Chapter Four: See the Sun Again

Freedom. There's nothing like it, Yayla thought to herself as she waited for her mother to come and pick her up. It had been ... nearly two years. Somehow they'd managed to lock her up even though she was barely thirteen.

"Yayla." She turned around to see her mother, Ms. Ciceros, running towards her.

"Mama!" Yayla yelled back, trying to hold back her tears. There were a couple of other girls lounging around near her and she didn't want something bad to happen and end up in here again, giving them ammunition to use against her. "I'm so happy you're here." Yayla buried her face in her mother's shirt, trying to hide her tears and all her emotions.

"I didn't know how I was going to get you out, but I did." Ms. Ciceros smiled, pulling her daughter from her in order to see how much she had changed. "I can't believe it."

"Neither can I." Yayla whispered as Alex started walking towards them. "Mama. He's here." They stopped and looked. "Is he trying to get me to be here for the rest of my life?" Yayla wondered, as he whispered something to the person at the front desk and walked off.

"Of course not." Consuela answered, uncertainly. Yayla had been one of the youngest teens convicted of killing someone and sentenced since 1979. And Alex was the best friend of the guy she had killed.

"Can we leave?" Yayla wondered as her mother nodded. Being there gave her the chills. Even worse, the way Alex looked at her made her think that she was almost better off in juvie than on the streets with him.

"So, you'll miss Nick the most?" Bryan wondered, helping Alina pack her things into her mom's min-van.

"No. Why would you say that?" Alina stopped wiping sweat off her forehead. Today was the day she had been dreading for weeks. "I'm going to miss you all equally. I love you guys." Alina looked away when she said the word 'love.'

"Then why can't you look me in the eye?" Bryan pressed, wanting a complete confession from her before they parted.

"Because, we always lose the ones we love." Alina walked off into the house and into her room to see if she had left anything else. Bryan followed her.

"Why can't you just say it?"

"Say what?" Alina yelled back, confused.

"I got this for you." Bryan handed her a box, which was hiding a beautiful charm bracelet.

"Expensive." Alina joked, noticing that it couldn't compare to anything that Nick could give her ... and had already given her. But, there was something significant about it ... it was anomalous, depicting every important moment in her life, including this one. A bracelet with a camp ... engraved with the words "Horizon."

"I know it's not much, not like what Nick can give ... He can have anyone you know." Bryan added, trying to give Alina doubts about Nick.

"I know ... what's your agenda?" Alina growled, angrily.

"Nothing. I'll ... take this bag." Bryan walked off, roughly pushing the door open. She just didn't get it.

"I can't believe it!" Candace yelled to herself almost at the exact time that Scott was saying this to Shelby.

"It seemed like she knew me so well ... and..."

"What?" Shelby wondered, trying to follow where he was going.

"And, I feel really bad about what happened between us." He added. "I'm not really sure ... I can't remember, but she knows about Elaine." They sat in silence for a few moments trying to figure out this Scott-Candace situation.

"So, you sort-of remember her?"

"I think so." Scott turned away, trying to tune out the thoughts that told him that he had been malicious towards this girl. Before Horizon, he was dilettante, a dabbler. Who knows what happened between them?

(A/N: R/R for more and longer chapters ... thanks to veruca for reviewing!! NL)