I wake up with a start. I can hear whispering and giggling. Hm... That's weird, everyone else is asleep. I look around the room, and see a few shadows in the hall. I crack a tired grin. It's the other team, obviously here to prank us. I quietly wake up everyone from our team, and we silently slip into the kitchen.

"Alright. Time to give them the scare of their lives." I whisper, in a deathly low voice. I tell them the plan. Kaelie, Gavin and I fly up to the ceiling and drop scraps of crinkled paper on them. Alanna and Rhodes send gusts of wind through the bottom part to create a creepy atmosphere. Holden and Atticus will make the ground shake at random times. Iniabi and Felicity will create random flashes of light. Daley and Zaiden will turn into animals and make noises and run through the dark parts of the room. And Payson will create slippery water puddles. It's perfectly spooky. And sure to get back at the other snowball team.

*********************

About 20 minutes later, after we've all stuffed our blankets to make it look like we're underneath, the other team stealthily enters the room. But we're all in position. All of the sudden, a bone-chilling wind sweeps through the room, accompanied by an owl's hoot. I smile and drop a paper. There's a scared gasp from down below, and it's all I can do to not laugh. Suddenly, some water trickles like a snake from the kitchen and crosses the dining room floor. A shriek and "what was that?!" Snake hiss from Zaiden.

"AAH! A snake! It was a snake!"

"Shh!" The voice is Parisa's. "You don't want to wake them all up!"

I laugh into my jacket. Kaelie and Gavin give me a look and I shut up. The ground then rattles ever so slightly at first, then a pause, then a bigger shake. Muffled shouts and screams from below. This is working so well! A deep, loud growl from Daley and Zaiden. Screams from the other team. The ground shakes one last time, and we drop a ton of paper.

"Let's get out of here!" I hear a guy shout.

"Yeah, forget about scaring them, this place is freaking me out!" I hear a girl cry.

"Leave and stop bothering us!" Whispers a ghostly voice from all corners of the room. They all turn white and scramble out. The door slams after the last person, and all of us come out of our hiding spots.

"Alright!"

"That was perfect."

"We sure got them back!"

"Who did that voice? That was good."

"Rhodes and me," says Alanna.

"Why did they even try to scare us?"

We all laugh. Quite the successful day we've had as an impromptu team.

*********************

I lay on the mattress next to Kaelie and Brooke, listening to all the steady, quiet breathing. Soft light streams in through the windows. I'm sure I'm the only one up currently. There's a faint ringing, and I realize it must be the alarms all going off. One by one, people in the room wake up, droopy-eyed and with crazy bed-head hair. I laugh lightly.

"Mornin' everyone!" calls Payson. "How'd we all sleep?"

"Good.."

"Alright."

"I had such a weird dream," says Daley. "The other team was going to scare us so we woke up, made a plan, and spooked them off!"

Everyone exchanges looks, then we all laugh.

"Wha..? What?" says Daley, wide-eyed and really confused.

"Daley...Daley..." I have to stop laughing. "That wasn't a dream. We actually did that!" Nods of agreement.

"Huh?"

"Daley." I repeat. "That wasn't a dream. It actually happened."

"Woah. Weird." He says, looking around. We all laugh again.

Ms. Katly, the office assistant, walks in. "Excuse me ladies and gentlemen, but breakfast needs to be served in this room in half an hour. Please bring your things back to your rooms."

She leaves.

"Alright... let's get to it, I guess," a tired voice says. Zombie-like, we all get up and start collecting blankets, pillows, and jackets. The room is cleared in surprisingly no time, all that's left is the mattresses. Our team has dispersed. I'm the last one out, and I shut the double doors quietly behind me and walk up the stairs.

*********************

At breakfast, Parisa and Aately approach Kaelie, Alanna, Rhodes, Gavin and I at our table.

"Hi Parisa," I say friendly.

"Hi Ramaya," she says calmly. "I just wanted to say there's no hard feelings about the snow fight. It was just fun, right?"

"Oh, of course, Parisa! I was going to say the same to you. And it sure was fun!" I reply.

"Yeah. So, uh, see you later, I guess."

"Yeah. Bye! Bye Aately!" We all wave a bit as they turn and walk away. I wonder why she did that..? It was, um, nice of them.

Yvette catches up to Aately and Parisa. They exchange a few words and Aately points at us. Yvette glares menacingly at our table and I shrug at her, smiling. She rolls her eyes and briskly walks away to her table, her clique awaiting.

"Geez. What is her deal?" asks Gavin.

"We don't even know. She just hates anyone who can upstage her," Kaelie laughs. Gavin and Kaelie look into each others' eyes for a moment, then turn away, both faintly blushing. I see what's going on here.

"So..." I look at them suggestively. They both blush even harder. I pat Kaelie's shoulder and laugh a little before turning away.

The rest of the day is a lazy, late (and still snowy) October day. Alanna, Kaelie, Brooke and I hang out in Kaelie's dorm, and snuggle under blankets. Until, that is, we hear a knock on the door.

