Things We Don't Normally Do

FOUR

"Two conditions" Alex says, residual liquid courage letting her get out of her head a bit more.

"Go on then." he grinned, scratching his shoulder before looking down on the ground.

Alex took her sunglasses off, allowing her eyes to adjust to the darker locker area. "One, take the goggles off for a minute. And two, I need to at least learn your name because I keep calling you goggles in my head."

"Already got me in your head now, do ya?" he still had the same grin on his face, and while still intently staring at the ground, he finally takes the goggles off.

"Don't make me hit your head again." She joked, "But yes, I'm afraid so."

"And it's Harry."

"But your friends were calling you something else, I thought."

"Bog? Yeah it's  stupid nickname. I—uhh, I don't know."

"Bog." she repeated it but didn't pronounce it quite right; or at least not the same way he and his friends pronounced it, "I thought they were saying gog like goggles. And maybe having goggles on 24/7 was your thing." She gave a short laugh, mostly to herself.

"Just call me Harry." he smiled, briefly lifting his blue gaze to meet her dark brown eyes before staring the floor again. He was scratching his shoulder again,  something that she was beginning to suspect to be  nervous habit.

Alex got got her phone out, unlocked it and quickly navigated to message Stella. She snapped a photo of Harry, sending it along a short message.

If I end up dead in a ditch,
I'm with this guy, Harry.

Omg Alex wtf.

Stella replied almost instantly and was already typing another message.

He's cute though!

Ted Bundy was supposed to
be attractive too, right?

So you agree he's cute?

She locked her phone, leaving her best friend on read.

"Okay so," she was zipping her bright pink outer jacket now, "This isn't me backtracking but I'm really shit at snowboarding."

"I know," he laughs before adding, "I saw."

"What do you mean, you saw?" she felt her face get hot.

"From the lift." he was scratching his chest now, "Tried giving you some encouragement."

"Oh." It was only then that it started making sense to her now. Harry was wearing the same bright blue jacket as the guy who had given her a thumbs up a few hours earlier, "Oh that's great."

You know how they tell you to not worry about looking stupid when you're trying new things because nobody is actually looking? And everyone else is supposed to be too busy caring about what they themselves are doing to worry about you? Well Alex is beginning to think that's a lie.

"You're fine, lad." he grinned, "It's your first time right? We can't all be amazing on the first go."

"I feel like crawling under a rock now, to be honest."

"Nah, come on. I've got you."

Harry grabbed both their boards on their way to the bunny hill, strapping his left foot in before the magic carpet. Alex, all nerves, decided she would wait until they were on the top. She kept feeling anxious about looking stupid--something that always got in the way when she was trying new things. She hated it and always wished she could quiet it down.