Chapter 6
Aspen
Tossing and turning all night long. That girl in the green bikini won’t leave my head.
All day, every hour, she’s just... there.
And it’s my first day teaching snowboarding.
Great. Just what I needed — to be up on my feet and focused, teaching a bunch of amateurs to not die on the bunny hill, but my brain?
Nope, it’s fixated on some mystery chick who probably doesn’t even remember my name.
Keep it together, Aspen. I’ve always wanted to instruct and now I’m finally here.
I just need to get this mystery girl out of my head so I can keep my head on straight and not fly off the mountain.
I took a bump before heading into work so I could make it through the day, and this morning, I did a pretty good job.
Everyone I was teaching today needed to be on the bunny hill, the beginner hill, so I was going back to the basics.
Teaching snowboarding is always a trip. Watching these people look like baby giraffes trying to walk for the first time.
They fall, a lot. But it’s not the falling that’s the hardest part, it’s the getting back up.
Kind of like breaking up with someone. Getting up off your ass after you fall is the hardest thing.
Like... starting over. Yeah, that’s a bit too close to home right now.
Especially when the girl I can’t get out of my head is a total stranger.
After a pretty successful morning, I head to lunch.
Raul’s hand shoots out as I walk past. “Hey man, could you do me a favor?” he asks, his voice a little too chipper.
“Sure, as long as it’s not wiping your ass crack.” he laughs and I can't tell if he knows I’m just being an asshole, or if I actually amuse him."
He smirks, “Can you deliver this paycheck to Loretta at the spa. She just moved apartments so the check I mailed came back. I want to make sure she gets it in time.”
“No problem boss,” I tell him, grabbing the envelope from his hand.
I try to think what will get me there the fastest. Riding or driving? I decide riding. So I grab my board that I had left on the rack outside and strap one foot back in to ride the lift up. I get up there quick and ride all the way to the left so that I can head in the direction of the spa.
When I walk in, I’m greeted with beautiful smells and kind faces.
I tell Lauren at the front deck I’m delivering something to Loretta so she lets me pass by.
At Smoky Pine Ridge, we are a family, everybody knows everybody, but that also goes with living in a small town.
Which is one of the many reasons I love living here.
I walk in the main spa room and see women getting their nails done, getting their feet massaged and some taking a mud bath.
Not gonna lie, the women in the mud bath look a little scary. They kind of look like groot. I continue to glance the room for Loretta and I find her over in the corner giving a foot massage.
“Hey, Loretta. Delivery from the boss,” I tell her.
“Thank you, Aspen! You’re so kind for coming out here.”
“No problem at all, congrats on the new place.”
“Thank you,” she says blushing and I think my work here is done.
“Have a good one,” I tell her.
“Thanks! You too!”
I ride back down the snow-draped mountain, its silence broken only by the soft hiss of my board.
I go to the resort’s restaurant just like always, so Derek can whip me up one of his famous burgers.
I hope boss doesn’t cut my break short for my delivery.
I need every minute I can get on my breaks, instructing is exhausting.
But it’s worth it. When I enter the bar, I nearly slip from the melted snow spreading on the wooden floor from people’s snow boots.
I move carefully through the bar, kinda looking like a baby giraffe myself.
I spin a chair towards me to sit in and then spin back to face the bar.
“How’s the new job?” Derek asks, “you look like shit.”
“Thanks,” I laugh, “It’s good, I’m just tired from last night.”
Derek doesn’t know I do coke. He’s super against it after his mom has been in and out of rehab and I don’t want him to hate me for it. So, every time I need a bump, I do it from a vial, so I don’t leave any dust behind.
I’m scared to see what would happen if he were to find out.
“From What? Jacking off? I didn’t hear any girls moaning last night,” Derek says.
Jesus, Derek, I didn’t realize I was under a microscope. But then again, he’s never been shy about asking questions that make you wanna punch him in the face.
“No idiot, get your mind out of the gutter. I just couldn’t sleep.”
“Whatever you say…” He says, “what are you having?”
“A burger, hold the pickle.”
“You got it,” He says before heading to the back.
While Derek is making my burger, I look over my right shoulder and see my brother, Everest, walk through the door that leads to the bar.
“Well, look who it is, my brother, who never answers my texts,” He says.
“Me? You’re the one always under some girl.”
“Yeah, and you wish it was you.”
I roll my eyes.
“What did you text me?” I ask as he sits.
“If you want to come to a party with me.” He says, “It’s tonight.”
A party? I really shouldn’t. I have work tomorrow, but something in me doesn’t care. I think I could use a couple drinks to sleep tonight, anyways. Maybe then I won’t be tossing and turning.
“Sure,” I say.
“Sweet bro,” he says before taking a sip of my water like the entitled asshole he is.
Derek comes back with my burger and a pickle…in his hand? It looks like he’s holding a green dick.
“Bro, what the fuck are you doing holding a pickle like that?” I ask him, laughing.
“You gonna shove it up your ass?” Everest adds.
“You asked for a burger, hold the pickle,” he says with a straight face. I can’t help it, I burst into laughter along with Everest.
This guy.
After lunch and that disturbing image of Derek fisting a pickle, I head to the bathroom for my afternoon pick me up.
I lock myself in the stall like usual and inhale the delicious powder.
I give myself a moment to reassess when I hear the door to the bathroom swing open.
Footsteps echo against the tile. Slow. Casual. But each one tightens the knot in my stomach. I shift, trying to stay silent and lean just enough to peek through the narrow gap in the stall.
Raul. Shit. My stomach does a weird flip, panic shooting up my spine. No way in hell am I letting him see me like this. I can’t deal with the questions, the look he’ll give me. My breath hitches and all I can do is pray he doesn’t notice. Please don’t notice.
