Chapter Text
In their senior year of high school, Shauna Shipman finally let herself be convinced to go on the Taylor family's annual ski trip.
Jackie had been begging for years, promises of ‘the most beautiful mountains you’ve ever seen’ and ‘the hottest guys you’ll ever meet,’ not exactly much on the Shauna Excitement Scale.
But with the two of them going their separate ways for college, Shauna caved. She couldn’t handle the way Jackie nearly cried at the thought of their schedules never matching up again, or the way Jackie had started making a PowerPoint presentation on why Shauna should go.
What hadn’t been mentioned, in all these attempts Jackie had made at getting Shauna to come, was that this year she’d finally convinced her parents to also let Jeff join.
Shauna was absolutely seething with rage when she got picked up for the airport and spotted Jackie’s boyfriend sitting in the backseat.
And Jeff was fine, she supposed. A golden retriever that was a little dumb, and had a little too much muscle for her liking, but a decent guy all the same.
But she was so tired of third wheeling the two of them all the time. Shauna had imagined this trip would be some good one-on-one time for her and Jackie, and now she was going to be stuck watching Jeff show off his skiing skills and buying Jackie expensive gifts in town.
She spent the entire four-hour flight picturing all the ways she could give Jeff a life-ending injury out on the slopes.
The only problem was that Shauna was already scared she’d be having her own life-ending injury out there. She had never been skiing, or snowboarding, or anything like this before.
Jackie had assured her she could get some lessons when they got there, but the idea of learning from some stoned-out twenty year old granola dude, while surrounded by five year olds, quickly had Shauna saying she’d be fine.
When they landed in Telluride, Shauna calmed down during the short drive to the lodge Jackie’s family apparently always rented.
Jackie had been paying attention to her, pointing out little restaurants they just had to try, showing her the stores she needed to visit.
Shauna nodded along, mentally going over how much money she had brought as Jackie continued to make the dollar signs in her mind grow.
She’d let Mr.Taylor pay for her flight, but there was no way she was going to let him pay for their entire trip.
She’d just have to dip into her savings account if push came to shove—no big deal. Shauna didn’t need that money anyway.
As they arrived at the lodge, situated at the bottom of the resort and just far enough away that they couldn’t hear the bustle of the town, Shauna’s jaw dropped.
This place was massive, and while Shauna had never asked what Jackie’s parents did for a living, she was seriously starting to wonder if it dipped into mafia territory.
Mr.Taylor looked like a complete nerd, but it could all be a genius cover-up. Shauna couldn’t rule it out just yet.
Their suite was massive, with four bedrooms, a kitchen, a living room, and a hot tub out on the balcony (overlooking the snowy mountains, because of course it did).
Shauna barely even had time to gather her surroundings before Jackie was pushing her toward one of the bedrooms, insisting she go get dressed for the slopes.
Ten minutes later, Shauna was dressed, outfit complete with the puffer jacket she’d bought just for the occasion. She looked a bit silly, but Jackie was already forcing Jeff to take a picture of them for her Instagram story.
“Do not tag me in that,” Shauna warned as she peeked over Jackie’s shoulder, watching as she created a caption for their picture.
“Everyone following me knows who you are, Shauna.”
Fuck. She had Shauna there. She surrendered, watching as Jackie picked a Sabrina Carpenter song for the post, and raised an eyebrow when she chose to use the rainbow tag sticker for Shauna.
You come out as bisexual to your best friend one time.
It was a short walk to the equipment rental area, and in no time at all, Shauna was the proud (temporary) owner of skis, ski boots, a helmet, and goggles.
She felt particularly silly in the goggles, but with a light flurry of snow coming down, Jackie insisted she’d regret it if she didn’t wear them.
Jackie and Jeff went with Shauna to the small practice hill while it wasn’t in use, giving her the basics of skiing for a few minutes.
Shauna wasn’t…bad. But she certainly didn’t feel like she was good, either. After falling on her ass for the fifth time, she sighed, flopping back into the show as Jackie skied into her vision.
