Lights Out

1 - Verbier

The snow swirled around Thea as she stood at the top of the slope looking down. She wasn't used to the cold weather and she certainly wasn't a fan of heights, but a ski trip was an opportunity she couldn't let herself pass up.

Since arriving in Switzerland five months ago, she'd had so many new experiences and opportunities and made some amazing friends. Studying abroad was a notoriously daunting experience, but Thea had vowed to throw herself into the experience head-first, and this was why she now found herself facing the ski slope before her.

She'd never been skiing before, but the idea of spending a week in the famous alpine resort of Verbier was enticing. She had envisaged herself in front of a roaring fire sipping hot cocoa, partying the night away at après ski, and zipping down the slopes at full speed.

You can guess which one of those wasn't materialising.

Thea, as it turned out, was not the naturally gifted skier of her dreams, and the blue slopes were the best she could manage. Barely. She spotted Vivi getting off the chairlift behind her and waved to her friend. Vivi had similar lack of experience but her natural athleticism was something Thea just didn't possess.

"Come on T, last one down the slope buys the first round of jäger bombs at après!" Vivi shouted before skiing straight past.

Thea sighed and set off after her friend, noting that there was really no competition. She was doomed to be dipping into her savings to splash on the Swiss-priced alcohol.

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"It really wasn't that bad," Vivi said between fits of laughter as Thea finally made it to the bottom of the slope.

"Yeah, tell that to the absolute ride of a boy I took out with my ski pole on the way down," Thea retorted, not wanting to dwell on her embarrassing accident.

She'd completely misjudged a turn and ended up face down in a snowbank minus her skis, but not before tripping up a very attractive fellow skier.

He'd offered to help her up and found her skis before zipping down the slope well ahead of her. While the handsome stranger had been very kind, Thea's pride wasn't going to recover any time soon.

Her face turned red as she unclipped her skis and made her way towards the bar which was already alive with activity at only 3:30 in the afternoon. However, the incident was nothing a few shots wouldn't help her forget and while she couldn't ski very well, she absolutely was the champion of après.

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An hour later Thea's feet were hurting from her snow boots, but they weren't in nearly as much pain as her bank account was after she made good on her promise and bought Vivi shots for her superior ski skills. They had met up with their other friends; Melanie, Ben, Miles, and Esme, and the group were squeezed onto the packed dance floor, screaming out the lyrics to the Après Ski classic that was "Mama Laudaaaa".

Thea looked around her group of friends and smiled. This was the life. They had all just finished their university exams and booked the trip to celebrate them (hopefully) managing to pass all their classes amidst the crazy experience that was studying on exchange.

"Berlinerluft anyone?" Thea heard Ben suggest the minty shot and quickly raised her hand. The fact that her vision was already pretty hazy and head spinning, didn't deter her from the chance to get drunk enough that she wouldn't feel the cold and pain of walking back to their chalet dragging her skis.

Following Ben to the bar with Esme, the trio quickly downed some shots of Berlinerluft. However, Thea wasn't drunk enough not to realise that Ben and Esme definitely seemed to be giving the more than friends vibe and quickly excused herself.

She was making her way back to the dance floor when she spotted him. The boy she'd collided with earlier on the ski slope.