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  Winter walked down that same path to the Tram. The water sparkled under the setting sun, and in the distance, three small canoes floated next to each other toward the bridge. Winter remembered canoeing with a certain someone and—No! That is the last time I think about him.

  The wind near the river was a little nippy, so she buttoned up her eggshell white trench coat, and wished she had worn a pair of socks over her sheer, black tights. She mentally patted herself on the back, however, for wearing the black suede ankle boots instead of something strappy and toe-exposing.

  “Winnnnn-terrrrrr!” screamed a voice from across the street.

  She turned and could see that oh-too-familiar flame of red hair bobbing in the wind, wearing a tan overcoat and standing next to her tall, golden-tanned companion wearing blue jeans, classic vans shoes, a black t-shirt (with an obscured graphic), and navy blue bomber jacket. The figures stood, statuesque, next to the lower tram entrance. Winter waved, waited for the green walk signal, and ran across the street to meet Mia and her boyfriend, Jeremiah.

  “Well, fancy meeting you here,” Winter said, hugging Mia.

  “What’s up, Wints’,” Jeremiah said, taking his turn to embrace Winter. “I’m surprised Mia talked you into this.”

  “Yeah, I’ve been a little… focused, lately,” Winter replied.

  “I’ll say.” Mia rolled her hazel eyes, framed with army green eye shadow and forest green eyeliner.

  Jeremiah looked back and forth at the girls, and scratched his beard, which was a few inches longer than the hair on his head. “Um… are you both sure you know where you’re going?”

  “Bowling!” Winter and Mia said in unison, causing them to both break out in a fit of laughter.

  Jeremiah shook his head. “Let me guess. I’m gonna be today’s photoshoot intern?”

  “Probably,” Winter said.

  “Yeah, I made sure not to tell him.” Mia put her arm around Jeremiah’s waist and looked up at him. “’Cuz I knew you wouldn’t have come. Besides, we all know you’re so much better at taking a photo than me.”

  He averted his eyes from his girlfriend and nodded his head in defeatism. “And to think I thought this was actually gonna be a chill night.”

  “Oh, sorry Jeremiah,” Winter said. “It doesn’t have to be anything complicated. I just gotta get my skirt in a fast, no-nonsense shot and we’ll be good to go.”

  He looked at her skeptically.

  “I promise. I actually wanna chill tonight, too,” Winter assured him, with an exaggerated, toothy, cheesy smile.

  “Mmmhmm,” Jeremiah replied.

  “Hey! I wanna see what you’re working with, gal!” Mia almost screamed. “Open that coat up and give it to me!”

  “Geez,” said Jeremiah.

  “Not yet. When the timing is right.” Winter gave a coy, devilish smile and wink.

  “Fine, I won’t show you mine yet either,” Mia said. “Well, at least I can see your boots. They’re so ice.”

  “Is that a good thing?” Jeremiah asked.

  “Of course! They’re so ice, they’re frigid.” Mia pretended to freeze, shaking in her boots.

  “Okay, but earlier you were saying everything was blistering hot, so—”

  “So what?” Mia cocked her head to the side.

  “So you could see why that’s confus—” Jeremiah scratched his beard. “Ah, never mind.”

  There was an industrial creaking sound and they all looked up to see their transportation heading toward them. Winter once had to do a school report on the Portland Aerial Tram, and the facts have been seared into her mind ever since. The silver, round cabin could hold close to eighty people, travel approximately twenty miles per hour, rise upwards of 500 feet, and took only about four minutes to travel up or down the hill. The wind had picked up a little and as the cabin inched closer, it rocked back and forth. Winter suddenly felt her pulse in her ears.

  Mia noticed her friend’s expression. “Don’t worry, Winter. It’s as safe as traveling down a highway.”

  “But aren’t highways, like, kinda dangerous?” Jeremiah asked, and Mia elbowed him to shut it.

  “I’ll be fine. I’ll be fine. I’ll be fine. I always am on the Tram,” Winter said out loud, yet to herself, a stupid mantra she recited whenever she had to ride the contraption.

