Knock You Off Your Feet

I stood up straight as I finished my first training run. I high-fived Dominique Vallée, who was waiting for me at the bottom of the track. I took off my helmet and paused my iPod, stopping “No Feelings” by the Sex Pistols. She smiled.

“That was great. Fastest time yet!”

I cheered. “Yes!”

“Hey girls.”

We looked over to see Alexandre walking over to talk with us, skis and ski poles in hand.

“Hey, Alex, how was the first trip through the moguls?” I asked while I stepped off my snowboard and brushed off the snow.

“I’m feeling it. I think I can do really well.”

“Well, you know we’re cheering for you,” Dominique said with a giggle that she tried to hide behind her hand.

“How were your runs this morning?”

“The course is running great. I got the fastest time so far, but there’s still a lot I could do to shave more time off, you know?”

“Yeah, yeah.”

“Hey, Case, would you mind checking something for me?” She shot me a look that I could easily read.

“Anything.”

“I think I left my phone in the lounge back at the village. Could you go see?”

“Sure. Bye, Alex.”

“Bye, Casey!”

I began the trek from the snowboard cross course to the lift, shaking my head at how obvious she was. Subtlety was obviously not her strong point.

As I fell into step with the beat of the song I was playing on my iPod – “Afterlife” – and singing it at the top of my lungs, I felt someone else fall into step beside me. Embarrassed, I stopped short and turned.

“Aw, why’d you stop? You’ve got a really good voice, and that’s a really great song.” Shaun’s bright eyes met mine and I looked away, turning even redder than I already was. He, too, was carrying his snowboard and helmet.

“Hello to you too, Shaun.” I sighed and continued walking. “What’s up?”

“Nothing, I just saw you walking and thought I’d catch up. There’s an open trail over there – conditions are perfect.”

I looked at his face, and I could tell immediately what he was thinking. The mischievous grin and twinkle in his eyes gave it away.

“Oh, you’re so on, Tomato.”

We ran as fast as we could through the thin divider of trees and found ourselves on a public slope with people scattered around.

“First one to the bottom wins, right?” I asked to clarify as I put my helmet on and adjusted my goggles.

“Yeah. See you down there, Super Squirrel.” I cringed at the sound of the nickname he had given me at my first X Games after I had landed that trick.

We got all of our gear back on and he put his hand up in the air, lifting one finger at a time.

One… two… three.

We flew down the slope, and I got an early lead. I felt my board move almost effortlessly through the snow and I knew that I had found my rhythm again. I curved around people skiing slowly and little kids practicing their snowplow.

I saw the bottom of the hill approaching, and I made sure my path was clear before I turned to search for Shaun. He was gaining on me, that was for sure, but there was very little slope left. I had this thing in the bag.

The rest of the ride was easy as pie and I slid into an effortless victory, raising my hands in the air as if I had just won my cross race. Shaun came in next to me and removed his helmet. “Good race, Burgess.” He held out his hand and I shook it, removing my helmet.

“So, I won, what do I get?”

“How about… an afternoon with me?” He smiled.

“Really? That’s all?”

“Hey. We’ll hang out around the village. I’m sure we can find something to do. I heard there’s a karaoke machine somewhere, and there’s obviously food and television if we get desperate.”

“Karaoke?”

“Come on, it’ll be fun. I promise.” He gave me a puppy-dog look and I laughed.

“Aww, not fair!” I whined. “How could I say no to that?”