Ghosts

Chapter 29

Luke and I walk to the familiar conveyor belt, my feet now clumsy with skis on them.

"This is hard enough." I sigh as I hang onto a bar so I don't lose my balance.

"Believe me, once you go down the hill you won't regret the hard work that it takes to get up to the top." Luke smiles.

"So all I have to do is what you told me earlier?" I ask.

Luke was explaining to me all that I'd have to do as I skied. It didn't seem so hard.

"Yep. Just don't forget to lift the poles and bend your knees." Luke says.

I nod. For some reason, I don't feel right. I don't know if I want to do this.

Luke must notice as he says "You'll be fine. I'll be right ahead of you." He smiles again at me as we get off of the belt.

I stick the poles in the ground and move myself closer to the edge of the top.

"It's alright, I'm right here." Luke says. "Don't forget what you need to do."

I nod and wait for him to start to ski down the hill. I wait a minute, stalling, and then force myself to go down.

I bend my knees a little, leaning forward just enough and pulling the poles to my sides, not letting them touch the snow.

I'm glad I'm wearing a helmet and goggles because I would be so much colder if I didn't.

Before I know it I'm at the bottom of the slope, and I have to stop myself by turning the skis inwards. Surprisingly, it takes no time to do so.

Luke and a bunch of other people cheer.

What? I'm confused.

Luke comes up to me. "I made a little section of people to cheer for you when you made it down. That way you know you did well, just as I knew you'd do perfectly fine."

I smile. "Well, thank you."

Luke nods. "Wanna go again?"

I smile and take off before Luke gets an answer.

"Hey! Wait up!" Luke laughs behind me.

We continue to ski for hours. Once we're done I can barely feel any parts of my body, even though I was in what felt like a million layers.

"See? It was fun! I wish we didn't have to leave tomorrow." Luke sighs.

I forgot I was only staying the weekend.

"I wish I could stay longer." I whine.

"I do too. But Christmas is a couple days away and you'll want to be there." Luke says.

I nod. "I know..."

We make it inside after taking off our ski stuff and I realize I'm both sweaty and freezing. My body is screwed up.

I'm met by the heat and I shiver as it instantly starts to thaw out my skin. There's a mirror in the corner of the lobby and I see my reflection. My cheeks and nose are a deep red and my lips are sort of purple.

"You should take a hot bath, sweetie!" Luke's grandma calls. "You look frozen! Any longer and you may have frozen to death." She slaps Luke. "Are you crazy? You should've come in a lot sooner." She chastises Luke.

"Sorry. Marney and I were having such a good time we lost track of how long we were outside." Luke frowns.

"It's eight thirty, Luke Mason Hart. You've been out for way too long!" Luke's grandma slaps him again and walks away.

So Mason is his middle name? It could come in handy some day...

"Let's get you upstairs. My grandma's right. You look frozen." Luke says and leads me to an elevator.

Oddly enough, I wasn't that cold. I mean, I've been thawing out, now, but I know I wasn't that cold. And for the record, Luke looked as bad as I did.

We walked to the now familiar room and Luke showed me the large jacuzzi upstairs. He turned it on for me as I started to take off my layers of clothing, leaving my sweater and jeans on until he went out.

Luke grabbed a towel for me and gave me the complimentary soaps they give at every hotel. He then walked out, closing the door behind him.

I strip out of my clothes and dip my toe into the waster to test it out before going all the way in.

~

I walk out in fuzzy, warm pajamas and see Luke laying on his bed, hair wet.

"Took a bath downstairs, I see." I smile and sit down on my bed.

Luke nods. "Yep. I also ordered a pizza. It should be here any minute."

"Awesome." I say and lay down. I'm exhausted.

"Tired?" Luke asks.

I yawn in response and he nods.

"I'll save you some slices." Luke smiles and I drift off to sleep.

~

"Rise and shine children!" Mrs. Hart claps.

Luke and I groan in response and I hear her sigh.

"How long did you two ski yesterday? It's noon!" She asks.

Luke mumbles something, but I can't understand it.

"Luke. Get up." His mother says sternly.

I never expected her to be stern. Obviously I was wrong.

I open my eyes and slowly sit up, most of my body in pain. I wince while slipping out of bed.

"Hours of skiing will do that to ya!" Mrs. Hart says.

I groan and drag myself to my suitcase and grab my clothes.

Honestly, I just wanted to sleep and stay another week or so.

"Chop chop! We don't have all day!" Mrs. Hart calls as I walk into the bathroom to sleepily change.

As I slip on my jeans, Luke opens the door and I screech.

"Oh god not again. I'm so sorry!" Luke says, his eyes wide, and closes the door.

Why does he always walk in on me?

I quickly slip on my bra and a top and then walk out of the bathroom, now wide awake.

I quickly get ready to leave.

~

We arrive at my house around four o'clock and I try to stall.

I don't want to be home. This weekend was so much fun.

And I didn't want Luke to leave.

But, having him home at my house with my family would be super awkward.

Finally, I get out of the car and lug my suitcase out of the car and to the house. I turn and wave at the Harts and they all wave back. I smile and then walk into the house.

I won't forget this weekend.

~Author's Note~

Sorry, I rushed this chapter! I just wasn't sure what to do...

Anyway, I wrote this at 2 in the morning because:

1) I love you guys and

2) My neighbors are partying outside and being loud. *sighs dramatically*

So, please forgive any mistakes because of the time I wrote this.

Please comment what you think! And don't forget to ***VOTE***!!!

Thanks for reading!

-Izzy :)