PETER SCARBROW has been the headmaster and chief administrator of Mt. Horizon High for the past three years and is determined that each of his charges leave the school with self-worth intact and a better life ahead of them. Working with the school's owner and founder, Frank Markasian, they have built Horizon into one of the finest, most progressive and most successful "emotional growth" schools in the Pacific Northwest. On the physical side, Peter is strong and healthy, an outdoor athlete into running, biking, climbing, hiking, canoeing, kayaking, windsurfing and hang-gliding. But these passions have come to Peter only recently.
Prior to meeting Frank, Peter had bottomed-out. A certifiable success at 28 at one of the biggest brokerages on Wall Street, Peter seemed to have it all. But to keep up with the incredible, physical demands of the business, he turned to cocaine, and then to heroine -- which became his undoing. Gradually, at first, his life started spinning out of control until, ultimately, his marriage, his bank account and his Porsche were total wrecks. After his first overdose and a stint at a rehab clinic, he began using again and ended up on the streets. Recovering at a Washington hospital after another near-fatal overdose, he met Frank, whose simple, straightforward philosophy struck a chord with Peter. The two men bonded and Frank invited him to Mt. Horizon to clear his mind, cleanse his body in the clean mountain air and facilitate his recovery. Frank slowly became Peter's mentor, best friend and surrogate father. And except for an occasional trip back to New York, Peter has remained at Mt. Horizon ever since.
Confident, fun-loving SOPHIE BECKER met Peter during one of his rehab stints, and the two instantly became friends. They share an intense love for daredevil sports and, in fact, after a three year absence, Sophie "dropped" back into Peter's life via a parachute. Eager for her not to leave his life again, Peter eventually coaxes the reluctant, always-running Sophie to become more involved at Mt. Horizon. Clearly, the two share more than just an interest in extreme hobbies, and their friendship could lead to romance. In more than one way, and not on more than one occasion, Sophie arouses suspicious and jealousy in Peter's ex-wife, Chloe, who -- right or not -- regards her as the threat that caused their marriage to fail.
The newest student at Horizon, SCOTT BARRINGER offers an entire year's look at the school, from admittance to graduation. A big, handsome, athletic 16-year-old, he is quickly dubbed the place's "bad boy." On the surface, Scott has everything" athletic skills, intelligence, even musical talent. But his parents' -- albeit amiable -- divorce, put Scott in the middle of their breakup and he feels partially responsible. At 14, his father married a young, sexy woman Scott disparagingly referred to as a "trophy wife." Closer to Scott's age than her husband's, that stepmother seduced him half a dozen times before Scott's thoroughly confused and rebellious behaviours put an end to it. Without revealing this horrifying secret, Scott berated her to his father, who tried everything to bring the two of them together to be friends. And the more this clueless father tried, the more Scott acted out. Soon he was into drugs and petty theft. His school work disintegrated and he was thrown off the football team. As a last resort for help, his father decided to send him to Horizon.
Horizon's resident ‘bad girl," SHELBY MERRICK could be considered Scott's female equivalent. Despite her cute, fresh-face innocent look -- not to mention youth -- Shelby has learned to use sexuality as both weapon and reward, and as a cover for profound lack of self-esteem and self-worth. Although Shelby has a cadre of defences and presents a tough couldn't-care-less exterior, she is actually very frightened. Her current state came from years of sexual and emotional abuse by her stepfather while her mother knowingly looked the other way. At 14 she ran away and spent close to a year on the streets, turning to prostitution and drugs until she ultimately located her natural father in Los Angeles. Though well-meaning, he could neither control his wild daughter or deal with her deep emotional scars. So, he made a deal with juvenile authorities that allowed her to go Horizon rather than Juvenile Hall.
Previously regarded as a beauty queen girl, JULIETTE WAYBOURNE seems very sweet and pretty. Unlike other kids at Horizon, Juliette has never been molested, isn't adopted, and has no learning difficulties ... and yet she continually insults and abuses herself with such extremes as bulimia and self-mutilation. Her pain and problems are the least obvious of the group's -- until you examine her family life. Her perfectionist mother has been through a succession of husbands' in the last nine years, Juliette has grown up in three different households with eight siblings of three different fathers. Exacerbating her unstable surroundings, almost all of the children are extremely successful overachievers. With no way to compete with their accomplishments, she chose physically destructive measures to get the love and attention she craved. Her natural father, an airline pilot who was away often, finally brought Juliette to Horizon.
EZRA FRIEDKIN has an unfortunate name which makes him an easy target for teasing. To the meaner kids at Horizon, he's know simply as "Freakin." When that name is used by someone, he politely corrects them, although for shy, sensitive and intelligent Ezra, the verbal abuse cuts a little deep into his heart each time. Ezra was adopted at birth -- an issue he still hasn't resolved. Unfortunately, his struggling college professor parents adopted for all the wrong reasons, mistakenly believing that a baby could salvage their foundering marriage. When the union exploded in a bitter, ugly divorce, Ezra was caught in the middle of his parents' vitriolic arguments. The experience forced him to be a pleaser, a mediator, a peacemaker, and a rule-follower. To comfort himself, Ezra turned to drugs, and descended downward on a trail that led to ketamine, which almost killed him. After he was revived in the ER and spent 10 days recovering, he was sent to Horizon.
KATHERINE ANN CABOT, and African-American, is also adopted. But, unlike Ezra, she was adopted by kind, loving -- and white -- parents. Though she always knew she ws adopted, a sense of alienation set in as she grew older, and she felt she didn't fit in with either the white or the black culture. That confusion prompted her grades to slip and for her to withdraw from her talents as a gifted athlete. Lapsing into a depression, her parents felt that a fresh, new outdoors environment like Horizon would help her find herself.
AUGGUST "Auggie" CICEROS is one of the several adjudicated kids sent to Horizon by the courts. For him, it was either Hoizon or a Youth Authority lockup -- and the constant threat of being sent to "juvie" keeps him in line. The youngest of five children, he grew up in a middle class home on the fringe of the barrio. Although he wasn't a gang member, he was a tagger -- and, gaining quite an impressive reputation -- was eventually busted. But the court took mercy on Auggie who, at 15, can barely read of write. All through school, he was placed in educable mentally handicapped classes. But now, Horizon has realized the real problem: he's profoundly dyslexic. Now that his high IQ has been discovered, Auggie may have the highest native intelligence at Horizon. Plus, he's a talented artist -- which could explain why he turned to tagging as the only place he could find respect and admiration.
For 20 years, FRANK MARKASIAN has been the founder and owner of Horizon. While sharp and vigorous, his body is beginning to betray his energy, especially since his wife died two years ago. Five years before Horizon, he began counseling "at risk" kids and addicts. While he had no formal training, he had the passion, drive and need -- ever since his own son died of a heroin overdose.
DAISY LIPENOWSKI, a dark adolescent who prefers to be called Daisy Graves, hid from the pain of her alcoholic parents beneath a mask of "Goth" make-up, clothes, and piercings. When years of emotional abuse at home threatened to turn physical, Daisy struck back - literally. She assualted her father with a seven-iron, and she was quickly shipped off to Horizon. Insightful and harshly honest, Daisy is always willing to point out other people's problems and faults, but carefully hides her own inner pain and rage.
