Misinterpretations

It was a long morning for the group, many taking nearly an hour to get up and get out of their rooms. The reason why was very obvious, a lot of the teens didn't even want to see one another anymore, and some only wanted to be around a select few. For Anna, she had subconsciously made the decision that she only wanted to be around one person...Kenny. The brown-haired teen seemed to be the only person in the lodge that understood her and what she was going through. Kenny had always been a good friend, a great friend actually, and now he was going above and beyond for her. Anna almost felt as if Kenny was trying his best to pick up the mantle of her closest friend now that Nicole...betrayed her for no good reason.

As the blonde finished showering, she found herself still feeling the burn in her stomach, Anna was not a loud, violent person but all she wanted to do was scream and hit Eric and Nicole. However, her temper cooled as she noticed Kenny, now clean and dressed, heading towards the stairs. "Hey, wait up!" Anna called out causing the teen to halt and glance back, "I...um, I really want to thank you for earlier,"

"Thank me for what?" Kenny asked back with a raised brow,

"You didn't have to get involved when Nicole and Eric tried to talk to me but...I, I don't know, I really needed you to do that. To make the both of them back off so I could think, and I owe you one for doing it." Anna warmly stated, "I owe you for everything you've done for me since last night..."

"You don't owe me a thing," Kenny calmly replied as the duo started to walk down the stairs, "I know what it feels like to get fucked over now, and I know for a fact you need some time to think about things."

Anna couldn't help but slightly smile, her cheeks turning a light shade of pink, "It's easier for me to think with you around..." She softly said as she stared down at her feet,

"Yeah?" Kenny replied with a small smirk of his own, "Well, if that's what you need, then I'm around to help you think too,"

"Thank you," Anna warmly replied, "You just...understand, you know? Something about you makes me feel calmer and more in control. I think it's because you're being honest with me, you're not trying to spare my feelings by telling me that Eric made a mistake or Nicole had a reason. You're being brutally real by saying that they did something wrong." Anna thought aloud as the reached the first floor, "It's...weird, but knowing you dealt with the same thing makes me feel better," Anna's eyes suddenly widened, "Oh god! I'm sorry, I didn't mean for it to sound so mean, of course, I'm not happy you had to deal with anything like this, Kenny!"

Kenny let out a breathy laugh and shook his head, "It's fine, Anna, I understood what you meant, and I didn't take any offense. And I'm glad you're trying to find some outlook here, I like this Anna much more than the broken crying one,"

"Me too," Anna lightly laughed back before sighing and shaking her head, "Though it still doesn't feel good,"

"Of course not," Kenny nodded,

"And I also have no idea what I want to do about Eric and Nicole. All I know is, right now, I don't want to talk to them at all...I can't," Anna stated, looking at Kenny for confirmation in her thought,

"That's more than understandable, take some time, clear your head. I know you're probably feeling an impulsive need to snap or shout, I did that to JJ and it just...it's not worth it. It'll only make things worse," Kenny explained as they both made their way into the kitchen where Kailyn, Rachel, and Zoey were already gathered,

"You fought with JJ?" Anna softly asked, changing her tone as not to let the other overhear their conversation,

"Yeah," Kenny nodded back, "It wasn't pretty, and it very nearly got violent because I wanted to hurt him, lucky for us both Mindy was there, and she defused the whole thing. I think we're good now but, thinking back on it, it was such a stupid thing for me to do,"

"I can't imagine you being so made you'd want to fight anyone," Anna smiled, "You're way too sweet and kind for that,"

Kenny let out a soft chuckle, "Tell me about it, JJ would have absolutely kicked my ass if we actually did fight,"

"Aw...I can't imagine you two fighting either, I'm glad you to hear you two already patched things up," Anna happily stated,

Just across the room, Zoey stood watching the talking teens, noticing the way Anna was smiling at Kenny, and the way Kenny was lightheartedly laughing as he spoke. The two seemed to have an instant rapport, and with Anna so hurt by Eric, she knew that she must be noticing Kenny's kind ways much more now. Zoey rolled in her bottom lip and nibbled on it for a moment, watching Kenny for a long minute. The redhead couldn't help but wonder if he was even thinking about her any longer, or if he decided that it was time for him to move on to a different girl.

Zoey lowered her head, trying to focus on the pancakes mix she was stirring in a bowl for breakfast, but her mind continued to travel to different thoughts about Kenny. She grew frustrated as she only told Kenny that she wanted to think about things, which he agreed with, but only a few hours later he spent the night with Anna? Of course, Zoey couldn't just stop there and assume that Kenny was shacking up with Anna because he couldn't do it with her, she knew better. After Anna had told her what Eric had done, it was clear that Anna went to Kenny not the other way around, and she couldn't blame the blonde. Out of everyone, Kenny was definitely the person to go to if you need someone to support you.

