He moves closer, but I back away.

He starts to say something, but before he can, an announcement booms over the lodge’s loudspeaker. “Attention Aguyack Mountain skiers. Due to hazardous conditions on the roads and highways, we’re temporarily asking all patrons to remain at the mountain until the storm passes. Please use caution when skiing or snowboarding, as many trails are still closed, and visibility is poor.”

The CIA faculty supervisors round us up. They tell us that we’re going to be here for a while and to get comfortable. I use the opportunity to snake through the crowd, away from Jack.

“Are you okay?” Chloe asks. “That was … intense.”

I shake my head. “I don’t know what I was expecting from him, but it wasn’t that.”

Sofía drapes her arm around me. “How do you feel?”

I shrug. “I really wish I didn’t love him, but I think I’m starting to realize that if he can’t love me the way I need him to, then it’s better that he leave me alone.”

She looks like she wants to say something to contradict me, but instead, she settles in beside me. Am I overreacting? Am I wrong? Taylor would probably tell me I’m too stubborn like she always used to. That thought rattles me.

Chloe orders me a hot chocolate with extra marshmallows and a shot of Kahlúa, and though the waitress must know we’re not old enough, she also must’ve witnessed the show I put on, and she doesn’t question it.

The lodge is spacious for such a small mountain but not large enough for one person to get lost in the crowd. Jack plops down on the couches in front of the other fireplace, slumps forward, and buries his face in his hands.

I watch him for a long time in between sips of cocoa.

Should I go over to him? Ask him how he’s doing? Maybe he needs a friend, someone to lean on, to comfort him. He looks like he’s hurting, and I can only imagine how his parents reacted. That’s probably why he came back to campus early. Did he sit his mother and father down at their breakfast counter and say, “I have something to tell you,” as they clutched each other and cried? Did they throw him out? Did he already have a bag packed and an escape route planned? I study the lines in his face, in particular a new crease on his forehead that wasn’t there before; it’s a crack in his impeccable marble statue.

He realizes I’m staring and doesn’t look away.

We stay like this, him on one side, me on the other, hoping our stares can bridge the gap until the storm outside ebbs.

Chapter 26

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