Adrian Casey
"It's so early" I whined, dragging out the last part of the word 'early' as I closed my eyes and rested my forehead on my dad's arm as we waited in line at TSA. We had woken up at two in the morning for a five A.M flight to Aspen because in three days I would be competing at one of the biggest competitions of the year against some of the best female snowboarders in the country. Aspen was always one of my favorite places to compete, the energy was always high, and the competition was some of the toughest anyone would be facing during the regular season. Needless to say, this week was going to be one hell of a ride, and I was going to have my work cut out for me.
The line for airport security felt as if it were moving slower than a turtle trying to cross a highway. The airport was always busy so it didn't surprise me that the line was long, but I was beyond ready to sit at the gate waiting to board the four hour flight.
Much like the ski lifts, the plane ride was everyone's last moment of peace and stillness before the chaos hits you. As soon as you step off of that plane, everyone is in business mode and you're no longer there to mess around and sight see, at least until you were done competing, but until then, it was strictly business.
We made it through security with ease and were walking down the long corridor carrying backpacks stuffed with everything that wouldn't fit in our suitcases, which meant extra clothes, charger cables, and for me a blanket and a small pillow. Although I was used to traveling from city to city to compete and staying in different hotels, I could never seem to get comfortable using hotel sheets and pillows; it's always the thought that someone else's head has been on the hotel pillow, or their body was tangled up in the blankets that make me feel uneasy, so I learned that bringing my own makes me feel better and more relaxed.
"Here it is, Gate 26A" my dad said, looking down at his boarding pass then back up at the big blue sign that hung above a seating area. "Salt Lake City to Aspen; yup, this is us!" He read the screen above the flight attendant desk indicating which flight corresponded to the gate.
We quickly found some empty seats and dropped our bags on the floor. I slumped into the slightly uncomfortable chair and pulled my white beanie down over my eyes as I rested my head back.
"I'm going to go get a coffee; watch our bags while I'm gone" my dad said as he pulled his wallet out of his back pocket and left me alone to protect our belongings.
I nodded, even though I still couldn't see him because the beanie was blocking my vision. I wanted to take a nap, but at the same time airports were one of my favorite places to be. The possibilities here were endless, and everyone had different things to tend to. Some people might be flying home for the first time in a while, while others might be moving away from home chasing their dreams. The airport was a pretty magical place if you think about it because anything could happen.
This rang true because with these endless possibilities I had just thought about, someone was ripping my beanie off of my head, causing me to jump in my seat and turn my head rapidly from side to side wondering what was happening, and who was snatching my beloved beanie. I made a one-eighty degree turn and saw Michael holding in a laugh as I flattened out my hair.
"I should have known," I said, ripping my stolen beanie out of his hands and placing it back on my head, shaking my head playfully at him. "What are you doing here? Are you on this flight too?" I motioned toward the loading dock.
"Yeah, this was the only flight the four of us could find seats near each other because for some reason we booked them so late this year," Michael said, rubbing his eyes. He was clearly just as tired as I was.
"The four of us?" I asked, looking around because he was the only person in front of me at the moment and there was no sight of the other boys.
"The other guys went to grab some McDonald's breakfast before the flight, but I wasn't hungry" Michael clarified and I sent him a nod in response.
Michael and I sat together at the gate as he offered to watch my dad and I's bags as I brought my knees to my chest and turned to face him, leaning my side against the backrest of the chair and pulling my beanie over my eyes again in an attempt to nap.
It was no use as the second I felt myself about to succumb to unconsciousness I heard that laugh. That silly little laugh that perked my ears up, and brought myself to straighten up a little bit and slowly uncover my eyes so I could see who was approaching us. I didn't need to see who it was though, I could recognize that laugh anywhere.
Luke, Calum, and Ashton were all walking over in our direction, with Ashton shoving the last piece of a breakfast sandwich into his mouth.
"Well if it isn't the rest of the Goon Squad here to join us on this oh so lovely morning" I laughed as I locked eyes with Luke who gave me a playful eye roll.
The five of us sat at the gate waiting for the woman on the loudspeaker to tell us it was our turn to board essentially in silence. It was too early for us to be having any sort of conversations, and we all mutually understood that. My dad returned and greeted the boys with a coffee in his hand, and in a matter of minutes it was our turn to board.
