by Cylin Busby
You sit stunned for a second, trying not to be distracted by the terrible warbling coming from the stage. “That’s not how I feel,” you tell Zac, and you mean it. He’s probably the sweetest guy you’ve ever met—you don’t care that he’s younger than you, even if your friends do.
“So your friends haven’t been giving you a hard time about hanging out with the ‘brainiac’?” he scoffs.
“I can make up my own mind about people,” you tell him quickly. “I don’t really care what my friends have to say about it.”
Zac just frowns and looks back up at the stage. “Okay,” the emcee says, taking the microphone when the girl finally finishes singing. “Who is our next victim—how about a duet? Do we have any takers?” He looks out over the audience. “Come on, I’ve got that song ‘Baby, You Broke My Heart’ all cued up and ready to roll….”
You look over at Zac, who is still sulking a little bit and won’t look over at you. Maybe you should pull him up onstage to sing a duet with you—it could be hilarious, and put him in a better mood. Or would that be too much—does he need some time to cool down and just hang out?
You want to pull Zac up to sing a duet.
You’d rather wait it out and just watch karaoke for now.
Chapter 31
“I’m so psyched that you decided to come and hang out with us tonight—and not with that Zac kid,” Heather says as she puts on another coat of mascara. You sigh and look at her in the mirror.
“Lay off him—he’s a sweet guy,” you say. “Whatever,” Heather scoffs. “Can I use your lip gloss?” she says, and you pass it over to her. “We better hurry—Jon said to meet them in the lobby, like, five minutes ago,” she says, sweeping the gloss over her lips and checking her hair one more time.
When you get down to the lobby, Bryce is there, and he’s got a date—an older girl who you recognize from the ski rental shop. “Hey, this is my lady, Amanda,” he says, introducing you. Jon is there, and he’s brought a friend along—a big guy with curly hair and an adorable grin. “And this is my friend Aiden,” Jon says, looking right at you. Could he be more obvious?
“So we were thinking that we’d go into town to this club I know,” Bryce says. Then he adds, with a whisper, “The only problem is that we don’t exactly have a ride, but I think I’ve got an idea….”
Jon lets out a little laugh. “Yeah, man, a classic idea!” His friend Aiden also laughs. You and Heather just look at each other.
“What’s so funny?” Heather asks. “You’ll see” is all Bryce will say.
You’re suddenly feeling worried—you’re not supposed to leave the lodge without telling the chaperones, and you’re obviously not supposed to leave with a group of guys! You turn to Heather and whisper, “I don’t know about this; maybe I should just go and join Zac at the karaoke night….”
“Oh, come on,” she says, “don’t you want to have fun?”
What would be more fun tonight, doing karaoke with Zac or going dancing with Heather and these guys? You think for a second, then decide to:
Head over to karaoke and meet Zac.
Sneak into town with the guys.
Chapter 32
“You’re right,” you tell Molly. “We need to even the score before we hit the slopes!”
“Come on, Sierra!” Molly says, grinning as she scoops up a handful of snow and packs it into a hard ball.
“Well, okay,” Sierra says, quickly making a small snowball. She fires it at one boy’s head. “Hey, no fair!” you hear a guy squeal. “No hitting in the face!”
“I think I got him,” Sierra laughs as she packs another snowball. You crouch down and make a few snowballs, then fire them off fast.
A guy in a white hat peeks around the snowbank, and you shoot a snowball at him—and miss. “You’re pretty good,” he yells over to you, “but not fast enough!” And he pegs you in the leg.
“Hey,” you shout after him as he ducks back behind the snowbank. “Did you see that guy, the one with the white hat?” you ask Sierra.
“Actually…” She starts to say something, then turns back to making a snowball. “Just look out for him—he goes to our school, and he’s—” A snowball hits near her foot and she yells, “Watch it!” as she hurls one back.
You collect a few snowballs, the go around the snowbank and see your guy. You pelt him—fast—in the back with two before he can even turn around.
