A High School Trip! What could go wrong? It's a day spent skiing or staying indoors as the teens take in the recent snowfall, as well as taking in their feelings about each other, their friendships, and their wishes for more.
PART IX - AVALANCHE
Skiing was an activity that was perfect for a winter trip, yet not all the teenagers on the trip knew how to ski.
Noire thought it was disgustingly classist of them to throw it into the itinerary and wished she had brought a book to read if she was just going to hang out in the cozy ski lodge all day.
She’d like to give whoever planned this part a piece of her mind.
Not only was it a blatantly rich person’s sport, but the equipment rental was not free and Noire didn’t have extra money to spare for it.
It had snowed all night so there was a fresh pile of it just waiting to be skied on.
Or sledding.
She spies some old decorative wooden sleds adorning the entrance.
Noire remembered sledding when she was a little girl, before her family had moved to Kashmire.
Now that was fun! Erik, her brother, would hold her in front of him as they zoomed down the large hills, with the cold air stinging their cheeks before a pile of snow splashed them at the bottom. Only then, to run back up shouting and laughing to go again.
She wished her brother could be as fun as he used to be. Nowadays, he just seemed to hang out with his girlfriend. His world utterly revolved around her. He was so whipped. Noire felt completely left behind and she didn’t have anyone else.
She made her way inside.
Sledding was childish anyway.
Sledding was childish anyway.
Noire found herself in a shop, with rows and rows of gloves, jackets, hats, and other assorted winterwear. Overpriced, but what else would one expect in a tourist town like Three Lakes?
“You aren’t going to ski?”
“I don’t know how,” Noire admits, hearing Colleen ask from behind her–unaware she had followed Noire inside.
“Well, pick out some skis! I can teach you!”
Colleen says it so simple as if it’s nothing more than a five-minute lesson and Noire will surely know how to ski when she’s finished. Acting as if Noire could just afford to do so at the drop of a hat. If only life were as simple and efficient as Colleen made it out to be.
She eyes Colleen, who is dressed in a warm faux-fur lined jacket and boots, ready for the cold slopes with a bright, encouraging smile, and wonders if Colleen had happy family vacation memories of skiing when she was a child, and if that’s why she’s so proficient.
“No, thanks.”
Colleen wilts, seeming wounded after putting herself out there to offer help. She usually doesn’t do that with people, being such a shut-in.
Noire identifies the look of rejection and assures, “It’s fine, I just don’t want to waste your time. This is your vacation too, and you don’t have to spend time out of it on my account.”
“What if I want to?” Colleen objects, “It’s my choice.”
Noire sighs and stops browsing the store items, none of which she is interested in buying—just a way to avoid eye contact, “I don’t like the cold. I’d rather be indoors.”
“Why did you even come on this trip then?”
There it was. The million-simoleon-question.
Noire didn’t like outdoor sports, she didn’t enjoy the cold, she didn’t take pleasure in conversing with strangers. Tangled up in all that dislike, there was something she wanted out of it though–the travel. She liked the journey. Seeing was the experience. Observing the cultures, and the activities, was enough. To see how others lived, unlike her, created a fascination and a deep and roiling jealousy because she couldn’t have any of it.
She doesn’t remember anything of her father, and can’t determine his character between her brother’s recollection of a doting man and her mother’s recollection of an abusive one. Her mother is not of sound mind, and her brother was very young when they lost Papa.
Mr. Hart had sent them all to therapy after the incident with her mother and she was able to talk about some of these things but once she and her brother moved, the sessions stopped and she hadn’t been able to talk about her darker thoughts and feelings since then. They all were locked up inside her; one look at Colleen and she knew she didn’t want to taint that sunshine face with her trauma.
Noire sighs and hopes Colleen hasn’t taken her silence for rudeness as she struggles with her thoughts. A simple, yet truthful answer emerges.
“I wanted to get away for a while.”
Colleen can take a hint. Noire wants to be left alone to brood, which is unfortunate.
