The guys made their appearance first, followed at last by the rest of the girls. The kitchen was a muddled flurry of breakfast preparations and lunch bag sorting.

Christy made eye contact with Katie across the room and nodded her head once. Katie then slipped away from the group and disappeared downstairs.

"Did you get your lunch yet, Christy?" Janet asked, startling her out of her concentration.

"Oh, no. Thanks. I'll get it."

"There's one more bag," Janet turned it so she could see the name. "Katie," she read aloud. Looking around, she asked, "Where is Katie?"

"I'll take it for her," Christy offered.

Shannon apparently overhead Janet asking Christy about Katie. She called to Christy from the kitchen table, "Where is Katie? Did she give up on skiing after yesterday's lessons? Is she going to stay in bed all day?"

"No," Christy answered, her heart pounding. "She's going. She just had to go downstairs for a minute."

Shannon turned, whispered something to Tiffany, and then hopped up from her chair and hurried down the stairs.

Oh no! Katie, look out! Shannon's going to catch you snooping.

Christy quickly slipped around the counter to the kitchen and flipped on the garbage disposal switch. Immediately, everyone stopped their conversations and turned to look at her.

"Oops!" Christy said, shrugging her shoulders. "Wrong switch."

Just then Katie appeared at the top of the stairs and looked around the room anxiously until she spotted Janet. Motioning for Christy to follow her, Katie went over to where Janet sat at the table and leaned down to say something to her in private.

Janet rose from her chair and led Katie to her room. Christy waited until they came in her direction before she joined the procession. All the while she was aware of'Tiffany and Jennifer, who were still seated at the table, watching Katie's every move.

Just as Christy slipped into Janet's room, she noticed Tiffany and Jennifer heading down the stairs. Janet closed the door, and Katie started in breathlessly. She sounded like a spy who had returned from a successful secret mission.

"I found it," Katie said to Christy. "And I was right. They didn't empty it out. It wasn't under the sink, and that's why it took me so long to find it. I got your signal, though. Thanks!"

"Would you mind backing up here?" Janet asked. "I seem to have missed something."

Katie talked fast, gesturing with her hands, her face expressive. She explained how the "rich girls" had a bottle of vodka in their room, and how even though they said they were going to pour it out, the bottle was still there this morning.

"So you found the full bottle just sitting on their bathroom counter?" Janet asked.

"No, it was in the shower. I almost didn't see it, but then when Christy turned on the garbage disposal I knew that was the signal that someone was coming. I turned around really fast and spotted it through the shower's gla.s.s door. I barely made it out of there before Shannon came in.

"Why didn't you girls tell me all of this last night?"

"They said they would pour it out, and I believed them," Christy said.

Katie gave her an I-told-you-so look.

"We can't let this go," Janet said. "Not after what happened last year. You girls stay here. I'll get Lou, and we'll bring the other girls in too."

Christy sat on the edge of the bed with Katie beside her. Her hands were shaking, and she felt her throat closing up. She hated being in situations like this. Why hadn't those girls kept their word and poured the stuff out? Was it actually their bottle of camouflaged vodka after all? Was Katie right about them?

Mr. Riley entered the room with Janet and the three girls and closed the door behind him. All five of the girls crowded onto the bed. Christy focused on her hands folded in her lap, not willing to look anyone in the eye.

"Katie says you girls had a bottle of vodka in your room last night. What do you have to say about that?" Mr. Riley asked, his arms folded across his chest.

Shannon, looking innocent and offended by the accusation, said, "It was a bottle of mouthwash we found under our sink. Christy had some, and it made her cough, and then Katie came bursting into our bathroom and said it was vodka with green food coloring."

"Was it?" Janet asked.

"How would we know? We didn't try it," Shannon said.

"Where's the bottle now?" Mr. Riley asked.

"We poured it out and threw the bottle away last night. We didn't want any misunderstandings, like last year," Jennifer answered.

"That's not true!" Katie burst out. "The full bottle is still in your bathroom. I saw it in the shower this morning!"

"What were you doing in our bathroom?" Tiffany asked.

"Checking to see if you kept your word, which you didn't," Katie stated firmly.

Christy felt more and more uncomfortable as the accusations continued. She didn't know what to say.