“What…,” he says, and you slam him with another one before racing off.
“Got him!” you yell to the girls.
“Okay, truce, truce!” the guy says, waving a white hat over his head. “We surrender!” The guys come out from behind the snowbank with their hands up.
“Yes!” Molly says. “We killed you guys!” She gives one guy a high five, and it’s clear to you that she and Sierra know them all from school.
“Hey, nice job,” the guy with the white hat says to you. “I’m Alex.” He takes his gloves off to shake your hand. “Man, your hands are warm!” he says, holding on to your hand for longer than he should. “I’m freezing—wanna go get a hot chocolate?”
Sierra overhears and looks over at you two talking with a scowl on her face. “Oh, actually, I was just about to go skiing with Sierra and Molly,” you explain.
“One hot chocolate?” he says, giving you some serious puppy-dog eyes. “I promise I won’t keep you more than ten minutes. Besides, I think you owe me—you seriously damaged my pride in that snowball fight.” He grins.
You look over at Sierra and Molly, who are ready to line up for the chairlift. They won’t be too happy if you tell them to go on without you. Then again, this Alex guy is beyond cute—you’d like to go with him to the café. But what was Sierra trying to tell you about him? It didn’t sound good. Do you dare to find out on your own?
You say yes to hot chocolate with Alex.
You’d rather ski with the girls.
Chapter 33
“Sorry, guys,” you tell Sierra and Molly, “but my legs are numb! I’m going to head down to the café.”
“You poor thing,” Molly says. “Well, watch out the window for us, and tell us how we look later, ’kay?” she says as the chairlift grinds to a halt at the first stop.
“Yeah, feel better,” Sierra says, waving her glove at you as you carefully climb off and ski back down to the lodge. You pop off your skis and set them by the door, then go into the café and order a hot chocolate. While it’s being made, you look around for somewhere to sit. The café is packed—lots of families with little kids in snowsuits, and tons of students from both your school and Marshall, but you don’t see anyone you know.
“One hot chocolate,” the guy behind the counter says, handing it to you. A couple gets up from one table, where you could sit by yourself if you want to, but maybe you should look around for someone to sit with? You are pretty tired, but it also might be a good chance to meet someone new.…
If you want to sit alone, go to Chapter 42.
If you want to look for someone to sit with, go to Chapter 43.
Chapter 34
“Okay, I guess one last run can’t hurt, right?” You say to Molly and Sierra. “Even if my legs are numb!”
As the chairlift grinds to a halt, all three of you climb off and head over to the trail that runs right underneath it. “Wow, this is more steep than I thought,” Molly admits, pulling her goggles down over her eyes.
“I think we can do it,” Sierra says.
You can feel your teeth chattering, you’re so cold. “I just hope I can feel my legs by the time we reach the bottom,” you joke.
“Let’s go!” Molly yells, pushing off with her poles. When she’s a safe distance in front of you, you push off, too, and Sierra comes right behind you. In a second, you feel like you’re going fifty miles an hour downhill. “Whoooooooooo!” you hear Molly yell from up ahead of you. And you do feel great—your hair flying out behind you, and wearing this awesome silver jacket. You look up to the chairlift going over your h
ead and see two cute guys—one of them is using his cell phone to take a picture of you!
“Hey, boys!” you hear Sierra yell from behind you, and the guys start waving like crazy—Molly was right! Then, suddenly, your right ski catches on something and, before you know it, you’re flipping down the mountain—you can’t stop! When you finally reach the bottom, you’re bruised and freezing, but all in one piece.
“Nice one!” you hear a guy yell from the chairlift, and laughter drifts down to you. Ugh.
As you gather up your poles and skis, your jeans are so wet and cold, they feel frozen to your body. “I think I better go inside,” you mumble to Sierra and Molly. When you finally get up to the room, it takes you forever to peel off the soaked, icy jeans. Then you climb into bed and fall asleep.
