A/N: sorry i haven't updated in forever, i know, i'm a horrible person for making u wait, but i do have some good news: i finally have an organized story line! yay! so hopefully i'll update more often :) the only thing is, it might be another 5 or 6 chaps before Scott reaches Horizon. please R&R, constructive criticsm appreciated! (Scott, Elaine, and Martin all belong to the evil people at FFC who cancelled Higher Ground.)

The lecture he received upon his arrival home was enough to make anyone want to stay away from sex for the rest of their lives. Hearing his father awkwardly explain the birds and the bees would have been hilarious had Scott not been in such a rotten mood. Martin's voice reached him from the master bedroom as he unpacked in his room.

"Elaine, have you seen my white silk tie?"

Oops. He had left the tie in the guest bedroom in his mother's house. Oh well. His father was going on another trip, this one was to Germany, and he would be gone for at least a week. Elaine was supposed to accompany him, as they had assumed that Scott would still be in New Mexico, but she had decided to stay. Scott had the feeling that she wasn't as upset about his early return as she pretended to be.

And he was right. The second Martin was gone, she was all over him.

"Mm, Scotty, don't stop."

He fought to get her off him, but his body was jelly. His fingers ripped into his heart and squeezed until it burst.

Scott jerked awake. He was in his room, he had been sleeping, she was nowhere near him, he was okay. He was okay.

"Mm, Scotty, stop moving."

She was lying on top of him. He sat up but Elaine pushed him back down. "Ready for round two?"

No. His was dreaming, he would wake up any second now...

But he didn't. Elaine moved up and down, giving the sixteen year old a pleasure his body had never known before her arrival. She had complete control, and it was something she would never let go of. She had been in his position, and she had vowed to never become a victim again. Every night Martin was gone she wreaked her revenge on the species of man.

But as much as she hated Scott, she loved him. She loved the way he consented to her every demand. She hated the tear that slipped down his cheek, but she kissed away his pain. She couldn't stand the way he folded himself up, but that action only strengthened her control. She despised the sadness in his eyes, but for a brief moment that sadness became desire, and she loved that she could make him want the very thing that caused him such anguish. She owned every part of him, including his thoughts. She implanted the guilt into his mind, she made him hate himself, she even made him lie to his father every time they almost got caught. And the beautiful thing was that he had no idea. He didn't understand how much power she had, he continued to believe that his thoughts were his own.

She watched the car roll up the street and into the driveway. She took one last look at her secret lover, who had drifted into an uneasy sleep, before resuming her role as the loving wife.

Scott sat on the steps of his high school, trying to keep himself from thinking. He had overslept and missed almost the entire day, which meant that he wouldn't be able to go to practice.

"What's crackin' Skizz?"

Without looking up, he knew who was talking to him. Only one person called him by his football codename when he wasn't on the field. Billy was a giant of a boy, probably the best blocker on any Division 1 team. Scott wasn't surprised to see the Heineken in his hand or the cheerleader hanging onto his arm. All Bill Canady needed to play football was a C average, and there were quite a few people he could bully into making sure he got one. Billy the bully. Odd, but it fit.

"Not much, man."

"Just chillin'?"

"Just chillin'. Where you off to?"

"Me and Sean were gonna go have a little party at Jean's house. Ya up for it?"

The warning bells were going off inside his head. "Sure, why not."

Scott could barely see his feet through the smoke that filled Jean's house. He actually didn't know who she was, but he guessed that she was the tall purple-haired girl who looked like she didn't get enough sun. Then again, most of the people in the house looked like they spent just a bit too much time indoors. Doing what, he only needed one guess.

The other teens were sprawled on the couches, on the floor, on each other... Most of them were complete strangers. Scott sat uneasily on the edge of a chair. Almost immediately, a joint was shoved under his nose.

"You really need to loosen up dude. I'm Marvin. Who the fuck are you?"

Scott gave the marijuana a disinterested look before focusing on Marvin. "Scott."

"Ooh, so you're a jocko. What's it like being a jocko, jocko?"

Scott sighed. Either this guy was really high or he was just demented. "Very... jockish."

"Thought so."

Scott got up to find Billy. Coach Riddlin would kill him if he smelled even a hint of the contraband that was being passed around.

"Yo Bill!"

But his larger friend was a little preoccupied at the moment. Seated at a rather large kitchen table, surrounded and egged on by unrecognizable faces, he downed shot after shot of burning, hard vodka. Traces of it dribbled down his chin and onto his brand-new Green Bay Packers jersey, which didn't look so new anymore.

The sight disgusted Scott. Billy looked like a giant pig greedily shoveling down slop. And all those strangers-those freaks- just kept cheering him on, betting on how many shots he could take before puking.

He couldn't take it anymore. Scott stormed out of the house, making his way back towards the school. Amidst the rush of students eager to get out of school, he spotted Brianna walking with a stack of books in her hand. She held up a hand to wave, but he suddenly turned and walked the other way. He didn't look back until he was certain she couldn't see him anymore, then he turned and scanned the crowd for her. When he finally did find her again, he saw that she had dropped the stack of books. Instead of going to help her as he had been raised to do, he stood and watched, feeling miserable. He wanted to hang out with her, but he did not want to get Elaine angry again. The bruises she left on his neck had taken much longer to heal than he had anticipated, and the memory of that night kept him in check.

He wandered aimlessly until his stomach rumbled with hunger, telling him it was finally time to go home. Scott tip-toed around the house, quiet as a mouse, until he was sure that Elaine wasn't home. Then he made a quick omelet, which he ate even faster, and went to his room.

Two weary eyes gazed in the bathroom mirror and barely recognized the face that stared back. He had gone so long without a good night of sleep that he felt like falling into a coma was the only way to get any rest. Once again, he opened the mirror to study its contents. Why all of these bottles were here, he didn't know. They should be in the master bedroom, but they were in his own personal bathroom. It struck him as odd, but he was so tired of caring. So tired of being the good boy, the boy that doesn't go to parties or have time for girlfriends or even for his regular friends. He was so tired...

The bottle of sleeping pills beckoned to him, calling him to the wonderful land of dreamless sleep. One pill couldn't hurt. He would just take one. He would be good about it, he wouldn't take too many or give them to other people. Steady hands twisted the top out of the bottle and put the pill into a dry mouth. Scott swallowed it without any water and took a deep breath before brushing his teeth and changing into a pair of shorts. He passed out before he even hit the bed.

Elaine crept into the dark bedroom.

"Scotty?"

There was no movement from the lump on the bed. She climbed on top of the covers and turned him onto his back. He was sound asleep. She watched his angelic face as his chest rhythmically rose and fell, a face without any trace of pain. She kissed his minty lips, but he still did not wake. She pulled off the covers and grabbed the most sensitive part of his body, but it made no difference.

"Scotty." She shook his body, slapped his face, pulled his hair, slapped his face again, but he continued to sleep. She left his room two hours later, frustrated.

Scott woke up the next morning, refreshed and ready for the day. He had even managed to forget about Elaine for a while. He rushed to get ready and finish his homework, then ran out the door to make it to school.

The effect of the pill was amazing. He was in a much better mood than the day before, he could actually concentrate in class, and he managed to insult Mr. Stevenson without landing himself a detention. Elaine filtered into his mind occasionally, but he pushed her back out. He didn't know if she had come into his room last night, but he won this time. He had found a way to stop her.

Sooo, what do u think? Am I going to slow with the 5 more chapter thing or is that an okay pace?