Climb | ✔

Chapter 3 | Bouldering

Nearly a week later, Winter had found herself falling into a daily routine. Conversations with her newly-formed group were finally overcoming the courteous barrier that came with new relationships. They were more candid with each other now once the excitement of having a new girl around wore off.

"Oh, Daisy," Gina chimed, shooting a look across the cafeteria. "There's Fletcher!" she sang, eliciting a high-pitched 'shut up!' from the Asian girl.

"Oh, Fletcher?" Winter coaxed teasingly with a grin directed at Daisy, who was starting to flush pink.

"What are we talking about?" Louis asked as he set his tray down at the table, the rest of the Stooges following closely behind.

"Oh, you know," Gina began, earning her a pleading hush from the girl beside her. "Just Daisy's big crush on Fletcher, the usual," she answered loudly. Daisy slapped her hand over Gina's mouth to shush her, but it was too late.

Winter was surprised to find Joe looking away uncomfortably, a resentful glint in his eyes as he spotted Fletcher across the cafeteria. She wondered if anyone else was privy to what she just witnessed, and when she met Luke's gaze, her question was answered. He gave her a sympathetic look. Why he did so, she was unsure.

She felt like that question too was answered when a girl walked up to Joe, pecking him on the lips. She would learn afterwards that her name was Amy Wong, and she was Joe's girlfriend. Winter looked away awkwardly. Luke gave her another look, but Winter didn't quite know what to make of it. All she knew was that whatever it was, it was complicated.

"Wanna eat lunch with me today?" Amy asked Joe, and he quickly glanced at Daisy, who was biting into her sandwich.

"Sure." He excused himself, allowing him to be led away by his girlfriend.

"What about you, Winter?" Gina nudged her arm. "Any cute boys catch your eye?"

"Not really," she said, and she meant it. There were many cute boys, sure, but romance was out of the question for her at this point. She was barely getting her footing in with all the newness of her situation.

The next day, on her way to English, Winter (literally) ran into Rick. The first thing she noticed about him was his smell, which consisted of something fresh like pine and more strikingly of weed.

"Ugh, Rick," she cringed. "You reek of weed." He paled at this.

The halls were emptying out now as the final bell rang, meaning Winter would be late for class. She cursed herself for taking the wrong books out of her locker, forcing her to backtrack halfway across the school to exchange them. Oh well, she thought. She was late now anyway, so she decided to engage Rick.

She gave him an almost apologetic laugh before grabbing him by the cuff of his grey hoodie and luring him to an unknown destination. He questioned her until they arrived at a supply closet. He seemed to pale more at this.

She glanced in both directions and gave a probing knock on the door to ensure it was empty. Then, in one swift movement, she opened the door, pulled Rick inside, and turned the light on. She held back a laugh when Rick squeaked.

"Um, Winter," he stuttered. "Shouldn't we be getting to class? I don't mean to be presumptuous, but I already have a girl-"

"We're already late. One second," she interrupted, going up on her tiptoes to reach a higher shelf and retrieve what she was looking for. She awkwardly fumbled to take off the cap of the spray while balancing all of her books in one hand. Once she managed it, though, she turned the nozzle and sprayed Rick generously.