When you wake up, sunlight is streaming through the windows in your room—it’s the next morning!
“You okay?” Sierra asks when she sees that you’re awake.
“We tried to wake you up when we got back from the slopes, but you were out cold!” Molly says.
“And snoring!” Sierra adds. “You missed the best night ever—wait until you hear about the guys we met…,” she starts. You’re so bummed! How did you sleep through the whole thing? Maybe next time, you’ll pick clothes that help you stay warm instead of an outfit that just makes you look hot!
END
If you want to wear something else for skiing, go back to Chapter 19.
Chapter 35
“I think this trail is too hard for me,” you tell Mitch. “Maybe after I warm up on the easier trail, I’ll come back and meet you.”
“Fine,” Mitch says as he turns his back to you and heads down the trail.
“Let’s go,” you tell Zac, and head over to the easier trail with him. On your way, you ski by a group of girls giggling and talking to some boys from your school—obviously flirting and having fun—and it makes you think of Mitch. You look over at Zac for a second. You do like him, and he’s really sweet, but there’s something missing—that spark you feel whenever you’re with Mitch.
“Ready?” Zac says when you both reach the top of the slope.
You decide to put the whole Mitch thing out of your mind and just have fun. “Let’s go!” you yell as you push off with your poles.
When you’re about halfway down the mountain, you hear something beside you—a loud thump— and look down to see Zac rolling down the mountain! “Zac!” you yell, just as he tumbles off the trail and into some fresh powder. You slant your skis to stop yourself, then go over to him.
“Are you okay?” you ask, but you can tell he’s not. “My ankle,” he says, holding his leg, “I think it’s hurt.”
You can already hear a rescue snowmobile racing up the mountain to help. When the guy arrives, he jumps off to help Zac onto the back. “Sorry, there isn’t enough room for you, but we can meet you down at the infirmary,” he tells you.
“That’s okay,” Zac says, looking more concerned for you than for himself. “You should keep skiing and have fun. I’ll see you later.”
“Are you sure you’re going to be okay?” you ask him.
“Don’t worry about it.” Zac gives you a weak smile as the snowmobile races off down the mountain. You had wanted to meet back up with Mitch later and ski with him. But can you leave Zac all by himself in the infirmary?
You decide to ski down to the infirmary with Zac.
You’d rather go back and ski with Mitch.
Chapter 36
When you get a text message from Travis that night on your phone, you’re so happy, you practically jump up and down.
It only asks if you want to meet for a ski lesson tomorrow, but that’s enough. You immediately accept. You can hardly wait!
The next morning, you show up early to meet him, and he’s already there. “You ready?” He grins at you, and you two ski over to the bunny trail, where he takes you through some basics. Every time he touches you, a shiver goes up your spine.
“I think we can hit an actual trail now,” he says, pulling a knit cap down over his short, dark hair. “Come on.” He takes your gloved hand in his and leads you over to the chairlift. When you get to the top of the trail, Travis says, “Try to remember everything I just showed you, okay? Keep your knees bent, stay low,” he reminds you.
“I’ve got it,” you say, using your poles to push off. As you start down the trail, you’re trying hard to keep everything Travis taught you in mind—and it’s working! Before you know it, you’re at the bottom of the trail—and you didn’t wipe out once!
“I did it!” you shout to Travis as he slides to a stop right next to you.
“I know, you did great!” he says, and moves to grab you in a hug—but your skis and his get in the way. “Here,” he says, popping his skis off. He comes over to you and wraps his arms around you. “I’m proud of you—really,” he says quietly in your ear. When he steps back, he gives you a serious look.
“The only thing left to discuss is the payment,” he says.
“What payment?” you ask him, confused. “For the lesson,” he jokes. “I may not be an Olympic champ, but I still have to charge you for my time.”
“Of course,” you joke back. “So what do I owe you?” “I think…”—he leans in close to you—“three Eskimo kisses sounds about right.”
