"Hi!" Shannon called out, waving as she approached. "Did you forget your lunch? I saw it on the counter and brought it for you. Are you getting hungry?"

Christy smiled and meekly accepted her forgotten lunch. "Did you get Katie's too?"

"No. Are you sure she forgot hers? I only saw yours on the counter. Did I tell you how much I like your jacket? That color looks great on you."

Christy knew her lunch had been right next to Katie's. She was not in the mood to play any more games with these girls.

"Which run do you want to try first, Christy?" Tiffany asked. "Do you want to take it easy or dive right in and go to the top?"

"I'm still not sure," Christy replied, stalling. "I'm still signed up for ski school for the afternoon session."

"You're not going, are you? Why waste your time when you could be really skiing?" Shannon asked.

"Yeah," Jennifer added, "with us."

Christy bit into her sandwich so she wouldn't have to answer and slightly shrugged her shoulders.

I can't pretend I don't know what they said. I could find Janet and Mr. Riley, but then these girls would never speak to me again, and I'd feel awful. Christy kept chewing slowly. What am I thinking? Do I care what they think of me? No, I care about what Katie thinks of me. And I guess, ultimately, I care about what the Lord thinks of me. I have to say something. Lord, help!

"Shannon," she blurted out, not sure of what she was going to say next. "Ym, can I ask your opinion on something?"

"Sure."

"Actually, I'd like it if all of you could give me your advice. I kind of have a problem."

"Does it start with if and end with afr'e?" Tiffany asked.

"I'll just say it's about a girl I know," Christy began, still not sure of what she was doing, gingerly making it up as she went. One thing was certaina"these girls loved to give advice. They had all stopped eating and were intently waiting to hear Christy's problem.

"This girl was sort of talked into buying some cosmetics from this friend of hers, who was trying to sell them," Christy began.

"We've all done that before, right?" Jennifer asked, and the others nodded in agreement.

"Well, this girl was told how great the products were, and if she didn't like them, she could return them anytime and get all her money back. So she tried them, and they didn't seem that great. But the friend who sold them to the girl kept flattering her and trying to make her feel good about it. About the cosmetics, I mean."

"That's how it usually goes," Jennifer commented. "Then what happened? Did she totally break out or what?"

"Actuallya" Christy continued, her heart pounding. She was quickly making up this story as she went along and wasn't sure she could pull it off. "The girl found out the cosmetics company was under investigation for fraud. Her friend promised that none of it was true, and she even tried to sell her some more of the stuff. The girl believed her friend and bought a bunch and even tried to convince some of her other friends that the products were good."

"What happened?" Jennifer asked.

"The girl accidentally overheard a conversation and found out that her friend had lied to her. The friend knew all along that the company was in trouble and the cosmetics weren't that good. She'd been using this girl the whole time."

"That is the lowest," Tiffany said. "I'd make the liar give me all my money back, and I'd never speak to her again."

"I'd sue the company," Shannon said.

"That's why I wanted your advice," Christy said. "Because the girl is thinking of going directly to the authorities and reporting the whole thing. Except she doesn't want to lose her friend who lied to her and used her. How can the girl work things out so that her friend won't use her anymore and yet expose the truth at the same time?"

The girls all looked at each other, and Shannon said, "Trash the friend. Go right to the authorities, and get justice."

"I agree," Jennifer said. "What kind of friend would set her up like that and keep up the front even when she knows it's a lie?"

"Friends like you," Christy blurted out.

"What are you talking about?" Shannon asked.

"Yeah, what is this? You're not talking about makeup, are you?" said Jennifer.

Christy forced herself to look directly at the girls. Her stomach was in a huge knot when she said, "I accidentally overheard you guys talking a little while ago in the bathroom. I know there really was vodka or some kind of liquor in the mouthwash bottle, that it was yours, and that you still have it." Her voice began to quiver. "And I don't know what to do about it. If I followed the advice you all just gave me, then I should go right to Mr. Riley and totally dump all of you as friends because you set me up, lied to me, and used me.

'"We never lied, and we did not set you up," Shannon said. "You went for the mouthwash on your own. We didn't give it to you. Then we let the situation run its natural course. None of us told a lie."

"You're saying you honestly did find that bottle underneath the sink?" Christy questioned.

"Well, no," Tiffany admitted. "We had to make up that part. Except for that, we didn't lie."

Jennifer added, "If Katie hadn't come snooping around, everything would have smoothed over, and no one would have gotten hurt."

"Well, I got hurt," Christy said, feeling her emotions rising. She wasn't sure she could push them down much longer. "And I'll be honest with you guysa"I don't know what I'm going to do about it. Your advice to me was to go right to the authorities and throw away the friendship. That might be the best advice, but I don't want to throw away any of my friendshipsa"not with Katie and not with you."