"Then I'll leave you alone...for a while," she says before leaving the shop before Noire can reply.
She feels embarrassed, she hoped she could spend more time with Noire—she seemed interesting and up until that moment, an amiable contender for a new friend.
The feeling is soon blown away by the cold air and the view of April unbuckling her feet from a snowboard and wedging it upright into the snow. Colleen glomps through it to meet April at the bottom of the hill, "How was it?"
Colleen had never snowboarded before and was eager to hear April's take on it.
"Not bad," April muses and rubs her rear, "Though I did fall down once or twice."
"Hey, I have a question. You and Noire go to the same school—is she always so...?"
April's smile fades, "What? You mean always such a gloomy cupcake?"
Colleen's mouth twists, keeping from laughing at the weird description but yes, Noire was pretty much a gloomy cupcake.
"I asked her to come ski with me but she declined. She didn't seem to even want to come on this trip for what it was, seeming to use it as an excuse to get away. From what though? It got so awkward I just left her alone."
April looks to think a moment, "Trust me, I don't know that much about her either, even for being at the same school. She keeps to herself. From what I've heard, her mother is a total nutjob, locked away in prison and her father is dead. So, yeah, her gloomy aura is pretty legit."
This is a shock to Colleen! She would have had no idea, as Noire didn't offer any information like that. But then why should she? She barely knew Colleen and only had met her a few days ago!
"But I will tell you one thing, I've seen her smile more on this trip than I've ever seen her smile at school. Just give her a little space to brood and I think it will be okay," April advises.
Colleen nods, agreeing it's for the best.
"So, you gonna try snowboarding up there?"
Colleen lets out a nervous laugh, "I don't think I'm ready for that but I'll do some skiing."
Caleb and Lai have ridden up the ski lift and are at the top of the slope together. Caleb had been skiing before, albeit he wasn’t as good at it as he was at ice skating.
Lai was waiting to see if Caleb had found her present to him–the new comic book. He hadn’t mentioned anything so perhaps he hadn’t opened his briefcase yet. She tried to keep herself from spoiling the surprise.
“What’s with that look?” Caleb notices and asks, he’s poised to start his descent.
The mountain they are on is one of the biggest peaks in Three Lakes. Lai hasn’t been skiing before in her life and won’t admit it out loud but she is scared of heights. She’s been masterfully avoiding catching a view of the long way down.
She figures she will just take the lift back down once Caleb is off–she came up for support. If she keeps her eyes on the horizon, everything will be fine.
“Nothing, it’s just a great day!” she says jovially.
It causes him to laugh, not in a mean way just a slightly pleasant yet confused one, “Well, I’m glad you are having one.”
He slides forward on his skis and flashes a smile at her, “Wish me luck!”
Lai smiles and gives him a thumbs up and not even five meters down he trips over the tip of his skis and lands on his ass.
“Caleb!” Lai shouts, and for a moment looks down, the height of where she is seems to expand out and she sees him in the snow.
She swears under her breath and steps forward carefully, on shaky legs, “Are you okay?!”
Alice squints into the sunlight as she looks up the incline, she had been watching Caleb and Lai–gauging if there was any chance she can get a moment alone with him. She sees Lai help Caleb out of the snow and gestures him to continue his way down.
Lai isn’t wearing Skis and so has no choice but to climb back up and take a seat in the ski lift for a ride down.
Caleb carves his way down, in between the flags with some recovered grace until he comes to a halt at the bottom.
He is red in the cheeks, whether from embarrassment for his earlier bail or just the cold, Alice can’t tell.
She uncrosses her arms and makes her way into the ski lodge, waiting in the entryway to catch Caleb since he’ll be alone for once. Hells, it feels so much better inside. She rubs her hands together for more warmth and after a few minutes, Caleb wanders in, seeming just as relieved to get out of the cold.
“Hey Caleb,” Alice chirps as if she hadn’t been waiting for him and this is just a pleasant surprise of running into each other.
