DISCLAIMER

It's not mine. Kyle belongs to Universal Pictures and Higher Ground belongs to Fox Family. And for those of you who are wondering, as well as being a Scott\Shelby\Kyle friendship fic, this will have a brother\sister bond between Kyle and Jess and a Kyle\Daisy pairing later on. Now, before you bite off my head, I'm generally Daisy\Ezra fan myself, but if you remember, Daisy expressed interest in Kyle early on, i.e. when he first arrived, and I'm just going from there. Plus, I may make this into a full-blown series.

The next day, the Cliffhanger boys woke up groggily.

"Man, I cannot move," groaned Auggie.

"I hear ya," agreed Kyle.

"Well, don't even think about blaming me. After all, I'm not the one who woke everybody up for the second time this week," David grumbled.

"Ruxton, I am so not in the mood for you," Kyle snapped.

"Come on. Let's just go eat," Ezra said. With that, the boys got dressed and went into the dining hall. Luckily, they didn't have meal prep that morning.

"Hey, Kyle," Daisy greeted. The boy managed a small grin in her direction. Over the past few days, he had noticed her point to be around him, as well as the quick glances she had shot in his direction when she thought nobody was looking. She obviously liked him and he definitely felt something for her, but he wasn't sure if it was a good idea. Especially if she found out what had happened to him. That was partly the reason he hadn't opened up in group yet. Also, he wasn't sure what to think about the other Cliffhangers. From what he had heard in and surmised from their last group meeting, Scott, Shelby, and Jess had had bad experiences with their parents or guardians. Suddenly, he felt somebody's elbow in his side.

"You okay?" Katherine queried.

"I'm fine, Kat," Kyle assured quickly. He then shoveled the breakfast into his mouth so that he wouldn't have to answer anymore of her questions. Catching this, Shelby looked to Scott who mouthed the word 'Nightmare'. The girl nodded. She knew all about those. Especially when it was real quiet. Walt had liked the quiet. It made his power over her even bigger. After breakfast, the kids went out to The Wall.

"Kyle, you're up," Peter stated. Kyle made a face, but did as he was told. One-by-one, the other Cliffhangers followed him. Then, they went into their classes. Kyle honestly tried to concentrate, he did, but he could never focus after one of his nightmares. At free time, the Cliffhangers spread themselves all over the campus. Kyle found himself sitting at one of the benches. He blew out a breath and put his head in his hands.

"Do you want to talk about it?" a voice offered. Startled, Kyle whirled around to see Sophie.

"Sorry," the woman apologized. Then, "So…?"

"At group. I'll talk at group," Kyle replied.

"Fair enough," Sophie agreed. With that, she walked away. Kyle let out another sigh. He wasn't sure what to do. He knew he had to talk about what had happened to him, but he didn't want to have to see the looks on the other Cliffhangers' faces. Especially Daisy. His stomach knotted, just thinking about how she'd react. She'd never look at him again. The day passed and group came all too soon for the boy's liking.

"So, who wants to start?" Sophie queried.

"I do," Jess announced. Everyone looked to the younger girl.

"I, um---I had a nightmare last night. You know---he was---he made me---" the girl's voice cracked. "He said I couldn't tell," she continued.

"That's the worst. When they tell you to keep quiet," Scott spoke up. Sophie didn't reprimand him for interrupting. She and Peter had discovered long ago that Scott, Shelby, and Jess were more likely to share about their experiences if they interacted with each other.

"That you don't want to make it worse, or they can move on," Shelby added.

"She said that we couldn't wake him up. That he'd never understand," Scott said. "And in a way, she was right. He never understood," he continued. Kyle listened as the three talked. They had been molested? He knew that the school dealt with kids who had been abused, but he had never thought that it had happened to these three.

"It makes me angry," Shelby stated.

"Scared," Jess added.

"Disgusted," Scott said.

"Ashamed," Kyle spoke up. Everyone turned to look at him.

"You were molested?" Daisy queried. Kyle nodded.

"His name was Harry Quinlan. He was my dad's best friend…and---and---" Kyle hesitated and began to fidget nervously. Then, he began to cry.

"And what?" Scott asked gently.

"He was my shrink! Someone I trusted!" Kyle burst out. He tried to wipe away the tears, but they kept coming.

"Your shrink?" Juliette repeated.

"Yeah. He said we were 'special friends'," Kyle answered. He scoffed. "Some friendship. Just a dang lie," he continued, swiping at his eyes again. Shelby reached over and put a sympathetic hand on his arm.

"It's okay," she said softly. Kyle managed a small smile. It was so good to get that out! It felt so free! He looked around the group until he saw Daisy. Instead of the expression of disgust and disdain he had expected, her visage was one of sympathy and understanding. Kyle couldn't say anything. Just looked into her eyes.

AUTHOR'S RECOMMENDATION

For those of you who are fans of Trevor Blumas who played Kyle Hunter in The Unsaid, you should see Ice Princess. It's great!