Page 22 of Catch Yourself a Snowmance
I keep my eyes on the road. The snow has been plowed and salt covers the asphalt. Drifts several feet high line either side.
“Alyssa,” Liam’s voice is calm, like he’s trying to keep the conversation between the two of us.
“She’s into you,” Gage offers from the back seat.
“What? No. It’s not like that,” I say, glancing at him in the rearview.
“You don’t have to remain single,” Liam says. “Meeting Noelle has been the best thing to ever happen to me. I wasn’t unhappy without her. But my life is infinitely better with her in it.”
“I’m so happy for you.”
“Dropping it,” Liam says. Then he adds, “I like the way you two seem to enjoy one another’s company.”
“Me too. She’s … nice.”
“Yeah. Nice.” Liam shakes his head with a smile on his face.
Thankfully the subject of Alyssa is actually dropped when Gage brings up some extreme skier he knows personally. He tells us all about the competition his friend is in and tricks he’s seen him do when they skied together.
We find parking and meet the girls at rentals. Once we’re all geared up, we head out to the bunny run.
“This is totally unnecessary,” I tell my friends. “I can start at the top of a regular lift.”
“Trust me,” Alyssa says. “You’ll want to practice down here.”
I’ve been skiing since I was a kid. Howdifferent could snowboarding really be? I’m not about to argue with her, though. I’ll get the hang of it in no time. I’ll just strap into the board, point it downhill, and glide. Then we can all head over to a lift and enjoy the more challenging slopes the rest of the afternoon.
There’s a conveyor belt built right into the hill to take us up a minor slope—a magic carpet,as they call them. I could ski this hill blindfolded. I stand at the bottom of the rubber moving sidewalk.
“Just glide onto it,” the attendant says casually.
I thrust and pull, trying to drag the board up to the start of the conveyor belt. I step on with one foot at a time—the one attached to the board and then my free foot. My front foot starts to slide with the board. The belt is already moving forward, throwing me off-kilter. My board jerks forward, but my body doesn’t. I’m nearly doing the splits, pinwheeling my arms and shouting, “Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!”. I almost faceplant, but I manage to catch myself.
The lift attendant stops the magic carpet—with a jerk. I wobble again, but remain upright.
All eyes are on me, including the eyes of a kid who can’t be more than seven years old, standing just ahead of me on his own snowboard on the rubber track, making it look like standing with a snowboard attached to one foot is no big deal.
And Alyssa. Her eyes are definitely on me. Unfortunately. She’s just behind me, staring.
Way to make an impression. First it was Dorito dust, now this.
I plant both feet firmly, trying to look casual and in control, but the board doesn’t stay in place. The attendant starts the conveyor without warning and I flail around again, swaying and tightening the muscles of my legs to stay upright.
Somehow I slide just a few inches to the left and the boardcatches an edge of the rubber belt dragging us up the hill. I tilt backward, and despite my desperate efforts to stay upright, gravity wins. Everything seems to move in slow motion. I fall backward, landing on my rear on the belt.
“Straighten your board!” the attendant calls out, not even hiding his laughter.
“Are you okay?” Alyssa asks from behind me. There’s mirth in her voice too.
“I’m good.”
I chuckle from my seated position. Turning with a board attached to one foot is just as hard as you’d imagine it would be. I manage to tip myself over so that I’m practically crawling and then I scrabble to get back on my feet before I’m hauled all the way up the hill in this humiliating position.
I shout back to Alyssa. “I look like an uncoordinated penguin!”
She busts up laughing. I can’t help but join her.
When we reach the top, I’m finally standing. The belt jerks again. My board hits the snow at the end of the conveyor belt in a spot that is packed and hardened. The impact sends me sprawling onto the unloading area in a face-down snow angel, right in front of everyone coming off the magic carpet.