“Oh, hey there Alice. Are you feeling any better from yesterday?” he looks genuinely concerned and it touches her. She feels herself smile.
“Yeah, thanks again for the advice. When did you learn how to ski?” she asks as if she didn’t know.
“Oh,” he says, blinking, caught off-guard, realizing she had been watching and probably saw his fall, “A few years ago. My parents and Leenie really love the sport but I haven’t gotten quite used to it.”
He was trying to excuse his discoordination that she must have seen.
“I’m not that good at it either, so I didn’t even attempt it. You were brave to try,” Alice puts on a bright smile. It works, he seems to let out the tension he’s been holding in his shoulders since she asked about it and he returns the smile.
“You look cold, want me to grab you a hot cocoa or something?” Alice offers.
“Thanks but–”
“Brrrrrrrrr!” they hear Lai enter through the ski lodge doors, “Thanks for waiting!”
“Lai already offered,” Caleb shrugs helplessly as he follows her into the cafeteria.
“Oh,” Alice pouts a bit but doesn’t make it too obvious, then mumbles “Maybe another time?”
She doubts Caleb hears her as he doesn’t indicate so and keeps walking, but she’s glad he didn’t; she feels like face palming because when is the next time they will be here? They only have two days left on their class trip!
Or maybe it could be construed as to maybe the next time they were cold she could buy him a hot chocolate, Three Lakes wasn’t in short supply of it.
She sees Caleb has taken a seat at one of the tables while Lai is in line at the bakery. April looks to be holding up the line with deciding what to order. Alice begrudgingly joins Lai in line, she really does want a hot chocolate of her own.
“So,” Alice says, just to start a conversation, “Did you get your evaluation paperwork finished last night?”
Lai gives her a searing look, because Caleb is in ear shot. Alice glances over but Caleb looks to be in his own thoughts, his focus is on Lai. The way he looks at his best friend is so obvious, it is adorably pathetic. Lai has to know or have some inkling of his feelings toward her.
“I wanted to keep that a secret,” Lai replies quietly, with her eyes narrowed through clenched teeth.
“Oh damn, I didn’t realize,” Alice says honestly, now intrigued at why Lai is being so secretive about it. Then she nearly whispers, “I don’t think he heard me.”
Lai dares a glance back and can see as such. Caleb just gives her a doofy smile and she eases up.
“I want that pie,” April decides and the cashier removes it from the display for her.
“Are you really gonna eat that whole pie by yourself, April?” Lai asks with slight astonishment.
“Naw, I’m gonna share it with y’all,” April smiles taking it from the counter and placing it at the same table where Caleb is sitting.
"That's kind of you!" Lai beams and puts in an order for her drink before joining them as well.
As they sit and chat about their winter activities, Colleen enters the Ski lodge, also seeking warmth.
She can't stop thinking about what April said about Noire. It makes her feel sad. It's all she thought about while skiing by herself. She wishes she could do something for Noire.
"Colleen! What's the matter?" Lai is the first to read Collen's downcast look and address it.
So very on point for her.
Colleen is grateful for Lai, they aren't besties like Lai is with her brother but Lai has always been secondary support to Colleen growing up. Lai's always just been around. April looks concerned too, but April doesn't have to ask why Colleen looks so melancholy.
"Come! Sit with us," Lai offers the last seat and Colleen does. She hugs herself.
"Leenie..." Caleb prompts her in that older brotherly voice he uses when she's not speaking her true feelings and hiding them.
"I feel bad for Noire. I wanna do something nice for her but I don't know what since I don't know her that well. April told me her family life isn't very good and Noire told me the only reason she's on this trip is to get away."
Caleb sighs, not in an exasperated way but he knows his sister, and she can get highly sympathetic toward people without knowing them very well.
"Well, is there anything more you can tell us about her, April?"
They sit and listen and eat pie as April reveals all she knows about Noire Denholm, which is mostly just rumors. They hatch a plan to get to know her better without being overbearing.