  Jeremiah handed over the tickets as they walked around the corner to get in line. There were so many people in front of them, they had to wait three round trips before they could even get on the thing. The second the cabin doors closed, Winter thought happy thoughts to ease her anxiety; the forest, the coastline, the refreshing coolness of light rain, the Life is Strange videogame. As more people piled in, the three were pushed from the seemingly protected center, all the way to a side window. Mia grabbed her nervous friend’s hand and squeezed.

  “I’m fine.” Winter managed to produce a lopsided smile. “Piece of cake.”

  “Thatta girl.” Mia matched her friend’s enthusiasm and was happy to go along with whatever charade Winter required to deal with certain things.

  The Tram vibrated forward, and the terminal looked smaller and smaller with every second that went by. The first time Winter watched that terminal shrink before her very eyes, was during her third date with Lyle. She had stepped on the platform and got in line, on the verge of tears, not just because she was afraid of heights, but because she thought she would let Lyle down if she were to chicken out. She had grown up suffering from prisoner of shyness disorder and he had the ability to push her beyond her limits—to the state of being constantly frazzled. “It’s good for you,” he would tell her. “There’s no room in this world for the meek.” Perhaps he was right, Winter thought. Still holding Mia’s hand, she allowed herself to take in the scenery. The sun had already dipped below the horizon, and there was a luminous blanket of pinks and purples creating a nice safety hammock to cushion a plunging tram if the wires were to ever break. At least, that’s what Winter told herself.

  They passed over the bustling sidewalks, then the busy streets, then the presumably occupied houses. Though dim, she could see the outline of Mt. Hood in the distance, covered by white, cream cheese frosting. Dang. I must be hungry, she thought. Before long, the Tram slowed down to a jerky stop. The doors opened to the booming sound of Synthpop, and a bouquet of melted cheese and grilled chicken. It dawned on her that the ride up the hill hadn’t been that bad and she wasn’t as afraid as she had anticipated. As they exited, Mia’s hand slipped out of Winter’s grasp and disappeared into the crowd, along with Jeremiah.

  Chapter Three

  The pathway, lined with trees wrapped in firefly lights, sat under a bed of smoke, flowing out of hidden dry ice fog machines. Winter followed the group in front of her, and as they got closer to the entrance, the smoke swirled and pulsated to the music’s bass. A large sign read Blaine’s Lanes, and it cycled through every shade within the monographic blue color scheme. The sleek blue and yellow, square-shaped building boasted large circular windows that perfectly framed the view of its interior. Winter could see a massive, full dining section under a wood paneled ceiling, and directly behind it, a ten-lane bowling alley with large video screens playing what looked to be a montage of popular music videos from the last few years.

  She walked in with a mission, trying to find Mia and Jeremiah, but was quickly sidetracked by something she somehow didn’t notice from the outside. Behind the bowling lanes was a manmade, rocky mountain-like structure, split by an actual waterfall that flowed down and disappeared into a hidden drain. Whoever this Blaine guy is, Winter thought, he must be riii-itch.

  “Ay yo ay yo!”

  She thought she heard Mia’s voice, but she just couldn’t find that red rogue wave in the ocean of people.

  “Ay yo, Winter!” shouted a deeper, louder voice, coming from the left.

  It took a second, but she finally spotted Jeremiah waving her over to lane three.

  “This place is incredible,” said Winter after pushing her
way through the crowd that looked like it stepped off a shoot for Modern Hipster magazine, if there was such a thing.

  “I know, pretty interesting, huh?” Mia flipped her hair, and sat down in one of the six black recliner chairs that formed a crescent around a wood stump table that had a touch screen built in.

  Winter nodded, looking around in awe.

  “Yeah, this place is the shit,” Jeremiah said, somehow already holding a beer. “Watch this - you guys want a Cosmo?”

  “Sure,” said Mia without looking up from her attempt to tie her brand new bowling shoes.

  Winter nodded.

