A flashlight in the shadows.

chapter 32: Ski drama.

For the whole day of Christmas, I felt like I could seriously stab Cassandra. She seemed to get more annoying by the minute. She finally left the day after Christmas, leaving me relieved. I was just finishing up the dishes when my phone started playing eye of the tiger. I picked up and sighed.
"Hello Lucy."
"Hey, Kendra, Hannah, Dina and I are going to ski, wanna come?" I looked over at dad and whispered,
"Can I go skiing today?" He nodded and smiled. I sighed again into the phone and answered,
"Yes, I'll meet you guys there."
"K bye."
"Bye."
We hung up and I walked up the stairs, searching for clothes for the day. I slipped on a pair of jeans and a plain black t-shirt with my snow boots. I then threw on my snow coat and borrowed the keys to the Subaru.
Trenton isn't a very big town, but it is surrounded by a lot of wilderness. There are over six different skiing lodges in the surrounding areas, but my friends and I have only ever gone to one. It was a little place about ten minutes out of town that was right next to a big lake. We liked going because there was rarely anybody there. I pulled into the dirt parking lot and stepped out of the car. The weather today was windy, but still pretty nice for winter. I took the two minute hike up the trail that led to the ski lodge where you paid the fee and they gave you a pair of skis. Most of the trees were barren and stripped of their leaves, except for the pine trees, of course. The trail had many footprints, big and small. Little kids and their parents swooped by me on the ski lift. One little girl with pig tails and blue mittens smiled and waved at me. I nodded and stepped inside the lodge. Frankie, a guy from my speech team, was at the front counter, bent over a stack of papers. He looked up at the sound.of the door opening and smiled.
"Hey Sarah, how's it going?"
"Pretty good. Have you decided what category you're joining next year?" He propped himself up on his elbows and sighed.
"I think I want to try great speeches, but I just don't know." I nodded and smiled. He nodded at me,
"And you?"
"Eh, probably just inform again." He laughed and sighed.
"Well, how many?"
"Just me for now, but there's more coming."
"Thanks for the warning, you know where the skis are." I handed him the money and went to the backroom where all the skis were. Just as I had found a pair for me, Kendra waltzed in with Lucy and Hannah trailing shortly behind. Lucy smiled and ran to me, wrapping her arms tightly around my back.
"You have no idea how happy I am that you said yes!!!" She exclaimed. I patted her back. Hannah and Kendra frowned,
"Uh, what happened now?" Hannah asked.
"Isaac asked her to be his girlfriend and she said yes!!!" She exclaimed, shrieking with happiness. Kendra looked at me wide eyed and Hannah gasped.
"You sneaky ho, how'd he ask?" I pulled out my necklace and shined it at them.
"He came to my door with this and asked me, simple as that." Hannah nodded and squealed again. Dina walked in just as Hannah jumped in an excited circle. She took a step back and frowned.
"Uh, what's going on?"
"Isaac asked Sarah to be his girlfriend!" Kendra yelled at her. She looked at me wide eyed.
"Seriously?!"
"Yes."
"How?!?" She said. I sighed and rubbed my temples.
"I'll tell you on the ski lift, let's get ready." I knelt down next to my skis and strapped in. Everyone nodded and got their gear on, talking about how awesome it is that I got a boyfriend. I remember when Hannah got her first boyfriend. Kendra gave him death threats if he broke her heart. It was always like that when either of them got a boyfriend, and it was always fun to watch.
When everyone was ready, we walked outside to the start of the ski lift. You basically had to wait for the man to tell you when to jump in front of the seats. He nodded at Dina and I, so we ran out and jumped into the seats. Once we managed to get secured, we buckled the chain around us and started ascending into the air.
"What did he say?"
"That he respected my decision for space, but he had feelings for me. Then he pulled out this necklace and asked me to be his girlfriend." She just shook her head and smiled.
"I never thought I'd see the day when you got a boyfriend." I giggled and pushed her playfully.
"Whatever." We sat silently for a few moments. Something happened and they had to stop the ski lift. We swayed for a ssecond before we came to a complete stop. I smirked and started rocking the chair. Dina screamed and covered her eyes.
"Stop it Sarah! You know I'm scared of heights!"
"You didn't say the magic word!" I yelled, rocking it some more. She hit my arm.
"Please!"
"That's better." I said, stopping. Once we quit, she sighed and I looked at the landscape around us. The pine trees were covered in snow, along with most of the land below. I inhaled the icey air and closed my eyes.
"Do you think it was dumb?"
"What was dumb?" She asked,confused. I opened my eyes and looked forward.
"Saying yes."
"To Isaac?" I nodded and turned to face her. She thought about it.
"I think...it could've waited a little longer." She looked at me as if to ask for approval on her opinion. I nodded.
"Yeah, I guess it could've." She sighed and patted my back.
"Hey, I say as long as you're ok with it, then I'm behind you." I smiled and nodded.
"Thanks."