I made my way down the aisle looking for my seat when I finally stumbled across seat 22B. Great, a middle seat. I wasn't happy about being stuck in between two strangers, but then again I'm sure I'd be sleeping from take off to landing, so it wouldn't matter in the end. I let out a grunt as I tried to shove my carry-on into the overhead bin, basically launching it into the holding space as I was too short to gracefully place it there myself when a taller figure was grabbing the bag from my hands and putting it inside for me.
"Thanks– Hey!" I exclaimed while realizing that the tall figure was actually Calum. "Where are you sitting?" I asked hoping that maybe he was going to fill one of the seats next to mine.
"25F" he groaned. "Ashton somehow managed to get a ticket towards the front, and I don't even know where Mike and Luke are sitting, but I think I'm the furthest back."
I took my seat, while Calum walked a few seats back to find his. The two on either side of me were still unoccupied and I was beginning to grow hopeful that maybe I was going to be alone and would have the whole row to myself. What a dream that would be. I was staring out of the small plane window, praying and hoping for the best when a voice brought me out of my trance.
"Is that seat taken?"
I whipped my head around to face the aisle to see one Luke Hemmings sending me a smirk and using his boarding pass to gesture to the window seat.
"Is that even your seat?" I replied with a hint of sass in my tone, as I grabbed his boarding pass from his hand. "This says 11C, what are you doing with us common folk back here?" I asked, crossing my arms over my chest after examining his ticket.
"This was Michael's seat, but he's kind of scared of flying and can't sit in the window seat, so I offered to trade with him so he could have an aisle seat." he shrugged in a nonchalant manner.
"Well I guess it's all yours then" I shrugged this time, handing him back his ticket and bringing my knees to my chest to give him ample space to walk past me and to the seat on my left.
"Are you nervous for this weekend?" he asked as he buckled himself in.
"If you ask me anything about this weekend I'll throw myself out of this plane" I stopped him before he could continue with this conversation. This was the calm before the storm, and I wanted it to stay that way before discussing the competition ignited any anxiety and nervousness I was going to feel when the day actually came. I wanted to feel at peace for as long as I could before I entered the war zone. "We can talk about anything else, but the competition" I sent him a tight smile to apologize for my blunt response before letting out a yawn and rubbing my eyes.
"How much sleep did you get?" He asked, raising an eyebrow at me.
"Like two hours maybe, I was planning on sleeping on the flight over to catch up on some hours" I said, closing my eyes and letting my head rest back. I could feel his eyes were still on me, but I didn't care because frankly I really was tired, and as much as I wanted to keep a conversation going with him I was too tired to.
I fell into a sleeping state as the plane began to take off. I was grateful that Luke didn't seem to mind that I wanted to sleep on the plane as he let me be. We hit a bit of turbulence that rocked my head one way or another causing me to crack open my eyes ever so slightly, and I found my head falling onto Luke's shoulder. Again, too tired to do anything about it I let my body sink into this position. I was slightly conscious at this point, waiting to drift back to sleep when I felt a small weight on the top of my head sending my lips curving into a small smile. Luke was using me just as much as a pillow, as I was him.
The plane landed in what felt like no time, and everyone unloaded their bags and themselves, and headed toward their next flight, or baggage claim like us. My dad and I grabbed our suitcases and my snowboard and the rest of my gear carefully packed away and got the keys to our rental car as we parted ways with the other boys who were waiting for their coach to get their van.
Today was Monday, and I would be competing on Friday, while the boys would take on Saturday, but everyone would be here in Aspen for essentially the whole week. It was crucial for everyone to become familiar with the course as well as getting used to the altitude, and time difference if you had been coming from other parts of the country.
...
I blew the air out of my cheeks as I bounced up and down on the balls of my feet waiting for the elevator of the hotel to take me down to the lobby where my dad was waiting with the car. I could feel the nerves coursing through my veins, as the music blared through the headphones covering my ears. I was getting myself in the zone, and in my aggressive and competitive mindset.
Today was a very important day, and I had to make sure I did everything right.
Lucky socks? I looked down at my lilac purple crocs seeing my bright green socks through the holes. Check.
Gum? I pat down my pants pocket feeling for the small pack of watermelon gum I slid in there earlier this morning. Check.
I balled my hand into a fist and knocked on my head twice. I don't know when I started this pre-competition tradition, there really was no reason for it, but it was something I did to wake up my brain and tell myself to get ready and go. Like I was knocking on the door of someone who was still sleeping, trying to wake them up and get ready for the day.