  Jeremiah typed into his cell phone. After a few seconds, the screen on the wooden table slowly flipped over, replaced with a rising metal box that stopped at about two feet high. The side facing the seats slid open, displaying two cocktail glasses filled with the perfect translucently pink hue that made Winter’s mouth water. Jeremiah nodded for her to grab the drinks, and she happily obliged, looking in the box for any kind of dispenser but only finding a slick, silvery surface instead. Once the drinks were removed, the box lowered and rotated back into obscurity, replaced again by the screen.

  Dumbfounded, Winter handed Mia her drink and sat down in one of the recliners, which conveniently had cup—and cocktail!—holders built into the armrest.

  “Am I in the future or something?” Winter asked.

  Mia handed her a pair of shoes. “This is your size, right?”

  “Uh, yeah,” she replied, examining their sleekness. “When did you get—”

  “Over there.” Mia pointed toward another silver box built into a side table, slowly closing its silver sliding doors.

  “Yep, this is the future,” Winter whispered to herself.

  “Yeah, pretty chill,” Jeremiah replied.

  Winter took a sip of her Cosmo. “Thanks so much for inviting me, guys.”

  Jeremiah nodded and Mia stood up to get a feel for her shoes, even running in place for about twenty seconds. Winter took a photo of her bowling shoes, realizing they would actually pair well with one of her dresses at home. Then she put them on and tucked her own boots behind her seat.

  “Up,” Mia said, motioning Winter to stand. “I wanna see the skirt.”

  Winter quickly tested the loops of her bowling shoe ties then stood up.

  She took off her coat and Mia snatched it, throwing it on the farthest recliner. Winter’s outfit looked modestly styled: a solid green crop top with a shin length pleated black skirt. Mia nodded approvingly, until Winter pushed a button on a small device hidden inside the back of her waistband. The skirt lit up, each pleat alternating magical blue and green. She twirled around and the colors blended into an absinthe-dream-like glow.

  Mia stood there, jaw to the floor. And even Jeremiah looked stunned.

  “I hate you,” Mia said, and Winter stopped twirling. “This is like the coolest, most beautiful freakin’ thing I’ve ever seen. I seriously hate you.”

  “I love you too,” Winter said with a laugh. “By the way, you can borrow it if you want.”

  “I love you,” Mia said.

  “That is a pretty badass dress,” said Jeremiah.

  “Skirt,” Mia corrected him. “Badass skirt.”

  The girls sat down, and Mia took a piece of the fabric for a closer inspection. “Wow,” she said, over and over again.

  “Okay, then. Let’s start playing. I already entered our names.” The annoyed tone in Jeremiah’s voice went up a notch.

  Winter looked at the name list on the screen. “It’s so packed in here. How’d y’all snag a lane anyway?”

  “Oh, I did some graphic work for the family that opened this place,” Jeremiah said.

  “Family? Is it like some kind of Oregon mob?” Winter joked.

  Mia pretended to choke on her drink.

  Jeremiah typed something into his phone again and within seconds, a large, fluffy, fabric cloud on wheels seemingly emerged from somewhere behind the chairs, rolling up to him. Three green bowling balls of varying sizes sat atop the cloud. He grabbed the largest one.

  “Not a mob,” he answered. “They’re some kind of tech investors or something. And they’re controlling owners of this huge company, FFS Industries. Owns that StyleSlap y’all care about so much.”

  Winter’s eyes widened.

  “No shit!” Mia said. “You hafta introduce us!”

  “I mean, I’ve never actually met them in person. I kinda just interacted with their ‘people’. Dang.” He paused to think. “Maybe they are the Oregon mob.”

  “Well, that sucks,” Mia said. Holding one of the smaller bowling balls, she playfully bumped her boyfriend out of the way, and rolled. “Let’s play ball.”

  “That’s not even the right—” Jeremiah shut up the second Mia knocked down every pin.

  “Oh, my God!” Winter said, genuinely shocked.

  Mia walked casually back to her seat. “Told you I’d whoop some booty today.”

  “Did you say that?” Winter asked.

  “Something like that,” Mia said, and downed the rest of her Cosmopolitan.

