Standing Up to Life

Chapter 7:

I FELT A slight prodding sensation. Something strange was happening in my dream. "Brandon, wake up." Poke.

"Ahh!!..." I woke up to see Amy standing over me.

"Wake up Brandon! Geeze... how long does it normally take to wake you up?" Amy asked me as she kept poking me.

"I don't know... I'm usually never awake for it" I said as I tried to roll back over.

"If I have to I'll tickle you!" She said. I knew she meant it too.

"All right I'm getting up!" I said with a groan.

"Good, why don't you go ahead and take a quick shower. Mom's making breakfast downstairs. Once you're done we'll go eat and then we'll hit the slopes!"

"What time is it?"

"Seven."

Groan... "Way too early..." I said as I got off of my rear end, and dragging myself and my stuff to the bathroom. I showered, but didn't wash my hair. Mom had told me that if I was in a hurry that could save me some time – I got the feeling we were in that hurry. I got out of the shower as quick as I could, and then took care of the rest of the essentials to starting a day. I did brush my hair out really quick after brushing my teeth, and putting my ski clothes back on.

I switched shirts to a Disney shirt I got when we went to Disneyland this past summer. It was a yellow shirt with Mickey on it. I only had one pair of ski pants, so I had to wear those again. I looked at myself and decided I was fairly presentable and went out to the room.

"That was quick. Did you wash your hair out?"

"I didn't think I had time to do that... So I'll wait till tomorrow I guess."

"I didn't wash mine out today either..." She paused before continuing, "I was kind of hoping if we get back early I could get Mom to do it for me."

"Your mom washes your hair?" I asked

"Occasionally. It's such a great feeling having someone else wash your hair!" She replied enthusiastically, "Maybe I can get her to do yours too!" She added. I felt a little awkward and mumbled something.

"Do you have your necklace on?" She asked curiously.

"Yes, you?" I asked. I didn't take it off that night, and left it on in the shower by accident. 'Shouldn't hurt it though,' I figured. I currently had it tucked underneath my shirt – I was experimenting to see if you could see it if I did that. There was a bit of chain around the front inside of my collar visible. I didn't know if I could get away with wearing it to school or not. My hair actually did cover the back of the chain though...

Bringing me back to the moment she said, "Yep! Anyway, I'm hungry let's go eat!"

She dragged me down the stairs and we sat down at their dining table to eat. I'm really not a morning person, never have been, never will be. But I did my best to act civilized!

We drove off to the resort a short while later. At the resort we got to unpack everything all over again.

"Okay guys, we're going to let you go off again on your own today. We'd like for you to meet us at the Timberline Restaurant for lunch at 11:30, okay?"

"Okay," we both answered together. Amy then led me to a different lift than we had used the previous day.

"Hey Brandon, we should do something with your hair again today." She said. Somehow I felt there was something strange going on, like she had been looking forward to this.