“It’s a bargain,” you say, blushing as he moves his face closer to yours. When your noses touch, you look up into his eyes and smile, just as you feel his lips touch yours. Who knew learning to ski could be so much fun?
END
Chapter 37
You reach over and grab Zac’s hand. “Come on!” you say, pulling him up to the stage before he can say no.
“I can’t sing,” he whispers to you. “So?” you tell him. “That’s what karaoke is all about!”
You turn to the emcee and say, “We’ll do it!” “Great, two new victims.” He hands you each a microphone, points down at the monitor, and says, “Good luck!” as he walks off the stage.
“I don’t know this song!” you whisper to Zac. “I don’t, either!” he whispers back, just as words start crossing the monitor—and the lyrics are so embarrassing!
“Oh baby, I can’t let you go…,” you try to sing along with the music.
“Ohhhhh, you broke my…” Zac pauses to look at the monitor for a second. “Uh, my heart,” he sings, and everyone laughs.
The next line is yours: “I didn’t mean to do you wrong…baby,” you sing, laughing.
“Ohhhhhh, baby…,” Zac starts. “Wait, that’s your line!” he says, pointing at you. Pretty soon, everyone in the audience is laughing so hard, you can’t even remember what you’re supposed to be singing. So you and Zac just sing every line together, making them laugh more. When the song finally ends, there’s tons of clapping—some people even stand up to cheer for you both!
“Kiss her!” someone yells out, and suddenly the crowd is chanting, “Kiss, kiss, kiss, kiss!”
Zac looks at you, smiling, “I think we need to give our fans what they want,” he says quietly.
“I agree,” you say, leaning in. When his lips touch yours, the audience goes crazy cheering.
“Encore!” someone yells.
“Uh, maybe later,” Zac says into the microphone. He grins at you as he takes your hand and leads you offstage. Not every guy is sweet enough to put up with the craziness of a spontaneous karaoke duet, but Zac is. He’s adorable! That’s the last time you judge anyone based on just their age!
END
Chapter 38
“We’ll do it!” you hear someone say, and a guy goes up to the stage holding a girl’s hand. They take the microphones and start singing a terrible duet about heartbreak and getting dumped.
“You’d never want to do something like that with me,” Zac says, motioning to the people onstage. “You’d be too embarrassed to be seen with some nerd.” He slumps down in his seat.
“That’s not true,” you say. “Look”—he turns to y
ou—“I might as well just tell you. I heard what you and your friends were saying about me; one of my friends overheard you.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” you tell him, but your mind goes back to some of the things that Heather had been saying. Who could have overheard her?
“About how I’m just some little kid, some super-brain….Why did you even agree to meet me here tonight? Just to make fun of me?” he asks.
You can tell he’s really angry, and you feel terrible. “Zac, I—,” you start to say, but he cuts you off.
“Forget it,” he says. “I’m out of here.” He stands up and pushes his chair into the table hard before leaving the lounge. You feel bad that he heard you and your friends were talking about him, but seriously…maybe he is too immature for you after all!
END
Want to sing with Zac instead of fight with him? Go back to Chapter 37.
Chapter 39
“Here’s the idea,” Bryce says, leading you all out into the parking lot. “We’ll just borrow the lodge’s van for the night—they’ll never notice that it’s gone.”
“Yeah, and besides, we are lodge employees, so we should be allowed to use it, right?” Jon adds.
“That’s what I’m thinking,” Bryce whispers. He leads the way through the dark parking lot over to a van that has MT. FROST SKI LODGE painted on the side of it. He opens the sliding door on the side. “Climb in,” he says to you and Heather.
She climbs up into a seat, and you join her. Aiden scoots in beside you. Bryce goes around to the driver’s seat and gets in while Amanda takes the passenger seat next to him. “Now for the tricky part,” Jon says, climbing into the back of the van and closing the door. “You sure you’ve got this?”
