By the time Ryan reached the bottom of the slope there was no sign of Marissa or Oliver. He felt a strong desire to hit something, but there was no one to hit, and he was surrounded by soft white snow, hardly ideal for getting in a good punch. Unsure what else to do, he got back on the chair lift and rode back to the top of the run. He decided that he mind as well stay on this slope, Marissa and Oliver would come looking for him eventually. Marissa would for sure, she had to right?

He began making his way slowly down the bottom, but began to pick up a little more speed. The cold wind felt good as it whipped across his face, and he began to enjoy himself. Suddenly, something hit him hard from behind. It almost took a moment to register, it happened so fast.

One moment he was upright, the icy slope was coming towards his face. He tried to regain his balance like he would have if he was walking, but in the cumbersome skies on the slippery slope he couldn't, and his legs got tangled as he fell. He thought he would lose momentum once he fell onto the ground, but he didn't, and he rolled partially down the mountain, losing a ski in the process.

When he finally stopped, he sat up and looked around. "Did you lose something?" A girl's voice asked, and his heart fluttered as he thought for a moment that it might be Marissa. He was disappointed when he turned around and it wasn't, but she was holding his ski. That was a relief.

"Yeah, thanks."

"That was a rough fall,"

"I'm going to be feeling that tomorrow."

"Beginner?"

"Yeah," Ryan admitted.

"My name's Connie, I'm a ski instructor here."

"Ryan," He noticed that Connie had very sparkly blue eyes.

"Think you can get up?" She asked.

"Yeah," She offered him a hand and pulled him to his feet and then helped him position the ski so he could pop back into the bindings. "Thanks," Ryan said, feeling truly grateful. He would have been in trouble without her help.

"No problem, I do this all day. Although usually I have to wipe up snot and tears."Ryan looked at her slightly askance, "I teach the Brown Bear group," Seeing that he still didn't understand, "The young skiers, like five, six. So you know, they're not as tough as you." She laughed.

"Oh right," Ryan felt embarrassed. There were five year olds that did this sport? Now that Connie mentioned, he noticed several minature skiers whizzing by on the slope.

"It's an easier sport to learn when you're a kid, they're fearless. Adults know how much falling actually hurts."

"Yeah, this is my first time."

"I have some free time, do you want some pointers?"

"Yeah, that'd be great."

For the next two hours Connie and Ryan skied up and down the bunny slope. Ryan was starting to get the hang of it much better than if he had been on his own. They reached the bottom and Connie looked at her watch, "Sorry Ryan, but I gotta jet. I have to get back to the paying customers."

"Thanks a lot for helping me out today."

"No problem,"

"Do you wanna… Get coffee or something later?"

"Wow, you really are a new skier," She laughed.

"What?"

"We're on the slopes, you get cocoa. And yeah, that'd be great. Ski lodge at four?"

"Sure," Ryan said, feeling happy. It wasn't cheating on Marissa, it was getting cocoa with a new friend.

It was almost four and Ryan decided to take one last run before he met up with Connie. There was still no sign of Marissa or Oliver, so he decided to get cocoa with Connie then call Seth or Luke and ask them to come pick him up at the base lodge. He didn't Oliver or Marissa and his drama, and he set off down the mountain feeling pretty good about himself and his skiing skills. Suddenly, he realized he had picked up a little too much speed. The slope, churned up by a day of skiers, was covered in moguls and icy patches. He managed to slow himself slightly, when for the second time that day, something came up and hit him hard. This time it was on the side. Ryan lost his balance and accidentally stepped on one ski the other, then his legs crossed. He came down hard on his side, his knee striking an icy patch. As he looked up, his assailant was getting away. Wearing a coat just like the one Oliver wore. A figure who looked just like Marissa followed shortly after, but clearly hadn't seen the incident. Ryan struggled to his feet, his knee throbbing painfully. He gritted his teeth, and slowly wound his way down the mountain.

It was a relief when the lodge came into sight. He took off his skies and limped into the lobby. Connie was waiting there. For the first time, Ryan got a really good look at her. She had long blonde, very curly hair, big blue eyes and her cheeks were tinged with pink from the cold.

"Ryan! Hey!" She spotted him and waved enthusiastically.

"Hey," He tried not to limp as he walked toward her, but she noticed.

"Ryan, are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." He didn't like strangers asking after his health.

"I know I've never not seen you on skies, buy you're limping. Did you fall?"

"Yeah…" Or I was pushed.

"You know I'm friends with the ski patrol guys, I could have them look at it."

"Really, I'm fine."

"Okay…" She seemed unconvinced, but whatever. That was her problem Ryan Atwood did not get hurt. "I'll go get us some cocoa." She said. Ryan would have argued but she was already off and running. He noticed she had already swapped her ski boots for a pair of Uggs. She returned a minute later and put a hot cup of cocoa in front of Ryan.

"So where are you staying?"

"A friend has a place, a bunch of us are staying with him."

"That's cool."

"Do you live here, year round?"

"Nah, just for the winters. During the summer's I got to Colorado and teach Outward Bound,"

"What?"

"Outward Bound? We take out groups of kids, take them hiking, rock climbing, white water rafting, teach them survival skills… It's really fun. What about you? What do you do when you're not falling down the sides of mountains?"

"I'm in school,"

"Oh yeah, where?"

That seemed like an odd question, "Here in California,"

She laughed, "No I meant like, what school? UCLA? Berkley?"

"I'm still in high school," He laughed a little.

"What?" She looked at him slightly aghast.

"Yeah…"

"Oh crap, you have got to be kidding me!"

"What?"

"You're a baby! Oh jeez, I gotta go. You're probably not even 18…"

"Well no… but…" She was already up. "I'll see you around… God, I hope no one ever finds out about this. I'll never hear the end of it! I got cocoa with a high schooler!" She walked off laughing at herself. Ryan sighed and stood, but halfway up, his knee decided it wasn't really in the mood for standing, and fell back into his chair.

"Wow… This just keeps getting better…" He muttered to himself.