Collen really loves the idea and it lifts her spirits. They will each try to learn something about Noire for the remainder of the trip and then show her she is appreciated.
"We can get her a gift too," April suggests. Colleen wants to be the one to pick it out.
Alex blows into the Ski lodge after a bit of time out boarding. Doing so on slopes is so different than on the half pipe the other day. Powdery or packed snow makes the difference and Alex may have fallen down a few more times than he cares to admit. Angelo had been with him but finished earlier. The cold is biting which is why they've taken a break like most others in the group; a little break for warmth.
"Do you want to run a few more?"
"Your stamina is commendable," Angelo states, which hints that he's tapped out.
"Come on, you're the best boarder at the skate park and you're giving up now?" Alex flirt-taunts. Angelo holds in a laugh.
Alex just doesn't know when to quit and that may be the death of him. It's hard to say no when Alex is so enthusiastic but all Angelo wants to do is grab a hot cocoa and rest his legs. Cuddle, preferably but he can see Ryder out of the corner of his eye and it already feels awkward flirting with Alex in front of him.
"Nah man, but I won't stop you if you go for another run. I think I'm done for the day."
Ryder has actually been parked in the ski lodge all morning. He hates the cold. He feels so isolated, can't talk to his best friend, and won't talk to Alice. Lai and Caleb and the others are occupied.
He can hear them talking about Noire but no one cared to let him on their plan and don't know that he knows more about her than any of them, on account of living next door to her before her family imploded.
He slumps over; he doesn't know what else to do.
Alice is used to the attention. Perhaps not the right kind of attention, but it was jarring to be sitting alone at the Ski lodge. She wasn't planning to but Colleen took the spot she had intended to, leaving Alice to awkwardly find her own seating.
She didn’t dare approach Ryder after his outburst at her the day before. Even though he was alone as well. Right there in front of her.
It said something about her as a person that Ryder would choose to suffer alone than have her nearby to comfort him.
It made her angry, rather than introspective. Just a hair away from the self-reflection she so badly needed for herself to improve.
How did Noire handle it? She always seemed to be alone. Alice couldn't stand it, but maybe on a subconscious level knew it was what she deserved for her own antics. Not that she would ever admit it.
She doesn't need to worry about Ryder being bummed out for too long as she watches him leave after her brother. If he's hoping for an amiable chat then maybe he doesn't know Alex as well as he thinks he does.
"What?" Alex spins around, finally addressing his new shadow.
Ryder's eyes widen as if he's been caught sneaking up on Alex but Alex could hear the snow crunching behind him. It's not like Ryder was being subtle about following him, but it must be something important for Ryder to brave this extra cold day to do it.
Ryder brushes his hand through his hair and behind his head nervously, "Can we talk?"
"About how you kissed my sister?" Alex's lip lifts in a sarcastic snarl. He's hiding behind a forced smile, "I'd rather not. I just wanna enjoy the slopes in peace, man. Don't need a reminder of that scene I witnessed."
"It wasn't what you think!" Ryder begins to protest and Alex's brows knot into a frown. They hear a sharp 'whumph' from behind them.
They both turn and look for what caused the noise, both feel a jolt of terror at what they see...
The fresh snow is not only perfect for skiing, but also for avalanches!
Without thinking, Ryder grabs Alex's sleeve and pulls him to follow—they start running. Not from it exactly, but to the side. There's no way they would straight outrun the wall of snow that's barreling toward them!
Alex doesn't protest. Just shouts a string of expletives as they run. The snow makes it difficult, the trees offer little protection. All that can be thought or felt is desperation and fear.
The avalanche runs its course in a matter of minutes, luckily the ski lodge is safe from the slide, but everyone inside can hear the wind and feel the snow slam against the timbers.
They run to the entrance when it settles and look at the damage.
"Weren't Alex and Ryder still out on the slope?" they hear Lai ask—her voice squeaks with panic.
They were.
But not anymore.
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