Ski Trip Trouble (3 page)

“My bag is…,” you force out, “the purple one.” You look over at James and can tell that he's not happy with you.

“Okay, so I know you're still going on the trip,” Mr. Abbott says. “Does anyone else want to tell me which bag is theirs?”

“That one's mine,” Cathy speaks up, pointing to a black duffel. She looks over at James for a second, then looks down.

“That's two. Anyone else?” Mr. Abbott looks around the group. “Here comes the rental van now—last chance…” He looks right at James.

One of the other senior guys, Max, points to a green backpack. “That's mine,” he says quietly.

“Fine, then, we'll all head back to the school and drop off anyone who ‘can't remember' which bag is theirs, then you three will travel up to the mountain with me,” Mr. Abbott explains. “I'll let the principal sort this out,” he says, picking up the drippy brown duffel bag.

After Mr. Abbott drives Glenn and James back
to school, you're on your way again, back on the freeway, only this time the trip feels very different. There's no music; the van is silent. Cathy just looks out the window, and so you put on your MP3 player. You feel terrible about what happened, even though it's not your fault. How could you have been so wrong about James? He turned out to be a real loser.

You fall asleep, and the next thing you know, you're at Mount Frost! Suddenly, the whole world is covered in snow, even the tall pine trees surrounding the resort. When Mr. Abbott pulls up behind the three-story lodge, you can see that most of the kids from school are already hanging out on the huge wraparound deck, putting on their ski gear or just having a hot chocolate. You're bummed that you've already missed the first few hours of the ski trip—and you hope that you can still room with Heather.

You climb out of the van and feel your boots crunch on the fresh snow. You take in a deep breath of the cold mountain air just as you hear someone say, “Hey, Mr. Abbott!”

“Hi, Zac, how was the bus ride up?” Mr. Abbott
asks a young-looking guy with light brown hair.

“Loud!” the guy laughs, and glances over at you. “We were wondering where you guys were—what happened?”

“It's a long story,” Mr. Abbott starts. “Why don't we get these folks inside,” he says, turning to open the back of the van.

Zac grabs your bag right away. “I've got it,” he says. “Let me help you. I'm already unpacked.”

You smile at him—what a sweet guy! When he smiles back, you notice he's got a mouthful of braces, which makes him look even younger. How old is he? You don't really know him at all, but you've heard he's super smart and that he skipped a grade last year.

You follow Zac and Mr. Abbott into the lodge and up to the main desk. “I think everyone who came in on the bus already has a room,” Zac tells you, handing your bag to you. “Except my friend Molly was still looking for a roommate if you want to board with her,” he explains, pointing over to a blond girl you recognize from school.

“She's new, right?” you ask, and Zac nods. “She's really cool; she just doesn't know anyone
yet. Or you can look around for your friends, but like I said, I think everyone else on the bus was assigned rooms.”

It sounds like Heather probably already picked a room with someone else, so you could room with the new girl. It might actually be fun to change it up—besides, Heather's going to be so obsessed with Dan on this trip, you're not sure you even want to room with her. But maybe you should look around for Heather and ask her, just to be sure…she is your best friend, after all.

You'll take a chance and room with the new girl, Molly.

You'd rather room with Heather.

“It must be down here,” Molly says, leading the way to your room. “My friend, Sierra, the one that I told you about, is already checked in. I heard their bus got here early.”

You round the corner and run into a really tall girl with short dark hair. “Sierra!” Molly screams, and hugs her hard. “Hey, this is Sierra!” she says, and introduces you.

“Come on, our room is down this way—and it's great!” Sierra says.

As you follow her down the hall, you decide to ask her about your old crush. “So, you go to Marshall…. Do you know this guy named Mitch? He would have been new at your school this year.”

Sierra turns to look at you. “No, I don't think so,” she says. “Here's our room.” She stops outside a door and reaches into her pocket. “Now where did I put that…” She reaches into her other pocket. “Oh no, I think I left the key inside!”