Because she thought she was going to burst into tears or throw up or both, Christy excused herself and fled for the refuge of the restroom. She emerged from the stall fifteen minutes later, having had a good, long, quiet cry in private.

The last thing she felt like doing was going back out on the ski slopes! Collecting all her gear and checking her red, puffy eyes in the mirror, she left the restroom and headed for the huge fireplace in the lodge.

Finding an empty chair, Christy planted herself near the tall window, her feet pointing toward the fire. Outside, the afternoon sun was now hidden by a block of clouds that looked as if they had ap.r.o.ns full of snow and were waiting for the signal before dumping it on the earth below.

Then, as if G.o.d had given the signal for the matronly clouds to gleefully shake empty their ap.r.o.ns, tiny snow babies began to float to their new homes. Some were eagerly adopted by the st.u.r.dy evergreens stretching out their arms to receive them. Others caught rides on the shoulders of determined skiers snowplowing their way down to the lodge. Most of the silent snowflakes found their places on the slopes, where they huddled together with those that had come before them.

Somehow it all has a purpose and a place, Christy thought as she settled into her chair and watched the world outside turn white. The only comforting part of this whole mess is that G.o.d knows the beginning and the end. I know He cares about what I'm feeling, and I know that somehow, every time, He works it out for His good. Everything has a purpose.

"Did you give up?" a voice said behind her.

Christy turned around and saw Mr. Riley holding a cup of hot cocoa.

"Just taking a break," Christy said. "Looks a little too cold out there for me."

"It's getting colder, and the visibility up on top is pretty soupy. If the rest of the group ends up huddled by the fire here, we might as well go back to the condo. We could rent a couple of movies and make some popcorn."

"That sounds like fun." Christy smiled up at him.

"I'm glad you're here by yourself for a minute," Mr. Riley said. "I've thought about something, and I wanted to run it past you."

"Good, because I have something I wanted to talk to you about too."

"I realized that when I smelled the lid of the mouthwash bottle this morning, it didn't have any kind of odor. If it had been filled with mouthwash, it would have smelled minty. I use that brand, and it's very minty. Christy, do you think there's any chance the bottle did have some kind of liquor in it?"

Christy readjusted her position in the chair and decided this was the moment to tell all.

Just then Katie's voice called out behind them, "Mr. Riley, your wife is looking for you." Katie apparently hadn't seen Christy in the chair, because when she did notice her, she added, "Oh, I didn't knowyou were busy."

"Tell Janet I'll be right there. Christy was about to tell me something."

"Then I guess I'd better leave you two alone."

Christy could hear the bite in her tone. Katie was still hurting, and Christy knew she had every right to be.

"No, I'd like you to stay, Katie. I'd like you to hear this too.

Katie hung back, not looking at Christy. Waiting for Christy to speak, she took a stance that said, "I dare you to melt me."

Christy looked up at Mr. Riley and began. "Katie was right. There was vodka in the mouthwash bottle. It was probably there in the shower this morning too just as Katie said."

"Oh, fine!" Katie threw her hands in the air. "Now you're on my side. What brought about the big change? Did your new friends suddenly dump you?"

Christy kept her gaze on Mr. Riley as she explained that she had told the truth during the confrontation. She honestly didn't know what she had tasted the night before. What changed her mind was when she overheard the girls talking.

"I wasn't trying to discredit you at all this morning, Katie. I was only trying to say what was true." Christy kept looking at Katie until Katie finally made eye contact. As soon as Katie's bloodshot eyes met hers, Christy said, "I'm sorry."

"No, it's my fault," Katie said in a small voice. "I never should have doubted you were telling the truth. Can you forgive me for calling you a traitor?"

"Of course. And can you forgive me for not being braver and standing by you when it really counted?"

Katie smiled and nodded. "Of course," she said, bending over and giving Christy a hug. "It takes a lot more than? that to break up a couple of peculiar treasures like us."

"Well, if you two have managed to mend your friendship, I think I'll go find Janet, and we'll get this whole thing cleared up. Thanks, both of you, for your honesty. You'd be surprised how hard it is to find a high school student these days who tells the truth. My opinion of you both just shot up IOO percent. I wish more of my students were like you two."

"Wake up, Christy. You have some visitors."

Christy rolled over on the couch and squinted at Mom. "Did I fall asleep? What time is it?"

"It's four," Mom said. "You fell asleep right after we got back from church this morning. You know, its probably a good thing you came home a day early from that ski trip. Otherwise you wouldn't have made it through school tomorrow."

Christy sat up on the couch and untwisted her red ski sweater. "I really conked out, didn't I? Did you say someone was here?"

"Yes," Mom hesitated. "I think you might be surprised."