“It’s not bad, Ship,” Jackie tried to give her a convincing smile. It didn’t work. “So remember what we said about—“
“Yeah, yeah, pizza,” Shauna groaned, not sure she could handle hearing that five-letter word leave her best friend’s mouth one more time. “Just—just go do a few runs without me, okay?”
Jackie shook her head, huffing out a laugh. “What, no! C’mon, we can just—“
“It’s fine, Jax,” Shauna nodded, meaning it. “Seriously. I’ll catch up with you guys later, okay?”
“Shauna…”
Shauna pulled herself back up to her feet, brushing some snow off her pants as she sent Jackie a smile. “Go! I’ll be ready to run them with you in no time.”
Jackie still seemed hesitant, but after a bit more reassurance from Shauna, she and Jeff skied off toward the chair lifts, leaving Shauna alone on the practice hill.
But Shauna really did not feel like skiing anymore, at least not at the moment, so she hopped back onto the magic carpet that carried her back up the tiny hill, setting her sights on the Day Lodge.
She couldn’t handle hearing the word pizza anymore, but eating a slice didn’t sound too bad after falling on her ass for an hour.
She looked around for a second, checking to make sure she wasn’t going to be pummeled by anybody coming down from the bigger slopes before slowly–like, very slowly–making her way toward the building.
Shauna hadn’t really accounted for just how long it would take her to actually get over to the building, which couldn’t have been more than a hundred yards away, when checking to make sure the coast was clear.
She was halfway there, a slice of pepperoni on her mind, when she saw someone on a snowboard hurling toward her. She braced herself, prepared to be thrown on her ass for the nth time that day, when the person blazing toward her dug their heel edge into the snow, spraying her with the soft powder as they crashed into her.
But as the person came crashing into her, she never hit the ground. Instead, they slammed into her body (rather gently, all things considered), wrapping their arms around Shauna’s to keep her standing.
It was a bit awkward, but Shauna had to admit she was grateful to still be on two feet as the stranger’s body was still plastered to her.
“Holy fuck, I am so sorry!” They started frantically, pulling back from Shauna just enough to look over her, arms still awkwardly wrapped around her as they continued to ramble. “Totally my fault, dude! I, like, only had pizza on my mind and was just thinking about getting in there and– well, you don’t care about that!”
As the stranger carried on, Shauna found herself really listening to their voice. Part of her wanted to be mad, but another part of her was so stuck on the fact that they sounded so familiar. Except that didn’t make sense because Shauna was currently halfway across the country and certainly didn’t know anyone from Colorado.
“-My brother always says ‘Melissa, you have got to use your eyes’ but I don’t ever–”
Wait a second.
“Melissa?” Shauna attempted to get a better look, and as she finally spoke for the first time, the person still holding onto her paused, removing one arm from around her to lift their goggles.
“Shauna?” And yep, that was definitely Melissa’s blue eyes staring down at her. Shauna would recognize those furrowed eyebrows anywhere. “What are you– what are you doing here?”
Shauna moved to shuffle out of her hold, and Melissa finally let go of her. She quickly regretted it when she nearly fell back on her ass, her skis sliding across the snow a bit, and she blushed when Melissa reached out to grab hold of her arm, stopping her before she could completely embarrass herself.
Once she was sure Shauna actually had her balance, she let go, clicking one of her boots out of her snowboard to stand a bit more normally.
“I’m here with Jackie,” Shauna answered, then a bit more quietly– “And Jeff…What are you doing here?”
“One of my older brothers lives here,” Melissa was pulling her helmet off, pushing her goggles a bit further up so Shauna could see her better. Or so she could see Shauna better. Shauna decided to follow suit. “He works here, too. I visit, like, every year.”
And Shauna had a faint memory of Melissa coming back from winter break with a sprained wrist last year. Coach had been pissed…She was shocked that Jackie never mentioned that someone else from the team was always at the same resort as her.
“Oh, cool…” Shauna mumbled, and Melissa hummed in response.
