Page 40

Chapter 9

The resort looked...small.

From my perch on top of the steep hill, the once magnificent building appeared rather dingy and insignificant. Even the people hustling to and from the various structures resembled nothing more than ants. Faces blended together, colors appeared muted, and words were inarticulate.

Was that all I was? Something so small and insignificant that, from afar, I was barely noticeable?

“What are you thinking about?” Calax grunted from beside me. He looked intimidating in his black winter coat and black hat. He had always been enormous, but, with the added fluff, he looked particularly terrifying. I wanted to point out that he resembled a burnt marshmallow, but I figured that I liked my limbs intact. The metal bulb in his eyebrow glinted in the sunlight.

“About the apparent insignificancy of our lives. How we’re just one of billions of people attempting to put our mark on the world. How, in a couple of hundreds of years, we’re all going to be forgotten.”

Ryder let out a low whistle from behind me.

“Damn girl, and here I was, just thinking about what we’re going to eat for lunch.”

I snorted and turned towards the immense slope. It looked especially menacing from this angle, though I suppose that was the point with a name like Death Cross. I could see a few tire tracks in the snow despite the early hour. One of them appeared to swivel off course and into a tree.

Ouch.

Turning my back to the hill, I watched the guys discuss turns. I had gone down that slope hundreds of times before. Hell, I even invented an original pathway (through two trees, over a precariously positioned rock, and a sharp turn to avoid face planting into an icy river). But...

“I’m going to the bunny slope,” I declared, referring to a diminutive hill a short ski away. The slope was designed for children and beginners.

The boys’ faces showed disbelief.

“Don’t be a chicken, Addie,” Calax said.

“Come on! It’ll be fun!” Ryder pleaded.

I rolled my eyes at their antics.

“Since Tam’s my current favorite, he gets to accompany me.”

That, of course, set off a chorus of rejections.

“Don’t argue with me,” I said, skiing towards Tamson and linking my arm with his. He wavered under my added weight, nearly toppling into the snowbank. I immediately released him.

“We’ll meet you back at the lobby in an hour! And then you boys can buy your sister that isn’t a sister some coffee!”

The boys chuckled and waved me away, though they all seemed slightly disappointed.

I skied alongside Tam in silence, arriving at the small hill situated nearby a cluster of trees. With this positioning, you had to ski through the forest to arrive at the hill, but it also assured the skier that she wouldn’t hit any trees when descending.

“Um...Addie?” Tam asked. I turned to smile at him, pushing with my sticks (because I never learned the actual name of them) to glide down the hill. The movement felt natural, an extension of my own feet.

Upon reaching the bottom of the hill, I smiled up at Tam with contentment. He remained at the top, hands clenched over his own poles as he surveyed me.

Moving my skis into a V, I climbed back up the hill and skied towards Tam.

“You’re obviously not a novice,” Tam pointed out. “So why didn’t you want to ski down the big hill with the others?”

I rolled my eyes.

“Because of you, of course.”

“Me?” His eyes widened in disbelief.

“I saw your face when you were on the ski lift. You looked terrified. And then, when you were skiing towards the first hill, you looked more awkward than a baby penguin on steroids. No offense. Why didn’t you tell your friends that you didn’t know how to ski?”