Ski Trip Trouble (11 page)

If you want to skip the hot tub, go to Chapter 68.

“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.

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.

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.

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 turn 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.

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.

“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

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

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.

“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.