By the second day, everyone had settled into a rhythm.

It was not a structured rhythm, Jess noticed that immediately, but a pattern all the same.

Breakfast begot chaos. Ski groups formed and dissolved and formed again. People drifted in and out of the lodge like it didn't matter where they were supposed to be.

It should have bothered her more. But instead, Jess found her mind preoccupied by something else...

Jess stood near the base of the slope, adjusting her gloves and orange hat; her eyes scanned the area automatically, searching for more Ridgemont Prep

Ana Lucia and the others –Claire and Cody –were already further down, laughing about something she hadn't heard. A few students had skipped the morning session entirely, lingering near the lodge with hot drinks and no clear intention of joining. Jess watched as Lila Chen posed by the ski rack and flipped her hair in every direction.

Jess checked the time.

9:12.

They were late starting. Again. She pressed her lips together but tried to push the itinerary (or lack thereof) from her mind.

"Are you timing them?" A voice broke her thought.

"They're supposed to be here," she said. Jess could see his red and black jacket blurred in her periphery.

"They are here." Shawn says, smiling. "Just over there."

"They don't look ready to me."

Shawn moved up beside her, skis angled easily into the snow.

"They're on a ski trip," he said. "Not a military base. Relax."

Jess exhaled slowly and Shawn rolled his eyes.

"Why does it bother you?" he asked after a second. "People doing what they want."

She frowned. "It doesn't."

"It does." Shawn teased, eyes staring directly into Jess's as if he were challenging her to disagree again.

"Jess!" Ana Lucia called from down the slope. "Come on!"

Jess pushed off without another word.

...

Jess was better today. Not good by any means, but better.

Her movements were less rigid, her balance more natural. She still had to think about it, still had to focus, but there were moments—brief, fleeting—where it felt almost easy.

Almost.

She made it halfway down the slope before stopping, breath steady, legs burning in that dull, satisfying way.

"That was actually good," Ana Lucia said, sliding up beside her. Ana's dark hair was sticking to her freshly-glossed lips.

Jess nodded. "It was fine."

"You didn't fall."

"I wasn't going fast enough to fall."

Ana Lucia rolled her eyes. "You're impossible. Take the win, girl!"

Jess allowed herself a small smile.

Then—

"Yo, Park!"

Jess turned.

A group of guys stood further up the slope, waving Shawn over. One of them—Tyler—was already carving down fast, sharp turns cutting through the snow like he had something to prove.

Shawn hesitated for half a second.

Then pushed off toward them.

Jess watched as he joined the group, their energy immediately louder, looser. Someone clapped him on the shoulder. Tyler said something that made the others laugh. Lila threw back her head and flashed her perfect teeth.

Then they were off. Fast. Faster than anything Jess had tried –even Lila.

Shawn moved differently with them, less controlled and more reckless.

Not careless—he was still good—but the ease from earlier had sharpened into something else. Jess realized just how much Shawn had been holding back to stay and teach her.

Jess felt something tighten in her chest. It was not concern for Shawn, not exactly. Just—distance, like the whole lesson yesterday (and subsequent terrace hot chocolate) was a figment of her imagination.

"Don't tell me you're analyzing that too," Ana Lucia said, following her gaze.

"I'm not analyzing anything."

"You're staring again."

Jess looked away quickly. "I'm just observing."

"Uh-huh."

...

At lunchtime, the lodge was louder than the day before.

The wooden deck was a solid sheet of ice, the snow packed down under the weight of hundreds of ski boots. Inside, people crowded around tables, still in their gear, cheeks flushed from the cold. Music played somewhere near the back.

Jess sat with her group, picking at her breadsticks and potatoes more than eating them.

"Okay, tonight," Ana Lucia was saying, "We're not staying in. I don't care how tired everyone is."

"We're not tired," Claire added. "We're just conserving energy."

"For what?" Jess asked.

"For being interesting later," Ana Lucia said.

Jess shook her head slightly as if she'd consulted a mental itinerary. "There's nothing planned tonight," she said. "It's just free time."

"Exactly," Ana Lucia said, her tone mischievous. "Which means we can do whatever we want."

Jess hesitated. "Or," she said, "We could organize something. Get a sign-up list–"

Three faces turned toward her.

"Jess," Ana Lucia said gently, her straw wedged between her teeth. "No."

