When we arrived at their house, my heart was hammering out of my chest. I’d seen Luke and Blair weeks before at a junior event in Jackson Hole, but we’d barely spent five minutes together. They both leaped on me in a giant group bear hug the moment I walked through the door of the chalet.

I was relieved at first that things felt the same with them. We settled back into our familiar grooves with one another as they showed me all of their new discoveries about the mountain. But soon the differences between us began to emerge. Blair was dating a snowboarder who’d been the junior champion the previous year, and Luke seemed to be testing out an entirely new identity. On the second day, he took me up to the snow park, and as we slid into the lift line, it was like I was suddenly seeing him for the first time. He’d gotten taller since the previous year and filled out. He was dressing differently too, and not in a way I liked. He suddenly wore low-slung pants everywhere and T-shirts that went practically to his knees.

“I’m glad you’re here, Bomber. It hasn’t been the same without you,” he said. The line was long and moving slowly, given the school holiday. Suddenly, a raucous group of guys appeared behind us, several of them leaning over to click their poles against Luke’s.

“Bro!”

Luke turned delightedly. “Yoooo, it’s the crew.”

I felt myself become momentarily invisible in the cacophony as Luke’s new friends overwhelmed the space around us. Looking at the ragtag group of them, I saw where Luke was getting his new fashion sense. They looked older than us, but it was hard to tell by how much.

“These lines are fucking gnarly, bro,” one of them said, crunching a lit cigarette beneath his ski.

“Fucking gapers,” another added.

“Guys,” Luke finally said. “This is Katie. She’s visiting from CDA.”

The introduction seemed to have a cooling effect; had Luke never mentioned me?

“What’s up, Katie? Brad,” one said. Eric, said the other. Chad, said the third. I didn’t think I’d be able to keep them straight, but it seemed unlikely to matter.

The three warmed up a bit after our first run in the park when I nailed a respectable 360. I was glad I could even still do it. Luke and I had always messed around in the park but I was more focused on my downhill.

Late in the afternoon, Tad caught up with me as I was raiding the fridge. Even with the new wife, I was plenty comfortable in the house.

“Hey, Katie. How was the hill today?”

“Not too bad, we were mostly in the park.”

“So I take it you met some of Luke’s new friends?” His tone left little doubt as to what Tad thought of them.

“Yeah. They’re all right.”