Cupid's Curse

Chapter 7- Helicopters and Antevorte

Skiing down a hill in the middle of the day was always fun. You got your wind, your snow, your chairlifts and your usual idiots. Of course, when you're skiing with the world's biggest scaredy-cat, things tend to get out of hand.

'COLLIN!" I screamed after the blue clad figure. "WRONG WAY!"  My heart started to pound as I followed him down the trail that he had jeered off to.

Please don't let this go where I think its going. I prayed.  Please.

I turned around the bend, glancing up at the green trail sign above me.

Jack's Run- Right.

Ridge Run- Left.

The Face- Straight.

I gulped and continued forward, my heart sinking as I followed the idiot.  A few more pushes of my silver poles and I slid to a stop next to him.

"What's this trail?" he asked curiously, peering over the edge.

"The Face." I responded curtly, bracing myself against a tree.

"Oh," he said. "Is it easy or really easy?"

I sighed heavily, wondering if it was too late to turn back. One look up the hills that we had taken to get here confirmed my worst fears.  "Neither. It's a Black Diamond."

Based on the blank look he gave me confirmed my suspicions that he was born on Mars and had no idea what this hill entailed.

"It's an advanced hill and the hardest Diamond up here." His Adam's apple bobbed up and down, as he craned his neck over the edge of the slope while keeping his body as far away as possible.

"How hard is it to get down?" Collin asked and I snapped my head over to see the determined look that had taken over his face.  I smiled, suddenly filled with courage that hadn't been there before.

"The last time I tried it; I was on a snowboard and came off the hill with a broken arm and leg." Way to boost his confidence there, Celeste. "But I'm sure we won't have such, um, interesting outcomes as last time." He nodded slowly, the brave look going away to be replaced with terror.

I didn't blame him.

After several minutes of pep talk and making sure that Collin knew that he needed to turn to get down the mountain safe, we started down the mountain side.

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"TURN COLLIN!" I screamed as he raced straight down the hill. "YOU DON'T WANT TO GO STRAIGHT!"

Obviously, the past five minutes were wasted on him.