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girl?” Cam demands, looking outraged. “What is this, high school?”
    “No, not high school. The stakes are higher,” I tell her, warming to the idea. She looks pissed, which isn’t a bad thing. Because if Cam thinks I’m an asshole, then she won’t be throwing herself at me anymore and I won’t have to worry about fucking up and taking what she freely offers. “I bet my Burton Landlord against Luc’s Flow Darwin that I can get Ophelia out of her panties before the competition next weekend.”
    Luc whoops. “You’re on!”
    “Dude?” It’s Ash’s turn to elbow Luc. “Are you sure you want to take that bet?”
    “Damn straight. I’ve been wanting to get my hands on that board since he bought it.”
    “As if. We both know I’ll be adding your Darwin to my collection sometime in the next seven days.”
    “Whatever,” he shoots back. “I saw the way she looked at you. But a guy can dream, I guess.”
    Cam interrupts the bragging contest with a disgusted snort. “You guys are so gross. I can’t believe I’m friends with you.” Then she’s off, storming up to the top of the half-pipe even though it’s totally my turn.
    Luc watches her go, and though he tries to hide it, Ash and I can both see how he feels about her. Thank fuck I never have to worry about being that whipped.
    Cam slams through her run, catching some big air and hitting a couple of tricks she’s always struggled with. Losing her temper always makes her a better rider.
    Once she clears the end of the pipe, it’s my turn. I plan on taking it easy—I’ve already been at this for hours, doing some pretty strenuous stuff—but just as I push off, April’s face flashes through my mind.
    I don’t let myself think of her often. It hurts too bad. But this time of year, this week, it’s hard to think of anything else, especially when my friends are making such a point of not saying anything about her at all.
    So I close my eyes and think of how she was the last time I saw her. Her dark hair banded into two long pigtails. Her purple jacket a vivid splash against the snow. Her—
    I cut the thought off before it can form.
    Push off before I can sink too far into the memories.
    I hit the first trick hard, but it’s not enough. I need more. More challenge. More rush. More—
    I launch myself into a 1440 to make the shit in my head disappear. It’s too soon, though, and I know it even as my board leaves the pipe. And still I push it, still I go for the extra rotation.
    I get it, but I’m too low. I come down too fast, hit way too hard. Ash’s shout mingles with Luc’s and Cam’s, and the last thing I hear before blacking out is the sound of their footsteps running straight for me.

Chapter 4
    Ophelia
    I shrug out of the hospital gown, trying to ignore how freaking cold it is in the stupid clinic. How freaking cold it is everywhere in this godforsaken city. It’s like no one in Park City knows what heat is or something. Or maybe it’s just that my blood is too thin from all those years of living in a place where the average temperature is eighty degrees and the average humidity level is about a thousand percent.
    Either way, I’m freezing. I reach for my turtleneck, slide it on, then follow it with my jeans, sweater, jacket, and scarf. None of the layers seem to help, though. I’m still one degree away from having my teeth chatter and my fingers turn blue.
    There’s a knock on the door and I turn to see the nurse from earlier standing there. She’s got that I’m-so-happy-I-must-be-on-really-good-drugs smile on her face that so many of the people in this town seem to wear all the time. “The X-rays all turned out, Ophelia. You’re free to go.”
    Thank God. I slide my feet into the thick socks and Uggs I just spent too much of my first paycheck on, then snatch my purse out of the visitor’s chair. This place gives me the creeps.
    The nurse’s eyes widen at my full-out charge for the door, and she quickly steps aside to avoid