sunrise [until dawn]

iii: the elephant in the room

"What?" Sam asks, following Chris and I to the side of the cable car station.

"I'm not gonna tell you, you've gotta see for yourself. C'mon, it's this way.

"Where-"

"Right this way. C'mon, it's gonna blow your mind."

Sam and I chat for a few moments; about school, love interests, shit like that. It was fun, and it brought me back down to earth. I hadn't seen Sam, my best friend, in over a year at least. We were both so busy with our own lives that we had neglected each other. I silently vowed myself not to allow that anymore.

Chris leads us to a wooden railing overlooking what looked like a shooting range, and says, "Ta Dah! Pretty rad right?"

"Yeaaaaaah..."

Guns hang from a holster leaning up against the fence, and the sight freaks me out quite a bit. I wasn't very found of firearms, specifically guns, and it makes my skin crawl to look at them.

"Cmon! Look at these beauties!"

"Beauties is not the word that comes to mind," Sam chuckles, "Why is this here?"

"What do you mean?" Chris scratches his forehead.

"What the hell is a shooting range doing at the base of a ski lodge?"

"Dude, have you ever met Josh's dad?"

"Yeah...?"

At the mention of Josh's dad, my blood goes cold. I hadn't seen Mr. Washington since a month before last year's winter getaway. We had been talking about Josh specifically. Mr. Washington was verbally beating on Josh and wanting to major in psychology, and I defended him. He told me to go to hell.

As much as I would like to believe the twins' disappearance was Karma for what he said, but I pushed it to the back of my mind. I was the better person.

A gun shot pulls me from my thoughts.

"Nice shootin' Tex," Sam pokes fun at Chris, who was dancing like an idiot.

"Alright, I'm bad. I'm a badass."

"I'm going to go ahead and-"

I interrupt Sam accidentally, "I'm going to head up to the lodge."

"Alright, be careful," Chris says, "Call me if you need me. We'll be up in a few minutes."

I nod, as Sam interjects, "And if you see Josh, kick his ass."

I chuckle, heading around the side and into the cable car station. The cable car happens close, luckily, so I play a game on my phone until it arrives.

* * * *

By the time the cable car arrives to the top of the mountain, my buns are pretty much frozen. It's a chore to get up off of the seat.

"It's alright," I mutter to myself, teeth chattering.

I jiggle at the doorknob, and I feel a sense of accomplishment when it opens. My self-achievement is shattered, however, when I realize Jessica is the one who opened it.

"Hi, Maggie," she chirps, pulling me into a hug.

"Heey, Jess," I awkwardly pat her shoulder.

I'm not quite sure what to say. The last time I had seen Jess was at the winter getaway last year, when Beth and Hannah went missing. We weren't on the best of terms at that point, so it surprises me that she's so excited to see me.

"Hey," she takes my hand, pulling out of the hug, "I know things are at a rough patch between us, but I'd like to try being friends again?"

I can't say no to that stupid grin on her face. After all, why fight her when I can join her?

"Sure," I hug her back, "Are you heading up to the lodge?"

"Nah, I'm going to wait for a few more people to show up," she smiles, plopping down on the bench, "That reminds me, I think Josh was up at the lodge waiting for people. Are you going to head up?"

"I don't have any choice in the matter, do I?" I chuckle, glancing around me.

The snow that painted the ground made a crunch beneath my shoes as I rocked back and forth from foot to foot. Jess gave me a suspicious look, but didn't question the previous comment I had made.

"Well," she says, "I'll see you up there, I guess. Don't get lost."

"No guarantees," I say other my shoulder, heading down the path.

I use this opportunity to think. What would I say to Josh when I saw him? It had been quite a bit of time me since I had been in contact with him. The same was not with my brother, who had talked to Josh for almost every second of every day.

Should I call him out on it? Express my hurt? I was afraid I couldn't do either without melting into puddle of tears. It was especially hurtful that he had the goddam nerve to ignore my texts and phone calls, and was talking to my brother who was right next to me.

I see the lodge appearing over a mound of ice crystals, and my breath hitches in my throat. Butterflies are swooping around in my stomach as my feet will me to continue forward.

"It's fine," I whisper to myself, "Just breathe."

As I approach closer to the lodge, a few smudgy shapes come into view. I see Josh being a fucking idiot, sliding down the railings in the stairs, and Matt lacing his fingers through the soft snow. My heart begins to beat less rapidly. At least Matt is there to make things less awkward.

"Did someone order one badass brunette?" I appear in front of them, doing a jazz-hand motion.

"Miss Maggie!" Matt jumped up, slinging his arms around my waist, "How are you?"

"I'm good Matt, really good," a smile creeps onto my face, "How about you?"

He hugs a bit tighter before releasing me from his grip, "Good. Great. I mean, as good as you can be in this circumstance."

I follow his gaze to Josh, who's muttering words under his breath. I feel as if there's an elephant sitting on my chest, and I have to take a deep breath to keep from screaming.

-

Josh: 8/10
Chris: 10/10
Ashley: 5/10
Sam: 9/10
Jess: 5/10
Mike: 5/10
Matt: 4/10
Emily: 1/10

Honest: 9/10
Charitable: 6/10
Funny: 7/10
Brave: 6/10
Romantic: 7/10
Curious: 7/10