Avalanche

Chapter 17 | Christmas

When Ricky finally forced himself to get out of bed the next morning, it was 10:30 AM.

Getting out of bed was no easy task, as every bone in his body ached from the previous night. He did not regret snowboarding through the city, but the scenery downtown was much less forgiving than the typical snowboarding setting.

He stuffed his feet into some slippers and shuffled out of his bedroom, not bothering to change out of his pajamas. It was Christmas, after all.

The first thing he noticed when he entered the main living area of his house was that neither of his parents were around, which he was secretly grateful for. His parents made Christmas morning a huge deal, following the same traditions every year since he was born. In truth, Ricky was too exhausted to deal with all that this morning. Hence, why he was currently making a Frappuccino, not omitting espresso shots as usual, and giving himself a generous serving of whipped cream on top. He realized that if his parents did happen to suddenly show up and see the sugary concoction he was making, he might be in for it.

The second thing he noticed was the snowboard that was tied up neatly in a bow underneath a tree; it was the latest model from Burton Boards. Usually, a new board wouldn't mean that much to Ricky, as he had too many to count, but this one was specially customized. It had Mario on it, signifying Ricky's love for video games. If he squinted his eyes, he could make out some squiggly lines on the board. After he finished making his Frappuccino, he gave the board a closer look.

With partial surprise, he realized that the squiggly lines all over his board were the notes and signatures of his teammates. "We got this!" Akari had written above her signature, with a little heart. Ricky tried not to analyze its meaning. "Merry Christmas, man! You're awesome!" Kemen had written, a simple "Merry Christmas" from Tara, and a "You're not as bad as I thought you were," from Rob. Ricky groaned. That was the last thing he wanted on the bottom of his brand-new board.

He could only assume that his parents had bought him the board and his dad had asked the team to sign it. If this had been gifted to him a week ago, he would have thought it was some sort of sick joke and probably would have freaked out, but now it was kind of funny. He realized that he didn't really hate his teammates anymore, especially after last night. Something about that experience helped to connect them.

He took another sip of his drink, mentally reprimanding himself for being so sappy. He picked up the board and roughly detached the bow. He decided that if his parents were sleeping in this morning, that maybe the traditions could slide this year. Snowboarding on Christmas morning sounded like way more fun than sitting around in matching pajamas and posing in a bajillion photos.

He started to head for the garage, determined to wax the board a little more roughly around Rob's note with hopes that it would maybe come off. He was almost at the garage door when the door to the back porch opened, and his parents, both in hideous matching robes walked inside. Ricky felt his dreams of escape shatter as his mom raised her eyebrows.

"Where do you think you're going?"

~*~

Ricky had not avoided the family traditions like he had been so desperately hoping for, including the endless photos. Fortunately, this year was only the matching robes. Another tradition Ricky knew to expect was the family dinner they always have every year.

When's his parents first got married, Ricky's mom had said that she would agree to do an all-out homemade meal either on Christmas or Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving was decided, so that left Christmas dinner to be eaten at a restaurant. Because it was on Christmas day, it didn't leave many options. It was down to either Chinese, Mediterranean, or Mexican food. Usually, his dad asked what everyone was in the mood for that year, but he didn't. They all hopped in their Porsche and drove downtown without a word. Ricky was surprised that for once they hadn't made a unanimous decision on dinner.