She was rocking back and forth on her feet, swinging her helmet around in front of her as her eyes scanned around the resort. She looked like she wanted to say something, but she always had been kinda…shy?
“Hey, would you wanna–”
“So, you said you were–”
Both girls started at the same time. Melissa snapped her mouth shut, huffing out a laugh as she gestured for Shauna to continue.
“You said you were going to get pizza?” Melissa nodded. “I was actually headed there, too, if you want to…?”
Melissa grinned at that. “That’s what I was going to ask you! I’ll pay since I, ya know, ran into you and shit.”
And Shauna had started this trip off extremely against handouts, but Melissa honestly kinda looked like she might cry if Shauna turned down her offer. So instead she agreed, trying to bite down a laugh as Melissa’s eyes lit up.
“Here, let me help you out of those skis,” She offered, reaching out for Shauna to grab hold of her free hand.
Shauna took it gratefully, not opposed to a little help keeping her balance as she reached back to hit the boot releases with one of her poles. Once she was finally free of them, Melissa bent down to take her other foot out of her snowboard, and the two of them carried their equipment toward the racks outside the lodge.
Walking was a bit awkward; Shauna was not used to having so little control of her joints as they trudged inside. She was a little jealous of how easy Melissa made it look, if she were being honest.
After they’d ordered their food and grabbed a couple of drinks, Shauna caught herself frowning as she watched Melissa use her teeth to pull off one of her gloves, a little confused as to why she couldn’t look away from the movement.
Then she started to feel a little silly when she noticed Melissa had only been wearing a hoodie this entire time, while Shauna was still practically suffocating in her puffer jacket.
She finally looked away as Melissa unzipped one of her pants pockets, shoving her hand down to grab her wallet and pay for their food. Suddenly, the pepperonis on her pizza looked really interesting.
“Ready?” Melissa’s voice broke her out of her staring contest with the greasy food, and Shauna’s eyes shot up.
Melissa nudged her head toward an empty table. Shauna nodded, following after Melissa with her food and drink in hand.
After they got settled, and Shauna watched as Melissa absolutely drowned her pizza in crushed red pepper and parmesan cheese, Shauna decided to break the silence that had settled around them.
“So, you like snowboarding?”
Melissa nodded, attempting to bite off the hot stretch of cheese she was pulling off her slice. It broke off, and Melissa blushed, reaching up to pull it off her chin.
“It’s pretty fun,” Melissa said as she swallowed. Shauna tried to look past her talking with food in her mouth. “I go up to Mountain Creek back home, but it’s way better out here.”
“You have a little…” Shauna pointed at the sauce that had collected at the corner of Melissa’s mouth.
Her ears turned pink, reaching up to wipe it with her thumb, before licking it off. “Sorry about that,” Melissa looked away for a second before pointing to Shauna. “Uhm, so you like skiing?”
Shauna shook her head, taking a much more modest bite of pizza (and swallowing it) before answering. “I’ve never been. First time.”
“Oh?” Melissa raised an eyebrow. “Did you take the lessons first?”
“Nope. Don’t wanna waste my time with five year olds—“
“Well, adults take them all the time—“
“—and I thought Jackie was going to like…hang out with me,” Shauna said a bit quieter, a little embarrassed. “But Jeff is here, and I didn’t wanna be a bother, so…”
Melissa snorted, and Shauna narrowed her eyes at her. Her eyes quickly widened, like she hadn’t meant to do that.
“Sorry, it’s just—“ Melissa paused for a second, worrying her lip as she thought about her next words. “I mean, you’re no bother, Shauna. She should be hanging with you! She invited you.”
Shauna shrugged. “I told her to go. I’m no good, anyway. I’d be holding her back all week.”
Melissa tilted her head to the side as she continued eating her pizza, and she looked like she was trying to decide if she should say something or not.
Shauna was already a bit embarrassed she’d admitted she wasn’t good at skiing to Melissa. It was already humiliating enough when she nearly broke her ass in front of Jeff, but now this?
And Shauna wasn’t used to not being good at things.
