The Night

Chapter 20: Snowboarding

2nd chapter of the day!!!

Skye's POV
At the count of three, we all put pressure on both legs. We pushed ourselves off the top of the mountain and slid down. The wind pushed past me with quick force. The chilly air brought snowflakes to my face. Luckily, I had goggles on, so the snow didn't affect my vision. I looked over to my left and saw Everest snowboarding with delight. She began to do tricks she learned when taking lessons from Jake. Rubble was cheering and doing some tricks of his own. On my right, Zuma was snowboarding close to Rocky, who was having trouble steering.

"Trees up ahead!" Zuma warned.

"Where!?" Rocky trembled.

"Up ahead!" Everest pointed. We all looked over and saw trees getting close.

"I'm not ready!" Rocky worried. "Why did I agree to this!?"

"You didn't!" Rubble laughed. "Just go with the flow!" We needed to scream to hear each other due to the sound of snow crunching and wind gushing.

"What if "the flow" wants me to fall!?"

"Stop worrying so much!" Everest yelled. "You'll be fine!"

"If I could do it, you can too!" I told him. He nodded and gulped. We all looked ahead of us and saw the trees approaching.

"Later, losers!" Hunter yelled as he flew by us.

"Where'd he come from!?" I wondered.

"No clue!" Rubble hollered. Seeing Hunter reminded me of Bolt. Where did he go? Were we that far behind him?

"Have any of you seen Bolt!?" I asked.

"Nope!" Zuma responded. Everyone else shook their heads. Where is he?

"Trees!" Rocky yelled. Out of nowhere, trees surrounded us. My instincts kicked in, causing me to avoid them. Trees were everywhere, making it difficult to avoid them. Every inch was a new turn. I wanted to look over at everyone else to see how they were doing, but if I took my eyes off of the trees for a second, there was a possibility I could crash.

"This isn't easy!" Everest shouted. From the corner of my eye, I could see her having trouble keeping up with all the twists and turns. If she couldn't do this, I'm surprised I haven't crashed yet.

"Rocky! Zuma! Are you guys there!?" I hollered.

"I'm here!" Zuma answered.

"I'm alive!" Rocky shouted. "Somehow...!"

"There's a clearing!" I pointed.

"Hallelujah!" Zuma yelled.

"Hi, guys!" Marshall greeted us as he caught up. I heard Everest scoff with an eye-roll. Sometimes I don't understand her. She feels like she likes him but goes off and doesn't treat him well. Worst of all, she doesn't admit she likes him. "Why did you guys decide to come here!?"

"What'd you mean "come here"!?" Zuma confusingly asked.

"I saw you guys come here, so I followed!" Marshall explained. "But instead of coming here through the trees, you could have avoided them and gone over there!" Marshall pointed to a clearing close by where people were snowboarding.

"Bruh!" Zuma screamed.

"We followed Everest!" Rocky blamed.

"Well, I'm sorry!" Everest responded sarcastically. "Did I tell you to!?"

"That doesn't matter!" Rubble shouted. "We're almost out!"

"No!" Rocky shrieked. I heard him fall and saw Rubble and Zuma stop. I know how to stop and have practiced, but that was when I didn't have millions of trees around me. Here goes nothing. I turned to my side and leaned down so I could break and avoid crashing. I slid down a little further but stopped right in front of a tree. I got off of my snowboard and ran to the others. Hopefully, no other snowboarders come rolling down to crash into us.

"Rocky, are you alright!?" Rubble asked as he and Zuma made it to him. Rocky had fallen in the snow face first. His shoulders up weren't visible, and his legs stuck out. I made it to them panting. I reached out and tried to help Rocky out. Zuma reached out to Rocky's right to help as Rubble grabbed Rocky's feet. The three of us worked together to pull Rocky out. Everest and Marshall weren't around, so they probably continued down the mountain.

"On three?" Rubble asked as Zuma and I nodded in agreement. "Three!" We all pulled Rocky out with all of our strength, causing him to pop out of the snow. Rocky landed on Rubble, pushing them both down the mountain. They tumbled down until neither Zuma nor I could see them.

"Let's go!" Zuma yelled. I grabbed my board and hopped on. I reached for Rubble's and made my way down the mountain. Zuma did the same but got Rocky's board.

"Do you see 'em!?" I shouted.

"Nope!" He responded. We continued to slide down as we increased our speed. We found them both rolling down the mountain together like a ball. Zuma broke out into laughter and pointed at the two.

"Tree!" I warned.

"What!?" Rubble questioned. In a matter of seconds, they both collided with a nearby tree. All that was heard were their bones crack.

"Ouch," I said to myself as I flinched, imagining the pain. Zuma and I braked and stopped right beside the two. "Are you guys okay?"
--
Everest's POV
"Skye!?" I called out. No answer. "Rocky!? Zuma!? Rubble!?" No answer. "Marshall!?"

"Yes!?" Oh great. Out of all the people that could've answered.

"Where'd everyone go!?"

"I have no clue! Let's wait for them at the bottom!" Let's? There's no "let's" in this. There was never a "let's". Not in this, never before, and never will be. I just shrugged and continued snowboarding. Snowboarding is one of my favorite things to do. The breeze, the snow, the fun. Everything about it is just so perfect. Do you know when you decide to just lay down and think life through? I do that, but when I snowboard. It helps me clear my mind and take in the fresh cold air. Relax. It won't be easy when someone who confuses me is close by. I don't want to accept it, but I think I feel a little more for him. Whenever I think of him, I can't keep a smile off of my face.

He doesn't make me feel different inside. Just happy. Happy when I think of him, talk to him, anything. This feeling is so confusing that I'm not 100% sure I like him. Do I? Or do I just think I do? Does he like me? Or is he just being creepy and friendly? Or am I imagining everything? Am I just being dramatic? These questions spiraled my head, searching for an answer. Maybe he doesn't look at me as much as I think he does. This could be an explanation for all my questions except for the one wondering whether I have a crush on him or just a friendly feeling. After passing about seven trees, we made it out. Finally free. I can practice my flips and tricks. I jumped up, did a backflip, and landed back on my board.

"Woah!" Marshall astonishingly stated. "How'd you do that!?"

"I learned how to do that when I was eight!" I replied. Even with the cold air brushing my face, I felt my cheeks get warmer.

"Cool! Can you show me!?"

"Uh, sure! We can head over there!" I pointed to the end of the snowboarding trail.