by Cylin Busby
END
If you want to take Mitch up on his challenge, go back to Chapter 52.
Chapter 61
“Okay, I’d like to try,” you tell Travis. “If you don’t mind showing me how.”
“No problem,” Travis says. He picks out a snowboard for you, and you all head over to the snowboarding area. “It’s probably better to learn over here,” Travis explains, “than head straight to the slopes.”
“I’m going to hit the half-pipe,” Mitch says, walking off without even saying goodbye. You’re thankful that Travis is so sweet.
You look around at everyone else snowboarding—it looks simple, so you’re sure you’ll get the hang of it. But once Travis helps you get your boots hooked into the board, you realize that you have no idea how to even move!
Travis puts his hands around your waist. “You just have to lean your body forward, bend your knees, and move the board.” He shows you how. He’s leaning over you, talking so close to your ear that you can hardly pay attention. When you do move forward, you suddenly jerk straight up. “Bend your knees!” Travis yells, but when you do, you topple backward and land on your tailbone so hard that you see stars.
“Ohhhhh, ouch!” you say, feeling tears come to your eyes. And Mitch chooses just that minute to swing by.
“Dude, come hit the half-pipe. She can practice on her own,” he tells Travis, who’s busy helping you up.
“Why don’t you practice what I showed you here on this small slope and I’ll come back to check on you, okay?” Travis says.
“Sure,” you tell him sadly. You understand that the guys came to have fun, not teach you how to snowboard, but you’re still bummed. What happened to spending time with Mitch? Travis is the only one even paying any attention to you!
After almost an hour of practicing, you’re exhausted—you’re covered in snow, freezing, your butt is permanently numb, and your wrist hurts from falling down so many times.
“Hey, how’s it going?” Travis slides by and asks you. “Hurt your wrist?”
“A little,” you admit. “I’m not sure snowboarding is for me. It looks so easy for you and Mitch; I just don’t know if I can get it,” you say, snapping your boots out of the board.
“Don’t give up—let’s try again tomorrow. You just need to soak in the hot tub for a while, then you’ll feel better—I promise,” Travis says.
You pick up your board and turn to head back to the lodge. “Well, thanks for trying to teach me,” you say glumly.
“Look, let me do two more runs on the half-pipe, and I’ll meet you at the hot tub. After a good long soak, you’ll be ready to try snowboarding again.” He winks at you, and you feel a shiver go down your spine. Are you just cold, or does this guy like you?
Just then, Mitch slides by. “You quitting already?” he says to you.
“I’m spent,” you admit, but you don’t mention that you might be heading to the hot tub. And neither does Travis.
“Come on, man,” Mitch says, pulling Travis by the sleeve. “Hey, we’ll see you later on, maybe tonight or something,” Mitch calls back to you.
Travis turns to go. “Really, two more runs and I’ll see you there, okay?” he asks. You are feeling so sore and bruised, maybe a soak would do you good. And you do want to hang out with Travis; you just feel funny doing something behind Mitch’s back. Suddenly it hits you that getting into the hot tub with Travis means one thing: bathing suit! Eeek! Do you dare?
If you want to meet Travis at the hot tub, go to Chapter 66.
If you want to skip the hot tub, go to Chapter 68.
Chapter 62
“Jenny’s not always right about everything,” Heather whispers to you.
“Then let’s go meet the guys and we can decide for ourselves,” you say. You both hurry to get changed, then race outside to look for Jim and his friend at the chairlift.
“Hey!” Jim yells over to you. They’re already at the front of the line!
“Come on,” his friend says, waving you over. “Great,” Heather says, catching her breath as you join the boys. “No waiting—I like it!” She grins at the redheaded guy.
“By the way, I’m Henry,” he says, taking off his glove to shake her hand.
“What a proper gentleman.” Heather laughs when he takes her hand and kisses it European-style.
You’re glad that you decided to meet up with these guys—they don’t seem so horrible!
“You’re next,” the guy running the chairlift turns and says to you…and Jim! Oops. Looks like you will be going on the chairlift with him, alone. Are you ready to be stuck, high up in the air, with this guy you just met—a guy who doesn’t have a great rep? You could just step back and ride up with Heather, putting Henry on the lift with Jim. What should you do?
You decide to ride the chairlift with Jim.
You’d rather ask Henry to ride with Jim instead.
Chapter 63
You just can’t let your friendship stand in the way of fate! Obviously, Dan adores you—and he has forever. Maybe he’s the one for you? You race down the stairs to the lobby to meet him, your face flushed with excitement. Yes, Heather will be mad at you for a little while, but once she sees how great you two are together, she’ll have to realize it was meant to be.
As you look around the lobby for him, you’re picturing how the rest of the trip will be—so romantic! You’ll finally have a boyfriend, and you can’t wait to show him off.
But then you see him, sitting on the couch. And he’s not alone. There are two really pretty girls sitting with him.
“Hi,” you walk over and say. “I’m ready to go skiing with you.” You stand there, looking at him, and waiting for his explanation—there must be one, right?
“Oh, great!” he says, smiling. “You don’t mind if Sharla and Colleen join us, do you?”