Brooke jumps up and opens the door. "Oh hi! Yeah okay I'll go get her!" Brooke keeps the visitor hidden by the door. "Ramaaaayaaaa! You have a visitor!" She says pulling me up.

I walk to the door and see it's Rhodes. "Hey Ramaya. Um... Do you want to go to the willow with me?" He asks shyly, looking down at the ground.

I smile a warm smile. "Of course I'll go. I just need to grab some better outdoor clothes from my dorm." I run down the hall, and into my dorm. Within two minutes, I've put on jeans over leggings, a tank top, a black long sleeved shirt, a purple hoodie, and my gray winter jacket. I also put on two pairs of socks, and my winter boots. I almost run out of my dorm, when I realize I forgot a hat, scarf, and gloves. I run back in and grab the gray ones. I hop out of the dorm room.

"Okay, let's go!"

Rhodes looks surprised. "Wow! That was fast!" He says, cracking a grin.

"Hate to keep you waiting." I say jokingly.

His mood changes. "I'd always wait for you." He says softly. My stomach drops, and I find myself studying the floor, as if it was really intriguing.

"So... Let's go to the willow then?" Rhodes asks, awkwardly.

"Yeah... I guess."

We walk through the snow, now about a foot deep, to the willow. Neither of us talk. We stop near the edge of the thicket for a little while. I can see two figures out in the snow, building a snowman. One has a white winter jacket, and the other one has a light blue. Kaelie and Gavin?

"Hey Rhodes!" I whisper. "Look! I think it's Kaelie and Gavin!"

He turns, and sees them in a little clearing. "You're right! It is them!" We watch them for a bit, and they start throwing snow at each other, and pretending it wasn't them.

"Aww."

"What?"

"They're totally flirting!" I say, and Rhodes grins.

We see Kaelie throw a heaping load of snow on Gavin, but he turns and sees her right before getting hit. We can hear him yell. "Oh! You're going to pay for that!" Kaelie shrieks, and tries to run away. But Gavin is too quick. He grabs her waist, and lifts her up. She does a laugh/scream as he walks to a huge pile of fresh powder, and drops her. She yells out with a laugh and grabs his ankle, just as he's about to get away. He falls face forward onto the snowy ground, and Kaelie doesn't hesitate to tackle him. She flips him and holds his hands to the ground. But Gavin is faster, and stronger. Without a warning, he flips Kaelie so he's on top. They look into each other's eyes. And start laughing. Kaelie pushes Gavin off of her, and gets up. Gavin too, gets up. Kaelie tosses more snow at him. But before she can do anything else, Gavin grabs her into a bear hug. Kaelie starts swatting his arms, and yelling something about her personal bubble being invaded. But it's hard to take her seriously when she's laughing so hard.

I look back to Rhodes to see he's smiling too. "They're cute. Together, I mean," he says.

"I know... I wonder if..."

"If what?"

"Oh, nevermind," I say with a smile. Rhodes gives me a weird look.

*********************

We talk for a few hours at the willow. About the weather, the snowball fight, anything and everything. Rhodes is just so easy to talk to. I'm rambling on about something or other when I stop myself.

"Rhodes, am I boring you? I'm so sorry, just say something."

"No, please. Keep going. I love hearing you talk," he says with all sincerity. My heart skips a beat. He looks me in the eye. With the white background all blurring into one and Rhodes in such sharp focus, I feel like I'm in a dream. He reaches out and grabs my hand. I feel a warm spark where our fingers first touched. He's amazing.

"Ramaya..."

"Yes?" I ask quietly.

"Will you eat dinner with me?" he asks, smiling..

"Yes, of course!" I say.

A cold wind rips through the branches, killing the mood. We both shiver.

"Maybe it's time to go back in and get ready for dinner," he says.

"Yes. I agree." We float down out of the tree and walk towards the dorms. It's bitterly cold now that it's almost dark. My teeth chatter as we walk side by side. He looks at me, then wraps his arm around my back. Instantly, I feel warmer. I smile at him, and he smiles back. We walk all the way back like this.

********************

After a lovely dinner with Rhodes, I pull Kaelie over to the side.

"What?" she asks. She just ate dinner with Gavin.

"You know Gavin's totally flirting with you, right?"

"What? No..." she says, blushing and looking around.

"Yes he is. And I just have to know, do you like him back?"

Her eyes widen and she takes a step back from me. "Wha- Why? Are you planning something?" she asks with a slight smile.

"No, I just want to know." I decide to fess up. "Rhodes and I saw you and Gavin out in the snow today."

"HUH? You did?" she asks a bit too loudly.

"Yeah. We weren't trying to spy on you or anything, but... You seem to really like each other."

She takes a deep breath. "Look... I'm not even sure how I feel about him myself. He's a really nice guy, but I don't think we'll ever, you know, date or anything."

I frown slightly. "Alright. Well, that's all I wanted to know. Sorry for being so awkward," I say apologetically.

"No, no. It's ok," she says, and we hug briefly.

"See you tomorrow," I say.

"Yep. Bye!"

We both walk back to our dorms.