Chapter 1
I was pretty far along the curvy, precarious mountain road when I realized I’d been up to Hannah’s family cabin numerous times, but I’d never actually driven to it. Four foot banks of snow bordered each side of the hairpin turns, and my poor, little five-speed one tire in the car graveyard Toyota was fighting every increase in altitude with its last gasp of exhaust.
The winter sun had fallen behind a mountain peak, leaving only a black road and the snow, which looked icy blue in the shadows of dusk. I smacked the button on the dash to coax a few more degrees of heat from the vent, but the car seemed determined to stay at a chilly sixty-two degrees. The white puffs of breath coming from my mouth were warmer than the air coming from the heater.
What the heck made me think I should head up there? That’s right. Brent. My extremely irritating, highly arrogant, two-timing ex. After kicking him out, the creep moved into the same apartment building three doors down with Bonnie or Bunny or whatever the hell her name is. I needed an escape, and my best friend, Hannah, told me the cabin was free for the weekend. She suggested I head up for a few days to get my mind off things. Getting my mind off things was all I needed to hear. Next thing I knew, I was stuffing my long underwear, mittens and the hat my Grammy knitted me last winter in a duffle bag.
It had been several years since I’d been up to the cabin. Four to be exact. Hannah and I came up here on winter break of our senior year. We’d spent a good amount of time on the slopes, working hard to catch the attention of the snowboard instructor, along with every other female on the mountain. Our futile pursuit of Hans, who looked like he’d just walked off the Alps, was more for Hannah than for me. I was a brilliant, worldly eighteen year-old who’d met her soul mate at a Green Day concert where the air had been so thick with weed, even if you weren’t smoking it, a case of hiccups could get you stoned off your ass. I’d been sure Brent was the one, and he seemed to think I was his one and only, but he also thought any other blonde in a hundred mile radius was his one and only. He had a lot of soul mates out there waiting for him. And they were all welcome to him. I was glad to be rid of the douchebag.
Hannah and I’d had some really good times up at the cabin, and I was always thrilled to be included in her family’s trips. I had no siblings and both my parents worked long hours, which meant a lot of latch key time for me. But Hannah was a good friend and always invited me along. Plus, she had no sister, only three brothers, two of whom were already grown and out of the house by the time Hannah and I became friends in junior high. The third brother, Tate, was two years older than both of us. He was my first real crush. In fact, crush would have been an understatement. I worshipped the guy. When Tate Harris walked down the hallway of Greenwood High, a glowing light would follow him. Although, I’m pretty sure I was the only one to see the glow. And he was never a mean brother either. He would put up with Hannah and me asking him silly questions in the lunch quad. He was extremely popular and the big man on campus, and Hannah and I were two dorky girls with retainers and badly applied makeup. But he never ignored us when he was with his friends, and that always made me love him even more. Although he did always call me Cricket because of a funny noise I made with my retainer whenever Hannah and I were at her kitchen table doing homework.
I’d joined cross country just to be near the guy, only it turned out I was pretty darn fast, and it became my thing through high school. Tate had gotten, of all things, a rugby scholarship and moved away to college. Greenwood High was like a deserted wasteland once he left. As I told my mom one morning with a sad sigh, without Tate Harris to light up the hallways, there was just no reason to pull myself out of bed and
I was pretty far along the curvy, precarious mountain road when I realized I’d been up to Hannah’s family cabin numerous times, but I’d never actually driven to it. Four foot banks of snow bordered each side of the hairpin turns, and my poor, little five-speed one tire in the car graveyard Toyota was fighting every increase in altitude with its last gasp of exhaust.
The winter sun had fallen behind a mountain peak, leaving only a black road and the snow, which looked icy blue in the shadows of dusk. I smacked the button on the dash to coax a few more degrees of heat from the vent, but the car seemed determined to stay at a chilly sixty-two degrees. The white puffs of breath coming from my mouth were warmer than the air coming from the heater.
What the heck made me think I should head up there? That’s right. Brent. My extremely irritating, highly arrogant, two-timing ex. After kicking him out, the creep moved into the same apartment building three doors down with Bonnie or Bunny or whatever the hell her name is. I needed an escape, and my best friend, Hannah, told me the cabin was free for the weekend. She suggested I head up for a few days to get my mind off things. Getting my mind off things was all I needed to hear. Next thing I knew, I was stuffing my long underwear, mittens and the hat my Grammy knitted me last winter in a duffle bag.
It had been several years since I’d been up to the cabin. Four to be exact. Hannah and I came up here on winter break of our senior year. We’d spent a good amount of time on the slopes, working hard to catch the attention of the snowboard instructor, along with every other female on the mountain. Our futile pursuit of Hans, who looked like he’d just walked off the Alps, was more for Hannah than for me. I was a brilliant, worldly eighteen year-old who’d met her soul mate at a Green Day concert where the air had been so thick with weed, even if you weren’t smoking it, a case of hiccups could get you stoned off your ass. I’d been sure Brent was the one, and he seemed to think I was his one and only, but he also thought any other blonde in a hundred mile radius was his one and only. He had a lot of soul mates out there waiting for him. And they were all welcome to him. I was glad to be rid of the douchebag.
Hannah and I’d had some really good times up at the cabin, and I was always thrilled to be included in her family’s trips. I had no siblings and both my parents worked long hours, which meant a lot of latch key time for me. But Hannah was a good friend and always invited me along. Plus, she had no sister, only three brothers, two of whom were already grown and out of the house by the time Hannah and I became friends in junior high. The third brother, Tate, was two years older than both of us. He was my first real crush. In fact, crush would have been an understatement. I worshipped the guy. When Tate Harris walked down the hallway of Greenwood High, a glowing light would follow him. Although, I’m pretty sure I was the only one to see the glow. And he was never a mean brother either. He would put up with Hannah and me asking him silly questions in the lunch quad. He was extremely popular and the big man on campus, and Hannah and I were two dorky girls with retainers and badly applied makeup. But he never ignored us when he was with his friends, and that always made me love him even more. Although he did always call me Cricket because of a funny noise I made with my retainer whenever Hannah and I were at her kitchen table doing homework.
I’d joined cross country just to be near the guy, only it turned out I was pretty darn fast, and it became my thing through high school. Tate had gotten, of all things, a rugby scholarship and moved away to college. Greenwood High was like a deserted wasteland once he left. As I told my mom one morning with a sad sigh, without Tate Harris to light up the hallways, there was just no reason to pull myself out of bed and
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