The elevator door dinged open and revealed the busy lobby. Athletes were moving to and fro trying to get the most of the continental breakfast, or rushing back to their rooms to grab whatever else they needed before the big day officially began.
I strolled past everyone and straight through the front doors that automatically opened for me as they sensed my presence. My dad was parked off to the side a few feet away waiting for me to hop into the passenger seat and head out to the resort where the competition was being held so I could sign in, get my bib number, and get some warm up runs in.
I was fiddling with my hands in my lap to cope with my growing excitement. I learned that once you recognize nerves, that's all you can focus on, the nervousness, and the dreadful feeling, but if you rewire your brain and tell yourself that you're just excited rather than nervous, then you're sure to have a better outcome. I was excited.
We pull into the rather full athlete parking lot and as my dad unloads my gear from the trunk of the car, I exchange my crocs for my snow boots and slip on my signature yellow snow jacket.
The weather was nice; it was a bright sunny day, full of clear skies and no snowfall appearing in the rearview mirror. It was the perfect day to compete.
"I'm going to take your board and helmet to base camp, while you go sign in" my dad said, holding up my helmet slightly and walking past me over to the line of canopies not too far away from the parking lot.
I nodded in response and made my way over to the ski lodge to find the event volunteers who were working the sign-in booth with containers full of yellow packets that contained papers of information.
"Good morning" one of the ladies said to me with a sweet smile which I returned graciously.
"Good morning, I'm signing in for the women's snowboard slopestyle competition" I started, fiddling with my hands once again as I waited to get my hands on a packet.
"Name?" the lady asked as she held out a clipboard in front of her with a long list of names in alphabetical order.
"Adrian Casey" I replied, leaning forward to eye the list in her hands. I briefly saw Julia Marino's name on the list and my stomach tightened at the sight. Julia was probably my biggest competition here today and I knew she had been working hard since the last time I edged her out of a first place win by a single point last year.
"Here you go dear" the lady said as she highlighted my name on the list, and sifted through the pile of packers until she found the one with my name scribbled on it. "Good luck today."
I gave her a quick thanks before pulling out my bib number and complimentary event schedule. I was number twenty-eight, and women's slopestyle was slated to begin at ten this morning which meant I had roughly two hours to get warmed up and in line with the rest of my competition.
"Yes!" I whispered to myself throwing a fist in the air as I realized I would be the last to go for each run. I loved being last because that meant I could see everyone's scores and set a standard for myself as to what kind of tricks I needed to pull in order to come out ahead of everyone who went before me. The only downside to being last was exactly that though; you had to watch everyone go first and hope and pray you could top whatever they pulled from their bag of tricks.
This morning's scores would determine who moves onto the finals which were happening later tonight and I knew that unless I completely missed my event or forfeit my position I would be moving on easily.
My dad and I planned how my three runs would go, making them all essentially safety nets and performing easy tricks that I would land with no problem. The only goal was to get through to the finals where I would pull the bigger and harder moves out from my arsenal. This morning was merely child's play.
And it went exactly how we planned; I ended the morning in sixth place out of the ten athletes that moved on to the finals. Julia ended with a second seeded position but I wasn't scared. I had something up my sleeve that I had been waiting to use, and tonight was go big or go home. I wasn't going to let her go home with my win.
My dad and I spent the rest of the day in the hotel room preparing for the main event tonight. I took a nap, we had lunch, I watched National Treasure on TV, and then it was finally time to head back out to the course.
Now that it was nighttime, the temperature dropped about fifteen to twenty degrees and layering up was essential.
We drove back to the course, and headed over to basecamp where athletes and spectators began pooling into. Girls were scurrying to grab helmets, coaches were adjusting bindings one last time, and in the midst of all the chaos I stood at peace with it all; I reached into my pocket and pulled out the pack of gum I placed there earlier and popped a strip of it into my mouth.
"Adrian! Adrian!" I heard someone calling out my name. I turned around in circles trying to find the source of the voice, only to turn around once more to see Michael, Luke, Calum, and Ashton pushing their way past a bunch of people to get to me.
"You guys came?" I asked with a small smile growing on my face.
"Of course," Calum said with a smile. "There's no way we would miss Marino getting her ass handed to her on her home course" he chuckled while sticking his thumb out pointing in Julia's general direction.
