I Can't Stay Away

Kaylin walked out of the bathroom after getting ready the next morning. She saw Molly sitting there, about ready to leave to go snowboard.

“Hey, Kaylin. What’re your plans for today?” Molly asked.

“I’m not too sure,” Kaylin admitted.

“You coming to watch?” Molly asked.

Kaylin wasn’t sure what to say. A part of her wanted to go watch all of her friends while they practiced, but another part of her just wanted to stay in her room all day and feel sorry for herself. “I don’t know,” Kaylin told Molly.

“Come on, Kaylin. Please come! I know you’re upset that you can’t participate, but please come out and watch the rest of us. It won’t be the same without you out there,” Molly told her.

“Fine,” Kaylin relented. “I’ll be out there in a little bit,” Kaylin said.

“Good,” Molly smiled as she made her way to the door with her snowboard in hand.

“Molly,” Kaylin called before she could get too far. Molly turned around, and Kaylin continued. “You feel like lunch today? You know, just the two of us?” It had been a long time since the two of them had gone out and had a meal by themselves. They used to do it all the time before Kaylin had gone to Switzerland.

“I can’t,” Molly told her. “Didn’t I tell you? David’s coming today.”

“David?” Kaylin asked. “As in your boyfriend David?”

“That’s the one,” Molly laughed. “He’s coming in today, and he’ll be here the rest of the week.”

“What about dinner? Or lunch tomorrow?” Kaylin asked, just wanting to spend some time with her best friend like they used to.

“I’m sorry, Kay. I don’t want to leave David off on his own when he came up here just so we could spend some time together. But, why don’t we all go to lunch tomorrow?” Molly offered.

“Sure,” Kaylin said, forcing a smile on her face.

“Okay, good,” Molly replied. “I’ve got to get out there, but I’ll see you in a little bit, right? You are coming up there?”

“Yeah, I’ll be up there,” Kaylin told her. “Let me just do a couple of things first though. I’ll be there in a little bit.”

“Okay, bye,” Molly said as she walked out the door.

Kaylin turned around and threw herself on the bed behind her. This was not how this competition was supposed to turn out. She wasn’t supposed to get injured, and she and Molly were supposed to hang out like old times. Nothing was what it seemed.

After lying there for about fifteen minutes, she finally decided she had better get up and start heading up the mountain. As she walked out the door, she ran right into Mason.

“Oh, sorry,” Kaylin apologized.

“Don’t worry about it,” Mason smiled as he saw who it was. “What are you up to today?”

“I’m about ready to head up to the top to watch everyone. Where are you headed?” Kaylin asked.

“Same place,” he said pointing to his snowboard that he was currently holding.

“Yeah,” Kaylin said, laughing. But, Mason noticed the laughter wasn’t reaching her eyes.

“What’s the matter?” he asked as they got of the elevator in the lobby.

“What do you mean?” Kaylin asked, looking over at him.

“You just don’t seem happy like you normally do. Is it just because you can’t ride or is there something else?” Mason asked looking over at her.

Kaylin just stared at him for a few moments. How could he tell that something was wrong? She was usually good about keeping her emotions hidden, so why could he figure that out?

“What?” Mason asked with a small laugh when she continued to stare at him.

“Sorry,” Kaylin apologized. “I’m just trying to figure out how you could tell that something’s bugging me,” she admitted.

“Okay, so what is it?”

“Well, I guess it’s mainly the fact that I can’t compete this weekend,” Kaylin told him. “I mean this was my shot at getting noticed for the Olympics.”

“Kaylin,” Mason said turning to face her. “You have to know that you’re an amazing rider. They’re going to pick you for the Olympics no matter what. Not competing this weekend is not going to stop you from competing in the Olympics.”

“Thanks,” Kaylin said smiling.

“Okay, so what else is wrong?” he asked. Kaylin looked over at him. “You said that it’s mainly not competing. So, what else is wrong?” he repeated.

“You have to promise not to say anything,” Kaylin told him.

“I promise,” Mason said.

“Okay, well I guess I’m a little upset with Molly. Well, not at Molly, but the situation dealing with Molly,” Kaylin told him.

“What do you mean?” Mason asked.

“When I come back here, I thought everything would be the same. I thought that it would be like old times with me and Molly, and we’d be inseparable,” Kaylin told him.

“So, what’s different?”

“I asked Molly if she wanted to get lunch today, just the two of us, like old times, and she said she couldn’t because David’s coming. So, I asked her about dinner or lunch tomorrow, and she said that she wanted to spend time with David,” Kaylin told him. “Don’t get me wrong. I’m glad she found this great guy, and I’m happy for her. I just wish that things wouldn’t change between the two of us.”

“Of course things are going to change,” Mason told her. “But that doesn’t mean that Molly’s still not your best friend. You’ll get used to everything. I promise.”

“Thanks, Mason,” Kaylin said with a smile, as they reached the top of the mountain.

“And what do you say we start a new tradition?” Mason asked. “Why don’t you and I have dinner tonight, just the two of us. That way, Molly and David can have some alone time, and you won’t be left alone.”

“What about Missy?” Kaylin asked, remembering Mason’s girlfriend.

“She’s working,” Mason told her. “So, what do you say?” he asked as they reached the rest of their friends at the top of the superpipe.

“Sure,” Kaylin said with a smile as she watched as Shaun began his first run.