The sun shone through the branches that hung overhead as Sophie led the Cliffhangers on a brief hike around the lake. She figured they could all enjoy what was probably going to be the last bit of pleasant weather before the winter season really hit Horizon. Taylor was at the back of the line, quietly taking in the wooded area encompassing her home. As strange as it sounded, she finally found a sense of freedom in the school that many considered to be a prison or punishment of some sort.

Daisy and Ezra slowed their pace until Taylor reached them on the trail. "Dang, you're slow," Ezra teased as he picked at a low-hanging branch as they walked by. "Remind me not to be on your team the next time we have to do a relay race or something."

Daisy playfully jabbed him in the side, but Taylor knew she could hold her own. "I'm pretty sure I remember that my shoes were kicking water up in your face when we played soccer in the rain." She smiled, happy that they decided to include her in their own little group during the hike.

"No, way," he protested. "That doesn't even count because it was in no way a real game. If there had been nets and rules and established teams, there's not even a chance that you would have come close to beating me."

"Stop trying to make excuses," Daisy playfully chimed in. "They aren't really your strong point."

"I'm just saying," he continued as they walked up the trail, "I'm just saying…"

Taylor smiled as he and Daisy kept taunting each other. She knew there were still plenty of things to worry about: where she would go for Thanksgiving, where she would go when summer arrived, how she was still losing sleep because of some nightmares she had been having. But for the moment, she just wanted to be happy – and that meant she had to concentrate on the fact that she was walking and joking with her friends, enjoying a beautiful trail in the middle of autumn, safe from so many other things that could not quite penetrate the shield of the Horizon grounds. She did not want to get overwhelmed with all the details she still had to work out; Peter was helping her learn that she needed to take life one day at a time, one person at a time, one conversation at a time…She realized there was hope for her after all, and there had been people having hope in her all along.