"Who is it?" Christy released her hair from its ponytail clip and quickly ran her fingers through it. "Did Katie come by with Glen? She was hoping he'd stop by her house this afternoon."

"Why don't you come see?" Mom said. "They're out in front, talking to Dad."

Christy rose from the couch, slipped on her shoes, and ran a finger under each eye in case her Sunday morning makeup had smeared while she slept. Opening the front door, she stepped out onto the porch. She could hear her dad talking to someone around the corner of the house, but she couldn't see who it was.

Giving her hair one more quick shake and taking another tug at her sweater, she walked down the steps and curiously rounded the corner of the house.

"Rick? Doug? Hi! What are you guys doing here?"

"Whoa," Doug teased. "It's Sleeping Beauty, Part Two! And don't you look like the sun-kissed snow bunny. Did you have a good time?"

Doug, her friend from two summers ago at the beach, had no qualms about stepping up and giving her a big hug in front of her dad and Rick. Christy had never figured out whether Doug really was clueless or just so genuine that he had nothing to hide, and that's why he freely acted on his impulses.

Christy accepted his enthusiastic hug and then, because it only seemed right, she turned toward Rick. He hesitated at first, but gave her a noncommittal side-squeeze without saying anything.

The instant Rick put his arm around her, she smelled his aftershave. She didn't know what kind it was, but it was the same heady fragrance he had worn on every date they had gone on.

Instantly, she felt her stomach tighten and her heart swell with mixed feelings. She could tell by Rick's nonverbal greeting that he was either embarra.s.sed to touch her in front of her dad or else being here was all Doug's idea.

"Yeah." Christy tried to remember Doug's question. "The ski trip went well. Not great, but well."

"If you kids will excuse me," Dad said, holding up a screwdriver, "I'm trying to fix the recliner."

Poor Dad! I wonder if the chair will cooperate with him this time.

"Your dad said you came back a day early because a storm was coming, and you didn't want to get snowed in," Doug said, leaning casually against the side of his yellow truck, which he had parked in the driveway.

"That was part of it." Christy gave a quick rundown of the confrontation with the girls over the liquor and how they finally confessed to bringing it with the expectation of having a party on the last night. "I guess the ski club had a similar problem last year with some couples who snuck off."

Rick snickered and said the first words to her since he had arrived. "Did Shannon, Jennifer, and Tiffany happen to mention they were the ones who snuck out last year?"

"No," Christy said. "They didn't happen to mention that."

She cautiously shot a glance at Rick. It felt odd being here with him with no warning that she would face him today. He looked the samea"tall, broad-shouldered, with wavy dark hair and chocolate-brown eyes. Yet he looked a little different. Was it that he was somehow more reserved, or was he mad?

She would have liked to say so many things to him, but none of them seemed possible with Doug standing a few feet away. It especially felt awkward since Doug was Todd's best friend, and now Doug and Rick were sharing an apartment and going to school together at San Diego State.

What surprised her the most was that at this moment, Rick no longer seemed to have that strong, overpowering effect he had had on her in the past. But'she felt a strong desire to be friends with Rick. Good friends.

"We were stopping by to pick up some of Rick's junk on our way back to school. I told him I couldn't be this close to you without saying hi," Doug said. "You sure look great! I'm glad to hear you're doing well. I like your hair that way too."

Christy sheepishly smoothed down her wild mane. She could feel Rick's stare as she faced Doug. Rick always told her she looked good in red. Funny hpw she just happened to be wearing a red sweater the afternoon he decided to pop back into her life. She thought of the gold "Forever" bracelet on her right wrist and wondered if it showed under the cuff of the sweater.

Would Rick notice? Would it even matter to him? And was it possible that he was the one who had bought it back for her?

"Do you guys want to come in? Do you want something to drink or anything?" Christy asked.

"We probably should get going," Rick said. We have to get back by six for G.o.d-Lovers."

"G.o.d-Lovers?" Christy repeated, trying to remember where she had heard that expression before.

"G.o.d-Lovers," said Doug with a smile. "You like the name? I picked it out. It's a bunch of Christians who meet at our apartment every week. I've been doing the teaching, but tonight Rick is teaching for the first time." Doug gave him a playful punch in the arm. "Getting a little nervous there, buddy?"

Rick tagged him back, and the male sporting ritual began. Christy watched as the two compet.i.tive, over-six-foot-tall "little boys" sparred with each other in her driveway.

She couldn't believe how well Rick and Doug got along. She had only seen Todd in that "best bud" position with Doug. Todd and Rick were so different from each other, yet Doug seemed to get along great with both of them.

Guys sure do this friendship thing differently than girls do.

Compet.i.tive Rick appeared to emerge victorious from their round, which was not a surprise to Christy. She decided some things about him might never change.