Jess blinked. "No?"

"No organizing," Claire added. "No schedules. No sign-up sheets."

"It's just—if we don't plan it, people might—"

"Have fun anyway?" Ana Lucia suggested. The table laughed.

Jess closed her mouth.

Across the room, Shawn sat at a different table now, surrounded by the same group from the slope. Tyler was talking loudly, reenacting something with exaggerated gestures.

Shawn laughed.

It wasn't the same laugh from the terrace.

This one was sharper. Easier. Less... real –or at least Jess thought so. She looked down at her tray.

"You okay?" Ana Lucia asked.

"I'm fine."

"You're doing that thing."

"What thing?"

"The I'm fine but actually I'm reorganizing my entire personality internally thing."

Jess almost smiled. "That's quite a thing."

Ana Lucia was not amused and narrowed her eyes.

"Oh, I'm just tired, Ana," Jess sighed.

"Then promise me something?" Ana Lucia asked.

"What's that?" Jess asked.

"Nap, after the last run," Ana Lucia said. "Because tonight, you're not allowed to be tired."

...

That afternoon, the weather shifted. Clouds rolled in slowly, softening the edges of the mountains. The light dulled, turning everything a shade quieter.

Jess noticed it immediately. The others didn't. They kept moving, skiing, laughing, falling.

Jess stood near the lift, watching the sky.

"You're doing it again." She didn't turn. She wouldn't give him the satisfaction.

"Doing what?"

"Thinking too much."

Shawn's skis slid into place beside hers.

"I'm not thinking," she said. "And how would you know, anyway?"

"You're staring at clouds like they personally offended you."

Jess glanced at him, his cheeks rosy from the wind and cold.

"They're changing the visibility."

"So?"

"So, it matters. I wasn't prepared for dense fog."

He shrugged. "So you just adjust."

Jess exhaled. "Not everything is that simple."

"Most things are."

She shook her head. "That's easy for you to say."

"Why?"

"Because you don't care if things go wrong."

The words came out sharper than she intended.

Shawn stilled. "That's not true," he said.

Jess crossed her arms. "You act like it is."

"Yeah," he said. "That's different."

She blinked.

For a second, the noise of the slope seemed to fade slightly around them.

"What does that mean?" she asked.

Shawn looked past her, his eyes falling on the lift.

"Nothing," he said.

"That's not nothing."

"It's not something you need to worry about." Shawn's voice found an edge.

Jess frowned, slightly taken aback. "I wasn't—"

"Exactly," he said, not unkindly. "You don't have to."

Something about that—about the way he said it—felt like a line. Not a line drawn harshly in the sand, or snow rather, but it was etched. And it was most definitely there. Jess felt that same tightness in her chest again.

"I wasn't trying to pry or– " she began, more quietly.

"I know."

Neither of them moved.

Around them, people kept passing by, skis cutting through the snow, voices rising and falling. The wind howled around them.

Finally, Shawn pushed off slightly, turning his skis.

"I'm gonna go up again," he said. "Before it gets worse."

Jess nodded.

"Okay."

He hesitated, just for a second, like he might say something else, but he didn't. He just turned and skied toward the lift. Jess watched him go.

The distance came back faster this time.

That night, the lodge felt different. Groups clustered together, energy shifting in uneven waves. Jess sat near the edge of the main room, her binder unopened beside her. She hadn't touched it all evening.

Across the room, Shawn stood with the others again, half-listening, half-smiling at something Troy was saying.

He glanced over once and caught Jess looking. He held their gaze for a second. Then looked away first.

Jess felt it like something small and definite.

A shift.

She leaned back slightly in her chair, exhaling.

Ana Lucia dropped down beside her. "Okay, what's going on?"

"Nothing."

"Jess."

Jess stared ahead. "I don't understand him," she said quietly.

Ana Lucia followed her gaze.

"Park? He under your skin again?"

"He's... different depending on who he's with," she said. "And I don't know which one is real."

Ana Lucia considered that.

"Maybe both," she said.

Jess frowned. "That doesn't make sense."

"It kind of does," Ana Lucia said. "People aren't just one version of themselves, you know."

Jess looked down at her hands.

"I am," she said.

Ana Lucia didn't answer right away, but she smirked.

Then, gently, "Are you sure?"

Jess didn't respond.

Because for the first time –she wasn't.