“That's okay, we can just go down to the desk and get another one,” Molly says. “I'll go, you guys
stay here and get to know each other—be right back!” She dashes off for the stairs.

“I'm sorry, I'm always doing stuff like that,” Sierra says, looking embarrassed.

“No big deal,” you say, and drop your duffel bag on the floor. You sit with your back to the wall, and Sierra plops down next to you.

Two guys walk by in the hallway, and one of them almost trips over your feet. You look up and suddenly see Mitch!

“How weird, I was just talking about you, Mitch!” You jump up and give him a hug. He looks exactly the same—with his shaggy brown hair and ocean-blue eyes.

“Hey, you,” Mitch says, hugging you back. “And hi, Sierra. You two know each other?” he asks.

“We just met,” Sierra says. So she does know Mitch after all. Why didn't she say so in the first place?

“This your room?” Mitch asks, looking at the door number.

“Yeah, we're just sort of…,” you start to say. “Locked out,” Sierra finishes for you. “Totally my fault.”

Mitch laughs and shakes his head. “Already?
The weekend has just begun, ladies!”

“Hey, dude,” a tall guy comes up behind Mitch and says, “you ready to roll?”

“Yeah, absolutely.” Mitch turns to go. “If you can't get into your room, come swing by ours. I'm in three-twelve.” He grins at you.

“Um, okay,” you say, blushing. “Maybe later.” After Mitch walks away with his friends, you look over to Sierra. “I guess I do know him,” she explains. “But at our school, he goes by Tom.” She looks confused.

“Oh right—his name is Tom Mitchell, but everyone at our school just called him Mitch. It's his nickname or whatever.” You smile. “How funny!”

“Well, you might not like to hear this,” Sierra says, whispering, “but he's dating a friend of mine—and they're super serious. Did you guys used to go out or something?”

You feel your heart practically stop beating. “What?” you say. “Are you sure?” Just then you see Molly heading down the hall toward you, waving the key over her head.

“As far as I know, they're still going out,” Sierra says, standing up. “Are you bummed?” she asks you, but you can't even answer her. You're
crushed—Mitch has a girlfriend? Then why did he give you a hug and ask you to come by his room? Maybe Sierra is wrong. You should probably go and talk to him for yourself and find out what's up.

“Here we go,” Molly says, opening the door. You walk into the room behind Sierra and Molly and drop your bag on the floor. “Should we hit the slopes right away?” she asks, looking at you and Sierra.

You let out a sigh—you're feeling so down. What should you do first? Go and see Mitch and find out what's really up with him, or just wait to run into him later?

You decide to stop by Mitch's room.

You'll just wait and maybe see him later.

“So this is it,” Heather says, opening the door to the room. It's small and dark, and you see only
two
beds.

“Wait, I thought you said that Carrie was going to stay with us, too,” you say to her.

“She is,” Heather says. “There's a third bed here; it's called a Murphy bed.” She walks over to the wall and shows you a place where there's a metal handle attached to what looks like a big closet door. “See, you just have to pull this….” She grunts as she pulls down hard on the handle, but nothing happens. “Well, it's supposed to work.”

“Hey, girlies!” you hear Carrie say as she comes in the room and drops her duffel bag on the floor. “I love it.” She throws herself across one bed and stretches out. “Wait…” She sits up and looks around. “Where's the third bed?”

“We're trying to figure it out,” you tell her, pointing to the handle on the wall.

“Oh cool,” Carrie says, “a Murphy bed! I love it. Let's put it down.”

You and Heather step back and let Carrie try. “Ugh!” she groans. “This thing won't budge. It's supposed to swing open and be a bed,” she explains.

“We already know that.” Heather sounds exasperated. “It just won't move! Here, let me help,” she says, putting her hands next to Carrie's. You grab Heather around the waist and pull back, giving her some extra leverage.

“Okay, on the count of three,” you say, and you all pull—until Heather's hand slips, and she falls backward, right on top of you!