“I thought we were going to go skiing, um, just the two of us,” you say, looking from one girl to the other. They both just give you a blank stare.
“What, and leave one of my girls here? No way!” Dan laughs. He stands up and puts his arms around Sharla and Colleen. “Come on, ladies,” he says, then turns to you. “You coming?”
“No, thanks,” you say. You race from the lobby as you feel tears stinging your eyes. So much for true love—you can’t believe you compromised your friendship with Heather over this loser!
END
Want to rethink skiing with Dan? Go back to Chapter 58.
Chapter 64
You go over to Heather and offer her a tissue. “Carrie, you’re right. Dan is a total dog. I don’t know what I was thinking.” You sit on the floor by Heather, and look up at her. She’s sniffling and her face is all red and blotchy. “Heather, I’m sorry. Really.”
“That’s okay,” Heather says. “I’m not mad at you, I’m mad at Dan. And myself. How could I fall for such a jerk?”
“Don’t blame yourself,” Carrie says, pushing Heather’s hair back from her face as she blows her nose. Just then, there’s a knock on the door. “Oh no, I bet that’s him!” Carrie says, moving to answer it. “I’m going to tell him to…” But when she jerks the door open, it’s actually Mrs. Bulow standing there!
“I heard some yelling, is everything okay?” she asks, her eyes darting to Heather. “Oh no, what’s wrong?”
“Nothing.” Heather sniffles. “Just boy trouble,” she laughs weakly.
“And we can’t fix the stupid bed!” Carrie adds, and you have to laugh.
Go to Chapter 56.
Chapter 65
You’re on the chairlift when the lights start to snap on all over the mountain. “Yes! Night skiing!” Mitch says.
And you have to admit, it is amazing zooming down the slope on your snowboard in the dusk, the sunset casting a warm, pink glow over everything. The mountain gets quiet as everyone goes in for dinner, and you can hear the sound of your own breathing and your board swishing against the snow as you make your way down.
When your each the bottom, you t
urn to Mitch. “Okay, let’s go turn in this stuff and eat— I’m starving!”
“One more time!” he says, putting his gloved hands together in a begging motion. “Please.”
“That’s what you said last time,” you laugh. “We’re going to be late, and I’m really freezing.” You’re annoyed that Mitch doesn’t seem to want to spend time with you anywhere but the slopes.
“This is really the last one,” he says, giving you a sweet grin.
You decide to:
Say yes to one more run.
Tell him no, and head inside.
Chapter 66
You stand in the snow, holding your board and watching Mitch and Travis head over to the half-pipe again. Mitch is pretty good, but Travis is amazing—he’s zooming around, bouncing up off the sides of the ramp and catching air every time. This guy wants to hang out with you—the thought goes through your head, and you can’t help but smile. He is smoking hot, and nice, too.
You return your rental board and head up to your room to change. But when you get out your bathing suit, you’re filled with doubt again. It looks so tiny next to the big bulky jacket you’ve been wearing all day. You’re going to be meeting Travis…in a bikini?
You tie on your top and look in the mirror. You’re so pale! Well, it is winter, after all. You wrap a towel around yourself and sit on the bed. Are you ready to do this? That’s when you remember that Heather brought some self-tanning lotion on the trip. You go into the bathroom and pick it up off the counter, then glance in the mirror again. A little tan sure wouldn’t hurt. But do you have time to do this now? How long before Travis heads over to the hot tub to meet you?
You decide to try the self-tanner.
You’d rather skip it and head to the hot tub.
Chapter 67
“Sorry, I’ve got to go in and warm up,” you tell Mitch, hoping that he’ll change his mind and come with you. “I guess I’ll see you in there.”
“Hey, are you mad at me?” Mitch says, sensing your mood.
“No, I’m just tired,” you tell him. You’re too embarrassed to tell him that you really want to eat dinner with him and sit with him by the fire. That’s so girlie—something you know he can’t stand!
“Okay,” he says, and pushes off for the chairlift, looking over his shoulder at you as he goes. What happened? You guys had such a great day together, but now he’s acting like he just wants to go his separate way. He’ll probably eat dinner with his new friends from Marshall and act like he hardly knows you.
After you turn in your rental gear, you can’t help yourself. You head over to the windows at the front of the lodge to watch the slope for Mitch’s blue jacket. Maybe the problem is that he still just sees you as a friend. How can you get him to notice you as a girl, too? You let out a sad sigh as you scan the mountain for him. But it’s so dark….
“Hey,” someone says behind you. It’s Mitch! “What are you…I thought…” You point out at the mountain.
He shrugs. “It’s just not as much fun without you,” he admits, looking down shyly. “Besides, I didn’t want to miss having dinner with you.”
You grin at him. “Ready?” he says, taking your hand and leading you over to the dining hall. Maybe he has noticed that you’re a girl after all!
END
Chapter 68
You get back up to your room and take out your bikini and lay it on the bed. How could you ever wear that around Travis? Your face starts turning red just thinking about it—you hope Travis will understand when you don’t show up. You decide to take a bath instead, maybe that will help with all your aches and bruises. And you’re so exhausted from learning how to snowboard that you practically fall asleep in the tub! When you get out, you change into your favorite flannel pajamas and curl up on the bed. The guys made snowboarding look so easy—why are you in so much pain?