Melissa nodded to herself, like she’d finally figured out the answer to her own question. Shauna found it…slightly endearing, watching as Melissa wiped her grease-covered fingers on a napkin.
“I can teach you.”
Shauna hadn’t been expecting that. She and Melissa barely even talked at school, usually only sharing a few words here and there on the pitch. Now she was offering to spend her vacation time teaching Shauna how to ski? There had to be a catch.
“What’s in it for you?” Shauna questioned, leaning forward a bit in her seat.
“For me?” Melissa sat up a bit straighter. “I mean, I just thought it could be fun?”
“Fun?” Shauna was still skeptical. “What’s fun about teaching someone that’s spent all day on her ass trying to ski how to actually stay standing?”
Melissa smirked slightly, and Shauna shifted slightly in her chair. The dorky, hat-wearing girl from Wiskayok was—was not supposed to look like that. “Maybe I like a challenge.”
“Oh?” Shauna raised her eyebrow a bit. “Is that so?”
“Mhm,” Melissa hummed, leaning back. “Guaranteed you’ll be riding circles around Jeff and Jackie by the end of the week.”
Shauna huffed out a laugh. “Circles, yeah?” And Melissa nodded, making a circle motion with her pointer finger as she mouthed the word back. “And if I don’t get any better?”
“What do you mean?”
“This is a challenge, isn’t it? So, if you fail, I get something, right?”
“Uhm,” Melissa paused for a second, clearly not expecting that. “Sure, I guess…what do you want?”
“I’ll think about it.”
Melissa rolled her eyes. “Okay. And what do I get if you are a pro before you leave?”
“I’ll think about it.”
“You’re too smug,” Melissa pointed her pizza crust at Shauna as she spoke. “Anyone ever told you that?”
“Once or twice,” Shauna confirmed.
Melissa sat there for a second, eyes scanning Shauna’s face. As she did, a small smile began pulling at the corner of her lips.
She dropped her crust onto her plate, wiping her hands off with a new napkin before holding it across the table, in front of Shauna.
She shook it in front of her a bit. “Handshake to make it official.”
Shauna rolled her eyes before setting her own pizza down, wiping her own hand off before wrapping it around Melissa’s (admittedly large) hand.
As she went to pull it away, Melissa’s grip tightened a bit, catching her off guard. “No cheating. You have to actually try to learn.”
Shauna raised her free hand, crossing it over her heart. “I swear.”
“Cool,” Melissa’s smile grew as she dropped Shauna’s hand.
(And if Shauna’s smile dropped slightly at the loss of contact, then…well, whatever.)
Shauna hadn’t expected them to start right away, but as soon as their food was finished, Melissa was bounding back outside to grab her gear. Shauna followed after her, a little confused when she headed toward the rental area instead of the practice hill.
“Hey, Mike,” Melissa greeted, propping her board up onto the counter. “Can you hold onto my board and boots for a few hours? And then I just need a ski set up— size nine boot.”
“What are you doing?” Shauna peered over Melissa’s shoulder.
“Well, I can’t teach you how to ski if I’m on a snowboard, can I?” Melissa said matter-of-factly.
“You can ski, too?”
“I can do a lot of things,” Oh, and Melissa called her smug? She could practically hear the smirk the girl in front of her was wearing.
The high altitude must have been getting to Shauna’s brain. Or Melissa’s. Or honestly, maybe both of them, because this was so not the Melissa that Shauna knew back home. Granted, did she even really know that Melissa?
As Mike set her boots on the counter, Melissa turned around. “Alright, brace me, Shipman,” and suddenly there was a hand on Shauna’s shoulder, Melissa using her to hold herself up as she slipped one of her boots off, pulling the new one on. She switched hands to repeat the step for her other foot, completely ignoring the wild eyes Shauna was sending her as she was practically being used as a piece of furniture.
“Alright, all set,” Melissa patted her hand against Shauna’s shoulder before letting go, turning back around to grab the new skis sitting in front of her. “Thanks, Mike. I’ll bring the stuff tomorrow night.”
“You better,” He pointed at her. “We’ve been waiting for it all year!”
