The field trip was starting out pretty darn good. It was a good idea the band decided on the mountains instead of some boring old symphony hall. This way, they could all get some good snow boarding done. The downside was, that the hotel rooms weren't heated too well. But Kris was more than happy to share a room with her pal Jeff, with Tommy and Matt next door. It would be like a never ending party! Kris and Jeff got off the bus and found their room. Kris whipped her bag onto the bed and started to unpack. "Man, I'm sure glad I packed some warm clothes, it looks like it's gonna be a fierce weekend!" she said and she folded her sweaters and put them in a drawer. "and it's like twenty below in here! Where's the heater?" Kris said as she looked behind the drapes and furniture for a switch. Meanwhile, Jeff opened his duffle bag and he began to unpack t shirts and jeans. "Jeff, you are gonna freeze!" said Kris.

"No, my mom bought me this great jacket! It's for snow and—" Jeff looked around quickly and noticed that his great jacket was no where to be found. "Oh my GOD!" Jeff realized he had left his jacket on the bus. He bolted through door and down the hall, leaving Kristina quite confused. Jeff ran outside to catch the bus before it left. But the minute he got to where the bus was he saw it pulling away. "WAIT! WAIT!" He shouted as he ran after it…It just got farther and farther away. Jeff dropped to his knees in the cold snow "wait" he whispered quietly as he stared at the bus getting smaller in the distance. It was freezing, and the bus wouldn't return until Sunday night, and it was Friday afternoon. What was he going to do until then? He decided that it couldn't get THAT cold, since it was March, winter was almost over anyway. He told himself to forget about it, and have fun. It wasn't often that he could be in such a beautiful place like the snow covered mountains with his best friends. Jeff wanted to make the most of it. Jeff got off his knees and discovered his jeans where soaking wet with snow. He shivered, put his hands in his pockets and walked back to his hotel room.

* * *

Kristina forgot about Jeff for a minute and continued to put her clothes away. She was thinking about all the great things she ahead of her this weekend and got really excited. She smiled to herself. Then a knock came at the door and it brought her out of her daydream. Kris opened the door and standing there were Tommy and Matt. Matt's blonde hair stuck up with the breeze and he bounced up and down to keep warm. Tommy blinked his green eyes and his freckles twitched and he tried to sniff a bit, the cold air made his nose run. Kris quickly whisked them inside and they sat on the bed, defrosting themselves for a minute.

"Where's Jeff?" asked Tommy.

"I dunno," sighed Kris. "He ran outta here like a bat out of hell, I think he left his jacket somewhere."

"Oh, the poor idiot!" laughed Matt. "I sure hope he finds it, it's getting nippy out there."

"Nippy is such a dumb word, don't say that anymore, you dumbass." Said Tommy.

Suddenly they heard a voice coming from outside. Kris looked out the window to find Jeff out in the snow rolling around and laughing. It looked like he was having the time of his life.

"Hey, it's Jeff," she said as she turned around to tell the others. "He looks like he's having a great time!"

"Let's go out there and give him a snowball to the face!" yelled Tommy as he jumped up and ran outside, followed by Matt and Kristina. Kris, Tommy and Matt ran out into the snow where Jeff was making a snowman. Tommy made an arsenal of snowballs and began to pelt Matt and Jeff. Kris threw a bunch at Tommy, so that he would try and throw some at her too. A four way snowball war ensued. Jeff was really hyper, he was doing kamakaze missions, whereby he would let himself get hit a billion times just so he could get close enough to throw a few at point blank range. After an hour, it started to get dark. The wind picked up, and the temperature outside dropped to freezing. Kris, Tommy, and Matt were pretty cold, but at least they had warm jackets and hats on. Jeff was completely soaked with melted snow, and his light brown hair was covered with snow that had gotten mixed in with his hair during the snowball fight. "I'm p-p-pretty cold, you guys. H-h-how bout we go inside?" said Jeff through chattering teeth. Kris was starting to geta bit worried for Jeff, he was getting pale.

"Yeah, it's late, we have to get up early tomorrow for practice, so let's go back to our rooms." Kris agreed. So they all said good night and went into their poorly heated rooms. Once Jeff and Kris had gotten back to their room Jeff was shivering really bad. He was soaked, and he wasn't his usually joking self.

"Alright Jeff?" asked Kris in a worried voice.

"Yeah *sniff* I'm just really cold." Said Jeff weakly. He sat down on his bed and shivered as he stared at the carpet. He had his arms crossed close to his body, and his cheeks were bright pink. "I think I'll take a hot shower, and go to bed." Jeff said after awhile. Kris said okay and laid down on herbed to watch some t.v. before she knew it, she was asleep.