There’s a knock on the door, and you think it must be your friends, back from the slopes. Wait until you show them your bruises!
But when you open the door, it’s not your friends—it’s Travis! “Oh…,” you say.
“You didn’t come down to the hot tub, so I thought I’d come see how you were,” he says. He looks so different without his snowboarding stuff on—tall and thin, in jeans and a T-shirt.
“I’m okay,” you finally say, “just sore.” Then you realize that you’re wearing your pajamas and you start to blush.
“I have just the thing for that,” Travis says, holding out a paper cup. You take it in your hands and it’s warm. Hot chocolate!
“This is so good, thanks,” you say, taking a sip. “If you’re feeling up to it, you can come down and sit by the fire with me—some other girls are also wearing pj’s, so you don’t even have to change.”
You look down at your fuzzy slippers and grin. You missed one chance to hang out with him because you didn’t want him to see you in a bikini, and now you’re wearing your pajamas! You can’t help but laugh.
“What’s so funny?” Travis says, looking at you with a smile.
“First you see me in a snowsuit, now pajamas,” you tell him. “I’m feeling fashion-challenged around you, I guess!”
“You looked cute today,” Travis says. “Even when you were falling on your butt! And you look even more adorable now.” He leans in and gives you a tiny kiss on the forehead. Looks like you’ve landed yourself a snowboarding sweetie!
END
Chapter 69
You take a look over at Jim—he seems nice enough. “Okay, you two,” the guy running the chairlift yells, and you step up with Jim to get on. The guy closes the bar across both of you, then you’re on your way.
As the chairlift pulls you up, you glance back down to Heather, who’s so busy talking to Henry she doesn’t even wave.
“So,” Jim says, stretching his arm out around your shoulders. “How do you like the ski trip so far?”
“I’m having a good time,” you tell him. “Haven’t skied much, but I guess that’s only part of the fun, right?”
“Exactly,” Jim says, and leans in on you. “Uh, what are you doing?” you ask him. “Just having fun,” Jim says in a slimy way as he moves his face closer to yours. You can smell whatever he ate for lunch on his breath.
“Not interested,” you say, turning your face away.
“What, you’ve got a boyfriend or something?” Jim asks. “I won’t tell if you don’t.” He gives you a smile that turns your stomach.
“I don’t have a boyfriend,” you tell him. “I just don’t like you that way.”
“Man! I knew I should have ridden the chairlift with your cute friend, what’s her name again, Heather?”
You just shake your head at him. You can’t believe you took a chance on this guy! Heather’s friend was right—he’s not the kind of guy you want to go skiing, or anywhere else, with!
END
Wish you’d never gotten on the chairlift with this creep? Go back to Chapter 62.
Chapter 70
“Oh, I heard that Mrs. Bulow is outside, so I’m just getting my coat so that I can find her,” you lie.
“Okay,” Heather says. “’Bye,” you say as you go out the door. You feel terrible about lying to your friend, but then you remember that Dan liked you first! And he said he was just using Heather to get close to you.
You race down to the lobby to meet him.
Go to Chapter 63.
Chapter 71
You pick up the bottle of self-tanner and shake it hard, then spray it all over yourself as the directions say. Then you spray some on your face and rub it all around. It smells terrible, like burnt toast.
“There! Now I’m a real ski bunny,” you tell your reflection as you wash your hands. And wait.
And wait some more.
It doesn’t seem to be working, so you spray on a little more, then a lot more. You look in the mirror. You’re still pale!
You read the back of the bottle again, carefully, and see where it says “…can take up to two hours to
see results.” Grrrrrr! Now what? Should you just head down to the hot tub looking ghostly white and smelling of self-tanner, or wait longer to see if this stuff works? You wonder how long Travis is going to wait for you….
You decide to just head to the hot tub.
You’d rather wait longer.
Chapter 72
You put down the self-tanner and wrap yourself in a big, fluffy towel. That stuff never seems to work on you, anyway. When you get down to the hot tub, there are two other girls sitting in it, but Travis isn’t there yet—perfect! You quickly drop your towel and climb in, letting the bubbles hide you.
Just as you get settled in, Travis shows up. “You look comfortable in there,” he says to you as he slides into the hot water. “Whoa, this is really hot!”
“I think it feels perfect,” you tell him, grinning. “Thanks for suggesting this—it’s exactly what my bruises and bumps needed!”
“You did a great job for a beginner,” he tells you. “Really? Then why am I in so much pain?” you laugh. “Check this out….” You hold your knee up out of the water so that Travis can see the big purple bruise there.
“Man, that looks bad!” he says, touching your knee gently. “You’re delicate, huh?” He rubs his finger over the bruise. “Probably because your skin is super soft.”
You put your leg back down and notice that Travis is either blushing or just turning red from the water temperature. “Snowboarding is really hard at first, but you’ll get it,” he says. “If you want to, we can try again tomorrow, just the two of us….”