Melissa sent him a dorky little salute before turning around, nodding for Shauna to follow her as they headed back over to the practice hill Shauna had spent most of the afternoon on. The sun was just starting to set, and pretty soon the gigantic lights covering the resort would start to kick on.
Shauna was starting to wonder if Jackie was actually coming back for her.
“So,” Shauna started as they were both clicking into the skis. “What’s ‘the stuff’ you were talking about? I assume it’s…”
“It’s…?” Melissa drawled out, sending Shauna an amused look.
“You know!”
“Do I?” Melissa tilted her head as she adjusted her helmet over her head. “What, do I have a reputation back home or something?”
She most certainly did have a reputation back home. A few of them, actually.
Everyone knew that peculiar smell that would sometimes waft out from behind the bleachers was a product of Melissa, Nat, and Van. The team knew who to go to before a party if they wanted to do something other than drink.
Just like everyone knew what Melissa and Mari would sometimes get up to in the locker room when they were the last two there, dragging their feet like they weren’t just waiting for a chance to hop in the showers together.
That particular reputation made Shauna shiver. She did not want to think about Mari naked. Ever.
Not that she wanted to think about Melissa naked, either! Especially when she was standing in front of her, still wearing that amused look, and fuck, Shauna was totally picturing her naked right now.
Totally not her fault.
“You know you do!” Shauna shook her head discreetly, trying to rid any images of a shirtless Melissa from her mind.
Which was really fucking hard when Melissa stretched her arms above her head, the black hoodie she was wearing riding up just enough to where Shuana could see a hint of blonde hair trailing to her belly button.
Why couldn’t she be wearing a ridiculous looking puffer jacket like Shauna was?
“You can find out, if you want?” Melissa’s voice broke through Shauna’s apparently extremely vivid imagination.
“I’m sorry?” Shauna sent her a mortified look. There was no fucking way Melissa was also some sort of mind reader.
“The stuff?” Melissa raised an eyebrow. “The staff are having a party tomorrow night. Not, like, a high school party. More just like a… get together? I was gonna go with my brother. You should come!”
“Oh,” Shauna nodded. Duh. Obviously, Melissa wasn’t offering to take her shirt off. “Yeah, maybe.”
“Maybe?” Melissa sighed. “You’ll be really disappointed if you don’t get to try my stuff.”
“Okay!” Shauna’s voice was a little too loud, trying to cut Melissa off before her mind went to places she really hadn’t been planning on going to today. “I’ll go, loser! Now, can you teach me how to ski circles or whatever?”
Melissa grinned, and Shauna pretended to not notice the little fist pump she did. Then she was nodding, jumping into an entire spiel about the basics of beginner skiing. Most of it, Shauna had already heard, except Melissa seemed to know a bit more about, like, actual technical moves that would help Shauna.
Then Melissa demonstrated a smooth run down the short hill. Once she was at the bottom, she motioned for Shauna to go next.
Shauna took a deep breath, hyping herself up as she prepared to follow Melissa down. She was really praying she wasn’t about to now bust her ass in front of her, too.
Then she pushed off. She was a bit wobbly, using her poles to keep herself upright, though that would just somehow manage to send her wobbly in the other direction. Luckily, the hill was extremely short, and before she knew it, Shauna was reaching the bottom.
“Okay, now wedge!” Melissa called out. At least she wasn’t saying pizza. “Wedge, Shauna!”
“I’m fucking–” Shauna strained her legs, attempting to bring the front of her skis together. “-trying!”
She quickly realized it wasn’t going to work, sending a big fuck you to her skis right before she prepared to permanently alter the state of her coccyx forever. Just as she started to feel her skis slipping out from under her, ready for the sky to come back into view, Melissa was jumping in front of her.
Shauna went crashing into her, Melissa’s arms wrapping around her waist firmly. She was expecting them to topple over, but Melissa stood firm, having turned her skis to the side to keep them from sliding in the same direction Shauna’s were headed.
