumbling block. "She's not opening up, Sophie, you said it yourself."
"So? It takes different times for all of them. You know that. It's seldom instant," Sophie replied firmly. "Shelby was here months before she told us about her step dad."
"Then (5), what is the recommendation?"
"Cassandra Frasier stays, in the same group, until she graduates or earlier but only if we see dramatic changes," Sophie decided.
"Roger?"
"Ditto," He nodded, sitting back. Jeff nodded.
"Then it's settled. Cassandra Frasier will remain at Mount Horizon High School, in the Cliffhangers group, with the support and guidance of Sophie Scarbrow, Peter Scarbrow, and Roger Claypool," Peter decided. "Thank you very much for attending. I'll notify Major Samantha Carter, Janet Frasier and Colonel Jack O'Neill right away."
"Hey," Shelby said, looking up from her book.
"Hey," Cass grinned, heading for the bathroom.
"Have fun with Freakin?" She asked, nosily.
"You bet. Have fun with Barringer?"
"You bet. I can't seem to figure you out yet Cassandra. You go from angelic sweetie pie to wild rebel in the blink of an eye," She commented.
"That's funny, because I could say the same about you Shelby. Except 'angelic sweetie pie' would be 'sarcastic.'" Cass replied. "I can't figure myself out, so I'm not surprised you can't either."
"Huh, so is Freakenstein still a virgin?" She grinned wickedly. Cass picked her pillow up and threw it at her, grinning and walking off in to the bathroom.
"C...cold..." Cass screamed a minute later.
"Oops, yeah. Sorry, I forgot to tell you, hot water is non-existent today. Boiler broke or something..." She cringed, smiling. "Ah well, it's the best thing for horny guys like your Ezra."
Part 3: Review
Cassandra Frasier emerged from the lodge and joined her 'inmates,' who were sat around the picnic tables on the lawn. She was clad in a camouflage jacket and trousers, with boots and a plain black t-shirt. Her hair was tied back in a neat French plait.
"Hey Ez, looks like she's wearing the trousers in this relationship," David grinned. "Hey Cassy, you know my Dad is a General? I'm an army brat too."
"Nope. You're just a brat Dave," She said as she sat between Ezra and Juliette, rolling her eyes.
"Morning guys," The Scarbrows greeted the group.
"Yeah, thanks for making us get out of bed at 8am on a Saturday, by the way. That was really nice of you," Shelby called out in her usual, sarcastic tone.
"You're welcome," Sophie smiled, choosing to ignore the sarcasm. 'You pick a fight with Shelby and it will never end.' She knew she had to pick her battles. Mere attitude was nothing. "It won't take long. Then you can return to your oh so important lounging around in your pyjamas all day."
"Hear it's a new sport it's that exciting," Peter mumbled, grinning.
"It's just over the ridge guys, so lets get going," they lead the way, the group slowly and reluctantly following.
"How can you afford to build an assault course when you almost went bust recently?" Shelby wondered.
"Rope, wood, nets. Cheap material. Really...And it's going to be here for a while. It's like the high ropes course you did a few months ago. But better."
"And not as high, I hope?" Shelby said, actually serious for a minute. She wasn't too keen on heights, and had walked away from the High Ropes. Of course, then, a little girl called Gracie had gone missing and Peter had made the whole school search for her, for some reason, and Shelby had been the one to find her, literally, Cliffhanging. She had to fetch her from the cliff and successfully bring her back down. Only Ezra knew she had saved Gracie. He had taken the praise, but only because Shelby had asked him too. Rather, threatened.
"Not quite."
"I don't quite see what it teaches us. Except how to be extremely tired," Ezra shrugged.
"Or competitive. You tell us not to be competitive," Auggie pointed out.
"You need exercise. And it teaches that you can overcome anything, no matter how horrible it looks. For instance, Juliette, do you want to do this?" Peter asked.
"No."
"Can you?" Peter asked.
"Doubt it," She sighed.
"We'll see, won't we," He said. He could see her panicking, and the others, except for Cassy, didn't look too thrilled. They weren't worried like she was, just not quite awake or willing. But Cassy didn't look at all bothered. "Cass, wanna go first?"
