Hey Romeo, Don't You Think You're Just a Tad Overrated?

"Do you need any help?" Rachel asked, poking her head into my room.

I managed to shove my puffy down-jacket into my duffel, zipping it shut. "Thanks, but I'm done. I'm going to go help David," I answered, straightening up.

Rachel nodded as we both trooped down two flights of stairs into the unfinished basement, used mainly for storage.

"David, you can at least turn on the lights," Rachel scolded lightly, flicking on the light switch. The warm, yellow, light flooded the basement.

"There's enough daylight streaming through the windows," David grumbled back, kneeling in front of two large boxes. Rachel shook her head, a soft smile on her face.

"I got it," I crossed the basement, helping David rip open the heavy cardboard box, revealing a ton of my old possessions that I haven't looked at in nearly a year.

"You've got plenty of junk in here, Aurelie," David remarked, pulling out an old, stuffed, bunny. "What century is this buster from?" he joked.

"That's Snickers!" I replied, taking the bunny from him. "My best friend from kindergarten gave it to me on my birthday!"

David chuckled and started rifling through the box again. "Ah ha! Here there are, the treasures!" David gently pulled two long, black and red skis free from the box.

"I found the boots and the poles," I answered, pulling them out.

"These your goggles?" David held up a pair of black and gray tinted ski goggles.

"Yup. Thanks," I said as he tossed the goggles into my hands.

David whistled. "These are some nice skis you have here," he observed, running a hand down the length of one ski, tracing the sharp red designs. "They make my old ones look ancient."

"You ski?" I said, surprised, as we started to head back upstairs, armed with my ski gear.

David nodded. "Course! I was a champion back in my day! McAllister Academy's best!"

Rachel laughed softly. "Oh, quit bragging. Who was it that crashed into a tree and broke his wrist senior year?"

David winced from the memory, but he shook it off. "Anyways, I'm glad you signed up for the Ski Club, Aurelie. It's really great; I should know. If you'd like, when you come back, we could all go skiing again, just the three of us."

"Really?" I exclaimed, perking up. "That'd be awesome!"

David smiled. "Of course, Rachel will be at the bottom of the slope with the camera. She's afraid of the big, bad, mountain," he joked.

Rachel rolled her eyes. "Oh, be quiet." She turned to me. "You should get going soon, the bus is leaving."

I nodded. "I'll race you down the slopes, David!" I called back as I exited the house with my things.

"It's a promise! Have fun! Stay safe! Don't do anything stupid!" David yelled.

"Don't stay up too late either! And make sure you eat! Be careful!" Rachel voiced her concerns.

"I'll be fine!" I waved back at my adoptive parents, and headed to where the large bus was waiting for the Ski Club.

_____________________________

Chestnut Mountain Resort, Illinois

"Alright guys! We're here! Chestnut Mountain!" Danny exclaimed from the head of the bus, punching a fist into the air.

Ms. Larkson (a very hip freshman English teacher) and Doc. Phyllis (the horrifying Latin teacher with a PhD) were our adult chaperones for the four day trip. Why Doc. was our chaperone, I had no clue either. There were a grand total of twelve people in the Ski Club, including myself. Unfortunately, the only people I knew in the club were Daniel Fenner, Clarisse Wong (a shy Asian girl in my Calculus class that I had never spoken to before), and Cam Gallagher.

"Please, Danny," Ms. Larkson rolled her eyes at our senior president, who was grinning from ear to ear. "Alright everyone! After I hand out the room assignments, you're going to take your luggage and check into your respective ski cabins! In an hour, we're having a group assembly in the lodge!" she announced down the length of the bus.

"Boys, you are in cabins two and five," Doc. started, listing the names off of his clipboard. "Cabin two is Devon van Hoover, Cam Gallagher, Daniel Fenner, and K.C. Abramowitz. The other three boys are in cabin five, with me." The three freshmen boys stuck in cabin five with the Doc. traded dark looks with each other.

