Deep Freeze #12

“Look! Here they come!” Peichi said excitedly the next morning. Breakfast was almost over and Omar, Connor, Justin, and the rest of their cabin were straggling in the door.

“Awww, they look exhausted!” Amanda said, giggling. “I almost feel bad. Almost!”

Natasha saw Connor looking at her. She mouthed the word, “Sorry!” to him as he grinned at her. Oh, good, he’s not mad, Natasha thought, relieved. She looked down shyly, remembering their moment in the moonlight.

“Look at Omar’s face!” Peichi said. “He’ll do something crazy to get back at us. We’d better be on our guard.”

“And let’s think up another prank,” added Molly. “I can’t believe we’re leaving tomorrow! This weekend has flown by.”

“Well, this morning isn’t gonna be fun,” Amanda said, making a face. “We’ve got cleaning duty—ugh! I can’t imagine cleaning without our vacuum and ScumBuster.”

After lunch, the girls went back to their cabin to change into their ski gear. When Molly opened the door, her mouth fell open.

“Do what?” Amanda pushed past her sister and stopped in the middle of the room. “Ohmigosh! ” she shrieked. “Those guys are totally out of control!”

The rest of the girls hurried into the cabin, and burst out laughing when they saw an enormous, five-foot snowman in the center of the room. It had a face made out of rocks and sticks, and was wearing a Yankees baseball cap.

Shawn shivered. “They must have turned off the heat—it’s freezing in here! That’s why it hasn’t melted.”

“That’s Omar’s hat,” Peichi exclaimed, grabbing the Yankees cap off the snowman’s head.

“Look at how they put these trash bags on the floor under it,” Natasha marveled. “They really thought of everything!”

“Well, we’ve got to get it out of here,” Iris said practically.

“I have an idea!” Molly exclaimed. “Let’s take off the head and middle. Then we can roll the base out. We’ll reassemble the snowman right outside our door.”

“Might as well,” Peichi said. “They worked so hard on this prank—now we’re gonna have to think of something really good!”

Fifteen minutes later, the girls had reassembled the snowman outside. Omar, Justin, and Connor walked by casually, pretending that they were on their way to the slopes. “Hey—cool snowdude!” Omar called to the girls. “How’d you make it so big?”

“Ha ha, Omar,” Peichi retorted. “Are you missing something?” She waved his Yankees cap high in the air.

“Peichi! You found my hat! Oh, thank you so much!” Omar tried to grab his hat, but Peichi held it out of his reach and jumped back.

“I don’t think so, Omar,” she said. “Aw, come on, Cheng,” Omar grinned. “Don’t make me come get it.” He reached down and scooped up a big handful of snow.

Omar grabbed his hat, bent the brim a few times, and put it on over his ski cap. “Thanks, Peichi. You’re my hero! Truce?”

“Listen, we’re gonna hit the slopes one more time,” Justin spoke up. “It looks like it’s going to snow this afternoon, so we’d better get out there. Want to come?”

“Sure,” Natasha said quickly. She caught Connor’s eye and smiled at him.

“Actually, I think I’m going to hang out in the lodge this afternoon,” Shawn said. “It’s too cold for me.” She grabbed a book from her backpack.

“Okay, Shawn, we’ll see you at dinner—maybe before, if it starts snowing,” said Amanda. The girls and the boys trudged toward the slope, while Shawn set off for the lodge.

On the way, Shawn saw Angie and her crew walking toward the slopes, as well. Uh-oh, Shawn thought, her heart starting to beat a little faster. Just keep walking, Angie. Please just leave me alone.

But Angie couldn’t resist a chance to taunt Shawn. “Hey, Shawn! What are you doing all by yourself?” she called out loudly.

“I’m just going to hang out in the lodge and read,” Shawn answered, hoping her voice sounded normal.

“Oh, okay,” Angie replied. “I was afraid that your other friends had dumped you, too.” Shrieking with laughter, Angie continued down the path, leaving Shawn to stand alone, red-faced and shaking.

Maybe it will never stop, Shawn thought sadly as she reached the lodge. Maybe Angie will keep picking on me for the rest of middle school...and then high school...maybe she will never stop.

Three hours later, the first snowflakes started falling. Shawn, wrapped up in her book, didn’t even notice. She was the only person in the rec room, and it felt so relaxing to be by herself for a little while, curled up in a comfy overstuffed armchair.

“Oh, it’s so horrible. Amanda tried to ski down the Five Point slope and she hit a tree! She’s crying and bleeding and I think her leg is broken or something. She’s asking for you, Shawn. You’ve got to go sit with her while I get help!”

“Ohmigosh,” Shawn gasped, dropping her book. She threw on her parka and began tying her bootlaces. “Where is she? Did you call an ambulance?”

“She’s on the far side of the slope, near the bottom. You can go through the woods to get to her. Molly is with her, but—but it looks pretty bad.” Angie bit her lip and looked genuinely worried. “I have to go get Mr. D.”

“Thanks so much for finding me, Angie,” Shawn said gratefully as she ran out of the room.

Outside, Shawn ran as fast as she could, her feet weighed down by the heavy snow boots.

By the time Shawn got to the woods, the snow was falling faster. She brushed the powdery flakes out of her eyes and pushed through the low branches of some large pine trees. Shawn’s heart pounded faster and faster as she imagined Amanda, in pain, crying. Finally, she saw a speck of light ahead and realized she must be at the Five Point slope.

Shawn sucked in her breath sharply as she looked up the mountain. It looked terrifying—incredibly steep, studded with gnarled trees and rocks half-covered with snow. Oh, Amanda, Shawn thought. Why would you ever try to ski down this?

Shawn shivered, but only partly from cold. “Amanda?” she called again. “Amanda, where are you?”

It’s so quiet up here, Shawn realized. I should be able to hear them, especially if Amanda is crying. And they should be able to hear me...

A terrible thought began to dawn on Shawn. Unless they aren’t up here. Suddenly, it all made sense to Shawn. There’s no way Amanda would ski down this slope. She didn’t even want to.

Shawn picked up a rock and threw it. She’d never felt so angry before in her life. “I hate you, Angie!” she screamed into the wind. She pictured Angie back at the cozy lodge, telling everyone that Shawn was a total idiot, making fun of her to the entire seventh-grade class.

Shawn took a deep breath and tried to calm down. It’s freezing here, she thought, shivering again. And creepy, too. It’s like there’s no one else in the world, except for me. Shawn stomped back into the woods, hurrying toward the lodge.

It was nearly dark now, and the snow was falling heavily. The canopy of thick pines blocked out the last of the daylight. Shawn tried to walk in a straight line through the woods, but found herself wandering in circles. Soon, the woods were completely dark.

Shawn slumped against the trunk of a large tree and shivered uncontrollably from cold and from fear. I’m lost in the woods, in a snowstorm...