"Isn't that your dad?"

For the first time during the car ride, Jess' eyes left her writing journal. It was her father, standing near a group of officers at the front of the lodge. Jess' heart sank.

Elizabeth couldn't park the car fast enough. As she and her friends hopped out, Jess sank lower in the passenger seat, praying her dad didn't notice her.

Of course Jessica loved her family! Her father was a well-respected police officer, and her sister was a paramedic working through medical school. There was so much to be proud of. But sometimes, Jessica needed space.

Chief Mikkelson hugged his eldest daughter and greeted her friends. For a moment, Jess thought she lucked out, and then he looked back at the car to catch her eye. Defeated, she slammed the journal on her lap shut and dragged her feet forward through the snow.

The girls were explaining how a friend-of-a-friend wouldn't shut up about their amazing weekend at the lodge, so Elizabeth wanted to test the verdict. "Although," she looked towards the crime scene, "maybe we should try somewhere else?"

The Chief waved his hand. "That's nothing to worry about. Last night, some animal wandered onto the property and got shot. In the meantime -" he threw an arm around her shoulders, "Happy Birthday, darling!" Without moving from Elizabeth's side, he looked down at Jess. "Have you finished your application yet?"

"I'll finish it this weekend," she answered in a small voice.

Elizabeth frowned at her. "You told me you finished it last night! I'm sorry, Dad. If I knew, I would have made her stay home!"

Jess' boots flattened the nearby snow. "I can get it done."

The Chief nodded. "You do that." He waved to the girls as he returned to work. "The rest of you, have fun!"

While the others left to collect their bags from the car, Elizabeth lingered, giving Jess a hard glare. Jess hung her head, knowing she lied, but hopeful tonight, she might forgive her.

The lodge's interior matched its grand exterior. The only complaint was the inescapable chill in the air, but since most patrons already dawned their warmest gear, no one complained.

At the front desk, a tall boy greeted them, the badge on his shirt read 'Kark'. He smiled, chatting as he checked them in before leading them to their room. Frantic to keep up with the others, Jess grabbed her suitcase handle, when it snapped and her luggage fell to the floor.

Clutching the broken handle, the room was no longer cold as heat flooded her cheeks.

Elizabeth rolled her eyes, noticing her sister's struggle. "I told you not to pack too much, dummy."

Jess' mind raced, wondering how the heck to move her bag, when a hand patted her shoulder. It was Kark, offering to help. He swung the heavy luggage over his shoulder like it was full of air and directed Jess forward.

The suite had two bedrooms and a main room. Upon entering the suite, the girls dumped their luggage on the couches infront of the TV, while Jess looked between the two doors of the separate bedrooms.

"Which room are we taking?" she asked her sister, who she assumed would be sharing a bed with since she didn't know her sisters friends as well.

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Elizabeth and her friends all stared at her as if she had just spoken in tongues.

"Actually," Elizabeth said, "The three of us were gonna room together, so you can have the other bed to yourself."

"Oh...ok." Jess turned to one of the doors to begin unpacking, when Elizabeth called her back. She perked up, expecting to hear her sister had changed her mind. Instead, Elizabeth snatched her laptop back off her shoulder.

"Wait!" Jess chased her around the room, but Elizabeth was faster, keeping her back towards her and her own laptop out of reach as she started scrolling through the files. The giggles of Elizabeth's friends cheered her on.

"Let's see...only a million different fantasy stories in here..."

"You don't write any smut, do you Jess?" one of the girls asked.

Before Jess could defend herself, her sister cut in. "No, it's only a bunch of cheesy romance stuff. Like this one-"

Elizabeth cleared her throat, and Jess felt herself dying upon hearing words that were never meant to be spoken out loud.

"'The prince tendirly took her hand and stared deeply into her vibrant azule blue orbs.'" Elizabeth was interrupted by the uproarious laughter of her friends.

Across the room, Jess waited with her arms crossed and cheeks turning red. Not only were they invading her privacy, but Elizabeth had pulled a piece of writing from her freshman year of high school - when she had just begun creative writing and it was noticeably novice.

"Wait wait! It gets better!" She lowered her voice for a half-hearted male impersonation. "'I have loved you since I first laid eyes on you, and I will love you until the coo of the morning doves, and the mellancoly - mel..." She looked up for a second. "You spelled 'melancholy' wrong. The melancholy cry of the night larks cease. Until the stars burn out of the infinitely vast sky and the seas dry up, leaving it's creatures gasping for breath on the desert floor.'"

"It's like nails on a chalkboard!" on of the girls said with a dramatic grimace.

"Right? But what I'm really looking for..." Elizabeth scrolled further until finding her sister's college application. "It this!" She flipped the computer backwards on her lap to showcase a blank document. "You haven't written a single damn word!"

The staring. The laughter. It was almost too much to bear. Jess would rather throw herself out the second-story window then endure another moment of this torture. There she stood, like an idiot, avoiding all eye contact and bouncing on her restless feet. "You wouldn't have let me come with otherwise."

Elizabeth stood up. "Yeah, so tell me why I shouldn't drive your ass home right now!"

"I was gonna get it done in our downtime."

"Right. So how about while we go skiing, you-" she shoved the laptop into her sister's arms, "finish this. Just so we don't continue this track record of lying."

Once Jess was banished to the other room, the girls unpacked and layered up into their ski gear. As the others left, Elizabeth checked in on Jess on last time, satisfied to find her on her bed with her laptop.

"It's for your own good, you know," she said.

"Mmhm," Jess replied in a flat tone without meeting her eyes.

Elizabeth took a step forward. "Don't you take an attitude with me! Its not my fault you can't get your shit together. I'm only holding you accountable. Maybe if you finish, you can still make karaoke."

The conversation ended with the slam of the door.

As soon as she left, the air in the room lightened enough for Jess to breath freely, but her laptop screen remained blank. The lonely blinking cursor waited patiently, but her hands couldn't move.

What made you choose this university? Describe your career goals. What accomplishments are you proud of, and what obstacles have you overcome?

She didn't choose this school - her dad had. Even after she told him there wasn't anything about this school that interested her, he said: 'well, give it a shot', as if she were a silly child unable to make sense of her own thoughts and feelings.

Ten years ago, she knew exactly what she wanted. Growing up in their old home, her mother would hide objects and jewelry in the sandbox for her to 'discover'. She dug through the sand with the gusto as opening Christmas presents. Even Elizabeth joined in occasionally. After uncovering the hidden treasure, she would leap into her moms arms, who praised the skills of a future archeologist.

Since her mother died, playing 'archeologist' wasn't as fun. As good of a student as she was, none of the topics really interested her. In her free time, she pulled a journal infront of her and left the world behind. Her pen savoring the fleeting images in her head.

She slammed the laptop shut and threw it to the other side of the bed. She could never write about something she couldn't care about. No matter how hard she tried to make herself care.

Outside, the shadows stretched across the hills. The sun was slipping behind the pointy heads of the evergreen forest. A whole day wasted.

Perhaps fresh air was what she needed.