"I can't believe you dragged me out here."
Jacob, George, and Liz are sitting in the back of Ray's silver Honda Civic. I'm sitting in passenger and allowing Ray to drive this time, which he happily assured was more life preserving (to which I slapped his arm).
"Are you serious? This is gonna be fun!" I exclaim, turning around in my seat.
"I'm very serious," Jacob says. "This sounds like some type of foreign torture."
"Sledding is fun!" Lizzie says, pointing an accusing finger at him.
"No," Jacob shakes his head. "It's torture. 'Go stand out in the frozen land and ride these very hazardous objects down the hill and, oh, don't get a concussion when you hit a bump and get snow down your pants. Have fun, though!' Yeah, no thanks."
I roll my eyes just before the car lurches forward from a red light, and I go slamming back onto my seat.
"Uh, sorry," Ray says, and I rub the back of my head.
"That's fine," I say, frowning. "Only got a slight concussion, I'll live."
Ray laughs nervously, apologizing again for his 'terribly reckless driving skills.' I tell him to shut up because he's babbling on about being sorry and I honestly don't care, and wasn't hurt in the slightest.
"Here we are," I say excitedly. Sledding is a yearly event in our household, which obviously Jacob despises. Unlike him, I absolutely love sledding.
We all pile out of the car and grab our sleds from the trunk. It's snowing again, and pretty hard. I stick out my tongue to let some drip onto it. My earmuffs on the top of my head leave my ears toasty warm, and my fingers are stuffed into mittens. In snugly in a winter coat and snow boots. So ready for this.
My sled, a long one with a string to hold onto, drags behind me as I leave the others behind to get to the hill. There's almost nobody here, probably since it's snowing pretty hard. I find a steep part and set my sled down.
"Jordan, wait!" I turn around and see Lizzie running towards me with her sled behind her. "I want to go at the same time!"
I smile and nod. She climbs into her sled and we count down from five before pushing ourselves forward.
I fly forward and laugh as the wind blows over my face, successfully freezing it. Snow sprays back at me, forcing my eyes closed. My sled starts spinning out of control and in trying to pry my eyes open. I guess I hit a bump or something, because I end up going flying through the air. I hear a loud and terrified scream, only to realize that it's coming from my mouth. I think I'm going backwards now. My eyes are still glued shut. Luckily, I slow to a stop. And I laugh. And laugh. And laugh.
My eyes open and I see that I'm not the only one laughing. The three boys stand at the top of the hill, applauding me. Lizzie sits about ten feet away from me, giggling.
"Hey, Jor," Ray calls down to me. "That was pretty awesome, I think you should snowboard competitively."
I stand up and give a very graceful bow. Well, it is quite graceful until I trip over my own foot and faceplant into the snow. Smooth.
*******************************
"I think we should call it a day," Jacob sighs, sitting on the bench at the top of the hill.
"You, Sir Hate-All-Fun-In-Life, do not get to make the decisions here," I give him a pointed look.
He rolls his eyes and crosses his arms.
"I'm good with going now," George says, flopping beside Jacob.
"Me too," Ray sighs. "I'm pretty exhausted."
"I'm not!" Lizzie says, frowning.
I turn to her. "We can come back tomorrow, just you and me. That okay?"
She smiles and nods. "Yeah! That's good."
"Alright," I say, nodding in confirmation.
Everyone grabs their sleds and such and heads to the car. Once everyone is settled, we get driving again. I'm completely soaking wet, cold and miserable. But isn't that fun memory worth this? As Ray once said, what's life without a little sacrifice?
The road is really slippery from all the snow, so Ray has to drive very slowly and carefully so he doesn't crash the car or slide.
"Here's Lizzie's house," Ray parks in front of the small home and climbs out of the car to get Liz and her sled back inside safely.
Just before going inside, she runs back up to my window and knocks. I roll it down for her.
"You won't forget about sledding tomorrow with me, right?" She asks.
"No, I promise," I smile.
She nods and thanks me for taking her before hurrying out of the snow.
On the way back, the only sound is the quiet radio playing on the classic rock station. I hear Ray mumbling along with the lyrics and smile.
Jacob, Ray, and I all trudge through the snow and into my house before slamming the door closed behind us against the wind.
"Well that was fun," I smile at the two of them.