"Let's all go downstairs and have a look in your bathroom. We'll settle this once and for all," Mr. Riley said, opening the door.

Don was standing right next to the door, apparently listening to the conversation.

"Oh, hey!" Don said when Mr. Riley opened the door. "We were just going to ask how soon until we load up the van. It's almost seven."

"We'll leave in about ten minutes," Mr. Riley said. "Excuse us." Pressing past the eager skier, Mr. Riley led the parade of girls downstairs.

The seven of them squeezed into the bathroom.

"Okay, Katie," Mr. Riley said, "where did you see the bottle of mouthwash?"

"In the shower," she said. "Behind the gla.s.s door there."

Mr. Riley opened the shower door and picked up a bottle filled with green liquid. He held it up for his wife to see and read the label. "Herbal Garden Shampoo. You used to use this brand, didn't you, Janet?"

She nodded and said, "Maybe you should take the lid off and smell it."

"It wasn't shampoo," Katie protested. "It was mouth-wash. A big bottle, and it was in there this morning."

Christy watched as the three girls looked at each other, shrugging their shoulders and exchanging expressions of innocence.

Mr. Riley twisted off the lid from the shampoo and poked his finger inside. Rubbing his thumb and fingers together until they formed a lather, he sniffed at the liquid and said, "This is shampoo, Katie. One hundred percent shampoo."

"I know," Katie said, exasperated. "I'm talking about mouthwash, not shampoo. Check under the cupboards and in their luggage. It was here twenty minutes ago."

"Christy," Mr. Riley turned to her, "what was it that you drank last night?"

Feeling all eyes on her, Christy said, "I didn't really drink anything. I was trying to gargle. See, I had the hiccups, and I came in here to get a drink of water. I saw the mouthwash on the counter and asked the girls if I could have some.'o'

"And they didn't try to stop you or say, *That's not mouthwash'?" Mr. Riley asked.

"No, I mean, I don't think so. I don't remember. I just took a little bit, and my mouth felt on fire, so I spit it out and rinsed my mouth with water."

"It got rid of her hiccups," Shannon said with a smile.

"You don't know if it was vodka or not though, do you?" Janet asked.

"No, I've never tasted vodka before, or anything like that, so I don't know what it tastes like," Christy said.

"Katie was the one who drank some and said it was vodka," Shannon offered.

"I didn't drink any. I only tasted it, since it didn't have much of a smell."

"Okay, okay," Mr. Riley said, looking irritated and putting the shampoo back in the shower. "Where is the mouthwash bottle now?"

"There," Shannon said pointing to the trash can. "Since Katie made such a big deal over it last night, we poured it out and threw the bottle away."

Mr. Riley lifted the empty bottle from the trash can, untwisted the lid and sniffed. "Nothing," he said, handing the white cap to Janet. "It doesn't smell like anything. I don't know what was in here."

Janet smelled the cap and shook her head. "It seems like a big ha.s.sle over nothing. It's poured out, and that's all that matters. I'm no psychologist, but I'd say maybe, just maybe, you girls are quarreling over something else here. Something completely unrelated, like territory or friendship loyalty. Can we drop this whole thing and finish the trip without any more ha.s.sles?"

"I agree," Mr. Riley said. "We've held up the whole group over this. I appreciate your concern, Katie. Sounds as though it was a case of someone leaving an old bottle of mouthwash under the sink for too long. You girls came along and happened to use some, and it had a kick to it. You poured it out and threw the bottle away, and that's that."

"But Mr. Riley," Katie said, looking frantic, "I know what I saw. You can't just drop the whole thing like this. Christy will back me up. I'm telling the truth."

Mr. Riley paused for a moment and looked at Christy. She froze under his intent gaze. "Do you honestly think it was vodka?" he asked.

Everyone was staring at her. All Christy could say was, "I don't know."

Turning to Katie, he said, "Maybe it's time to stop forcing the issue here. No rules have been violated. If you want to keep pressing it, then maybe I'll have to ask you why it is that you, a girl under the legal drinking age, even know what vodka tastes like."

Then pointing his finger at the three girls in front of him, he said, "And if I find out that you do have liquor on this trip, you need to know, young ladies, that the consequences for all three of you will be extremely serious. Is that understood?"

