Jack fussed in my lap when I reached the last page of the book.

“Come on, I’m not reading it for the tenth time,” I said as I tossed the book away. I scanned the lodge hoping to see Liz approaching, or at the very least Miah.

Jack let out a squeal and a little burble, his wordless warning that a tantrum was on the horizon. I picked him up, turned him around, and placed him on the floor in front of me leaning against a pillow.

“Okay, sweet boy, we’re gonna play with these blocks now. Do you want to help me build?” I asked as I gathered his plastic cubes. He was too young to be able to stack them by himself, so I’d build towers four or five blocks tall until he’d knock them down, laughing as if it were the funniest thing in the world.

A nervous tension filled the lodge, like people were putting on a happy face but just under the mask was terror. This evacuation was Tellure Hollow history. Christmas plans uprooted, people stranded, and all we could do was sit and wait for the storm to pass. It seemed to me that all the festive Christmas cheer was just a façade. All the adults were trying to make it all appear okay so they wouldn’t have to deal with panicking kids on top of everything else, but they were just as scared.

“I didn’t realize you were a teen mom,” a feminine voice said from behind. Marie stood smirking with her arms crossed.

“He’s actually my great-grandfather,” I replied seriously. “He has Benjamin Button disease, and we’d both appreciate it if you didn’t make fun of his condition.”

Marie held my gaze for a few heartbeats before breaking into a hearty laugh. “So what you’re saying is you regularly see your great-grandfather’s penis?”

“And you don’t?” I retorted with a laugh. “How long have you been here?”

“We just got here. We’re slumming it over there,” she said, pointing to the other side of the huge room. “I think Mom managed to pack nearly the entire house.”

I chuckled and stacked the blocks, only for Jack to knock them down again. After a quick scan, I didn’t see Miah and definitely didn’t want to appear as if I were looking for him. I also didn’t want to pry about the circumstances that led to the two of them living together. I figured it would come out organically. It helped explain why I’d gotten a weird vibe from her earlier.

“Hey, thanks for helping out with all that. That was good of you,” she said. She sat on the edge of the stone fireplace and regarded me with a rare serious look that made me feel self-conscious.

“Yeah, no problem, I would’ve…” I was cut off as Marie let out a holler.

“Hey, Sanders! Over here,” she yelled as she spotted Miah from across the room.

My heart leapt up into my throat. I concentrated on Jack, watching Miah approach peripherally, wondering at my reaction. I wanted to be blasé, like I couldn’t care less. When he was only a few feet away, Marie nudged my shoulder and grinned. It was like she could see my stomach doing flip-flops. I looked up, painfully aware that my cheeks were burning red, and gave him a small smile.

The smile he returned was anything but small. Immediately crouching down beside Jack and me, he leaned over and gave me a kiss on the cheek. “I can’t thank you enough for what you did,” he said enthusiastically.

“Yeah, no problem.” If my cheeks were red before, they were absolutely glowing now. “Is your mom okay?” I asked Marie, avoiding his eye out of embarrassment, but he still answered.

“She’s doing okay. Apparently, a nurse from the clinic is here. She had an extra oxygen tank and we brought her back-up respirator, so as long as the power hangs in there, we should be okay.” It wasn’t even his mom, so there was something endearing about the way he spoke about her. Whether I wanted to or not, I knew a great deal about respirators and understood their worry. I found it a little odd that he was more concerned about Marie’s mother than she was, but I shrugged it away. Hearing them talk made my heart lurch. I should probably call Mom and Dad, I thought.

The three of us sat for a few minutes playing with Jack until Liz approached. She looked calmer, almost happy. She greeted people as she made her way over, bent down to pick up Jack, and slung him on her hip. Her tight sweater might’ve had a high neck, but it was nearly pornographic. Standing there with Miah, I was very aware of the differences between our bodies for the first time.

“Hello there,” she said. She greeted everyone and then deliberately blinked at me.

With a start, I quickly ran through the introductions. Her smirk grew as I stammered over Miah’s name, but luckily she kept her mouth shut. I don’t think I would’ve been able to handle any joking.

“Mrs. Marsh, Merry Christmas. Is The Blizz…er, uh, Bryan around? I’d love to thank him personally,” he said kindly. For some reason, I burned up with embarrassment, feeling like I was introducing my boyfriend to my mom or something. I think Marie enjoyed the tension, happily standing there watching us talk back and forth as if she were center court at a tennis match. It wasn’t until Liz looked at her that she spoke up.

“Marie Goldberg,” she said, thrusting her hand out to Liz. “Tellure Hollow Snow Princess of 2009.”

Liz frowned at me, looking for clarification. I could only laugh and shrug. Marie’s sense of humor was certainly growing on me. “Nice to meet you, Princess,” she replied. Marie beamed as Liz rolled with the joke. “Bryan had to go back into town, but I’ll let you know when he gets back. Your mom’s all set, though?”