"Yeah," Jacob says, leaning against the wall, "just about as fun as climbing a twenty foot thorn bush."
"Really?" I roll my eyes.
"Really," Jacob nods.
"How unfortunate for you," I pat his arm thoughtfully. "We all had a blast."
"Yeah, alright," Jacob moves away from me. "I'm gonna go take a hot shower. See you all tomorrow."
*****************************
"Hola," Ray sits beside me on my bed.
"Buenas noches," I nod to him.
"Y tú."
"Cómo estás?" I ask, sighing and looking back at my notes for science.
"Moy mal," Ray laughs.
"Si?"
"Qúe pasa?" Ray asks, falling back on my bed, so he's now laying down beside my crossed feet.
"Nada mucho," I sigh and flip my page. I absolutely hate science with my whole heart. Completely and totally hate it.
"I can't speak that much Spanish," Ray says, laughing.
"Hey, that was pretty good!" I laugh.
"Yeah? Wasn't sure if I was saying 'what's up?' Or 'how're the in-laws?' I guess I was successful," Ray says.
I laugh and set my books onto the bedside table. Then I lay back beside Ray. He sighs. I sigh. He sighs. I sigh. He sighs. I sigh. He sighs.
"This is, like, our favorite game," I note, facing him on my side, using my hand as a head rest.
"Not mine," Ray shakes his head. "I always get injured."
I quirk an eyebrow. "Then why do you always keep it up?"
He shrugs. "I'm one for a good sigh."
And, I laugh again. "You learn something new everyday."
My cat, Penelope, climbs up onto the bed and lays herself right in between Ray and mine's faces. How considerate.
I let out a short laugh before giving in and petting her ears.
"I didn't know you had a cat," Ray says.
I nod. "Yeah, that's because she hides in the dirty laundry all day long."
Ray raises his eyebrows. "And you still pet the mangy thing?"
"Yes. Yes I do."
"You've probably got some disease," Ray says, shaking his head. "Man, I'm in love with a girl who has a disease from her cat. Where exactly did I go wrong in life?"
"Gee, thanks," I shake my head. "I'm touched."
Ray nods. "This is the part where I slowly back away, before running off to Canada with a fake I.D."
"Oh, come here," I pull him by the collar of his shirt towards me and press my lips to his. He responds immediately, after his shock is gone, his hands going behind my head. The cat is crushed between us, meowing and Ray 'accidentally' kicks it off the bed to shut it up.
"Maybe I won't run off to Canada," Ray nods.
"You can live with a diseased girl," I smile.
"I suppose I can."
*********************************
I grab my brown crayon, making sure it's the right shade, and color Belle's hair. I'm very careful to color inside the lines, so she looks normal, and has no Afro looking hairdo.
The blue comes next, so I pull out a light color.
But my phone buzzes.
'You want to go to that new restaurant tonight?' -Ray
'I promised Liz I would go sledding with her. We're leaving at two and should be back around five. So anytime after that's fine. That alright with you?'
I color the sleeves of Belle's dress and trace the line of her lips before filling them in.
'Yeah, that sounds great. Are you walking to the sledding field place?' -Ray
'Yeah, Liz's grandma is taking her to my house and we'll walk from here.'
And, the apricot skin color.
'Why doesn't her grandma being her straight to the sledding place, or pick you up? Isn't that a whole lot of extra work?' -Ray
'Oh, shush. Don't criticize my brilliant plans.'
The curtains in the background are now purple.
'My thumbs will refrain from typing any words of recommendation and advice.' -Ray
'Thank you, I appreciate it.'
******************************
I've got my sweatshirt on and I'm sitting all cozy at my kitchen counter, sipping peppermint hot chocolate.
Penelope is curled up next to my mug and nudging me every once and a while, to make sure I don't stop petting her.
'SHAKE IT OUT, SHAKE IT OUT! SHAKE IT OUT-"
I look down at my phone and see Sheryl's phone number appear on my screen. Sheryl? She never calls me. She probably wants me to come into the bookstore today.
I pick up my phone and answer it. "Hello?"
"Jordan," she sounds out of breath and terrified.
"What's wrong...?" I ask slowly, taking another sip of my cocoa.
"You need to get to the hospital. Now. It's Lizzie."