It had been nearly a month since Scott had started working as the Cliffhangers' counselor and things seemed to be going well. He was slowly getting to know each of the members in his group and day by day learned the ropes of being an employee at Horizon.

The group had just returned from a short hike and had enough time to get to the first classes of the morning, though they were not particularly happy about that. Scott sat amongst the five students in the lodge and tried to hurry them along.

"Let's go, guys;" he encouraged the sluggish group. They were clearly trying to take as much time as possible in hopes that Scott would let them skip at least one class but he would not budge. "You have exactly three minutes to get to class."

"Come on, man," Mike tried to argue; "let us have the day off. You freaking woke us up at five to go on the hike. Give us a break."

"Please," Becca asked sweetly.

"I need a nap or something," Jenna complained.

"You guys can rest after classes are done." Scott had learned the mechanics that each individual in his group tried to use in order to get around certain situations. Some of their tricks were his own, in fact, and he always smiled when he told them that they could not fool him because he had been exactly where they were now. "Let's go, let's go," he urged as he motioned for them to all get up off the couch and move towards the door.

"Not cool, man," Eli muttered under his breath as they all obeyed Scott's directions and exited the building.

Scott suddenly felt the desire to go for a run on one of the trails. Even though he had just returned from a hike, it was a slow-paced hike and he wanted to really get his adrenaline going. As he walked towards the doorway, he heard a tapping on the window. He turned and saw Peter standing outside and he motioned for Scott to meet him outside.

Peter had just rounded the corner when Scott stepped outside. "Hey," Peter started. "I have something I want to talk to you about. What are you doing for lunch?"

"Eating," Scott replied with a smile.

"You're just so funny," Peter said sarcastically. "Why don't we meet in the cafeteria around noon and we can talk as we eat."

"Yeah, sure," Scott answered. He figured Peter just wanted to check up on how the group had adjusted without Sophie around. Peter patted him on the shoulder before hurrying away to take care of something by the lake and Scott headed to his office to change into his running shoes.

A few hours later, after a decent run through the woods and a warm shower, Scott stepped into the cafeteria and looked around. He was a few minutes early so he was not surprised when he did not see Peter. He grabbed a tray, went through the food line, and picked a table near the windows. Within five minutes, Peter had also joined him with his food.

"So," Scott started, "what'd you want to talk about?" He took a sip of his water and waited for Peter to speak.

"Well, I had a long conversation last night with a man from North Carolina. He and his son are on their way out here now and he'll be enrolled in a couple days." Peter paused and took a sip of his water before continuing. "Now, I know you and the Cliffhangers have done pretty well so far with all the adjustments and everything and I just wanted to see if you were ready to have a new member join the group."

"Um, yeah," Scott answered. "You think I'm ready to add on?"

"Sure," Peter said. "Your group is one of the smallest on campus right now so it was my first choice, but I wanted to run it by you before I made any decisions."

"I think you know how I'm doing with this job better than I know myself so if you think I'm ready, I'm in," Scott said.

"I do think you're ready. You're great with these kids. I think it really has a lot to do with the fact that you were one of them yourself not too long ago."

Peter and Scott sat in silence for a moment, eating their food. Scott finally spoke up. "So what do you know about this new kid?"

"Well, I talked with his dad for nearly an hour. His name is Sam. He's fifteen. Let's see," Peter paused so he could plan his next description more carefully. "He had a twin sister who was raped last year. She wound up getting pregnant from the rapist and had his baby. Then a couple months ago, she committed suicide."

Scott could not produce any words in response to the short glimpse he had just gotten into the life of a fifteen year-old. He let out a defeated sigh before Peter went on.

"He's been really depressed, which is understandable. But he's isolated himself and his parents are worried that he may turn to the same answer his sister turned to. He's coming from a year that's been extremely rough, but I know you can take care of him here."

Peter had more faith in Scott than he could have ever imagined having in himself. He knew getting to know Sam and help him with his past would be a huge challenge, but he also knew Peter would not consider assigning him to the Cliffhangers if Scott could not handle it.

"They should be here Wednesday morning." Peter took another sip of water. "Do you know who his first-week buddy should be?"

Scott thought about each of his students. Mike might be too intimidating; Ally would probably be too intimidated; Jenna would most likely be too bitter. "Probably either Becca or Eli," he finally replied. "Do you think Becca might have too much in common with his sister?"

Peter could see that Scott was just thinking out loud so he did not offer his opinion.

"I'd go with Eli," he finally concluded. "Probably shouldn't take any risks right off the bat, right?"

"That's good thinking. Yeah, Eli's a good choice," Peter said with a satisfied nod.

The two finished up their lunch and had dropped off their trays when the five Cliffhangers walked in to eat between classes. Both Scott and Peter stopped to say a quick hello before heading outside. "Oh," Scott called over his shoulder; "I have an announcement for everyone at group this afternoon."

With that said, he left the building and the five students exchanged curious looks, not having any idea what the announcement could be.