DISCLAIMER
As you all know, none of it's mine. Characters from The Unsaid---the Hunter family---belong to Universal Pictures and Higher Ground characters---you know who they are---are the property of Fox Family. This may seem slower than my other fics and I apologize, but this is mainly a friendship fic between Scott, Kyle, and Shelby. Oh and in case I didn't say so, Jess is fourteen. Also, I know I didn't mention any luggage in my previous chapter, but by now, it's been put in the Cliffhangers boys' dorm.
Minutes later, after Kyle had endured his physical, he, his dad, and Peter walked out.
"Well, here's what we're going to do. Kyle will be placed into our Cliffhangers group and my fiancée Sophie, who's also the counselor, and I will monitor Kyle's progress. Unfortunately, you won't be able to stay here since we've found that the kids are more likely to open up without a guardian around, not to mention the fact that the parent is usually the root of the problem," Peter stated.
"My mom and dad didn't do anything," Kyle said angrily.
"Hence the word 'usually'," Peter responded.
"Sorry," Kyle apologized sheepishly.
"It's okay," Peter told him with a laugh.
"Would it be all right if I stayed long enough to make sure Kyle's settled?" requested Dr. Hunter.
"Of course," Peter agreed.
"Well, where are they?" Kyle wondered.
"Right now, they're at The Wall," Peter answered.
"'The Wall'?" Kyle repeated.
"Follow me," Peter said. Curious, father and son did so. Meanwhile, at a rock-climbing wall, Daisy Lipenowski was making her descent.
"Yeah! All right, Dais!" Ezra Friedkin cheered. David Ruxton rolled his eyes.
"You are so obvious," he told him.
"At least I'm not obnoxious," was the retort.
"Knock it off you two," Katherine Cabot chided. Their counselor, Sophie Becker, hid a smile. As Daisy dropped to the ground, something caught her eye.
"Well. That looks interesting," she drawled. Curious as to what had piqued their ex-Goth friend's attention, the Cliffhangers turned. To their surprise, they saw Peter walking with a man and his son who appeared to be sixteen.
"He's kind of cute," Jess Merrick stated.
"I wonder who he is," Juliette "Jules" Waybourne said.
"I'll let you guys know," Daisy grinned, as she went out to meet them. As the trio came closer, the Cliffhangers could see that the boy was dark-skinned with what appeared to be a tan and dark hair.
"Hey, Peter," Sophie greeted.
"Hey, Soph," Peter responded. "Cliffhangers, I want you to meet a new man: Kyle Hunter," he announced.
"Hi," Kyle said.
"I'm Daisy," Daisy told him. "Here you have Scott, Shelby---they go together, don't get any ideas---Juliette, Auggie,---same deal as Scott and Shelby---, Katherine, Ezra, Jess, and---"
"David Ruxton, main man," David interrupted.
"I somehow doubt that," Kyle deadpanned. The Cliffhangers all stifled a laugh.
"Well, I can see that you're going to do just fine here," Dr. Hunter stated.
"Yeah," Kyle agreed.
"Okay. See ya, partner," Dr. Hunter said.
"Bye, Dad," Kyle replied. They hugged and the man walked off. Scott, Shelby, Auggie, Juliette, Ezra, Katherine, David, Jess, and Daisy stared at each other in confusion. What could this happy teenager be doing at Horizon?