What Happened After

Chapter 16

"What the hell kind of name is Ruesso?" 

Chapter 16.

          We entered the ski lodge during the lunch rush, with what seemed like hundreds of skiers milling around the lodge, sipping hot chocolate and shaking snow off their boots. “The rental office is downstairs,” I explained to Ruesso, as he confusedly glanced around him, most likely looking for a place to rent his skis.

          “Ah,” he nodded, following me. He trudged along behind me as I headed down the steps to the rental office.

           “After we’re done down there, we’ll come back up for some hot chocolate and donuts, okay?”

          “You promise? I’m actually starving.” He sounded hopeful. I laughed.

 

          “Yeah, promise.”

          When we got down to the rental office, we were greeted by the Wall of Skis, all different sizes. The wall directly behind us was the Wall of Boards, which I had honestly never paid much attention to—being a skier and all.

          “Wallis! Hey!” I heard coming from over to my left. I looked over and sure enough, there stood Marcus, the friendly hippie who worked at the lodge. He had worked there for as long as I could remember, though he was only a few years older than me, and held a job in literally every section of the lodge. Today was rental day for him. I figured his parents owned the rental office or something. “Haven’t seen you at all this winter,” he continued. “Who’d ya bring with you this time? This isn’t that Kyle kid, right?” To Ruesso he added, “Hey man, sorry if it is, I totally don’t remember what you looked like anyways.”

          Ruesso chuckled and glanced over at me before responding, “Oh, no, I’m Ruesso. I’ve never been up here before—we’re just looking to get me some skis for the weekend.”

          “Well you’ve come to the right place!” Marcus sang. He grabbed a sheet of paper from behind the counter and thrust it out toward Ruesso. “Just fill this baby out and give it back to me, and we’ll get you fitted for a pair. Oh, shit, wait,” he added. “You did want skis, right? Not a board? I mean, I can get you a board, but it’s just that it’s a whole different sheet of paper and I don’t know where that pile is—“

          “No no, skis are fine. I’m all for what’s easiest,” Ruesso interrupted.

          “Cool. So just go over there at that desk and fill that out, while I catch up with Rayn here. Dude, I haven’t seen you in forever!”

          That last part was directed toward me, as Marcus essentially shoved Ruesso off into the corner and placed his arm around my shoulders. “Are the folks here too, or just the boyfriend?”

          “They’re here, they’re up at  the cabin, but no no, he’s not my boyfriend,” I quickly corrected.

          “Oh. What’d he say his name was? Russell or something?”

          “Ruesso. Van Avery. He went to high school with me.”

          “What the hell kind of name is that?”

          “I don’t know, the same kind as Rayn?” I offered, smiling.

          “Touché,” Marcus agreed. “So what happened to Kyle? D’you dump him?” he asked now. “And your hot friend—Lisa?”

          “Kaleb. And um, and Lauren.” I responded, wondering if I should tell him the truth. Nobody had ever flat-out asked me about them before, because at Berkeley, nobody knew, and at home, everyone did. There was no need to ask. “They actually—they were in an accident a few months back. Last summer. They didn’t make it, so…”