“If we’re quiet, maybe we can make it to the ski lift before he wakes up.” Kassidy’s whisper interrupted the video of a YOLO flip looping in Lincoln’s mind. He opened his eyes and squinted against the glare of the sun off the icy parking lot.
“Heard that.”
“Bummer,” Kassidy hopped out of the truck. “I’ll still get there first if you don’t get moving.”
Lincoln glanced up into the rear-view mirror to see Theo already unloading gear. He let out a slow breath and stepped out onto the ice. He needed to get that flip out of his head. It was seriously fraying his nerves, and he knew that if he didn’t land it soon, he was going to be screwed in competition.
“Here, bro,” Theo slid Linc’s board towards him, but Lincoln barely registered the gesture. “Dude, you’re so zoned,” Theo laughed. “What’s up?”
“Nothin’,” Linc shook his head, grabbing the bindings on his board and lifting it over his shoulder.
“You still thinking about that YOLO?” Theo slammed the trunk and caught up with Linc as he walked towards the ski lift.
He mumbled an affirmative response, not wanting to encourage the conversation. Theo’s mind-reading capabilities may have been sharp, but it wasn’t a subject Linc had any interest in discussing. He often wondered how seriously Theo took any of this, but he couldn’t discredit his skill either.
Theo took the hint and fell silent for several seconds before shifting his attention to Kassidy. Lincoln ignored their conversation as he stepped into his left binding and snapped it shut, then pushed off the hard-packed snow and slid towards the ski lift. The other two followed, and in seconds they were high above the glittering ground.
The wind whipped through Lincoln's hair and stung his eyes but he barely noticed. After so many years, he was more than used to the cold. He loved it. He pulled his mask down over his eyes and watched boarders and skiiers on the terrain park below. They flipped and spun through the air, kicking up rooster tails of powder as they landed. Other riders cheered on the ones who had yet to brave the course. It was childs play for Lincoln; the obstacles were no where near Olympic grade and skill level. That course was on the other side of the mountain, along with the super-pipe that they’d been carving up all week.
Still, Lincoln remembered struggling to run courses like that, and coaching his friends through them once he mastered the jumps. It brought back good memories. His best memories were on the slopes. He had spent nearly all his time there in high school, avoiding home. He never wanted to be home. The ski lift crested the hill and he torqued his board sideways before standing and sliding down the steep incline. The other two followed as the next lift reached the top, and Theo wobbled as he dismounted. He fell forward and caught himself with his hand.
“A little out of practice there?” Lincoln smirked.
“Hey, we never use these things when we’re training,” he protested. “It’s probably been a year since I rode anything besides a snowmobile up a mountain.”
“Dude, you snowboard for a living. You should know how to use a lift.”
“Lay off, Linc,” Kassidy laughed and shoved him. He had already snapped his right foot into his bindings, and when he flinched away from her, the edge of his board rocked back and dug into the snow. He found himself sitting in the snow, glaring up at Kassidy as she laughed so hard that she almost fell over too.
“You’re gonna pay for that,” he glared, suppressing a smile as he reached back and grabbed a handful of soft powder. She wasn’t paying attention, and he managed to pack it into a large chunk before slinging it at her. She yelped as it hit her shoulder and exploded.
“Jerk!” she reached for a handful and launched it back, creating a flurry of powder that barely reached him.
“Gotta pack your ammo, Kas,” he grinned. “When was the last time you had a snowball fight?”
“Not so long ago that I can’t destroy you,” she jumped forward and kicked a drift into his face.
“Hey!” he whined, trying to rub the snow off as it began to sting. “No head shots!”
“You started it,” she quickly backed away from his second assault. Theo, who had been an innocent bystander, stepped in front of her and threw another missile at Lincoln as he struggled to his feet.
“Oh, I see how it is,” he glared. “I’ll race you to the bottom of the course. Loser gets pelted. Ready-set-go!” He tipped his board down the slope and shoved forward, getting a few inches lead as the others followed down the terrain course. He popped up onto the first rail and grinded across, tapping the end of the rail with the tip of his board before rotating around to ride switch and hitting the next jump. A quick tuck and spin bought him distance, and he came down seconds before Linc and Kassidy. He slowed for the next series of rails, hopped off the end, and slid to a halt after nailing a second jump. The rooster-tail of powder he kicked up settled around him as he watched the other two race for second. Kassidy slid in just before Theo and shouted victoriously. She pulled up to a quick stop and shot Linc a conspiratorial grin.
“Whoa, hey, I did nothing to deserve this-” Theo began to protest as Lincoln and Kas both scooped up armfuls of snow and began to pack them into ammunition.
“Too late,” Kassidy began the assault. It only lasted half a minute before the attackers fell into the snow beside Theo, panting and laughing. Lincoln shook snow out of his hair and helped the others to their feet.
“Thanks,” Theo grinned but eyed him distrustfully. “Pipe next?”
“Sure,” Lincoln shrugged, trying to mask his eagerness.
“Really? We were on it all week,” Kas groaned.
“Hey, you were the one who dragged us here. I think we should be able to choose what we ride,” Lincoln raised an eyebrow.
“Fine,” she sighed, shoving off her free foot. “Just don’t do anything stupid, guys. The coaches aren’t watching. We don’t have to show off.”
Lincoln knew Kassidy wasn’t as comfortable on the pipe as she was on jumps and rails, but she usually owned the women’s half-pipe competitions. Lincoln knew that injuries on the pipe weren’t quite few and far between, but he felt like he owned the snow when he was rocketing up the vertical plane into the air. Well, until recently. After he had wiped out on the YOLO, he had begun to wonder if the pipe was something he still needed to conquer. His hesitancy made him angry, and he hated the uncomfortable feeling in his chest every time he dropped into the bowl. He knew that he was going to have to find a way around his fear before the first Olympic qualifier in two weeks, or wait for the next one, giving his competitors more time to nail down their run. If Mark was ready to bring the YOLO to competition, others probably were too. With only four spots per event, it wasn’t a risk he wanted to take.
“Me? Show off? Never,” Lincoln grinned at her.
She rolled her eyes. “Right. Never in a million years.”
