Disarranged by Sara Wolf

punches out of my lungs as I scream, the speed of the hill correlated to the sharp incline. I'm going so fast the trees blur, and the end of the slope is rapidly approaching. I manage to calm down enough to remember how to slow down in case of a high speed, and position my feet. I steadily slow, and nearly face plant into the snow with relief as I come to a stop by the German couple, who shout congratulations in guttural German and thump me on the back.
    Morgan is next, and I'm relieved to see Felix treats her with much more care. She's as graceful coming down as ever, and we all cheer at the end line for her. She smiles, cheeks flushed bright with the cold weather and a reddish glow of accomplishment. Felix follows her, and comes to a stop in front of us.
    "Good work, guys. Thanks for listening so well."
    "You best instructor, Felax!" The German man bellows. "Danke!"
    "I definitely notice an improvement in my own skills," The redhead woman says softly. Morgan nods in agreement.
    "It's only because you guys are so good." His voice is incredibly monotone. It's impossible to tell if he's saying things ironically or sarcastically or not! It infuriates me just a little more than it disturbs me. Who knows what he's thinking.
    Felix gives us the rest of the day to ski the beginner slopes, but warns us off the Alligator - the steepest and sharpest incline on the beginner route. Morgan and I mess around, she showing me tricks she's picked up and me showing her how to build the perfect snowman. We're halfway through the middle portion of his body when Morgan's face grows serious.
    "Are you sick, Rose?"
    I freeze balling up another wad of snow, and laugh. "Why would you think that?"
    "You're throwing up a lot."
    I dwell on it for a moment - it's probably stress. With everything going on, it's normal to be anxious to the point of gastrointestinal disturbance. Seeing Lee and Kiera daily puts me on edge like nothing else can. I can't tell Morgan that, though. It'd worry her, and she wouldn't really understand. Or would she? She's a smart little girl. But she doesn't need to be involved with my life.
    As if she can tell what's running through my head, she frowns.
    "I told you my problems kind of! You should tell me yours. That way it's fair."
    My eyes widen, but I quickly smile. "Of course. Sorry. It's just hard to talk about, you know?"
    Morgan nods, and packs more snow on the belly of the snowman. She waits, patiently looking at me until I feel the words starting to fall out all on their own.
    "There's a guy I used to like. He's here, with the girl he likes now."
    Morgan's mouth makes a small 'o' shape. "That sounds really hard."
    "It is, most of the time," I admit. "Seeing him is really hard."
    "So that's why you throw up," She chirps. "Because you're lovesick!"
    I nearly choke, but manage to turn it into a laugh. "Yeah, sure. But saying 'lovesick' makes me sound kind of pathetic, don't you think?"
    "Not at all! It just means you really like someone."
    I'm speechless at how astute she sounds. Her words are the wise words of someone much older, someone with a lot of experience, even though it's impossible for her to have much. Or maybe that isn't true at all. Anybody, of any age, can experience loss. There's no age limit for loss. It happens to all of us, at any time, and all we can do is try to make it hurt less.
    Just as I'm recovering from her insight, another shock arrives - this time in the form of a harried-looking, panicking Lee as he crashes his snowboard right into our snowman. Morgan shrieks, and I yell, and Lee comes up with a mouthful of snow, snowflakes lacing his hair and his skin wet with them. He flushes, and struggles to get out of the snow pile.
    "You killed him! You killed Mr. Icy!" Morgan shouts at him.
    "I'm sorry!" Lee flails. I sigh and look at Morgan.
    "C'mon, let's help the murderer out of the snow."
    Morgan huffs, but she takes his arm and I take the other, and we pull as he pushes. He bursts free of the