The next morning when the alarm went off at 7 o'clock, Kris jumped out of bed and went into the bathroom to start brushing her teeth. "Jeff! Time to get up!!" she yelled from the bathroom. Jeff groaned from his bed, sat up and rubbed his eyes. "Ehshooo!" he sneezed into his hands. He sniffed a few times and got up out of his bed. He was so dizzy he swayed, and his nose tickled again "ehchhhht" He caught it in a tissue that time. He started to feel queasy so he laid back in his bed again. Lying down made him feel a lot better, but his nose was getting really stuffed up. He swallowed and winced at the pain, he had a sore throat too. Kris finished brushing her teeth and getting dressed and went back to see if Jeff had gotten up yet. Discovering he was still in bed she said "What am I? Your mom? Get up already!"

"I can't *sniff* get up, I think I'b sick" Jeff said in a scratchy voice. "Eh-eh-ehshooo! Could you pass be a tithew?" His eyes were red around the outside, and his nose was even redder, Kris noticed. But the weird thing was, that the rest of his face was really white. She went over and gave the box of tissues to Jeff, he responded with a "Thag You" and blew his nose loudly into a Kleenex.

"You don't look to good." Kris said, concerned. "Let me feel your forehead. "Kris put the back of her hand on Jeff's forehead, and said "Youch! You're burning up, I think you have a fever, you better stay in bed."

"That's okay, huhchhht, it feels really good to lie down, ehshooo!" Jeff said, stopping periodically to sneeze off to the side, trying hard not to sneeze on Kris.

"I think you better stay inside today, and get better." Said Kris as she pulled some more blankets around Jeff. "Are you warm enough?"

"I'b still a little cold *sniff* but I think I'll be alright. Ehshhooooo! *sniff* Are you leavig me here all alone?"

"I don't have to go to practice if you want me to stay and take care of you today." Kris said.

"Well, only if you don't mind skipping practice, eh eh ehshoooo! *sniff* wow, this is a bad cold." Jeff grabbed a handful of tissues and blew his nose hard, but the effort made him start to cough. Kris started to get concerned for him, after all they were best friends, and if he caught pneumonia she would feel partly responsible. So she got her jacket and said "You just rest, I'll see if I can get you something to make you feel better." She went into the lobby and got some Nyquil and hot tea, she went back to her room to find Jeff fast asleep in bed where she had left him. She sat on her bed and watched him for awhile. His nose started to run a little so she reached over, got a Kleenex and tended to his nose, that woke him up and he smiled, but it also tickled, and he sneezed again. "huh, huh, hutchooo!" He sniffed hard. "My nose really bugs me when I get a cold." Mark said, rubbing his nose. He swallowed down the Nyquil gelcaps with the hot tea Kris got him, and settled back in bed. Kris reached behind him, trying to prop him up with pillows. "Here," she said positioning him sitting up. "This will help you breath better, and you won't cough so much."

"Thanks a lot for taking care of me, Kris." Mark said as he took her hand. "You're a really good friend." They sat like that for a moment, looking at each other and smiling. But then Jeff's face changed, his mouth opened and his nostrils twitched. "huh---huh" Kris rushed a tissue under his nose and held it there while he sneezed. "Huhchooo! Huhchhhht" Kris felt the force of his sneezes in the tissue. Just then, someone knocked on the door. Kris jumped up, put the box of tissues on Jeff's lap as he sat wiping his runny nose, and she went to the door. It was Tommy and Matt.

"C'mon lazy asses, we have to go to band practice, we're already late!" said Tommy. "Sorry guys," said Kris. They could hear Jeff's muffled sneezes in the background. "Jeff came down with a really bad cold this morning, he should stay in bed."

"Is he ok?" asked Matt, looking concerned.

"Oh, he's got a fever but I think he'll be feeling better tomorrow, the first day is always the worst, you know." Said Kris.

"Ok, well tell him we said 'feel better'" Matt said as him and Tommy started walking down the hall to band practice.

"I will." Kris closed the door and went back into the room. "Hey Jeff, Matt and Tommy say 'feel better'"

"Well dat was dice of dem" Jeff said, sounding a lot more stuffed up than when she had left. "Ehhhshooooooo! *sniff* I think I'b gonna sleep for a while."

"Okay, I'm gonna watch some t.v., if you need anything, just ask." Kristina smiled and patted him on the head. Jeff said ok, and blew his nose again, he closed his eyes, and Kris turned around to watch some t.v. on low volume. She could hear him battling his cold as he tried to sleep, sneezing, coughing, and sniffing repeatedly. Soon the noises tapered off, and the Nyquil kicked in.He lie in bed with a balled up tissue held loosely in his hand. He looked so peaceful, all Kris could hear was the sound of Jeff breathing through his open mouth. Kris leaned over and kissed his warm cheek, and Jeff smiled as he slept.