70. Kaden
Kaden
Look, I know that snow is cold. I know. But is it really necessary to be dressed like this? I’ve got so many layers on, I feel claustrophobic.
There’s some base layer to absorb sweat, another layer for warmth, and a third for keeping the snow and wind away—according to Seth. I’ve got goggles, gloves, and a beanie. I draw the line when he starts talking about mid-calf socks.
“Get the fuck outta here,” I say, shaking my head.
“It’s for your own good,” he nods. “It’s cold out there and you don’t know how to ski. What if you end up in the woods, and can’t find your way back?”
“And mid-calf socks will save my ass?”
“Uh-huh.”
“You can’t make me,” I say, crossing my arms. Or trying to. I’ve got on too many fucking layers to do it comfortably.
Seth convinced me to go shopping with him. I never could have guessed what that meant. I’d never have agreed if I did. But here we fucking are.
“Oh, I think I can find a way to convince you,” he says with a grin as he wiggles his brows.
I chew on my bottom lip, and then shake my head. “Give me the fucking socks!”
I don’t want to think about how much I paid for the ski clothes—which I’ll use exactly one time, so that’s just awesome.
But Seth offered to pay for it, and that’s where the line was really drawn.
It’s enough that his parents are paying for the trip—and I’m not a charity case or a kid, I’ll pay for my own damn clothes.
And Seth says they have good resale value, so, there’s that.
Four days later, we’re on our way.
Seth’s parents went up there yesterday to get tickets, and passes, and whatnot.
I’m nervous. Firstly, this is the first time I’m leaving San Diego since COVID hit.
I’ve taken baby steps when it comes to being around people and I’m doing okay.
The anxiety isn’t choking me anymore. I still wash my hands often, but all in all, it feels okay.
And Seth said the staff is taking precautions, and we’ll be outside for most of the time there, so… I think I’ll be okay.
Secondly, I’ve never skied before, and I’m fucking terrified of falling on my head and breaking my neck, or my back. Or falling off the lift, or—
“You know what we should do?” Seth says, turning towards me where he sits in the passenger seat.
“Turn back around?”
“We should get night tickets,” he says, completely ignoring me.
“What? Why?” I can’t think of anything worse than skiing around in complete darkness. What the fuck?
“It’s so cool. You can watch the sunset from the mountain, and sometimes the moon’s so big and bright, it lights up everything.”
The leather on the steering wheel groans under my hands, and I exhale.
“Are you nervous, Kadey-babe?” He places a hand on my thigh, stroking lightly up and down.
“Yeah, I’m fucking nervous. I’ve never skied before, Seth. And I don’t wanna break my neck. I kinda need it, you know?”
“You won’t break your neck. I’m gonna teach you. We can use one of those harnesses, so I can steer you and—”
I smack his arm, and he laughs.
“It’s not that hard, though,” he says then, lacing his fingers with mine. “Promise, you’re gonna love it.”
He squeezes my hand and turns the volume up. Looking out the side window, he bobs his head to “I want you” by The Offspring, mumbling the lyrics.
I exhale, trying to relax. Maybe this week won’t be so bad. Maybe I’ll fall on my ass, and maybe that’s the worse that’ll happen.
And if so, at least Seth’ll be there with me.
There’s snow covering the treetops, and snow on the ground. It’s white and bright everywhere I look. And it’s cold. Sort of looking forward to the fucking mid-calf socks now, to be honest.
There’s a bit of a hassle finding a parking spot and carrying all of our shit to the cabin, but we’re here. And I’m sort of amazed by how big it seems. I mean, it is big. The mountains around us are huge, but when everything’s covered in snow, it somehow makes everything look even bigger.
We get to the cabin—a small, wooden house, surrounded by pine trees. And snow. Seth drops his bag on the front porch, and lifts an upside-down pot beside the front door, pulling out a key.
“Mom left it,” he says as he unlocks the door and opens it.
A mixed smell of old basement and cleaning products hits my nose. It’s not unpleasant really—it’s more or less what you’d expect a cabin up in the mountains to smell like.
But it’s small as hell. And—
“Wow, this is ugly!” Seth laughs, dragging in our bags and closing the door behind us.
“It’s something, yeah.”
The place is filled with different kinds of wood in every shade, and there seems to be some wild animal theme happening.
On the brown couch, there’s a red blanket with brown and green bears all over it.
There’re wooden moose on the mantel, and black deer on the dark green curtains. Even the carpet has bears on it.
There’s one bedroom, also animal-themed and wood-inspired, and a medium-sized bathroom, with a huge mirror above the sink. The kitchen’s small—just a stove, a counter and a fridge, with a table and four chairs in the middle of the space.
There’s no way we can all fit in here. I turn to Seth.
“Did we get our own cabin?”
He snorts. “You think I want my parents to hear you rail my ass? Of course, we got our own cabin.”
I snicker. “So, where’s theirs?”
“They live in a mansion. Like eight beds, and twelve bathrooms, or something.”
“Really?”
“I don’t know,” he waves me off. “But we usually get a pretty decent house when we come here.” He shrugs, and glances at his phone.
“Speaking of, Mom texted me. They wanna have dinner with us tonight. There’s this fancy restaurant at the base we usually go to.
They have the sickest burgers. Like, seriously, you have to try them. ”
“Okay.” I nod.
“So, you wanna go get the gear, or you wanna chill here for a bit, or…?”
I shrug. “I don’t know. What do you usually do?”
“We usually go get the gear as soon as we arrive, and the tickets and stuff. But Dad’s got all that, so, maybe we can go try out some skis for you, and then chill for a bit before dinner?”
“Hey!” Seth’s dad waves at us from a few feet away as we enter the almost empty restaurant.
We grabbed our gear and dropped it off at the cabin, before we walked down here.
Seth told me to look for a Stanley Tucci look-a-like so when his dad’s bald head and black-framed glasses come into view, I snort a laugh. It’s ridiculously accurate.
“Hello darling,” Seth’s mom says, wrapping her arms around him and kisses his cheek.
“Mom, Dad, this is Kaden,” Seth says. “Kaden, meet my DNA donors,” he adds, gesturing between us.
“It’s lovely to meet you, Kaden,” Seth’s mom says. “Seth’s told us so much about you.”
“No, I haven’t.”
I chuckle and take her hand. “Nice to meet you, too, Mrs. Avery.”
“Oh, please, call me Annie.” She smiles, showing off her dimples—just like Seth, but she’s got two instead of one. She looks a lot like Seth—or he looks like her, I guess. Blue eyes, a pouty bottom lip and blonde hair.
“Malcolm,” Seth’s dad says, reaching for my hand. “Nice to meet you.”
“You, too. Thanks for having me,” I say, clasping his hand in mine.
They all gravitate to a corner booth, like they always sit there, and I drop down on the end, next to Seth before they all start speaking at once.
It’s like they all have their own conversations going but still manages to answer each other.
I’m pulled into it without even realizing it and it’s just…
Comfortable. I’m not always that good with new people but these are Seth’s people and Seth is my person so, I guess that helps.