1
I woke up in the resort bed, and looked out my window finding the beautiful Colorado mountains covered in snow, just the way I liked it. It was spring break. Personally I thought March hardly counted as spring, especially on the west side of the Untied States where I originally grew up in Denver, Colorado. But in Tallahassee, Florida all year could be considered spring, if not summer. When I came back to Winter Park, the ski resort I learned to snowboard at, it made me wonder why two years ago I had chosen a school so far away, with such a lack of Winter. It didn’t ever take long to retort the correct answer, or in my case a plural answers, the combination of family problems, the hometown drama, and my ex-boyfriend had all contributed in pushing me to the opposite corner of the country. Maybe I had made a hasty decision. I could have applied anywhere and probably would have been accepted, but Florida State was a good school, even though there winter sports teams were non-existent.
Dawn was breaking and fragments of sunlight were bouncing in all directions off of the lightly powder dusted snow. Perfect weather and I didn’t want to miss any of it! Slowly I got up, sleep had worked its way into my joints like a binding adhesive. Shaking my limbs I walked to the twin bed next to mine and shook my best friend Krista awake.
After mumbling for a few minuets and checking the alarm clock she screamed, “PAIGE! It is 7:30! Were on break! Can’t we just sleep in?”
“No way! Do you want all of the powder to be carved up and ruined by the time we finally get out?”
“Actually, you know what?” She asked, her voice brightened up and as she buried her head in her pillow making her next words barley audible. “I don't really care!”
Carters lips were on mine before I knew he was in the room. He kissed me sweetly, and momentarily I had forgotten where I was, which was the usual when I was around Carter. “Good morning beautiful, whats all the shouting about?”
“Well I was trying to get Krista up so we could hit the slopes, but she thinks its to early.”
“I think that Shawn would agree with her on this.” Shawn was Krista's boyfriend and Carters best friend. Carter and Shawn had know each other ever sense they could remember. Naturally, they attended Florida State together, where Shawn meet Krista, and then they set me up with Carter. Originally it had been to get me out of the dorm and away from my studying but something about Carter and I just clicked, it just worked. That was 7 months ago. When we were stumped on ideas for spring break, I suggested we all come to Colorado.
I brought my attention back to the present. “We could go, just us two, and they could meet us later.” I pleaded.
“Or we could just wait for them to get up.” His suggestion was exactly the opposite of mine, and the only reason I went along with it was because Carter had said it. He was the only person who could get me to give out on an argument that quickly.
We sat together on the couch in the living room for and hour and forty-seven minuets. It wasn’t a terribly long wait. I sat wrapped in Carters arms while we talked about nothing in particular. Too be honest, I wouldn’t have been able to carry out a organized conversation while the thought of being on my board again was ripping at my mind.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
By ten all four of us were sitting on the lift. Shawn put the bar down over our laps because Carter suggested it; he thought I would fall off, it was a reasonable request I was so excited I couldn’t sit still.
The first run was just to get us refreshed. Carter and Shawn were from Alpine, Utah and had snowboarded sense they were five years old. Krista had been snowboarding for seven years. I had been snowboarding sense before I could walk. But none of us had been for the past two years, going to the mountain was too long of a drive and too expensive for collage students to make a habit of.
After a few falls, it was like I had never stopped snowboarding at all. The turns came so naturally, my board easily carving through the powder and ice. I finally felt free. When I got to the bottom I looked around, no one was with me. I searched the hill and found Shawn helping Krista up, she probably wiped out pretty hard. Carter was trying to avoid slamming into a tree. They were about half way down, so I undid my bindings and waited in the lift line. About five minutes later they made it down.
“You got down here fast!” Carter exclaimed surprised.
“Yeah, I just fell a bunch.”
“You did fine Krista.” I said smiling, I wasn’t sure if it was sympathetic or if the happiness from being back on the mountain was just showing on the outside no matter how hard I tried to stop it. “Do you guys want to go down the bunny slope a few more times?”
“We need to, but you sure don’t. Why don’t you just go ahead of us.” Shawn suggested.
“No way! I’ll stay with you guys, you just need to get you snow legs back, a few more runs and I can take you up Eskimo Express, its not to hard. Tomorrow we can take a thrill run down Panoramic Express at the top of the mountain.”
“If were ready by then.” Carter laughed.
“You will be.” I smiled.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
That night we came back into the condo carrying our snowboards and laughing after a long and exhausting but completely wonderful day, but it was my favorite of my entire life. I had snowboarded all day with my three favorite people in the world and now I was sitting on the condo couch warm and comfortable with a steaming cup of hot chocolate in one hand and Carters fingers interlocked with mine in the other. I thought to myself, “Nothing could ruin this.”