The sheer steadiness of Melissa’s body nearly sent Shauna’s legs flying out from under her, but Melissa just tightened her grip, helping to keep Shauna upright before she could hit the snow.
“I’ve got you,” Melissa breathed out, pulling Shauna up straight as she recovered from the collision. Shauna nodded, eyes slightly wide as she stared up at her.
They’d both opted against wearing their goggles, Melissa stating they really weren’t necessary for such a small hill, but right now, Shauna was wishing they hadn’t. For some reason, her knees felt a little weak as Melissa’s bright blue eyes stared back at her, a hint of worry in them as one of the hands around her waist rubbed at Shauna’s back.
“You okay?” Melissa questioned, and their faces were so close that Shauna could see the steam coming off her breath as the temperature dipped lower.
She quickly cleared her throat, placing her hands on Melissa’s shoulders to push away a bit, the movement slightly awkward with the way Shauna was still gripping her poles.
Melissa quickly let go, letting Shauna move back a bit and create some distance between them.
“I’m good,” Shauna nodded, dropping her hands. “Uhm, thanks.”
“No problem,” Melissa had a small smile on her face, though she looked slightly concerned as Shauna put more distance between them.
She looked like she wanted to say something else, but it was at that second Jackie finally decided to come back for her.
“Melissa?” Shauna heard her best friend's voice from behind her, and she turned to see Jeff and Jackie now also standing at the bottom of the hill.
“Hey, guys,” Melissa gave them a real smile, that same big one she always seemed to give everyone. “It’s crazy running into you guys all the way out here, right?”
“For real,” Jeff chimed in, giving a hardy laugh. “I totally forgot Logan moved out here after high school.”
“Yep, five years now,” Melissa nodded.
Shauna had forgotten Jeff also had an older brother. She wondered if Jeff and Melissa had ever hung out when they were younger…It was kinda weird to imagine.
“Anyway, I’ll let you guys get to it. I should probably be heading back, too,” Melissa was already starting to ski toward the magic carpet. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Shauna?”
Shauna did not miss the way Jackie’s eyes were looking between them, a mischievous glint in them, wearing a smile that only grew when Shauna confirmed that she would see Melissa the next day.
Once Melissa was headed back up the hill, Jackie slapped Shauna’s bicep gently.
“We are so talking about this later.”
“What’s there to talk about?” Shauna groaned. “It’s just our teammate.”
Jackie leaned a bit closer. “I saw you two. When Jeff and I got to the top of the hill, Melissa was holding you in those big, strong arms like you were some sort of damsel in distress. Meow.”
“Jesus Christ," Shauna muttered, pushing herself off into the direction of the conveyor belt.
Jackie just laughed behind her, pulling Jeff along with her as they followed Shauna back up.
After they had gotten back to the lodge, and Shauna was freshly showered, she heard a light knock on her door. Shauna looked up as Jackie slowly pushed it open. When she noticed Jackie pausing she sighed, gesturing for the girl to come in.
Jackie practically skipped to her bed, jumping on it and causing Shauna to bounce slightly. “So, Melissa?”
Shauna sighed. “Jackie, I already told you–”
“Oh, please,” Jackie cut her off. “You haven’t told me shit.” Shauna’s jaw dropped at her words. “Like, what were you two even doing? How did you run into her? Is she actually as strong as she looked when she was literally dipping you down like some Disney princess? What’re you doing tomorrow? Making out–”
“Okay!” Shauna cut Jackie off, raising a finger before she could create any crazy ideas in her mind. “First, she quite literally ran into me when I was going to grab some food. Second, we ended up eating together because it was nice to see a familiar face. She offered to teach me how to ski, and I agreed. That’s it.”
“...and is she as strong as she looked–”
“Oh, would you–” Shauna leaned forward, and Jackie yelped as she flicked her forehead. “She’s… surprisingly strong,” Shauna admitted, if anything, just to make Jackie happy.
“Hmm,” Jackie hummed, looking thoughtful. “She must be hiding it under all those baggy clothes she wears. You know, I could always just ask Mari–”
“Do not!” Shauna cut her off, grabbing Jackie’s wrist as she was jokingly reaching for her phone. “I do not want to even think about–about that!”
