The Rings

Chapter One

Snow sprayed out from under my ski as I leaned to my right, bending around the gate. Wind rushed past my ears and flecks of cold, wet flakes melted as on my cheeks I sped through the falling snow.

I turned my skis to come to a halt as I crossed the finish line Coach Evans had created. She hit the button on her stopwatch and I lifted my goggles to rest on my helmet in attempt to better read her facial expressions.

"53.25, Darby. Not bad, but we need to work on getting that speed up if you want to make the Olympics. You need at least a 50.0 to qualify."

"Got it. I could probably shave a bit more time around each pole, I'm going a bit too far each direction," I said, nodding in acknowledgement. I reached my hands up and recovered my eyes with my goggles as I headed over to the lift to get back to the top of the mountain and run it again.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

"How was practice today?" asked Aaron, setting the bowl of salad on the table. I dumped the spaghetti noodles into the strainer sitting in the sink, placing the pot on the stove before tossing the noodles to drain all of the extra water.

"It was good. I'm getting my time up- I hit sub two today, which is good. I'm definitely getting faster. I just need to cut distance between me and the pole a bit more," I replied, pouring the noodles back into the pot.

"That's good," Aaron's arms wrapped around my waist as he set his chin on top of my head. He leaned his face down to where his mouth was level with my ear.

"I love you," he whispered.

"I love you too," I murmured back softly. I set the pasta on the counter and he spun me around, kissing my lips passionately. Suddenly dinner was forgotten as Aaron lifted me up and sat me on top of the counter, continuing to kiss me. I giggled and put my hands on his face, kissing him back passionately.

He lifted off his sweatshirt and threw it to the floor, before slipping my cardigan off and tossing it to the ground as well.

"Dinner first," I whispered as he began to unbuckle his belt.

"Oh yeah," he breathed. "I forgot... that you like food... and have this obsession... where you eat three... times a day."

I giggled, and playfully shoved him away, shaking a finger at him in mock scolding. He held up his hands in surrender and we both laughed.

"I love you," I said, walking toward him. As he reached for me, I ducked and grabbed my sweater from the floor, making sure to dramatically stand up, an innocent look on my face.

"Oh, did you need something?" I teased, and he grabbed his sweatshirt, throwing it at me. I squealed and held out my hands to shield myself.

Next thing I knew, Aaron's hands were on my waist again, lifting me up. I wrapped my legs around his midsection, and this time, I allowed him to carry me all the way back to the bedroom, dinner still sitting on the counter, completely forgotten.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

"49.45!" Coach Evans yelled as I sped past the line. I threw my head back in a cheer as I came to a halt.

"Nice job Darby!" She praised, walking over to where I had stopped. She patted my shoulder and smiled kindly at me. Coach Evans wasn't a huge one for praise, so I gladly accepted the congratulations.

"Now run it again and we'll try for 49.00," there was the Coach Evans I knew. I nodded and placed my goggles over my eyes again, turning around.

"And Darby?" I stopped and turned to face Coach.

"You've got four meets before the Olympic qualifiers in six months, the Olympics in a little less than a year. If you can manage to make that time and improve upon it, you've got yourself a spot on the Olympic team."

(A/N: hope you guys like it so far! First off I'd like to say that I am basing times and further knowledge about skiing/ slalom off of research I have found, so bear with me with some of the technical details. Also, sorry this first chapter was kind of short, it was just to kind of set up what Darby's life is like right now, and how good she is at what she does. Hope you keep reading, and next chapter is on its way soon!)