“Ouch!” you squeal, but you're not hurt. Carrie plops down on the ground, too.

“There must be a button or a lock or something,” Heather says.

“I don't see anything,” you say. “Should I go and get Mrs. Bulow to help us?”

“I have a better idea.” Heather grins. “Why not Mitch? He's big and strong!”

“Heather!” you say, but you have to laugh. It's definitely not the worst idea…but what if you go to ask him for help and find that you can't talk again—you'd just make a fool out of
yourself for the second time today! At the same time, it is a good excuse to connect with him, and show him your room….

You want to ask Mitch for help.

You'd rather ask Mrs. Bulow for help.

You move back up front and sit with Heather, and after a few minutes, you wish you'd stayed with Zac. All Heather wants to talk about is Dan!

After about half an hour of the Dan marathon, you really can't take it anymore. “Can we talk about something other than Dan?” you ask her, finally.

“Fine,” Heather says, acting huffy. “Let's talk about your little nerd boy, what's his name?”

“Who, Zac?” you ask. “Yeah, how old is he? And those braces!” she says, laughing.

“He's only one year younger than us,” you point out. “And he's actually a really nice guy.”

“Right,” Heather says, and shoots you a funny look. “You
are
joking?”

“No, I'm serious,” you start to explain, just as the bus turns a corner and drives into the ski resort. Everyone cheers as you enter the winter wonder-land. Snow is everywhere—on the ground, on the trees, even on the roof of the lodge. You can see tons of kids already out on the slopes.

“Oh, I forgot to tell you,” Heather says quickly, “I told Carrie that she could room with us.”

“Heather!” you say, shooting her a look. “You know I don't get along with her.”

“If I can put up with you hanging out with nerdy what's-his-name back there, you can put up with my friend,” Heather reasons.

You're so annoyed, but what can you do? Then you remember that Zac had mentioned that his friend Molly—who is new at the school—didn't have anyone to room with. When he told you, you assumed that you'd be rooming with Heather, but now you're not so sure you want to. Should you take a chance on the new girl, or just stay with Heather and Carrie?

You choose to room with the new girl.

You decide to stay with Heather and Carrie.

“That's okay, guys,” you tell Dan and Heather. “I don't mind sitting here. I'll see you when we get to the mountain.”

“Okay, suit yourself,” Heather says, walking back to her seat with Dan trailing behind her.

As all the other kids get back on the bus, you see Zac coming down the aisle. He gives you a big metal grin, and you have to smile back. Sure, he's younger than you and your friends, but really nice and actually not bad-looking, either. You scoot over so that he can sit down.

You two talk for the rest of the trip, mostly about the bands that you both like and movies that you've seen recently. Before you know it, the bus turns down a snow-covered road toward the resort. You can see the peak of the mountain, with lots of skiers already making their way down the slopes, and it looks amazing!

“Hey, I meant to ask you something,” Zac says. “My friend Molly doesn't have any one to room with—she's new—do you think you might want to
stay with her? She's really cool, I promise!” he says.

“I told Heather I'd stay with her,” you say quickly. “But…” You think for second. Maybe it would fun to stay with someone else—and you like Zac so much, you're sure his friend would be really cool, too. You look up to the front of the bus and see Dan and Heather sitting close together. Would she really care if you stayed with someone else?

You decide to meet Zac's friend Molly.

You'd rather just stay with your friend Heather.

“I'm going to swing by Mitch's room, really fast, just to catch up,” you tell Sierra and Molly.

Sierra looks up from where she's unpacking. “Why? I told you he has a girlfriend.”

“I just want to say hi—,” you start to explain, but Molly cuts you off.

“Are you going to come back and ski with us? Once we get unpacked, we're hitting the slopes,” she says.

“Yeah, I'll be right back,” you promise as you shoot out the door and down the hall to Mitch's room. You knock on the door, and his roommate, the tall guy with buzz-cut dark hair, answers.