"Its what friends are for." She said, jolting as the chair started moving again. I laughed as we stepped off on the other side. We waited for the other girls to join us on the top of the hill. When everyone was there, we grabbed our ski hooks and started down the hill. Hannah and Dina sped past us, but Kendra face planted in the snow about a third of the way down the hill and Lucy and I decided to try and help her.
It started out ok, but I ended up skiing too close behind Lucy and we ended up running into each other and tumbling down next to her. Kendra sat laughing next to us while I started spitting the snow out of my mouth and took off my glasses. They were all foggy and filled with snow.
"Crap, I can't clean them."
"Here, give them to me." Lucy said, groaning in pain. I nodded and handed them to her. She pulled out a small napkin and cleaned them, handing it back to me and smirking.
"Maybe you should give me space next time."
"I guess," I replied, slipping my glasses on. We all stumbled to our feet and skied the rest of the way down. By the time we got to the foot of the hill, Dina and Hannah were keeled over in hysterical laughter. I punched Hannah's arm and groaned,
"Lets take a quick break." They only laughed. Lucy and Kendra followed me into the little rest building. It had tiled floors and a coffee machine inside. We all grabbed a cup and sat at the wooden tables inside. My phone started ringing, so I picked up.
"Articulate?" Kendra groaned and Hannah pushed me playfully.
"Hey, how's your day?" I smiled.
"Good so far, Isaac. Yours?"
"Itll be better when you agree to go on a date tomorrow." He said. I smirked and tapped my chin.
"Hmm...I don't know..."
"Pweeze?" He asked. I giggled and nodded.
"Ok, sure. Where and when?"
"I'll pick you up at 7:00."
"Ok, what should I wear?" He paused for a second before saying,
"A dress of some sort."
"Sounds good, see you then," I hung up and sighed. Lucy smirked,
"Isaac?" I nodded.
"Yes."
"Whatd he say?" Dina asked.
"He wants to go out tomorrow." They all giggled. Just then, Sabrina walked in with her clique trailing behind. Kendra scowled and I huffed. She gave me a plastic smile.
"Hi sweetie, how's it been going with you and Bennett?" I rolled my eyes,
"Better than with you and him, that's for sure." She flipped hair from her face.
"Being rude doesn't add to your appearance."
"Says the prime example," Hannah snapped back,making Sabrina snap her head towards her.
"Excuse me little miss slut, I believe I was speaking to Sarah." She fluttered her eyelashes. We all stood up as a group and Hannah asked,
"What did you just call me?" She smiled,
"What? A slut? Does that upset you? Don't worry, I'll use whore next time, wouldn't want to offend you." Her friends giggled. Hannah kicked her in the knee and pulled at her hair. Her friends tried knocking her off, but we stepped forward and ended up in a giant fight. Lucy grabbed a small overweight girl and started kicking her repeatedly.
Kendra grabbed the girl with white hair and punched her in the face twice before she was out. Dina started pulling at kileys hair and shoved it in her face. A medium sized girl came at me ready to scratch me with her claws. I got her in a head lock and ripped the ear rings out of her lobes, her shrieking in pain. A man who works there came in.
"What the-" we all bolted out the door and down the trail to our cars. Once we got there, we were all laughing and breathing.
"Oh-oh my god! Did you see his face?!"
"Priceless!" Dina laughed. Once we collected ourselves, Kendra asked,
"Well, what now?" I shrugged.
"I think I'll go home." They all nodded and waved as I got in the car and drove home. Once there, I went up the stairs and opened the green mile, but decided not to read it. I looked to my bedside table. The poem Bennett gave me sat neatly folded. I reached over and read it. I smiled. My computer dinged. Bennett smiled through his curtains at me. I smiled back and went to the computer.
'Thinking of me;)' I giggled.
' Just of your grandma:)'
'Good, that's where she should be.' I smiled.
'Hows you're mom?' He shrugged at his computer,
"Shes getting better. Where'd you get the necklace?' I looked down at my new keepsake and played with the chain.
'Isaac gave it to me.' His smile faded only a little when he read it.
'I thought you needed space?'
'I did, but he came to my door and gave me it.'
'Is that all he did;)' He asked, smirking at his screen. I rolled my eyes.
'No, he asked me to be his girlfriend.' I regretted typing it the moment I sent it. His face went almost blank.
'Whatd you say?' I looked over to him and bit my lip.
'Yes.' The look that crossed his face was so painful it made me flinch. After a few minutes, I typed,
'Are you ok?' He rubbed his eyes before typing,
'Yes, I'm happy for you:)'
'U don't look happy:(' I typed. He bit his lip and his chest visibly hitched.
'Dont worry,they're tears of joy.'
'Bennett,I didn't mean to make you sad.' He looked over at me. His eyes were slightly red and a tear shined as it ran down his cheek. He gave me a small smile,
'Are you happy?' I thought for a second.
'Yes, I think.' He nodded at the screen.
'Then I'm happy, because that's all I want.' He shut his lap top and walked out if his room, leaving me in silence.

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Hope you liked it. Enjoy the next one, bye! ;)