Kissing Snowflakes

by Abby Sher

  Drew gathered us in a semicircle.

  “Okay, crew. You ready to tackle that mountain? The first thing we’re going to do is put on our skis and learn how to stop.”

  He went around to each of us and made sure that our boots slid into the skis properly. Then he stood in front again and pointed his skis together so they were perpendicular to each other. “This is called the T-stop. It’s pretty basic, but it works every time. Can everybody make this shape with their legs?”

  Uh, not exactly.

  For the next hour and a half, we went over how to stop, how to steer, acceleration and braking, getting on and off the chairlift, and the names of the different slopes. Liz was nodding her head thoughtfully, and Molly kept on bending her knees and practicing her T-stops. I knew I should’ve been listening. I’m sure what he was saying was important, but I just kept thinking about plowing into a tree and being buried under a pile of snow and wasn’t there some news story recently about a guy who had been caught in an avalanche?

  “Remember, you are in charge here, not the mountain. The most powerful tool you have here is your focus. Maintain your weight on the balls of your feet and keep your knees bent. And leave your behind behind.” Drew bent his knees and leaned forward, his back making a perfect curve against the white mountain behind him. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Heidi grab Dina’s hand. Drew really was extremely good-looking. But it was obvious that he knew it, too, which was a definite turnoff. And behind behind? Who thought of that one? I wondered if all the instructors had to say that or if Drew came up with it by himself. It was super cheeseball, if you asked me.

  “Okay, now we’re going to get in line for the lift and head on up there. Any questions?”

  We pushed over to where all the chairs came in for a landing. Drew talked to the guy who was standing next to the control box, and then turned to us.

  “This thing doesn’t stop. So you have to get on and off pretty quickly,” Drew instructed. “Keep your feet up and be ready to jump off. It goes faster than it looks, so I want you paying attention. Okay, Ryan will make sure you get on all right, so I can be there when you get off. See you at the top!” He jumped on the first seat and started up the mountain.

  The striped-hat couple went first. Then Molly and her dad. Before I had time to think, Liz grabbed my hand and pulled me forward. I wanted to tell her wait, I had to tie my bootlace, or Margie was waiting for me back at the chalet, but I didn’t have time, because all of a sudden the earth was falling away from us and we were lifting into the air.

  I heard myself howl.

  “Pretty cool, right?” said Liz.

  “Sure,” I squeaked. I was trying to do that special breathing I learned on Mom’s yoga tape, but I sounded like I was about to give birth to an elephant.

  “Wahoo!” yelled Liz, totally oblivious to our impending doom. “Now remember, it’s not going to stop, so get ready,” she warned. And then the mountaintop was coming toward us and I saw Drew’s orange goggles and the striped-hat couple standing with their arms around each other, watching us come in.

  “Keep your feet out!” yelled Drew, as the ground got closer and closer.

  “Wheeeeeee!” squealed Liz, sailing out ahead of me.

  “Go, Sam, go!” called Drew. I closed my eyes and pitched myself forward, my stomach flipping up into my chest. My skis went out in either direction and my butt started sinking. And then there were two hands on my waist, steering me forward, slowly, securely.

  “Atta girl,” said Drew into my ear. “You got it.”

  We came to a stop and he turned me around. “Nice job,” he said, but I was panting too hard to respond. “Pretty cool, huh?” he said with a wink, and then squeezed my shoulder. Man, this guy was slick. I saw Heidi and Dina watching the whole thing, whispering into each other’s ears.

  The rest of the group came in. Even Molly had a smoother landing than me. But she’s closer to the ground, so it’s easier for her, right? Then Drew led us over a little ways to what he called the Junior Slope. Only, it didn’t look too junior to me. It was pretty much a straight shot down to the bottom — no trees or anything to break the fall. The chalet looked like it was worlds away. My knees felt like loose noodles, and my heart was pounding in my ears. Was there a way to take that chairlift back down instead?

  “Okay, now we’re going to have some fun,” said Drew. “Remember, you’re going to keep your head up, maintain your center of gravity,” he said. “And keep your behind —”

  “Behind!” answered the rest of the group. I wanted to laugh because it was so corny, but I still couldn’t spare the air.