  Chapter Four

  Bo noticed her the moment she walked in. She was by herself and admiring the scenery so intently, she might as well have been visiting the Sistine Chapel. The entrance draft tousled her long, dark brown hair, and she casually tamed it with a hair flip and tucking any unruly strands behind her ears. It was one of the sexiest things he’d ever seen. He watched her float over to who he guessed were her friends, stationed at the other end of the bowling alley. Her guy friend was really tall and looked a lot like that mixed guy from Bo’s ex-girlfriend’s favorite soap opera, the one she promised she didn’t have a crush on even though she had a habit of mentioning him randomly in conversation. Bo felt a sharp stab of jealousy on the side of his belly. Like he knew the girl across the alley and was expecting the tall, soap opera guy to hit on her. He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the redheaded friend grab the guy’s ass.

  “Hey, man! Wake up!”

  Bo felt a hand hit his chest with force, violently snapping him out of his stupor. He grabbed the perpetrator’s hand and twisted it, maneuvering himself until he had the person in a solid headlock.

  “Dude, what the fuck?” said the restrained man who sported a blonde man bun and lip ring. He tried wriggling his way out of his captor’s grasp, but quickly gave up.

  Bo finally let go, then pointed at Man Bun. “You know you deserved that.”

  “What the fu— No I fucking didn’t.”

  Bo cocked his head to the side, displaying wide, crazy eyes.

  “Okay, okay,” Man Bun conceded with a smile, rubbing his arm. “Maybe I did.”

  Bo dropped his intimidation act and shook his head, smiling from only one side of his mouth. He looked at the wooden table monitor, grabbed the bowling ball from a large cloud floating near his feet, and kicked the fluffy device out of his way. Before he could make it up to the line, a girl in a short and tight, canary yellow spandex dress, drunkenly put her arm around his waist. Her twin, in matching spandex pants and halter top, stood behind her with eyes closed, swaying to the music.

  “You’ve barely talked to me all night,” Canary Girl said in a high-pitched, whiney squeak.

  “Because you drank too much, Samantha,” Bo said without looking at her. “You promised you wouldn’t drink too much, but ya’ did.”

  “Oh, whatever! I only had like…like one drink!” Samantha staggered back as Bo peeled her arm off of him. “Let’s just go to your place and I’ll show you how not drunk I am.”

  “Kevin, can you come get your girls. They can barely stand,” Bo said to a short man wearing a gray beanie and designer jeans.

  “Sure thing,” said Kevin.

  “We’re not his girls,” said Samantha, over-dramatizing her hurt with an extra oomph of whininess. “You said we were together tonight, and you lied…again. You do—you do this every time!”

  “Sam, hon,’ you get too drunk every
time. You’re a cool chick but I’d basically be taking advantage of you at this point.”

  “Oh, whatever! That’s just an excuse!” Samantha folded her arms angrily.

  Kevin had helped the quiet twin to the closest recliner and gave her a water bottle, but Samantha wouldn’t budge.

  Her face flushed. “I’ve never been turned down, Bo Blaine. You’re just a weirdo douche and everyone knows it. That’s why your daddy is gonna sell the family company. ‘Cuz you’re such a fucking weirdo.”

  Samantha had gotten so worked up, she started foaming at the mouth. Well, at least that was what Bo imagined because he wasn’t actually looking at her. He had his eyes set on that brunette across the alley whose skirt was glowing with blue and green lights, creating a kind of halo around her that highlighted her high cheek bones. It felt like a butterfly took a wrong turn and got trapped in his stomach, flapping like crazy for a way out. Hmmm. That’s…a weird feeling, he thought.

  He took a step forward, launched his ball down the lane, and knocked over every pin. He looked over at the brunette who was laughing with her friends. Her smile was a flame, and he was a moth that couldn’t resist.

  “Nice one, man!” shouted Kevin, sitting in his recliner and holding up a beer.

  Bo grabbed a beer and sat down beside him. He repeatedly glanced across the lanes before realizing The Spandex Twins were gone. “Where’d the girls go?”

  “Oh, they wanted to leave, so Matt walked them out to the car service.”

  Bo blew air out of his nose. “Walked them out? Man, I don’t trust that guy. The only reason he’s here is ‘cuz my parents do business with his parents; and because he’s Olivia’s brother.”