Cool Girl

23: Aspen Trip

The day of the trip arrives and I'm dropped off at School on Friday evening by mom and dad. We're flying out to the ski resort in Aspen from Los Angeles.

"Senior trip here we come!" Liam shouts when he sees me.

I laugh as he pulls me into a hug. Over his shoulder I see Ash and Ben standing by. All Liam and Ash know is that Ben and I had a row and we're not talking to each other but they don't know why.

"Call us when your flight is about to take off, okay?" Mom reminds me and I nod as I hug her and dad goodbye. They leave and soon after the teachers chaperoning us begin ushering us into the school buses that will take us to the airport.

The drive to Los Angeles passes quickly in the excitement of the upcoming days and the time at the airport is full of activity. Some students get lost and we have to wait for them to find us. But once we're on the plane, fatigue starts to get the best of me. I'm sitting next to Angelina with Liam, Ben and Ash next to me across the aisle.

I call mom before take-off and update her about where I am and then promise to call her again once we reach our resort in Aspen.

I put on my neck pillow and settle in for the two and a half hour flight. Its nine p.m. already and since it was a full school day, I'm exhausted from the hustle. I fall asleep before the plane even leaves the ground and only wake up a few minutes before landing announcements begin.

The plane is a small domestic plane so most passengers are my classmates except a handful of strangers. The air is full of chatter and there's an excited buzz in the air that keeps building up as the plane's wheels touch the ground.

We file off the plane and head to the luggage claim under the supervision of teachers. I'm talking to Angelina when I see Ben reach out for his luggage and our eyes meet for a second but I look away quickly. I've gone without talking to him for a week, I can make it through this trip.

Once I have my suitcase I unzip it and pull out my jacket. We were warned to have warm clothing on hand once we arrived at the airport. I put it on and zip it up. When we step out of the airport to get onto the waiting shuttles that will take us to the resort, the air is freezing cold.

The warmth of the shuttles is very welcoming. It takes us almost forty minutes to get to the resort where we are delayed in the lobby when some confusion arises about roommates. Two students will a share a room and we gave in our roommate names at the time of signup to avoid such confusion. However, soon the problematic students, one of whom unsurprisingly is Claire, are dealt with and we're handed our room keys.

The girls are staying in the building that we're in right now and the boys will be staying in the one next door. So while they head out, the girls disperse to find their rooms and settle in. I take the lead as I wheel my suitcase down hallways until we get to the right room and I insert the key to open the door.

There are two single beds, Angelina picks one and I take the other. We're allowed to roam about the resort on our own as long as we don't disturb other guests but Angelina and I are too tired to do that since its past one a.m. by now.

While Angelina uses the bathroom to change into her pajamas I call mom and let her know that we have arrived at the resort. She asks about the weather and I tell her how cold it is.

I fall asleep as soon as my head touches the pillow and don't wake up until my alarm rings the next morning. I turn over in bed to look at Angelina and see that she's still asleep. I get out of bed and shower, thankfully, the resort is centrally heated and the water is hot so I don't feel cold. When I get out of the shower I change into my clothes for the day: leg warmers, jeans, a warm vest, a warm t-shirt and then a Rushmore Academy navy blue sweater with the logo embroidered on one corner. The sweater is the only part of the outfit which is a requirement on this trip so that teachers can identify students.

Angelina is awake by the time I step out of the bathroom.

"Good morning." I say.

"Good morning." She replies, "Did you sleep well?"

"The sleep was heavenly after how tired I was." I smile and she laughs, "Same."

Then Angelina heads into the bathroom and I plug in my hairdryer. Once my hair is dry I straighten it and decide to go light on my makeup. I'm pulling on my knee length boots when Angelina steps out of the bathroom, all ready to head to breakfast.

On our way out I grab my backpack which has a scarf, beanie and gloves for when we head out of the resort. For now I put on my jacket and zip it up to protect me from the cold since we'll have to walk next doors to the boys building because that's where all the restaurants are.

There's a breakfast buffet so I set down my bag and place my jacket on the back of a chair before helping myself to the food. Soon after Liam, Ash and Ben appear and join Angelina and me at the table. The breakfast hall is full of students and there are teachers scattered amongst us.

"How was your night?" Liam asks.

"We were so tired. Angelina and I fell asleep almost as soon as we got to our room." I reply.

"Same. Ash and Ben are sharing so I have to share a room with Henry. He went out with his friends and he wasn't back all night. In fact, he wasn't even there when I woke up." Liam tells me.

"Seriously? How did he even have the energy to go out after the flight?" I raise an eyebrow.

"He's Henry." Ben adds and we all nod.

"Can I please have everyone's attention?" One of the teacher calls out and the rooms hushes. "Thank you. So, you're a mature group of students or at least we hope seventeen and eighteen year olds are mature enough to take care of themselves. We will not be keeping tabs on you for this very reason. This trip is meant to be an opportunity for seniors to step away from their parents and their homes and experience independence and how to use it the right way."

"So! Have fun but please be sensible and take of yourselves. One of us will be present at the resort at all times, you can just ask for us at the reception desk. Now, you all may wander off."

Soon the students start to trickle out. The five of us spend another half hour at the breakfast buffet and finally full we decide to step out too. I put on my gloves, scarf and beanie before following everyone out towards the slopes.

We've all skied before so we have no problem navigating the slopes. Three hours later after lots of fun, laughter and pictures we decide to take a break and head back to one of the resort's cafes for some coffee.

Our coffees have just arrived when Ash says, "Guys check the class group chat."

I take out my phone from my bag and check the chat. There are messages from Henry waiting. He has sent in a picture of a party happening downtown, a nearly thirty minute drive from the resort.

"Anything Henry decides to attend is a bad idea for anyone else to attend." Ben says, setting his phone down on the table.

"I can't even attend, I'm not even eighteen yet." I sigh.

"But we should still go downtown and explore." Liam says and Ash and Angelina agree.

"I don't know." I simply say as Ben says, "Shouldn't we just enjoy the resort?"

"Come on! Stop being such party poopers! It is tradition to visit downtown Aspen on your senior ski trip. Everyone does it!" Liam insists and Angelina nods in agreement.

"Fine." I finally say and then add, "But the minute things start going wild, I'm getting an Uber back to the resort."