  Zoom! went the striped hats.

  Zoom! went Liz. Zoom! Zoom! Dina and Heidi. I could hear them laughing and hollering the whole way down. Molly and her dad went next. No fatalities so far. Come on, Levy, you can do this. But every time I looked over the edge, I felt frozen and my knees buckled. I tried digging my poles into the snow, and they kept slipping out to the sides.

  Then Drew was by my side, plowing to a stop.

  “You need a hand?” He flashed me one of his dazzling smiles.

  “Yeah, I guess so,” I muttered, looking back at the ground.

  “First, make sure you have a firm grip on these things.” He gave me the poles and then laid his gloved hands over my mittens.

  “Next, I want you to put your weight forward, like you’re almost going to tip over.” He leaned his body into my back. “You okay?” he murmured. He was so close to my ear I could almost feel the words coming off his tongue.

  “Yeah,” I managed to say. It wasn’t just the air now that was making me dizzy. This was definitely the closest I’d ever been to a guy — without being onstage battling the great Dust Bowl, that is.

  “You think you’re ready to give it a go?”

  “Yeah, sure,” I swallowed. “I’m just a little slow.”

  “Fine by me. I’ve got all day,” he said. His hands were still on top of mine. I could hear him breathing behind me.

  “But maybe all you really need is a push!” And with that Drew grabbed my waist and shoved me forward.

  The ground started sliding out from under me.

  “Aaaaahgh!” I was shrieking.

  “Don’t forget to bend your knees!” I heard him call. But everything was moving too fast. It was just a rush of snow and trees and the sky swirling past. The wind was whipping my face and I was tipping forward and then back.

  I heard someone shouting, “Slow down, Sam! Slow down!” and I looked out and it was Liz coming toward me faster and faster. And I was trying to move my feet together to make that T with my skis but they kept on moving forward, forward, and now I was trying to pull them together, I needed them to meet in the middle, but they were still racing straight ahead, no matter what I did.

  “T-stop! T-stop!” Liz was yelling. At this point, that was about as helpful as yelling at me that the sky was blue. Which it was, and it was coming down toward me now, or else I was going up. And then my feet were in the air and so were my poles and I knew this wasn’t right but I wasn’t sure how to fix it and I was headed for a big pile of snow. Leeeeeevyyyyyyy!

  It wasn’t that bad. It could’ve been much worse. I was on my back. My skis were both sticking out of the ground. My poles were somewhere around here. Nothing really hurt, except for my butt a little. And my pride.

  “Wow,” said Liz, standing over me.

  Heidi and Dina were right behind her, peering anxiously at me. The striped hats were keeping their distance. Molly’s dad lifted her onto his shoulders so she could get a better view.

  “Whoa, looks like somebody likes to fly,” said Drew. He came to a stop next to me, the snow spraying my legs. “You okay?” he asked.

  “Yeah, sorry.”

  “No need to apologize. I was the one who pushed you. Do you hate me?” He pulled up his goggles and his blue eyes twinkled.

  “No,” I said.

  “Good. Because we’re gonna get back up there and try that
again. You and me.” He gave a little nod, then grabbed my wrist and lifted me up with one hand.

  “Okay, circle up, folks,” said Drew.

  Everyone came into a huddle at the bottom of the Junior Slope.

  “A few notes. Erica and Andrew, nice form.” The striped hats nodded. “Liz — you could bend your knees more. Especially when you’re making some of those weight shifts. Remember, folks, this is going to give you more stability when you want to do things in the future like go through trees, or try moguls.”

  What are moguls?

  “Got it,” said Liz confidently.

  Drew continued. “Dina, nice work, I like your plow stop. Heidi, you can loosen up your grip on the poles a little.” Neither of them looked up. “And Molly, you are the all-time champion! Did you guys see this? You’re like the fastest one here! That’s what I’m talking about!”

  He took off his glove and gave her tiny pink mitten a high five. She was smiling so wide I thought she would split in half.

  “And that leaves us with just … you.”

  His finger was long and pointed straight at me. But there was a smile sneaking up his face.