When you think of cocky, arrogant, and entitled, sure Luke Hemmings comes to mind sometimes, but Julia Marino owns that category. Like me, her dad is her coach, and would do anything to get the girl to win. He's one to walk up to the judges tent and demand that athletes get re-scored or he'll point out little things the judges might have missed for people ahead of his daughter to get deductions.
"Are you nervous?" Ashton asked this time, gesturing to the mountain I was ready to conquer.
"Never" I smirked. "I got a few tricks up my sleeve that I'm ready to whip out tonight" I looked over at Luke and winked.
His eyes grew wide, as he put the pieces together and began shaking his head.
"No. No, you're not doing that; remember what happened last time?" He protested.
"What? What's she going to do?" Michael asked and Calum and Ashton looked between us. My hands on my hips with Luke standing firmly with his arms crossed over his chest.
"She wants to do–" he looked around before continuing his sentence and lowering his voice to a whisper so as to not give away my big secret, "a quad cork."
I nodded proudly as the trio of boys who learned this new piece of information blinked with a surprised expression on their faces.
"You can't," Ashton said, stepping forward this time.
"Yeah Adrian, have you even practiced that one enough?" Calum joined in.
"Boys, I'm flattered you have an ounce of care in you for me but I'm doing it." I stated, not giving in to their protests.
A quad cork was four flips and five spins; it's a scary trick to do because there's a lot of things going on at the same time, but it was calling my name. Dad and I had been practicing it back home after the night that I spontaneously tried doing it with Luke at the terrain park, and I had the landing basically down by now. I would say I had a seventy percent landing rate while in practice so I was a gamble to actually do it tonight, but something in my gut was telling me to just go for it and take the risk, because if not now, when?
"Just– Just be careful okay" Ashton spoke up, knowing how dangerous this trick was and how many people have wiped out trying to land it. I nodded my head reassuringly.
"We'll be cheering you on from the bottom of the hill, alright?" Michael said, pulling me into a side hug.
"Thanks guys" I said, releasing myself from Michael and turning to the rest of the boys and giving them quick side hugs, but once I got to Luke I hesitated for a second before his arms were the ones pulling me into him.
"Be careful, okay?" he whispered to me, as I quickly slipped the pack of gum into the pocket of his snow jacket that I knew he would be competing in tomorrow when it was the boys turn on the course.
I separated myself from him and gave him a thumbs up before the Goon Squad left and went to find a spot to watch under the spotlights. I puffed air out of my cheeks and saw my breath in the air before shifting my gaze to the top of the hill where I would seal my fate.
"And coming up on the drop off is a local of the Aspen slopes, hometown hero Julia Marino is ready to take on the competition tonight!" The announce spoke through the loud speaker as Julia hopped forward on her board to wave to the cameras and the crowd at the bottom of the hill.
She hit the first decline and gracefully brought herself up to glide on the railings, hitting a three-sixty spin as she jumped off of it and back onto the snow. She spun onto the rails and then spun right off of them, making sure she gets the most out of her runs. She hit the second drop off with an underflip and lands with grace flying toward the first ramp where she performs a backside nine hundred and yet again lands with grace. She makes her way toward the second ramp where she does a double nine hundred and lands like it was nothing. The biggest, and final ramp is where she goes for it and sticks the landing on a double front ten.
"Julia Marino probably just put down the best run I have ever seen her do!" The announcer yells through the microphone as the praise for the girl erupts around the mountain. "And she shoots into first place! Eighty-six point sixty-eight! Marino's setting the bar early tonight; we'll see if anyone can catch her."
Julia hops out of the bindings on her board and pumps her fists in the air triumphantly. This was only our second run, and I used my first as a safety net, and my second was used as a way to secure myself a podium placement if my last one hit the fan. She was edging me out by two points right now.
I had my work cut out for me.
After my second run, I was intently staring at the scoreboard before I had to go back up to the top of the drop off for my last turn. I was doing the math in my head, trying to figure out if the risk of doing the quad cork was worth it. I could do another move that I would without a doubt land and secure a win over Julia or I could try this trick and risk wiping out.
"Adrian!" I turned around facing the crowd of people to spot Luke cupping his hands over his mouth to project his voice to me over the rumble of spectators cheering and yelling. "You're gonna get in your head; don't think, just go for it!" he yelled as he glanced above me to the big screen that projected everyone's scores. He knew I had been rethinking what I had originally planned on doing. I could play it safe or I could take the risk. The only thing about playing it safe was that I would surely come home with a win of some sort, but I would regret it at the end of the day if I hadn't even tried to do what I wanted.
