The first snow of the season finally came to Sunnycrest a week after Halloween. Chase was sleeping in her hospital bed when it happened, still tethered to an IV pole.

The injuries she'd sustained in the maze were substantial, and it was almost three weeks before she could be discharged. Her cheerleading friends visited her almost every day, as well as some of her other friends too. She and Torey and squeezed in a couple of tender, slightly painful makeouts before being caught by a nurse. After Alicia brought her Douglas the Gargoyle, Chase had a comforting friend with her day and night.

Once she was out, though, she was out with a vengeance. It did not take her much time at all to get back into the swing of cheerleading. She had saved up a lot of energy over the course of those weeks, and was eager to expend it.

“Yah! Yah!” she shouted, flinging a couple high kicks through the air, first her left leg, then her right. She launched herself sideways. Her hands hit the blue mat beneath her, shiny with the overhead lights, and she pushed herself onward in a cartwheel.

They were practicing in the gymnasium that day, and likely would hold every practice there until spring. Winter had finally arrived. It was a bit late this year, but it was making up for lost time. For the past week, clouds had hung over the mountain hamlet. At any time, they could suddenly make up their minds to lay down another inch or two of snow before stopping to reload once again. That day, there were six inches outside.

Chase cartwheeled merrily toward Victoria, who was chatting with Nicole.

“And so I said, 'Um, excuse me, LOSER? Whether I have a hall pass or not is none of your bus-” Chase stopped beside her, grabbed her around the waist, and tossed her into the air with a burst of energy. “Aaaah!”

Chase did a backflip in place, then held out her arms and caught her.

“Gah! Wh-what is wrong with you?! Put me down, you ill-mannered savage!” shouted Victoria, thrashing around.

“Love you too, Vic! Good stunt!” Chase replied, setting her down and giving her a hug. “Am so glad at be back!”

Alicia, Caitlin and Lindsey came to Victoria's rescue. “We're glad to have you back too, Chase! Why don't we let Victoria finish warming up, okay?” suggested Alicia.

“Oh, okay!” said Chase, letting go of her. She waved as the trio led her away. “Bye, Vic!” Victoria glared at her.

Once they were a good distance away, they let Chase go. She continued her own warmups, stretching her arms side to side. “Sorry. Just have much pep and growl. Am much glad to be back with cheer, in cheer clothes!” She gestured down at her uniform, then laced her fingers stretched her arms high over her head, arching her back. “Nnn...Was in bed too long.”

“Well, I can definitely understand that,” said Caitlin. “Three weeks is a long time to be cooped up in bed. I'm sure it was especially hard on you since you're used to the outdoors.”

“You still don't have any idea what that was all about? Why that girl came after you?” asked Alicia.

“Nope. Much strange,” Chase tried to remember that night. She'd had a lot of time to think about it, and most of it was pretty clear at this point. “Girl just come to maze. Hurt Mel C. and try take me. Had to kill girl but not know why.”

“Did you recognize her? Maybe you did something to piss her off?” asked Lindsey.

“Nope, not know girl, not seen,” said Chase.

“The police searched the maze the next day and didn't find a body,” said Caitlin. “What did she look like?”

Chase described her. “Hmm. She sounds east Asian,” said Caitlin.

“She really did a number on you, Chase,” said Lindsey. “She must have been really strong, whoever she was.”

Chase nodded. “Not face none more strong. Well, Mel C. more strong. But Mel C. half gun. This girl all girl, but girl much fight. Much tough.”

“Did she say anything, Chase?” asked Alicia. “Anything at all that might give you a clue?”

Chase put a hand on her hip and thought about it for a moment. “Not much. Girl did say want me for boss.”

“Her boss?” asked Caitlin curiously. “Hmmm...”

Lindsey gasped. “Remember what Agent Stevens said, about there being people in the government who want to study Chase? I bet THEY sent her!”

Alicia and Caitlin looked concerned. “Yikes...That would be pretty bad if it were true...” said Alicia. “That means they could still send somebody else after you, Chase.”

Chase shook her head. “Not want think of bad guys or bad girl or fight. Just want cheer, okay?”

“You're right,” nodded Alicia, giving her a smile. “Sorry, Chase. So are you excited for the big game this Saturday?”

For the first game since Chase's return to form, they would be heading north for an away game in Bald Ridge, a small resort town known for its skiing.

“Yes! Much want go! Much want cheer!” announced Chase.

“You missed some good games while you were in the hospital, Chase. Sunnycrest is red hot right now,” said Lindsey excitedly. “We won our last two. Our home game last week was a huge blowout. If we win this next game, we're going to state, and nothing's going to stop us. Those Bald Ridge boys must be shaking in their snow boots at the thought of playing us!”

Nearby, a few notes of music chimed from within Caitlin's duffel bag. Alicia, Lindsey and Chase continued talking about the game as she went over to it and took her phone out.

She had a text from Flor.

Flor: [wanna hang out after your practice is over?]

Caitlin hesitated. Her thumbs hovered over the screen.

While she waited, this came in:

Flor: [I have video games]

Caitlin smirked. She had been over to Flor's a couple of times, and knew full well that she had video games.

Caitlin: [Sure, sounds fun!]

Flor: [awesome]

A pause.

Flor: [wear the uniform plz]

Flor: [jk]

Flor: [but not really]

Caitlin rolled her eyes.

