Something woke Brighton in themiddle of the night.
Not a sound, more like an absence of one. She blinked into the darkness and rolled over, reaching for her phone on the rustic nightstand. Every bone and muscle in her body screamed at her, bringing back her tumble down the mountain.
She was also cold.
Like,freezing.
She sat up and tapped her phone’s screen.
2:32 a.m.
It was plugged in, but she noticed it wasn’t charging, which was exactly when she realized just how quiet it really was. A bone-deep silence. There was no hum from the heater, no gentle whir from the ceiling fan she’d turned on before slipping into bed a few hours ago.
Honestly, everything after skiing was a blur. Adele had created a group chat and texted that the snow was so bad her dad had ordered them all to stay in their cabins. He’d stocked all of theirfridges with cheese and fruit. That, along with the crackers in the pantry, would have to suffice for dinner.
Manish:This is how horror movies start
Elle:I think you mean end-of-days movies
Manish:No, horror! Serial killer in the woods, comes out in the blizzard and slaughters us all
Sloane:Cheery, Manny
Manish:Cheery and Queery!
Dorian:Sounds like a Hallmark movie
Manish:The slaughtering? What kind of Hallmark movies are you watching??
Dorian:I meant the Cheery and Queery thing
Manish renamed the chatCheery and Queery.
Dorian:As long as I get to play the dashing love interest
Manish:Who else?
Wes:Get a room
Manish:WE’RE SNOWED IN WESLEY
And on and on it went, Brighton’s phone dinging every few seconds with Manish and Dorian’s banter. It would’ve been kind of cute if she weren’t in such a foul mood. With Charlotte closed in her room, Brighton had turned off her notifications and did the same, watching a queer teen show on Netflix that only made her cry with love for baby queers everywhere before finally going to bed around ten.
Charlotte had never emerged, never said anything in the group chat.
Now it was the middle of the night, and it was slowly dawning on Brighton’s sleep-muddled brain that the power was out. Which meant the heat was out. Which meant she was fucking freezing.
She slipped out of bed and sifted through her bag, putting on every spare piece of clothing she had. As this was just an overnight trip, there wasn’t much—one extra sweater, a pair of socks. She found her only sweatpants on the floor next to the bed, as she’d shucked them off when she was ready to go to sleep because she hated sleeping in pants. Still, needs must. She found her knit hat as well, stuffed it on her head before going to the window. She peeked through the wooden blinds, and…
All she could see was white.
White swirling, white in the distance, white…
Wait.
She squinted harder, hoping she hadn’t actually seen the snow landing just above where the window’s glass started, but she had. It was piling higher and higher and higher…
“Shit,” she whispered to no one, but honestly, she was too cold and sore to worry about it too much at that moment.
