A few hours later, Taylor sat in a wooden chair across from Peter's office. Auggie had been called in first after they had both been caught without their assignments completed. She had only been waiting a few minutes before Auggie came out frowning. "What happened?" She asked.

"Man, I gotta write two reports now," he complained. "You're up, Newbie. Maybe he'll go easy on you since it's your first week."

"We'll see," she said as she stood and stepped across the hall. Auggie sauntered back off to class as she made her way into the office.

"Go ahead and close the door, Taylor," Peter said from his desk. He stood, shuffled some papers, and motioned for her to sit on the couch. As she did, he moved around to the side of his desk and sat on its edge. "So…" he started off softly.

"I'm sorry," she immediately responded. She sat stiffly on the edge of the couch.

"I didn't think we were going to have any sort of trouble with homework. From what I can tell, you've always been a pretty good student." He patiently looked at her, waiting for an explanation.

"I've done my other assignments; I just had a hard time getting all the way through the book." She stopped, hoping that was enough of an answer for him; she could tell from his expression, however, that he wanted more. "It, uh…" She shifts uncomfortably on the couch. "It just hit too close to home. I tried to tell that to my teacher but she just sent me to you. I couldn't concentrate enough to get through it."

"I know the storyline of the novel; I've read it. I also know you lost your sister in a similar way. You wrote a little about it in the paper I asked of you." He reached behind him to retrieve her paper. He held it before him, glancing through it again. "Can we talk about your sister's car accident?"

"I don't know," Taylor softly replied. She stared out the window, wishing she could be anywhere but in his office talking about any of the things she wrote about in her paper.

"You don't know?" He repeats gently. "Why don't you think you can talk about it?"

"Because," she tries to force a chuckle. "I haven't really talked about it before…at least not without crying." She hoped he would not push the issue.

Peter rose from his desk and moved to sit in his usual chair. He seemed so relaxed; a direct parallel to how tense Taylor was feeling. "It's okay to cry about it, especially in here. It's a huge loss in your life, isn't it?" She offered the slightest nod, still not looking from the window. "Do you want to talk about something else?"

"I'd rather just go," she hopefully said, revealing a tiny smile.

"Sorry," he smiled back, relieved that she was comfortable enough to at least smile. "We're not done yet. Tay, have you cut yourself since you've been here?" He looked directly into her eyes, which grew wide with uncertainty.

"What? No, how did you…how did…" she was caught so off guard that she cannot find any words.

"The nurse made a note of the scars on you arm during your medical exam. And I can see a cut on your arm right now," he motioned to her left arm where part of her newest cut slightly showed below the cuff of her sleeve. "When is it from, hun?"

Taylor did not think they noticed any of her scars earlier. The cut Peter referred to was from the night before, once all her roommates had fallen asleep. "Last night," she barely let the words out in a whisper.

"What'd you use?" He leaned forward in his chair. His face was tight with worry but it didn't seem to be angry.

"I borrowed a knife from the cafeteria." She felt her face grow red with shame. Her burning cheeks would have been enough to give her secret away even if he hadn't seen the cut.

"Where is the knife now?"

"Under my mattress," she admitted.

He bit his lower lip and nodded, looking at the floor for a brief moment. "Okay," he said softly. "I'm going to need you to give it to Sophie when we're done here."

"We aren't done yet?" She asked, feeling worse by the second.

Peter shook his head. "No. Why'd you hurt yourself? You know it's against the rules, I told you that right away," he said. His tone was strong and serious, but not convicting or hollow.

"Because," she stated plainly

"Because why?" He pressed, hoping she would open up just a little for him.

"Because I was trying to do that stupid English assignment," she said louder and with more frustration than usual. Peter was silent, waiting for her to continue. "I was trying to read it and I couldn't stop thinking about my sister's accident. You said this place was going to be an escape."

"Well," he turned her words over in his mind; "not that kind of escape. You can't get away from the events that altered you life, Tay. Not even by cutting. But you can sort through those events here, and we can help you like yourself again.

"I like myself," she blurted out defensively, not even realizing it was a lie.

He cocked his head and looked at her with compassion. "That's not what your eyes are saying." He hoped the realization he'd just placed before her would help them move forward during her stay at Horizon.