  “We’re going to have to do a little tutorial. One-on-one,” he said.

  We headed back to the chairlift, and Drew went up first. Erica and Andrew sat in the next one.

  “Come on, Sam. The next one is ours,” said Liz. We slid into the seats and raised our feet in front of us. The car started floating up. Okay, take it slow, Levy. 1, 2, inhale. 1, 2, exhale.

  “Wow, pretty awesome!” said Liz.

  “Yeah, it feels like the air is cleaner up here. Lighter,” I said.

  “Yeah, whatever,” Liz laughed. “I wasn’t talking about the air. I was talking about you and Super G having a private lesson.” She nudged me in the ribs.

  “Super G?”

  “That’s what Heidi and Dina and I call him. Did you see Heidi when he told you about your one-on-one time?” She giggled again. “I thought she was gonna melt into a puddle!”

  “Uh, well. I mean, she can join us, if she wants. It’s just ’cause I can’t walk up the stairs without tripping.”

  Liz rolled her eyes. “I don’t think so, Sam. Aren’t you excited?”

  I shrugged.

  “Sam, he is a total hottie! And he’s been to the Olympics!”

  “What is the Super G, anyway?” I asked.

  “Who cares?! The point is, he’s super dreamy and he obviously wants to get to know you. Are you seeing someone or something?”

  Now it was my turn to laugh. Should I mention Leo and The Grapes of Wrath?

  “No but —I don’t know. He’s not really my type.”

  “What do you mean?” Liz asked, clearly confused.

  “I don’t know. I guess I like guys who are … who are …” What? I thought of that cute guy Aaron from lunch. Incommunicative? Leo. Unavailable?

  “Well, all I can say is that I know plenty of girls who would die to be in your position. He looks like an awesome kisser, too. Can you imagine looking into those eyes? You should’ve seen Heidi and Dina this morning during class.”

  “Well, if they like him —”

  “Nah, don’t worry about it. Heidi gets a new crush every other day. And Dina has been seeing the same guy for, like, five months. It’s really serious. I wouldn’t be surprised if they got married.”

  “Well, what about you?”

  “I won’t lie. I was pretty smitten, too. That is, until lunch.” Her voice got softer now and I froze. Oh, no. Did she think Aaron was cute, too? I heard her take in a breath. “So, is your brother seeing anyone?”

  Ew! It took all my energy not to squirm. Or yell, “Run! Run for the hills!” Instead I said, “Hmmm, I don’t think so.”

  “Really,” Liz murmured.

  There was so much swimming in my head all at once now. Leo and Aaron and Jeremy and Drew. Drew?! Could he really be interested in me? I tried to imagine myself strolling into Dave Murphy’s basement with Drew, his Olympic medal swinging around his neck. I wondered if he knew how to play Murder.

  “Sam! Get ready!” Liz was saying. And there was Molly and her dad waving at us wildly. And behind them Drew was giving us the thumbs-up. All right, Levy, get it together this time.

  “Now!” Liz commanded.

  We flew off and landed. I wobbled my way to a stop.

  “Yeah! Nice!” I heard. Drew came over and patted me on the back. Liz smiled and then bugged out her eyes at me.

  Drew gathered us together up at the top of Junior Slope again and then instructed everyone to take it slow, watch their center of gravity, and most of all, have fun.

  Once the rest of the group had taken off, he led me to another little area, just past some trees. Then he turned to face me.

  “Now, let’s get down to business.”

  He started to unzip his jacket. What?! Was this really happening? Agh! What do I do?! Think fast, Levy. Think fast! I looked at the ground quickly.

  “I swear I go through like three of these a week,” I heard him say.

  Huh?

  He had a cherry-flavored ChapStick in his hand, and he was smearing it onto his lips. He was also zipping up a pocket inside his jacket.

  I let out a breath. Levy, you’re such a nut job. Yeah, like he was going to strip down to his boxers and try to bed you here on the Junior Slope summit. I started to laugh a little. I couldn’t help it.

  “I know. I know. A guy using cherry ChapStick. Whatever. But it really is the best kind and otherwise your lips get so chapped,” he said.

