Chapter 24
“Isobel, wake up!”
I was jerked awake as Cress shook me by the shoulders. I groaned as I slowly blinked my eyes open. It felt way too early even for me.
Glancing at the clock, I jolted upright. “What’s wrong?” It was first thing in the morning, and the sun was only just coming up. Something bad must have happened for Cress to be forcing me awake at this hour. I really hoped there hadn’t been another prank.
“Just get up. Quickly.” She raced into the closet, and I scrambled out of bed to hurry after her. She sounded too serious for it to be a prank, and I was starting to get worried, but as I entered the closet, I found her grinning as she slid into her UGG boots.
A little of my apprehension disappeared when I saw her expression, but I still had no idea what was going on. “Seriously, Cress, what’s the hurry?”
“You’ll see. Just grab your shoes, your gloves, and a warm jacket. We’re going outside.” She threw a pair of gloves at me, and I caught them midair.
She hadn’t bothered to change out of her pajamas, so I didn’t worry about it either. Thankfully, I was already dressed in a pair of thick flannelette pants and a cozy top, so I simply pulled on my jacket, shoes, and gloves, and then a beanie for good measure.
When we got out into the corridor, Anna was waiting for us, bouncing up and down on her toes.
“Finally,” she gasped, already starting to walk down the hallway. Cress and I hurried to keep up.
Other girls were emerging excitedly from their rooms, and there was a buzz in the air that was hard not to get caught up in. It was only once we left the building that I finally realized what all the fuss was about.
The flurries of snow I’d seen last night must have turned into a full blizzard because the courtyard was covered in a thick fluffy layer of snow. It glowed in the early-morning light and was so beautiful I barely noticed the biting nip in the air.
“Snowball fight,” a boy screamed from somewhere on the other side of the courtyard, and the serenity descended into chaos as balls of snow went flying. I squealed as one came hurtling for me, but Anna grabbed me by the wrist and pulled me out of the way.
“Come on,” she laughed. “We’ve got to get out of the firing line.”
We raced away from the front of the dorm, laughter surrounding us as everyone in the courtyard joined in the fight.
I followed Anna toward one of the benches lining the perimeter of the courtyard, and she ducked down behind it, gesturing for Cress and I to do the same.
There was a row of bushes behind us, and it felt a lot more sheltered here than out in the open.
“Here’s what you need to know.” Anna clamped both hands on my shoulders and looked me square in the face. “The first snowball fight of the season is always brutal. Lives will be lost, but they won’t be ours. Our team motto is hit them first, hit them hard, and take no prisoners.”
I might have laughed if she didn’t sound so stern.
The sound of a whistle screeched through the morning air, and the snowballs stopped flying.
I peeked over the top of the bench to see Coach August standing in the center of the courtyard.
He was still in his pajamas too, but he was also wearing a thick coat and snow boots.
Had he decided to stop the fight before it even really began?
“The battlegrounds are contained to this courtyard,” he called out, his voice projecting loudly across the wide-open space. “If you stray beyond it, you’re out. If you get hit, you’re out. No snowballs above the neck, so if you hit someone’s head, you’re out. Are we clear?”
“Yes, Coach.” The answer was loud as everyone in the courtyard responded. It sounded like the entire school was out here.
“Good. Then let this year’s first snow battle begin.” He blew his whistle, and screams and shouts echoed across the courtyard as snowballs started hurling through the air once again.
“Right,” Anna said. “Let’s build up a good base of snowballs so we can defend our fort.”
She and Cress got to work straightaway as they started scrunching together balls of snow in their gloves.
I’d never made a snowball before in my life, but it didn’t take me long to get the hang of it.
Once we had a few in stock, Anna started flinging them at anyone who ran by.
She had surprisingly good aim, and she managed to knock out three kids in a row.
She lifted her arm as two other people dared to make their way toward our bench, but she quickly lowered it when she saw it was Sawyer and Wes.
“Ladies, how are we doing?” Sawyer asked as he crouched behind the bench with us. Wes winked at me and knelt down beside me.
“So far, so good,” Anna said. “We’re three for three.”
“I’m five for five.” Sawyer grinned.
“I didn’t realize this was a competition,” I murmured to Wes.
“With Sawyer, it’s always a competition,” he replied.