“She’s golden, thank you,” Marie smiled.

I felt a weird surge of pride. They were polite and friendly. I couldn’t imagine them embarrassing me like Fitz and his friends did. Miah was so adult, mature… and for the first time, those were traits I found attractive. Before I could trip down that weird road too long, I cleared my throat.

“Is it all right if I…”

“Yeah, absolutely, go ahead,” Liz said as she stepped aside.

I nodded to Marie and Miah. The three of us weaved around the makeshift campsites people had scattered across the lodge. It was interesting to see the differences. Some brought simple sleeping bags while others had grabbed small camping cots. I even saw a couple inflating a full king-size mattress, much to the dismay of their neighbors who only had a handful of blankets and pillows.

What made it so funny was that the rich tourists were the ill-equipped ones. They came to town for a vacation. Even if they owned camping supplies, they obviously hadn’t thought to bring them on a ski weekend in the middle of winter. Their tanned, snooty expressions were almost worth all the hassle of having to come up here.

It was weird being in the lodge, like walking through your school after hours. The walls felt different. We found a quiet spot in the rental area where a few of their other friends had gathered. The space was open and colder, which meant we were pretty much on our own.

Miah pushed himself up on the counter, heels swinging against the sides. I stood a few feet away with my arms crossed, trying not to be obvious about standing close to him. The new group was friendly enough and seemed cool, but they were definitely a few years older than me. I did my best to not draw attention to the fact I was still in high school.

“Do you want a hit?” Marie asked as she offered me a small pipe packed with weed.

I shook my head. “No thanks, I’m trying to cut back.”

Marie gave me a look from the corner of her eye that said, Yeah, sure. But thankfully, she didn’t press the matter. “You want a drink or are you going to AA as well?” she asked as she pulled out a bottle of vodka from her purse.

“Now that I will gladly take,” I said as I took a swig. Despite my earlier promises, I couldn’t pass up free booze.“Accept the things you cannot change, right?” I coughed as I passed the liquor to Miah.

Marie was the life of the party – a loud, hilariously self-deprecating girl. But there was something about her I couldn’t quite put my finger on. It was almost as if she was performing on stage, rather than being her true self. Maybe she wasn’t as genuine as I first thought. My impression of her rang true when she introduced one of her favorite drinking games.

“Let’s play two truths and a lie,” she grinned. A couple of people in the group groaned, but she ignored them, looking straight to me. “We can get to know our new friend,” she said suggestively, almost aggressively.

Miah nudged my shoulder and leaned closer. The proximity of our bodies not only helped warm me physically, but it also started to flush my cheeks.

“You don’t have to play if you don’t want to,” he whispered in my ear.

“No, I think it’ll be fun,” I said, nudging him back. I gave him a half smile before responding to Marie. “So how do we play?”

Marie strutted into the center of the circle, addressing everyone as if she were a ringleader at a circus.

“It’s simple. You say three things about yourself or your life, whatever,” she waved her gloved hand, “and one of them has to be a lie. We all try to guess which one it is. If we get it wrong…” she said as she grabbed the vodka bottle from Miah’s hand, “we have to drink.”

I glanced at Miah who gave me a sideways smile. “Like I said, you don’t have to play.”

“Yes she does,” Marie insisted with a twinkle in her dark eyes.

“She’s at a slight disadvantage being the only outsider,” he said.

I appreciated him looking out for me, but I wanted to blend in with them as much as I could. I didn’t want to be an outsider. “No, it’s cool. I wanna play!”

“Thatta girl,” Marie grinned. “Listen, I’ll go first and show you how it’s done. Since we do all know each other pretty well, you can’t give her any hints,” she said, pointing to the rest of the circle. She paced back and forth, tapping her cheek with a gloved finger in thought.

“I speak three languages, I lost my virginity while my dog watched, and I have an extra nipple,” she declared proudly. Everyone looked at me almost at once, putting me on the spot.

“What? I just say which one I think is a lie?” I asked to stall for time.

“Yup,” Marie replied with her hands on her hips. “Which one do you think it was?”

I glanced to Miah for help, giving him a playful elbow in the thigh when he wouldn’t give me a clue. I searched the faces of the others for any hint but knew I’d have to guess. All of the options seemed weird, so I opted for the one I considered strangest.

“You don’t have an extra nipple,” I said slowly.

“Nope!” She swiftly unzipped her sweatshirt, and pulled up her shirt and bra. Lifting one of her large breasts, she pointed to a spot I was a little too far away to see clearly. “There!”

“Jesus, Marie,” Miah laughed beside me. “Any excuse to take that thing out.”