"I guess," She nodded. "Time me."
"Okay, but it is not a competition. Understand?" Sophie asked, clipboard, pen and stopwatch ready.
"Whatever. Can I go?"
"Yep. On three," Sophie nodded. Cass got herself ready and looked back at Soph. "One, two, three. Go."
Cassy shot up the wall, abseiling down the other side in forty seconds flat. She ran through the tyres, and through the wire 'tunnel,' and up the net, across, and tumbled down the net, leaping on to the platform, then the monkey bars as gracefully as a gymnast. She jumped down on to the decking and climbed the ladder, up to the high platform, and zip lined down on to the crash mat. David watched carefully, knowing he had to do much better.
"How did I do?" She asked, jumping to her feet and walking back over to Juliette and Ezra.
"Way to go Cassy!" Juliette congratulated her, wishing she was as good as her new friend.
"It was nothing. Done harder ones in my sleep."
"You do this for fun?" Shelby frowned, giving her a look that said 'you are weird.'
"I tag along sometimes with the guys when they do this back in Colorado. And paint balling too. For some reason, Uncle Murray loves it," she replied, not even out of breath.
"Good...very good Cassandra. Two minutes fifty. No one has done it under three and a half," Peter grinned. He was in a very good mood today. Although, that was pretty normal. He usually was.
Half an hour later, the Cliffhangers had all completed the course, except for Juliette. Cassandra, Auggie and Ezra in particular were cheering her on. Scott was also smiling at her as she looked in his direction. "Well done Juliette. See? That's what this teaches you. You didn't believe you could do that, did you? And look, you've done it."
"Did you time me?" Juliette asked, beaming. She was really proud, and Peter didn't want to burst her bubble. He looked at Sophie but she nodded.
"Three and a half. That's pretty good J," Sophie told her. Juliette squealed in excitement, hugging Peter and then Auggie.
"Great. I'm very proud," Peter agreed. "You don't know what you can do until you try it."
"Final scores?" Scott piped in, wondering if he'd beaten Auggie and David.
"All right. They were all great scores. Juliette – 3.30, Shelby – 3.27, Daisy – 3.08, Ezra – 3, Auggie – 2.59, David – 2.56, Scott – 2.28, and finally Cassy – 2.25. I'm sad to announce you all stink so go and shower, now. Then the day is yours!" Peter announced. "Very good, all of you. As a whole group you beat the others by miles. Only the Ridgerunners came close."
"How did you do that? You beat Scott who is like the uber-athlete!" Juliette asked on the way back to the dorm.
"I have a lot of anger. I focus everything on what I'm doing. It's like a fuel. I also feel much better when I've done something like that."
"I feel disgusting and dirty. I need first shower!" Shelby announced.
"No showering is going to help that," Cassy teased, walking ahead with Juliette, who was smiling. Daisy however didn't find that so amusing. She had heard something they hadn't from Shelby.
~/~
"Every day in the shower, I stand there – every day, and I think to myself – what a waste, what a waste, because I'm never gonna get clean..."
~/~
"Shelby, Shelby, she doesn't know. If she knew, she wouldn't say that. She's not a bitch." Daisy reminded her, putting her arm around her. Shelby removed it.
"You're sweaty, Graves. Get off of me."
Cassandra took a quick shower and then changed in to her favourite black sweater and jeans, her plait still perfect. Five minutes later, she was off to see Ezra.
Her search took her to the lodge, where he was sat talking with Scott. "Hey, sorry to steal him away, but..."
"Trust me, you're doing me a favour here," Scott laughed. Ez stood up and grabbed her hand. She grinned and whispered something in to his ear. His smile grew and his eyebrows raised.
"Cassandra Frasier!" Ezra exclaimed. "Hey, umm, Scott. Do you know if anyone's going out? Or using the equipment shed?"
"Not that I know of. Peter, for one, is buried under a mountain of paperwork. I think they all are. Have fun," He smiled, shaking his head. Shelby arrived on the scene just in time to see them leave.