Still, though, Zoey couldn't make sense of it all, especially on how Kenny could so easily forget about her. Zoey felt something was starting to blossom between them, the time in the cave, the drive to her house...the kiss in her bedroom...it was all pointing to something more than just physical attraction...right? A small exhale left the redhead's nose, and she squeezed her eyes shut for a moment, what if she was just imagining all this? What if Kenny wasn't ever interested in her to anything past their hookups? It'd make sense, she lived in another town, and they really did just meet each other. Plus, if Anna was starting to show him interest, it made all the sense in the world for Kenny to choose Anna over her.

By the time the others had all gathered in the kitchen, Zoey had convinced herself that she either missed her chance by pushing Kenny away yesterday or had simply mistaken Kenny's affections towards her meant anything more than surface level attraction. As Zoey took a seat across from Kenny and Anna, she couldn't help but keep her head down, not able to look Kenny in the eye. The last thing she wanted to do was try and repay Anna for what she did to her with Eric, that wasn't her way, and if they were starting to like one another, she wasn't going to get in the way.

"Hey, guys, just a quick question. Have you guys noticed anything weird up here on the mountain? Like people around the lodge or...something?" Brian asked as everyone began to eat,

"People?" Kailyn asked with a raised brow, "Who'd be up here on the mountain?"

"The other day I think I saw a ranger up here on a snowmobile," Anna pipped up causing Brian's brow to raise, "What? Didn't you guys call them when the few of us got left out in the storm?"

"No...we didn't get a chance to make the call..." Brian replied as he leaned back in his seat and thought about things for a moment,

"Well maybe...they were checking something out after the storm, making sure nothing...bad happened? Like, I don't know, an avalanche from all the wind and extra snow?" Kailyn merely guessed, "I mean, if your dad owns the mines and everything he definitely doesn't want anything wrong with them if they're going to pass inspections for public use soon,"

"Yeah...you know that makes sense, he was always telling me that at this stage any issue with the project could lead to huge problems with the project and at worse, a complete failure," Brian explained with a small shake of his head, "I bet he called and asked me because he didn't want anyone to really know that he sent someone up here to check. Doesn't want it to be common knowledge that the mines need a regular check-up."

"Yeah, that sounds like dad," Rachel readily agreed, "He called?"

"Earlier this morning, just asked if you were here and if we saw anyone around," Brian replied with a shrug as he began to eat once more, "I guess mom saw a few pictures you took and posted since you got here,"

"Did he care?" Rachel asked with a smirk,

"Yep, he told me to kick you out," Brian sarcastically replied causing a small murmuring laugh,

"Well, hopefully, everything is alright at the mines though," Kenny interjected after a moment, "When Zoey and I woke up the other day in our cave we felt a tremor and swore we heard the sound of something...collapsing or exploding...something like that,"

"Shit...if there was a cave in, that'd be fucking bad," Brian muttered before lifting his hands and tossing them, "You know what, whatever, that's not really my problem. As long as no one has seen a fucking dude with a hatchet lurking around at night, I'm cool," The blonde laughed,

"If we did, you can bet your ass we'd already be fucking gone," JJ joked before clearing her throat, "So, plans for the day?"

"The slopes," Brian firmly replied, "I've been here for a few days and haven't done any fucking skiing yet,"

"I think I want to head back up to the pond, get a little practice in with my ski's," JJ replied with a smirk,

"That sounds cool, dude...can I come?" Eric lowly asked, "We can practice together like we used too,"

JJ tilted his head, curious as to why Eric was so down, "Course man...more the merrier,"

"Fuck that, I'm with Brian," Nicole muttered,

"Same here," Rachel agreed,

Anna's hand then very gently moved to Kenny's leg causing the teen to look over at the girl, "C-Can we just stay here?" She whispered out with a pleading look in her eyes,

"Um..." Kenny hummed before glancing around and catching Zoey's eye,

The redhead gave him a small half smile before clearing her throat, "JJ, I'll go with you too," Zoey announced causing Kenny's lips to part and a small sigh to leave his mouth. Kenny hung his head and pursed his lips, he had hoped that Zoey would have asked him to do something today, but that didn't seem to be the case. Then Kenny rolled his eyes; he should have figured that anyhow, Zoey hadn't talked to yesterday very much and she definitely didn't talk to him about her feelings about him. Now she was asking to hang out with JJ...

Fuck...I guess she thought about things and doesn't want to hurt my feelings... Kenny thought before looking back to Anna and weakly smiling, "Sure," He nodded causing Anna to let out a relieved sigh, "I'm just gonna stay in today," Kenny announced to the table,

"Me too," Anna pipped up causing Eric to frown and glare at Kenny,

I knew it! Oh god...he's totally not interested in me...fuck, Zoey, how'd you get so attached to him so easily?! God damn it! Zoey internally yelled out as she felt her stomach drop and her heart swell with disappointment.

As the others continued to eat Mindy leaned over to Kailyn, "After we eat can I talk to you about something private?" The Asian girl softly asked,

"Of course, Mindy," Kailyn instantly replied with a rather concerned tone, "Everything alright?"

"Sorta...I just need your help," Mindy replied before sitting back up and returning to her breakfast.