All Roses Have Thorns

Erin XX

She stood at the top, licking her lips as she stared down the hill. "Everyone clear? You can run up until the point where those trees are, but then you have to ride all the way down past the tall evergreen." The others nod. "Three..." They all grabbed the sides of their sleds. "Two..." They all moved to their best running forms. "One..." Smirks were exchanged. "Go!"

They ran.

Erin pushed herself as fast as her legs would move and jumped into the sled, Sierra jumping on behind her. Just like olympic bobsledding... except a cheap version with red and multicolored plastic sleds.

She screamed as the descent began.

Sierra cheered behind her.

The other teams were barely behind them, yelling and laughing.

Erin smiled.

She was happy.

A laugh escaped her throat as they went faster and faster. They were so close to the finish line, and then it passed.

"We win!" Erin yelled excitedly, throwing her arms up in celebration.

Sierra yelled. "Erin!"

"What?" She turned, but she stopped smiling when she noticed the panicked expression on Sierra's face.

"Stop the sled!"

She whirled back to face the front. They were going fast, way too fast.

They screamed.

The sled hit a hard, iced-over chunk of snow, and they flew. Erin fell first, and she groaned when Sierra landed on top of her. The two stared at each other in awkward silence for a moment, but then Sierra's lips curved upwards and they were laughing.

She stood up and offered Erin a hand. "What a win, huh?"

"We rocked it!" She held up both hands and they high-fived.

The others ran up to them. Maggie was breathing heavily as she leaned over. "Man," she laughed, "You guys sure went fast."

Erin smiled. "Wanna go again?"

»» — ⋆❀⋆ — ««

The other races didn't have clear winners, so they ended up having a tournament with two people each round. The final round was Erin and Zach, and Erin managed to win after Zach ran into a bush and wiped out. He was okay, thankfully. Nothing was hurt or broken, except for his pride.

All in all, it had been fun.

Dinner was filled with laughs and smiles, and all of them were together for a change.

Now, Erin sat on the roof - inside this time - with Zach by her side.

"Why do you think we have assigned soulmates?"

Zach turned to look at her. "I don't know, honestly. I think it's stupid. Love whoever you want."

She nodded.

"Erin?"

"Yeah?" She turned to face him and then she didn't know what to think.

He leaned in and kissed her.

Erin was surprised to say the least, and he felt... soft? Her brain was running at a thousand thoughts a minute, and she couldn't think straight. It was like time stopped. Since it was her first kiss, she might as well make it a good one, right?

She closed her eyes and leaned in to kiss him back.