Jackie gasped. “You’re totally crushing on Hat!”
“What?” Shauna’s voice jumped up a bit. “No— No, definitely not. And she wasn’t even wearing a hat today!”
“She was wearing a pink helmet!”
“That doesn’t count!”
“Why are you defending her?” Jackie was laughing now, teasing grin wide as she pointed at Shauna. “You definitely have the hots for Melissa!”
“Jackie, stop!” Shauna begged.
She didn’t have a crush on Melissa. She didn’t even think about Melissa, usually. Half a day of hanging out didn’t mean Shauna was going to go running to her journal to gush about how blue her eyes were, or how big her hands were, or how she could literally feel Melissa’s warmth through all their layers when they were standing flush together– oh, you get the point!
“Okay, okay!” Jackie held her hands up. “I’m just messing with you.”
Jackie moved to stand up, squeezing Shauna’s forearm and sending her a warm smile before heading back toward the bedroom door. Shauna was watching her leave, shoulders still slightly raised, when Jackie paused just as she grabbed the doorknob.
“For what it’s worth,” Jackie looked over her shoulder, voice soft. “I happen to have it on good authority that Melissa and Mari are just friends.”
Shauna sighed. “Jackie…”
“I’m just saying, Ship. I don’t– I don’t want anything to hold you back.”
Jackie left her with that, sliding out of the room and closing the door behind her, leaving Shauna to flop back against her bed with a groan.
Before she could start to spiral about Jackie’s words, or Mari and Melissa, or god forbid, she started imagining Melissa naked again, Shauna heard her phone go off.
She picked it up, making a shocked noise to herself as she saw the notification from Instagram.
melissahat17 Has Sent a Message Request
Shauna rolled her eyes at Melissa’s username. She really was not helping the whole nickname thing.
She clicked on the notification, pulling up the DM from Melissa.
[melissahat17: hi, shauna. i realized i don’t have your number anymore. i got a new phone for christmas, contacts didn’t transfer over. total bummer.]
Shauna huffed out a laugh at Melissa’s words, noticing that she was still typing.
[melissahat17: anyway, wanna meet after breakfast tomorrow? 10 am? i have an idea that might work better. meet me by the rental stand?]
[ShaunaShip: That sounds good. What’s your plan?]
[melissahat17: it’s a surprise!! i’ll let you get to bed, it’s late. see you tomorrow (:]
[ShaunaShip: You’re annoying! See you in the morning, Mel.]
Melissa sent a simple heart react in response, and before Shauna could help herself, she was clicking on Melissa’s profile.
She wasn’t sure how she’d gone so long without even following the girl. In her defense, she rarely used the app, but…
Her profile pic was one of her in a canoe, smiling widely at the camera with a bottle in her hand. Shauna couldn’t help but notice she wasn’t wearing her usual backwards hat, a plain grey one on the right way sitting atop her head instead.
Shauna clicked out of her profile pic, trying to pretend Melissa didn’t look really fucking good in it as she took a quick look at her grid posts.
There was one of her, Nat, and Van at the skatepark. A few pics of nature, a random pic of Melissa and a cat.
She clicked on the most recent post. It was a picture of Melissa out on the soccer pitch. Gen was on her shoulders, Mari was on the ground, one hand in Melissa’s as she tried to pull her down, and Akilah was standing off to the side. She had a hand on Melissa’s shoulder, trying to keep her from being pulled to the ground.
Shauna was suddenly struck by just how happy they all looked— how happy Melissa looked. She realized she really didn’t know anybody on the team outside her immediate friend group.
Shauna frowned at the thought, slightly disappointed in herself. Maybe Melissa could be the start of a change for her.
A bit longer passed, and Shauna realized she was still staring at Melissa’s wide smile, Shauna now smiling herself.
She cursed at herself, hitting the follow button before turning her phone off, slamming it down onto the mattress.
(At least this time, when she closed her eyes, all she was imagining was Melissa’s smile.)