I swipe under my nose in a rush, acutely hyper-aware of every trace I might’ve left behind. Every breath too loud. Every movement too sharp.
The silence stretches. Then—
The flush of the urinal.
The metallic zip of his fly.
I freeze. My lungs beg for air, but I won’t risk making a sound.
The door swings open. Shuts again.
Only then do I let out the breath I’d been holding. My knees almost buckle.
Too close.
***
How can a girl make such an enormous imprint on a man’s mind? It’s like, whatever I do, I think about this mystery girl, even though I don’t even know her name. Rebecca? Jessica? Lily? I have no freaking clue.
She could be gone in a different state for all I know.
All I know is she ruined the color green for me. I thought of her when I saw Derek holding that freaking pickle, for crying out loud. I will never be able to look at a goddamn tree the same.
A fucking tree.
How fucked is that?
I used to laugh when my friends in high school would swoon over girls, brushing it off like it was nothing. But now? Now I know exactly what they meant.
Having a girl take up most of your brain capacity is not ideal, but there’s nothing I can do.
Hopefully, going to this party will get my mind off of her. Unless there's something green, then I’m really fucked.
Everest pulls up to our apartment to pick Derek and I up around 8:00. His shity ass 2015 Ford F-150 rolls out of our parking lot and we head to the party.
We drive down the same road I always take to work when Everest pulls into a gas station and says, “gotta make a pit stop for some beers.”
I roll my eyes because he Everest cons his way through life and it’s annoying how well he does it.
He’s only seventeen and has a fake ID and an older friend who works at the gas station that allows him to get booze whenever he wants.
As an older brother, what good am I even for if I can’t buy my underaged brother a bottle?
He puts the car in park, hops out of the driver’s seat, and strolls into the gas station. The slam from his side door rings throughout the air.
Derek breaks the silence first.
“There better be some hot bitches there.”
I snort.
“Do you care about anything else?” I ask, looking back to where he’s sitting.
“Not really,” he says and we both laugh.
“You’re basically a walking STD,” I shoot back, half-laughing.
Derek doesn’t even flinch. “Come on, Aspen, lighten up. Maybe we’ll find you a new girl. Or at least, one that won’t make you act like a love-struck idiot.”
Yeah. If only it was that easy.
Leave it to Derek to fit the ‘typical man’ stereotype. He’s ruining it for the rest of us. No wonder women think we’re all pigs.
“Lighten up, maybe we can find you your mystery girl or at least a different one to help you forget about her,” he adds.
Maybe.
Derek is a bit of a playboy and so is my brother. Both of them are totally fine with hooking up with any women they see and almost make it a competition on who can sleep with more. Not literally, but they might as well at this point.
I, on the other hand, have never really been into that.
I’ve always focused on snowboarding and work.
I wouldn’t mind hooking up with a girl here and there, it just never happens.
Colorado girls aren’t really my type anyway.
They’re usually pretty tom-boyish and are all the same: independent and outdoorsy.
There’s nothing wrong with that but I love a beautiful girl who feels feminine and sexy - who is independent, but loves to be treated like a princess.
Every woman should be treated like a princess.
Everest saunters to the car and hops in, placing the 24-pack of beers on my lap.
“Alright fellas, now let's go find some bitches,” Everest says. I roll my eyes while he shifts the gear to drive.
Ten minutes later, we arrive at the resort. I look around, wondering what we’re doing here. Maybe Everest forgot something? What could he have possibly forgotten here that he needs before tomorrow?
Everest parks in front of one of the cabins and I immediately get that gut feeling. No locals would throw a party here. It’s all tourists and rich assholes. Fuck.
He grabs the case of beer from my lap.
“By the way, who’s party is this?” I ask Everest.
“Some chick I found on Tinder. She’s hot, her name’s Gen,” He says. “Nothing to worry about big bro, it’s gonna be fun.”
Of course. Leave it to Everest to put us in some weird situation. He’s not even legally allowed to be on Tinder. I should have expected it with him, so I don’t know why I’m surprised. I thought he was invited by a friend or someone he knows.
Tonight might be the night I die.
I better say a little prayer.
“So you don’t even know this person? What if she catfished you?” I ask.
He just chuckles, “I guess we’ll have to find out.”
Oh boy. This night better not go downhill. At this point, I’m just hoping that we don’t get kidnapped or something. We may be grown adults but there are crazy people out there in this world.
Derek and I follow Everest, who’s just walking around the resort’s lodging looking at the numbers on each cabin.
I glance around for a second. I don’t see many cars here and don’t hear any loud music. I wonder if this party is good or not? It’s definitely not a rager…not sure if I should be relieved about that or not.
I go with my gut on this one and my gut tells me I need to get out of here.
Everest stops at the cabin that reads 222.
An angel number, which means the stars aligned - we’re at the right place at the right time. I’m pretty into astrology, but that doesn’t change my gut feeling.
“Ev, I have a bad feeling about this. I’m dipping,” I tell him.
“What? Dude, you’re such a buzzkill. Why can’t you ever just relax and have some fun?”
He doesn’t know it but I do relax. I just happen to use a drug to help me do so. But anyway I begin walking towards the car when I realize I don’t have the keys. I walk back towards Everest to grab the car keys from him when he knocks on the door.
When the door opens, the light behind her illuminates a pretty girl saying, “Hellooo, boys!” and I freeze.
I don’t know if my eyes deceive me or if this is real life, but I’ve come in direct contact with the same fields of green that were pulling me in just the other day. She freezes too.
My gut may have led me wrong but fate was on my side.
It’s her.