"Yes, sir," they all answered, nearly in unison and with somber faces.

"Okay. Let's load up and get out of here. The snow is melting while we stand here bickering in the bathroom. This is crazy!"

They all filed out. Christy went to her room to get her backpack and jacket. Katie was right behind her.

"Traitor," Katie muttered under her breath as she entered the room and slammed the door.

Christy felt as though her heart had just broken. Why would Katie say that to her? She started to cry and turned to face her angry friend.

"Why didn't you stick up for me?" Katie asked, tears now coming to her eyes too. "You made me look like an idiot in front of everyone, and you know I was right! Why didn't you tell them it was vodka?"

"Katie, all I could say was the truth. I don't know what it was! I don't know what vodka tastes like. I was not trying to betray you! How can you say that to me? I only told the truth!"

Katie wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. With quick, jerking motions, she yanked off the black and white ski sweater and peeled off the black ski pants.

"I don't feel like wearing these today," she said, throwing the ski clothes onto Christy's bed. Grabbing a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt, she stormed into the bathroom and slammed the door.

Christy wanted to throw herself on the bed and cry her eyes out. But from the hallway she heard Don yelling for everyone to hurry up because it was already seven-thirty. Numbly gathering her things, she wiped her eyes and headed for the door.

of the morning in ski cla.s.s with Katie, yet they couldn't bring themselves to speak to each other. It made the session quiet and uncomfortable.

How can it be that I'm only a few feet from my closest friend, but I've never been so lonely in my life? This has to be the most horrible, miserable, alienating experience ever! What am I going to do? How can I mend things with Katie?

Cold, wet, and unable to concentrate, Christy excused herself from cla.s.s and plowed her way back through the snow to the lodge. She went to her locker and pulled out her backpack, searching for a tissue for her leaky nose. No such luck. The bathroom was close, and she was glad to find a tissue box in the wall near the paper towels.

Having blown her nose and taken a few extra tissues to stuff in her pocket, Christy was about to leave when she heard her name mentioned.

Someone behind one of the closed stalls said, "It was a good thing Christy was on our side, or else Mr. Riley might have believed Katie."

"Oh, I know!" a voice from another closed stall answered. "That little snoop almost ruined everything. Are you sure Christy's totally on our side?"

"I'm going to make sure before the day is over. She's supposed to go skiing with us this afternoon. I'm going to be super nice to her just to cement her friendship."

A stall door opened, and Christy froze, expecting it to be one of the girls. It wasn't. With her heart pounding, she slipped into the vacated stall to listen to the rest of the conversation.

She heard another stall door open, and from the way the voices moved and from the sound of running water, Christy guessed that at least one of the girls was out of the stall and over by the sink, washing her hands.

"Do you really think Christy has never tasted any liquor before? I mean, did you see her? She played innocent better than we did!"

"Who knows? She could be telling the truth. I don't know. At least she isn't a truth crusader like Katie."

"I don't think we have to worry about Katie anymore." The voice paused and then said, "Ugh! Why didn't you guys tell me my hair was such a mess! Did you bring a brush?"

"There's one in my locker. Come on. Let's pick up our lunches, and I'll get the brush for you."

"So you really think we're not going to have any more problems with Katie?"

"To quote Christy's cla.s.sic line with the mayonnaise blowout, 'You have to be smarter than the bottle of mouth-wash, Katie!'"

"Then it looks like we're safe."

m.u.f.fled giggles followed the girls as they exited the bathroom.

Katie was right; it was vodka! And they sound like they still have it! What should I do?

It seemed the only thing for Christy to do was meet the girls at lunch, as planned. Surely she would be able to think of some way to confront them with this whole thing then.

Throwing her backpack over her shoulder, Christy marched to the appointed meeting place at the snack bar. The girls weren't there yet, so Christy decided to act casual, find a place to sit down, and start eating her lunch. She settled in and unzipped her pack, only to find that she had no lunch. She had left it back at the condo.

I don't believe this! This day keeps getting worse and worse. What next?

What came next was the appearance of Shannon, Tiffany, and Jennifer. She wasn't ready to face them.