"Where they off to in such a hurry?" She asked.
"Shed."
"Oh happy memories...wait...ewww. It'll be tainted now!" She sighed.
"It's good Ezra has a girlfriend." Scott said, as Shelby fell down beside him.
"I have to agree. Way to go germ, landing a girl like Cassandra. She's like...a seven!"
"Eight," Scott replied, before jumping in again with "but you're hotter. She's nice, you're perfect."
"Nice save. Wanna sneak down to the lake?" She asked, with the same look as Cassy had had in her eye moments before.
"Not that I'm against the whole 'making out with a cute dysfunctional adolescent' thing," Ezra said, pulling away for a moment. "But, why would you be interested in me?"
"Ezra. Shut up and kiss me," She commanded.
"You're so sexy when you boss me around, dear," He replied before complying.
"This is Cassandra Frasier's one month review. Thoughts, observations, comments?" Peter asked Sophie, Jeff and Roger, the senior staff members at Horizon. Frank had departed a while ago.
"Yes. She's very popular. And strong – the assault course the other day..." Sophie began.
"Okay, lets look at the sheet. (1) Is he/she in any danger here? If so is it more danger than at home?" Peter read.
"No. She hasn't opened up at all, but she is safe here. I have no doubts," Sophie jumped in straight away.
"She hasn't shown any signs at all," Jeff and Roger agreed. Peter nodded in agreement and scribbled some notes down.
"Question (2) Is she a risk to herself or others here?" Peter continued, already knowing the answer. "No."
"No, No more than Ezra or Juliette. And they are still here," His wife answered.
"Number (3) Has she settled in? Would she benefit from leaving for moving groups? Does she have one good friend?" Peter read.
"She and Juliette are really good friends. And Ezra. Daisy I think, as well. She seems to get on okay with the guys, maybe apart from David, but, it's David here," Sophie knew she shouldn't talk badly about David but he was so aggravating.
"And one of my girls...Jessica Merrick," Roger noted. "She should stay where she is. She comes to me as another point of call. If we change it she might not feel she can turn to me or anyone else. She trusts me and wants me to be her 'Non-counselling counsellor.' I believe that's the term she used. Besides, I mean, why move house just because your friends are across the street?"
"Agreed. She should stay with the Cliffhangers. Number (4) Is she making sufficient progress at Horizon, or will she in the near future?" Peter asked, he knew this would be a stumbling block. "She's not opening up, Sophie, you said it yourself."
"So? It takes different times for all of them. You know that. It's seldom instant," Sophie replied firmly. "Shelby was here months before she told us about her step dad."
"Then (5), what is the recommendation?"
"Cassandra Frasier stays, in the same group, until she graduates or earlier but only if we see dramatic changes," Sophie decided.
"Roger?"
"Ditto," He nodded, sitting back. Jeff nodded.
"Then it's settled. Cassandra Frasier will remain at Mount Horizon High School, in the Cliffhangers group, with the support and guidance of Sophie Scarbrow, Peter Scarbrow, and Roger Claypool," Peter decided. "Thank you very much for attending. I'll notify Major Samantha Carter, Janet Frasier and Colonel Jack O'Neill right away."
"Hey," Shelby said, looking up from her book.
"Hey," Cass grinned, heading for the bathroom.
"Have fun with Freakin?" She asked, nosily.
"You bet. Have fun with Barringer?"
"You bet. I can't seem to figure you out yet Cassandra. You go from angelic sweetie pie to wild rebel in the blink of an eye," She commented.
"That's funny, because I could say the same about you Shelby. Except 'angelic sweetie pie' would be 'sarcastic.'" Cass replied. "I can't figure myself out, so I'm not surprised you can't either."
"Huh, so is Freakenstein still a virgin?" She grinned wickedly. Cass picked her pillow up and threw it at her, grinning and walking off in to the bathroom.
"C...cold..." Cass screamed a minute later.
"Oops, yeah. Sorry, I forgot to tell you, hot water is non-existent today. Boiler broke or something..." She cringed, smiling. "Ah well, it's the best thing for horny guys like your Ezra."