“How many have you got so far?”
“Not one.” He wrapped an arm around my shoulder. “I was too busy looking for you. I was hoping you might need protecting.”
I smiled up at him. “Well, it turns out I’ve got two pretty good teammates here. Anna isn’t letting anyone get within twenty feet of us.”
He laughed and leaned in to kiss me on the cheek. “Well, then, I guess I’ll leave you girls to it. Good luck out there.”
“You too.”
Wes grabbed Sawyer, and the two of them took off again. They were in their element as they darted across the battlefield, dodging snowballs and returning fire.
From the safety of our fort, defended by Anna, I could see the courtyard was total chaos.
There were some kids like us who had taken cover and were defending their positions.
Then there were others like Kaden and Luther who were in the thick of the action.
The two of them were dominating the fight from the center of the courtyard, and I couldn’t tell if people were simply too intimidated to try to take them out or if they were simply that good.
Cress let out a small sigh beside me, and I grinned when I realized she was watching them too. “Are you checking out Kaden?” I said, nudging her with my shoulder.
“Maybe.”
“Definitely.”
“What?” She laughed. “I can’t help it. My boyfriend looks good in his snow gear.”
“Boyfriend?” I gasped.
“Yeah.” Her eyes glittered with excitement. “We made it official when I got back to school last night.”
“Aw, I’m so happy for you both.”
“Yeah, congrats, Cress,” Anna interrupted. “But can we gush about this later? We have a snowball fight to win.”
Cress and I shared a look and then laughed. Anna was taking this game far too seriously. Still, we both tried to focus on the task at hand, probably out of fear Anna might turn her snowballs on us if we didn’t.
I was distracted when I heard a giggle coming from somewhere beyond the bushes behind us. Cress and Anna didn’t seem to notice, but I turned and pushed the branches aside as I tried to see who was there.
There was a flash of long red hair as a girl ran past, closely pursued by a boy. He playfully tackled her to the ground right in front of me, and the snow went flying up around them as they landed.
“Got you.” He laughed as he hovered over her.
They had their backs to me, so I couldn’t see either of their faces.
I was wondering whether they knew they were out of bounds and would be disqualified from the snowball fight.
But then the boy lowered his head and kissed the girl as she lay under him in the snow.
I quickly pulled back from the bush and resumed my place next to Cress. “Oh, my gosh,” I said. “I know Anna wants us to stay focused on the fight, but there are totally two students kissing on the other side of the bushes behind us.”
“Really?” Cress laughed. She turned to take a peek through the branches and giggled. “Wow, they’re really making out.”
“Okay, I have to see this,” Anna said, leaving her post at the corner of our bench. Given how seriously she was taking the snowball fight, I was surprised she was willing to take her eyes off the game for a second. Apparently, her curiosity was too great.
“Shit, that’s Veronica and Eric,” she said, jolting back from the bushes, her eyes wide with surprise.
“What?” I crawled up beside her and took a second look. The guy had pulled back to look the girl in the eyes, and now they were farther apart, I could see Anna was right. And from the adoring way Eric was looking down at Veronica, this wasn’t just some surprise snowball fight fun.
“Why is Veronica making out with a scholarship student?” Cress asked as I faced the girls again. “She’s always hated them.”
I knew that wasn’t totally true. Veronica had told me she didn’t actually have a problem with the scholarship students, and seeing her with Eric made me wonder if her cruelty toward them was just part of the carefully crafted persona she’d built for herself at this school.
Still, I probably wouldn’t have believed she was kissing a scholarship student either if I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes.
“I guess she doesn’t hate all of them,” Anna replied, her eyes still bulging. “Do you think they’re together, together? Or do you think they’re just caught up in the moment?”
Cress glanced through the bushes again. “It kind of looks like they’re together, together. Look at the way they’re smiling at each other.”
Anna and I crowded in to see. Veronica and Eric were covered in snow, and he was helping her to her feet.
I’d never seen her look so lighthearted, and there was a bright sparkle in her eyes.
He wrapped his arms around her, and the way he held her showed familiarity that couldn’t be faked.
But seeing as they didn’t know anyone was watching them, why would they be acting anything other than genuine.
“Wow, I think you’re right,” Anna said. “People at school would lose their minds if they knew about this.”