Bail | LRH

Chapter 19: terrain park

Adrian Casey

"Free at last, free at last!" Luke yelled while pumping both of his fists in the air as we both stepped out of the double doors of the ice rink. Clearly relieved to be emancipated of his duties of running the snack shack, he had this big grin plastered on his face as we walked over to the next door board rental shop.

I let out a small laugh and rolled my eyes at the boy just a couple feet in front of me as his excitement was radiating onto me and even I was getting a bit restless to hit the slopes and get maybe one or two runs in before the lifts closed for the night.

When we walked into the shop we were instantly greeted by the owner, Sam, who sold us every board we've ever bought. "Two of my favorite customers! What brings you two superstars here this late at night?" He asked us as he leaned over on his elbows that were resting on top of the counter in the corner of the store.

"Hi Sam!" I greeted him while I gave him a wave and walked over to the side of the store, skimming through the various different boards for sale, taking in the different designs and patterns some had compared to the ones that were of a singular solid color.

While I was browsing through the store, I could see from the corner of my eye Luke walking up to the counter to ask Sam our big question. If he said no, then it was back to the ice rink for us.

"So Sam, we–" Luke started as he gestured to me and cleared his throat, "have a favor to ask from you."

"What's up kid?" Sam asked, raising an eyebrow skeptically.

"We were wondering if we could possibly borrow some of the old, used boards? Just for the night until the lifts close which is in like an hour so it wouldn't be long" Luke asked as he put his hands together in a praying manner.

I walked over to the counter to join Luke at his side at this point and Sam let out a laugh.

"What's so funny?" I asked, cocking my head to the side.

"You guys," was all Sam said looking between Luke and I.

"What?" I questioned.

"Both of you. You guys are funny; you expect me to believe that you" he pointed to Luke this time, " and Casey over here" he continued pointing to me now "are going on a joy ride down the mountain? Together? I never thought I'd see the day."

"You could say we've come to some sort of agreement" Luke chimed in looking down at me, as I nodded in agreement.

"I don't know if I believe that after the history you kids have, but since you're my favorite customers I'll let you take the boards" Sam shrugged.

"Yes!" Luke and I cheered as we high fived which made Sam laugh again as he brought out two boards with boots and bindings for us to use for the remainder of the night.

"Just don't kill each other and bring everything back in one piece, I trust you kids" Sam finished as we told him a quick thank you and that he didn't need to worry as we took the gear from his hands and began walking towards the front door of the shop.

We stopped right before the exit and exchanged our shoes for boots, leaving our vans and converse inside the store so they could stay warm and dry as the rest of us would become cold and damp from the snow.

Since neither of us planned on actually snowboarding today we were dressed in very inconvenient clothing for the snow, but of course that wouldn't stop us. We were both in jeans and a hoodie, while a hoodie was perfectly normal for us, the jeans were going to be quite the experience and definitely a very chilling one.