  “No, no! I use the same kind. Sometimes,” I said. This was painful.

  He flashed another smile. “You want some?”

  He had just put some on his lips. And then I was going to put some on my lips. Which was like our lips coming together. Which was —

  “Sam?”

  “Oh, yeah. Sure, thanks.” I took the ChapStick like it was no big deal and put some on.

  “Now listen,” he said, zipping up his jacket again. “It’s all gonna be about using your knees. Really getting close to your center of gravity, which is down here.” He patted his stomach. Then he reached out and put his hand in the middle of my jacket, just below my ribs.

  “You feel that?” he said.

  “Yup,” I said. Definitely, I added to myself.

  “Okay, so you’re gonna always want to stay low to the ground and really bend into it. Got it?”

  I nodded.

  “Now, we have to loosen your body up. You’re still really stiff,” he said. He started shaking my shoulders side to side, jiggling my arms.

  That’s probably because I’m sixteen and I’ve never really been kissed by a guy and Liz said you were interested, but are you really? I mean, because you are definitely the hottest guy I’ve ever met, but I’ve never really been into hot guys before and I don’t want you to just take pity on me because I have flat hair and a turtle hat and I think my breath smells like French fries and I don’t even know if you read books or recycle or you could eat babies for all I know!

  Drew had his hands on my hips.

  “Now, lean into it. Move my hands back and forth.”

  I swayed my hips from side to side. It looked more like hula dancing than skiing, but whatever, right? We worked on braking and stopping. Drew was really serious now, studying my feet, watching my knees. He had me do a couple of practice runs on a little dip. It wasn’t even a hill, but I still managed to teeter and fall a few times.

  “The knees, Sam! It’s all in the knees!” he urged. He sounded kind of frustrated. I was thinking of telling him it was okay. That there were plenty of other books at the inn. I’d find something to do for the rest of the week. There had to be a deck of cards somewhere.

  And then, it just clicked. Or unclicked. I don’t know. But one time, I guess when I wasn’t thinking about it so much, my body kind of let go. Instead of gripping so hard, I felt like I was loosening into it.

  “Yeah! That’s what I’m t
alking about!” Drew said when I came to a stop. Ew. There was that phrase again. There’s a whole bunch of guys at school who hang out in the parking lot and say that to girls they think are cute. Not my favorite. But I tried not to wince.

  Drew and I practiced glides and turns, leaning into one ski and then the other. How to add speed. What to do when you felt like you were going too fast. It was really fun. I don’t know how long we were up there, and I didn’t care. My cheeks felt bright and cold, my thighs were burning from doing so many squats. It was really invigorating.

  “And now … it is time for takeoff,” Drew announced. He flipped his goggles down over his eyes. “You ready, doll?”

  Doll? I had to laugh at that one. That was a word that old Italian men used when you bought a pound of turkey breast at the deli, right? Was this guy for real?

  “I guess,” I said.

  We made our way back to the edge of the Junior Slope. It still looked big, but my legs felt strong. Drew leaned in behind me and whispered into my ear, “I’m not pushing this time, Sam. It’s all you. Keep your behind behind.”

  Still cheesy. But he was a professional. I needed to respect that.

  I drew in a deep breath, bent my knees, gripped my poles, and then before I could talk myself out of it, pushed off. I leaned forward and squatted down farther, tucking my butt behind me. Focus. Relax. Focus. Don’t think too much. And I was doing it! I could feel the earth moving below me, and the wind was carrying me and I picked up my poles like Drew had taught me and now I was really moving. I saw a little mound of snow up ahead of me and I leaned into my right ski and gently shifted past it, then steadied myself again. The clouds were soaring past and I felt my heart racing, the sun on my face, my nose cutting through the cold. And my legs were shifting, leaning, dancing, alive.

  “Yeah!” I heard Drew behind me.

  When I got to the bottom, I came to a clean stop, the snow spraying away from my skis in a lopsided-but-okay-it’ll-pass-for-a-T.

  Drew flew in after me.

  “Now, that is what I am talking about!” he cheered. Hey, when it came with one of those killer smiles, I’d take it.