Avalanche

Chapter 5 | Tenderfoot Pass

Ricky's alarm goes off at 5:30 am the next morning, and he shuts it off. He lays in his bed for a minute or two, staring at the ceiling.

He knew immediately upon waking that today was the sort of day where you didn't feel like dealing with anyone, you just wanted to be left alone. All of his rage had been expended the day before with Rob, and he hadn't even seen Dion at all.

He dragged himself out of bed and packed a gym bag. Whenever there was something on his mind that pestered him, Ricky would do one of two things; hit the slopes or hit the gym. On this particular morning, a long and intense run on the treadmill felt like exactly what he needed. The nice thing about being the son of a resort owner was that you never needed to buy a gym pass when you could swipe a room key and head to the fitness center.

He quietly slipped out of his room and into the living room. He knew that his parents would be up by now, his dad most likely getting ready to head over to the resort. He headed over to the kitchen and opened the fridge, which had a sticky-note posted on it reminding them that the cleaning service was coming that day.

Ricky grabbed some fruit and filled a water bottle. Then he headed for the garage.

The lights flickered on as he entered the garage, revealing a row of sports cars. Oh, how is mom loathed it when he and his dad came back with another car. She claimed it was a waste of money, but as it brought he and his dad happiness, he couldn't see how it was a waste of money at all.

His personal car was a BMW i8 Roadster, whose paint glimmered under the garage light.

He threw his gym bag in the back seat, started up the car, and headed out.

He drowned out his stress by blasting punk rock. His favorites were Cauterize and Boysetsfire, but his tastes also included Rise Against, Blink-182 and Paramore.

Snow plastered itself on his windshield as it fell in thick flakes from the sky. He wondered if the road would be blocked up later.

He parked in the loading dock, which was in the back of the resort, and slipped inside as quicky as possible due to not being adequately dressed for snow.

His dad's employees were already busy, cleaning maids bustling around with their carts and receptionists already on the phone.

Ricky slipped down a few hallways until he reached the fitness center. He swiped the key card on the pad, which gave him a green light and he entered. To his delight, the fitness center was completely empty. It was a glorious feeling.

He stretched out a little bit, then got on the treadmill. He popped in some earbuds and started up the treadmill.

He started at a slow pace for a couple of minutes, watching the view from the window in front of him. It showed him the snowy hills, and the dark sky above it which continued to drop snow.

As soon as the chorus hit in the second song he listened to through his earbuds, he started to pick up the pace. He got lost in the sound of his music and of his feet pounding on the bottom of the treadmill with its ever-increasing speed. He ran until his legs wobbled, and he slowed down.

Ricky caught his breath as he slowed to walk, but almost choked when he saw who got on the treadmill next to him.

Dion Blaster.

Ricky briefly looked at him, taking in the amusement in his dark eyes. It was the same look that Dion gave him at the start of every competition, right after Ricky boasted about his talent, and right before Dion beat him big time. Ricky pushed away a snarl as he decided it was best to ignore him. Pretend he wasn't there. He had his earbuds in, so he had an excuse not to listen to him anyways.

After a minute or two of walking at a fast pace, Ricky bumps up the speed. He notices that Dion does the same, except where it's a decimal faster than Ricky's pace. He knew he did it on purpose. What a jerk.

Ricky increases his speed. So does Dion. Before he knows it, they're both in a competition.

Ricky had always hated Dion. It wasn't just because he was constantly taunting him, but also because their families have a little history.

Before Ricky was born, Benedict Winterborn was a champion skier. He had made it to the Olympics, competing for Canada, along with Dion's dad, Darnell Blaster, who was with the United States. Ricky's dad's run was what saved Canada from the U.S. that year in the Olympics. Benedict got gold, and Darnell silver. Apparently, it didn't sit well with Darnell, who, in a skiing championship in Toronto broke Benedict's leg while they were running against each other. Darnell claimed it was an accident, but tripping someone with your ski poles right before taking a jump was no accident. It took a while for Benedict to recover. He was also just newly married to Ricky's mom and decided that it was time to put competing to a rest. Ricky new it wasn't an easy decision for his dad. He'd seen the way he'd looked at skiing competitors. Ricky knew he wanted to be out there, and technically he could, but it had been so long...

From there, the Blasters and the Winterborns kept their distance. That was, until the Winterborns moved to the United States, which happened to be the same state the Blasters took residence in. Though Ricky was disgusted that Darnell Blaster had ruined his dad's skiing career, he'd found his own reasons to dislike Dion. He was a straight-out jerk. The first time he met him was at the X Games. Ricky with his overconfidence told Dion that he was toast, and Dion laughed in his face and beat him big time. Afterwards, Dion didn't hesitate to throw a mound of insults at him. That wasn't the last time that something similar happened. Ricky didn't like being second best, and never admitted it.

Here Dion was, staying at Aspen Lake Ski Resort just like he did every time right before a competition. There were no slopes in Aspen like the ones right off the resort.

Ricky and Dion were running hard. Ricky's legs burned and he was gasping for air, but he did not slow down.

Ricky ran until his sides hurt, until he couldn't seem to get enough air, and felt like puking. He looked over at Dion who was clearly struggling as well but was not slowing down. Ricky continued to run until black spots started clouding the corner of his vision. He couldn't take it anymore.

He slowed the machine down, still gasping for air. Dion continued to run for a split second before slowing down to a slight jog.

Ricky ripped out his earbuds and grabbed a towel from his gym bag, wiping his face which streamed with sweat.

Dion grinned at him, slowing down the treadmill even more. "Out of shape are we, Ricky-boy?"

"Get lost Dion," Ricky breathed heavily.

"I'd say I hope you board better than you run, but I know that isn't true." Dion was never one to leave things alone.

"You haven't seen me board in a while. You may be in for a surprise."

Dion took a sip of water from his water bottle and raised his eyebrows. "Oh really? I'm terrified."

"I'm sure you are. My team will roast you."

"Are you sure you want to make such bold claims?"

Ricky narrowed his eyes at him. "Yes, I am."

"We'll see about that." With that, Dion did a quick stretch, popped some earbuds in and headed for the weight rack. Ricky was still breathing hard as he watched him walk away.

Good riddance.

He was packing up his gym bag when he heard someone say, "You good, man?"

Ricky whirled around, and then spotted Kemen Vasquez, one of his new teammates sitting on a bench in the corner doing some arm curls.

Ricky gave a grunt as his reply. How long had Kemen been there?

Ricky gets all his stuff together and walks towards the sanitation area with wobbly legs. He notices Kemen watching him with a concerned expression, and he glares at him.

Kemen's expression changes. "No mockery here."

Ricky sanitizes the treadmill, then leaves the fitness center with a deep inhale.