“I still don’t think that’s a nipple,” a girl named Drew insisted. She leaned forward and pulled her glasses up as she squinted. “It’s a mole.”

“The hell it is,” she replied as she returned her clothes to their normal positions. “Certified extra nipple by my doctor and everything,” she declared proudly. Thrusting the bottle in my hand, she said, “Drink up, sweetheart.”

I pushed away from the wall and knocked back another shot, the warmth of the alcohol finally taking the edge off the cold. I still shivered a little as the burning sensation faded and Miah took the chance to put his hand on my shoulder.

“This okay?” he whispered, blue eyes shining in the dim light. I nodded and snuggled in closer against his leg. More than okay.

“I know you aren’t smart enough to speak three languages,” Jessica, a waifish girl with short hair laughed.

“Fuck right off,” Marie yelled as she yanked the bottle from my hand and gave it to her.

“No, that’s actually true,” Miah defended. “Believe it or not.”

“That’s right. And I wasn’t losing my virginity when the dog watched that time, either.”

The rest of us mentally checked off the last option and collectively groaned. “Which dog?” Miah asked, sounding disturbed. “Not Jangles.”

Marie turned her nose up and leaned against a wall at the far end of the circle. “Exposition isn’t part of the game,” she sniffed.

Miah groaned, rocking back on the counter far enough that he needed to pull on me for balance. “I loved that poor dog!”

“All right, all right. Someone else has to go next,” Drew laughed as she pulled the hood of the sweatshirt over her dark hair.

The group was silent for a few beats until Miah stuck his hand up in the air. “I’ll go, dammit. Just give me a minute to think.”

I tried to conceal my excitement at discovering a few things about this mysterious, hot guy who’d suddenly appeared in my life. I’m afraid I probably did flash him a goofy smile when he winked at me before starting.

“So… three things, huh? Who’s guessing?”

“I’ll go!” Marie declared.

“You’re my best friend,” he laughed. “It’s not exactly fair.”

“Just go.”

“Three things… okay. I know how to knit, I’ve never seen the ocean, and I want to be a sports photographer when I’m all grown up.”

As Marie made a dramatic scene of thinking over the choices, Miah pulled me between his two knees. Leaning against the wall, his legs on either side of my shoulders, he bent down to whisper in my ear.

“Which one do you think it is?”

I shrugged, mostly to hide the shiver his breath sent racing down my spine. “Do you think you could knit me a pair of mittens to match my hat?” I asked with a smirk.

He kissed me quickly on the cheek. “In a day,” he replied as he sat up. “All right, time’s up.”

My entire face burned red. I scuffed my toe against a tear in the worn carpet, not wanting to meet anyone’s eye for fear of looking like a stupid kid.

Marie huffed and shook her head, curls bouncing around her head. “I have no earthly idea which one is the lie.” Her brow crinkled as she tipped back the bottle of vodka.

“None of them,” Miah laughed.

Marie choked and sputtered. “You’re a cheat! You can’t do… no, drink. Drink twice for that you little…” she growled as she handed him the bottle. Standing only a foot away from me, I think she noticed our body language for the first time. A little wobbly on her feet, she studied me. “How about you go next and Miah gets to pick?”

“I don’t really think…” I protested before Miah bumped me with his leg.

“It’s only fair.” I could hear the smile in his voice. Still reeling from his kiss and the vodka warming my body, I worked to find a good lie. But I realized there weren’t two truths I was comfortable sharing with these people yet. A plan in place, I spun between his legs and took a step back so I could watch his reaction.

I held up a finger for each point. “I have a vestigial tail, my mom is a High Priestess of the largest coven in Orange County, and…” I stopped, the last lie morphing in my throat as I spoke. “My dad is undead, kept functioning by my mom… obviously.” Not entirely a lie, I thought bitterly.

I enjoyed watching his expression as he mulled over the weirdness I’d just thrown at him. He didn’t seem perturbed, only intrigued. Not that I normally cared, but he was expertly hitting every curve ball I threw at him.

The corner of his left eye twitched and he smiled. “They’re all lies, I hope.”

“Ding, ding,” I replied with a little nod. I happily accepted my liquid punishment and fell back into place between his knees.

“That’s too bad. I was looking forward to seeing your tail,” Miah whispered in my ear. The phone buzzed in my pocket. I quickly checked and saw Liz’s number pop up. “You need to go already?”

“Nope,” I replied as I hit silence. “I can stay for a bit longer.”

The game moved on, leaving Miah and me to get closer. My head swimming, I had to stop myself from grinning like an idiot. I tried to temper my excitement, but things were certainly looking better and better. We took turns until Bryan announced that dinner was ready over the intercom system and I reluctantly said goodbye to my new friends, hoping I could hide the smell of vodka on my breath.