Avalanche

Chapter 6 | Angel Light

How she had made it through the entire meeting without screaming in frustration, Tara had no idea.

Tara was well aware that she was a novice. Her coach back in Groton had said that she was good enough to be on a professional team, so she had taken her word for it. Then she'd heard 10 years of experience, 12 years, 14, 20! How could she compare to that? This was ridiculous. She never should have agreed to Benedict Winterborn's invitation. She should have stayed in Connecticut where the company was at least pleasant.

She hadn't known them very long, but her new teammates seemed like garbage, at least the majority of them. Ricky was spoiled, Rob had anger issues, Kemen who when he did decide to open his mouth couldn't speak a sentence without 'man' or 'dude' added in somewhere.

Other than seeming like a push-over, Akari was actually ok. She hadn't meant to be so rude to her when she tried to help her from the ski lift incident. Tara had been so desperate to prove herself to everyone out snowboarding, she ended up failing. She didn't want help recovering from the stupid mistake, though she realized later that she had definitely needed it.

Benedict Winterborn had been clear that anyone who didn't meet his expectations could expect removal from the team. If Tara was going to leave the team, it would be because she chose to, not because she wasn't good enough. If she had to work twice as hard to stay on the team, so be it. She would prove herself. Now that she was here, there was no turning back.

Telling Rob off the day before after the meeting was just her way of apologizing to Akari, and putting off the vibes of confidence that she wanted to own.

Her thinking was that maybe if everyone believed she was chill and confident, one day she would believe it too.

She tried to focus on that confidence, on completing the impression she was trying to give others. She tried to push away the fact that inside, she was far from having confidence. She was currently headed out to practice snowboarding with the mindset that she was underprepared, and not ready to be with the team. She pushed it all away.

She strutted out of the resort elevator and towards the locker room. Some gazes swept over her, and she smiled. Her hip hop style may have been a little outdated, but she loved it. Expressing herself in such a way felt natural. The bold colors stood out, but she wore it well. The yellow top she wore contrasted well with her dark skin, and her pink cargo pants completed the look along with various jewelry.

As soon as she spotted Akari sitting on a bench in the locker room, solemnly putting on a pair of boots, she realized she wasn't the only one unhappy with the team. Rob hadn't needed to say much to clearly hurt Akari. Tara felt bad for the girl. If anyone shouldn't be here, it was Akari. Not for lack of talent, but for lack of boldness. She didn't even try to defend herself after Rob had thrown his insults. Tara had a feeling that those last words spoken to Akari from Rob would probably be one of the kinder things that came out of his mouth.

Tara walked over to her, trying to gather in her head what she was going to say.

"Hey, Akari, look. I'm sorry for being rude yesterday."

Akari spun around, looking startled.

"Oh uh... I'm sorry I didn't mean to scare you."

Akari laughed nervously. "No, no. It's fine."

She immediately turned her attention back to her boots.

"Are you okay?"

Akari was silent a moment, then released a small sigh. "Things have been tough for me with all the moving around."

"How so?"

"I'll be honest with you. I haven't been in the United States that long. I moved to Michigan a year ago after leaving Japan. Leaving Japan was hard, but it got easier the longer I stayed in Michigan. My team was nice. They were encouraging and helped me get used to living here. Then I got the offer to be a part of this team. I was excited because I'd always wanted to come to Aspen, and the opportunity to be here was pretty significant. But then I found it incredibly difficult to leave Michigan, and then once I got here, well, you know. I don't think we got the best teammates in the world."

Tara laughed nervously. "Yeah, tell me about it. And I really mean it when I say I'm sorry for being a jerk. I swear I'm not usually like that, it was just a bad day."

Akari give her a small smile. "I know. I was mostly referring to Rob and Ricky anyways."

"Mostly?"

Akari grinned at her, and Tara sat down beside her.

"Moving to Aspen from Groton was pretty insane by itself. I can't imagine moving to a different country. I visit some family in Kenya a few weeks out of the year, but I don't know what it would be like to live there permanently."

Akari nodded slightly, and changing the subject, spoke "So, how do you think we'll do during the competition?"

Tara shook her head. "As long as we're all separated, I think we might be fine."

Akari laughed.

"I swear," Tara continues, "those boys are going to do something stupid and sabotage our chance at the competition. Rob will really break Ricky's bones, and he'll go to jail or something."

As they continued to laugh and talk, Tara realized that she may not be completely out of luck in Aspen. Akari and Tara had developed a mutual respect and were at the beginnings of a friendship that may just help Tara survive the new team. By the looks of it, Akari had needed it too.

They continued to chat as they grabbed their boards and entered the cold air outside.