Caitlin: [pff]

She put her phone away and left it at that. By the time she returned to the group, Alicia was helping Chase with her timing, and Lindsey was warming up alone. When Lindsey saw Caitlin, she told her, “Hey, we should go to the mall after practice.”

“Oh, uh, sorry, I can't,” said Caitlin. “I have homework.”

“Homework? C'mon, that sucks, just put it off.”

“I can't put it off. I'm really swamped right now,” said Caitlin. “Let's go tomorrow, okay?”

Lindsey yawned and didn't give it another thought. “Lame, but alright.”

…..

She was not wearing her uniform when she arrived at Flor's house that evening. Caitlin said hello to Flor's parents, followed Flor to her room, and played some video games with her for a while.

“Oh! Oh!” shouted Flor, holding her breath, making her snowboarder throw out all kinds of tricks while spinning in the air. She and Caitlin were sitting on the edge of her bed, gaming on a small TV which rested on a sideways plastic milk crate. Posters decorated the walls; some of bands and others for cartoons and horror films. From a bedding perspective, Flor was ready for winter; A very thick, comfortable blanket covered the bed beneath them. Another blanket, with a massive pine tree pattern quilted into its surface, was tacked up to cover the window. Apparently Flor liked her room dark.

Caitlin did not really feel great about lying to Lindsey, but somehow she still didn't feel comfortable telling her about hanging out with Flor, either. Since Halloween, they had hung out a few times, and even though they didn't really have much in common, Caitlin kept coming back. It wasn't exactly because Flor was a scary kid. Since Chase started dating Tory, that seemed like less of a big deal, although people still gossiped about them.

And it wasn't about Flor's preferences, either. Flor didn't hide who she was, in any capacity, and that was partially what Caitlin thought was refreshing about her. It was more like...Caitlin just didn't want anyone to get the wrong idea.

Flor's character snapped back into her bindings and stuck the landing just in time. “Yes! I got four thousand points for that! Good luck catching me now!”

“Wait, how do you do that trick again?” asked Caitlin, fumbling with her own character.

The time ran out, with Flor the clear winner. “Yes! In your face!”

Caitlin laughed. “I've never been that good at games, I guess.”

“Oh really? I didn't notice,” said Flor with a straight face. Caitlin shoved her. “God, I want to hit the slopes for real so bad. Bald Ridge opens up this week!”

The game returned to the menu. Caitlin decided to look for a different character. “We're going up there this weekend for a game,” she said absently, tapping through the different choices.

“Huh? Really?” asked Flor. She got an idea. “How about I meet you there? We can go skiing, just the two of us!”

Caitlin looked at her, surprised. “Skiing? You and me?”

“Yeah! We'll make a day out of it!” She read Caitlin's uncertain expression, and said, “You've gone skiing before, right?”

“Well, yeah, but...” Caitlin set the controller down, and looked into Flor's brown eyes. “I just...I want to make sure I'm not giving you the wrong idea, here. You and I are just friends. You know that, right?”

Flor sighed. “Yeah, yeah, for the fiftieth time, I know. I just wanna go skiing. Willard thinks it's boring, and it's no fun alone.”

“It just sounds pretty datey to me. You really want to go just as friends?”

“Yeah! Just friends!” answered Flor impatiently. She cracked a mischievous smile. “We'll go as friends, and if we leave as something more, awesome.”

Caitlin laughed, despite herself. “I guess it does sound fun. Alright, fine, I'll meet you there.”

.......

It was a long drive up to Bald Ridge, and the game was at noon, so they were on the bus and rolling at 5:30 that Saturday morning.

The sun still hadn't risen as they left Sunnycrest. Lindsey stifled a yawn and brought a bottled frappuccino to her lips. “Hoo boy, we've got a hell of an away game today. Are the guys going to be rested?”

“They went up yesterday and stayed overnight,” answered Caitlin. She and Lindsey were sitting together, and Alicia and Chase were in the seat behind them.

“Oh, they're READY alright!” declared Alicia, an exuberant smile on her face, looking as sunny and fresh as ever. “They're going to give it everything they've got today, and so are we!” She waved her pom poms in the air in an eruption of energy. “SunnyCREST! SunnyCREST!” Alicia was a morning person.

Lindsey groaned, then reached back patted the top of Alicia's head. “Where's your snooze button? Come on, I know you have one.”

Alicia giggled and pushed Lindsey's hand away. She looked at Chase and asked, still beaming, “What about you, Chase? Are you excited?”

“Oh, yes! Much cite! Want see game and want cheer so bad!”

“Sure, it's your big comeback!” Caitlin encouraged. “I bet you've been dying to get out and do something.”

This gave Lindsey a wonderful idea. “Hey, I know!” She turned leaned over the back of her seat, resting her elbows on top of the backrest. “Chase, how'd you like to go skiing?”

“Skee?” asked Chase, tilting her head to the side. “What skee?”

“It's really fun, Chase!” said Alicia. “You stick these pieces of, like, wood or plastic or something on your feet, and they're really slippery so you slide down the snowy mountain on them.”

“Does sound fun!” Chase agreed. Caitlin got a sinking feeling. She knew where this was going.

“Why don't we all get weekend passes to the resort?” asked Lindsey. “We can teach Chase to ski and have some fun!”

“That sounds great, Lindsey!” said Alicia. “I'm so in! What about you, Caitlin?”

Caitlin laughed uneasily. “Of, of course I'm in... Yeah, sounds awesome...”