I nodded my head once at him and turned back to the scoreboard and saw Julia's name above mine. "You got this" I whispered to myself as I walked back over to the lift and made my way up to the drop off.
"And getting ready for her last run of the day is Park City legend Adrian Casey! Her and Marino have been battling it out for that top spot all night, and we're about to find out if Casey can take it home once again." The announcer said as I stared down the drop off ready for my chance to take home the hardware I wanted.
I closed my eyes and took in one last deep breath and slowly opened them as I exhaled and blew the air out of my mouth. "You got this" I whispered to myself one last time as I hopped forward on my board and sent myself flying down the first drop.
I got enough momentum to bring myself up and spin onto the first railing and hit a quick underflip as I hopped off and made my way over to the second one where I hit a three-sixty spin onto and off of it. I glided over to the second drop and hit another underflip before I flew over to the first ramp. I knew I had to make my tricks bigger than the ones on my previous runs and on the first ramp the second my board left the top of the packed snow I was flipping into a cab 1620 and I came down onto the snow and landed it perfectly. I was moving fast toward the second ramp and shooting into the air and spinning into a switchback sixteen hundred. Another perfect landing. The last ramp was getting closer by the millisecond, and I had to make a split second decision.
My board hit the bottom of the ramp and I knew what I had to do. I flew forward and grabbed the bottom of my board with my right hand and flipped four times while spinning around five times. It's hard to pin your eyes on a spot to land because of everything going on so I had to trust myself and pray that I could do this right. My board was getting closer to the ground and I released my grip from it and bent my knees bracing myself for the impact of landing. It felt like everything went quiet in the world and all eyes were on me at this moment. The bottom of my board collided with the snow below me and I slowly straightened out my knees to continue to glide towards the end wall where cameras and reporters and spectators were. Everything came rushing back in a split second and the crowd was erupting into cheers as I pumped my fists in the air triumphantly.
I ripped my feet out of the bindings and ran over to the side barricade where my dad stood with a biggest grin on his face. I threw myself into his arms as he wrapped them around me. I stood next to him as I waited for the judges to calculate my score. I was excited before, but I was nervous now. This was probably the best run I had ever performed and I was praying that it translated well with the numbers.
"Can you believe it! With an unbelievable last run Adrian Casey knocks Marino back down to second with a score of ninety point ninety-six! Adrian Casey is taking home yet another first place win!" The announcer yells once again as I throw myself back into my dad's arms as he's cheering.
I leave my board where it is on the ground, and run through a marked off walkway for athletes and sprint through the crowd of people to find where I last saw the person who gave me the last push of motivation before my last run.
I was too high on cloud nine to think about anything else, to think about where I was or who was watching me, or what I was actually doing. I could spot his tall figure from a distance. I ripped off my goggles and helmet and left them lying on the ground as I closed the gap between the two of us and jumped on him, wrapping my arms around his neck and my legs around his waist, he wrapped his arms around my back holding me to him.
I pulled my face away from his and removed my arms from his neck and placed them on his shoulders so I could look at his face. He had a huge smile plastered on his face and a look in eyes I couldn't quite recognize but overall he looked happy– proud even.
The other three boys made their way over to us and showered me in congratulations, giving me high fives, a pat on the back, and fist pumps in the air.
"See, I told you the quad cork was a good idea" he chuckled.
I untangled my legs from him and hopped off of the tall boy and stared back up at him rolling my eyes. "Yeah because you're not doing that means I think it's a great idea Adrian" I mocked.
"Seriously though, you did great today" he said, locking eyes with me.
"I know" I shrugged my shoulders before a smirk formed on my face. "Now we get to find out if you're gonna step up your game for once or you're gonna choke once again."
I turned my back and began jogging back to pick up my discarded gear and meet my dad back where the podiums were for the award ceremony leaving Luke to stand there alone.
THIS CHAPTER WAS SO LONG BUT I HAD TO FIT SO MUCH IN HERE THE NEXT CHAPTER IS GONNA BE A GOOOOOD ONE LOLOLOL
Thank you for bearing with me on this super long chapter but I appreciate y'all for keeping up with this story <3
And I apologize to the real Julia Marino for making her sound like a bad person in Bail lmfao but I love her in real life she's so fucking cool and she quite literally won silver at this year's winter olympics so she's kinda a badass.