Rafferty sat in front of the bonfire, feeling pretty good.

Marion was beaming when she brought breakfast that morning. Emil's friends had left town at first light. Emil was still there, trying hard to behave himself. When she had left with their breakfast, she said, he'd been trying to fix a wobbly chair. Marion didn't know how long it would last, but thought she could invoke Rafferty's name to keep him in line.

"Please do," Rafferty had said.

Marion gave them each a big hug before she left, urging them to tuck in while the food was still hot. The spread looked wonderful; plump sausages, eggs, warm bread spread with lots of butter.

'You know, this is better than we usually get," Katrin said.

"You want credit for that, don't you?" Rafferty asked.

"I do," said Katrin.

"I'm bad cop," said Rafferty through a mouthful of eggs.

Now, she listened to the snapping, crackling fire, surrounded by most of the town, letting herself feel good about helping Marion and her little boy. The night was cool, the flames were warm, and when someone passed her a glass, she took a drink of something strong and sweet.

Rafferty had seen Emil around the bonfire a bit earlier. She had briefly changed her hair to last night's eerie white, and gave him a little salute. He choked on his drink, and hurried away.

Ok, I'm a bad person, but that felt great.

She noticed a guy across the bonfire. He was tall, and there was something about his jawline that Rafferty liked. Or maybe it was the little lock of hair that fell in front of his forehead. Whatever it was, he looked good, and when he got up to join another group, she found that her eyes followed him.

That's ok, right? It's not like I'm even going to talk to him. "Blonde Girl's a tight little package." Vincent said that about Cody, and I didn't say a word.

"Oooh, good taste," Katrin whispered in her ear.

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Balls.

"Oh, I…" Rafferty started. She didn't know what to say.

"Don't worry. It's a bonfire infatuation. It doesn't count. Bonfire infatuations are perfectly normal. Everyone looks good in flickering fire light. It's very forgiving," Katrin said.

"Yeah, I guess you're right," Rafferty said, trying to end the conversation.

"Want me to get him for you?" Katrin asked.

"What? No!" Rafferty said in harsh whisper.

Katrin shrugged.

"Ok, for me then," she said, standing up.

Rafferty felt a sudden, irrational urge to pound Katrin into the ground, and cover her with dirt, before she could do anything to embarrass them.

Instead, she watched with fascination as Katrin chatted with the guy, laughed with him, even took a sip of his drink.

"You're not afraid of anything," Rafferty said when Katrin came back and sat next to her.

"Oh that's not true," said Katrin, and laughed.

"Really?" asked Rafferty.

"Tight spaces. That one shade of yellow. Dying. I think about that one a lot. And snakes. That's a big one. Especially the idea of finding one in my boot," Katrin said.

"I saw in a snake in your other pair of boots back at the house, but I didn't want to say anything," Rafferty teased.

"You shut up. Shut right the hell up," Katrin said.

She took Rafferty's drink out of her hand and took a long sip, then continued.

"But there's a big difference between what Katrin Roberts is afraid of, and what Katrin is afraid of," she said, sitting up straighter.

"When she's hurtling through the air toward some big Class 3, that's a glory or death situation right there, and she's not thinking about anything but that next, perfect strike. That moment, that's the moment, and there's no fear, not ever. I thought you understood that," Katrin said.

Rafferty thought about the turn at the jump, on the move that Cody always called That Thing.

I do. I really do.

Rafferty could have said that, but instead she just put up her fist, and Katrin bumped it hard. Both girls smiled, and nobody said anything for a bit. There was a sort of buzz you could get from realizing that someone else actually understood you, and Rafferty held on to it for as long as she could.

A while later, she turned to Katrin.

"So are you going to?" she asked, nodding over at Bonfire Guy

"Maybe," Katrin said with a smile.

"Probably," said Rafferty leaning over to nudge her with her shoulder.

"Almost certainly." Katrin said, and Rafferty laughed.

Then Katrin turned to her and said something.

"You know, you could join us if you want. I'm sure he'd be cool with it," Katrin said.

WHAT?

Katrin nodded toward Bonfire Guy.

She wants me to…. with them…. WHAT?

She looked into Katrin's eyes, searching for some indication she wasn't serious.

This is a joke, right? Payback for the snake thing.

But Katrin seemed serious. It was really hard to tell.

And there was part of Rafferty that wanted to say yes. Maybe it was the cute guy with the strong jawline. Maybe it was the buzz from the sweet drink she was sipping. But mostly it was that feeling, the same one she felt when she leapt high in the air to take swipe at a God, with no idea of where she would land.

"No. No, that's ok," she said instead, so confused she barely got the words out.

"My loss," Katrin said.

Rafferty got up and left. She must have said some kind of goodbye, but couldn't remember doing it. She had lots of thoughts as she walked back to the cottage.

It was a good day, and a good night. Why did she have to go and make it weird? She knows it's weird, right? Katrin is GOOD with people. She's supposed to know these things.

Was Katrin making fun of her? Of her inexperience? Keeping her in her place like Blaspheme said?

Was it some sort of weird test of her feelings for Vincent? Rafferty could see Katrin doing something like that, and then proudly announcing to Vincent that Rafferty had passed.

Or did Katrin just think she was doing something nice, offering Rafferty this guy as a present? Or did she really want to… you know… with her?

Rafferty got back to the house, her head still spinning, and realized something.

With Katrin, a lot of times, she would never really know for sure.