"Girls, cabins three and four. Cabin three is going to be Clarisse Wong, Cynthia Greene, and Aurelie Chevalier. Cabin four is Gina O'Malley and Morgan Walters, and I'm going to be in that cabin as well."

We all exited the large Coach bus and stood in line patiently to wait for our luggage that was stashed underneath in the belly of the bus.

My cell phone vibrated in my pocket, and I pulled it out to see someone had left me a text message.

Have fun freezing your butt off on the slopes! I'm stuck with my blahhhhh little sister & my family in Cancun. You'd better call me later b4 I go crazy. See any hot guys yet? Love ya! –Will

I chuckled at his message, tucking my cell phone away.

"This is yours," someone next to me voiced, handing me a large, navy backpack.

I looked up and immediately looked down again. "Thanks, Cam," I muttered, taking my bag from him.

"Why are you so moody?" he asked as we both received all our bags and started walking to the cabins not far away.

"I'm not. I'm just…tired from the bus ride," I answered. I peeked at him from the corner of my eye to find him staring at me, his dark eyes contrasting against the white snow in the background. I quickly looked away, feeling my face get hot under his intense gaze.

"I'll…see you in the lodge," I said quickly, thankful that we had already reached the threshold of my cabin. I pushed through the door and entered. Clarisse Wong had just gotten there, and she was dragging her suitcase through the small kitchen.

"Hey," she greeted me with a soft smile.

"Hi," I replied. "Clarisse right? I'm Aurelie. Nice to meet you."

"I know, you're in my Calculus class," she said.

"Please, don't bring up Calculus here," I groaned as she laughed.

"This place is nice," Clarisse observed, taking in the rather large sitting area attached to the small kitchen. There was a door in the back leading presumably to the bedroom, and another smaller door, probably leading to the bathroom. It was a quaint cabin.

Both of us struck up a small conversation as we started to unpack our things and set up our beds. Clarisse was a junior as well, but a petite one at that. She had long, sleek, ebony colored hair that I was immediately jealous of, an oval face with small features, and wide-set almond-shaped eyes. She was easy to talk to, and I found out we had quite a number of things in common, one of them, of course, being skiing.

Soon enough, Cynthia Greene, our other roommate, joined us. She was a sophomore and she didn't say much, but she joined us on our walk back to the lodge. Everyone was already there, save for the three freshmen boys in cabin five, the Doc. and Danny.

"I'll see you later," Clarisse said, going to sit by her friend Gina O'Malley, who was placed in the other cabin. Cynthia took the last empty chair, and I was left with either the floor or the last empty spot on the couch. At that exact moment, the three freshmen boys barged in and plopped themselves down on the floor. I sighed. The only seat left was the couch. Next to Cam Gallagher.

"This stinks," I muttered as I sank down into the seat next to him.

"Why?" Cam asked.

I glanced quickly at him. He had taken off his jacket for the time being, and was wearing a navy blue sweater over a white long-sleeve thermal, jeans, and sneakers. The rather close-fitting sweater showed off every lacrosse-toned muscle in his chest and stomach.

"I barely know anyone," I said, managing to keep my eyes on the intricate design on the rug.

"You know me," he flashed his signature smirk at me.

I faltered. "I…guess," I muttered.

"Yo, move over, K.C.," Danny shoved at his fellow senior friend who was sitting on the couch as well on the other side of Cam.

K.C. grumbled. "Danny, this couch is only made for three people. And your ass is huge," he complained as his very blonde friend managed to shove himself onto the couch.

K.C. was forced to move over, and he made Cam move as well, and I was shoved into the armrest of the couch, with the entire right side of Cam pressing against my arm and my leg.

"Sorry," Cam muttered, trying to shift into a more comfortable position. Finally, he moved his right arm, hooking it over the back of the couch to give me more room. Well…it wasn't like he put his arm over my shoulder…but it was close…

Unfortunately, we were still squished tightly together.

"It's okay," I murmured. I could distinctly feel his body heat warming me up and the way his leg subtly brushed against mine every time either of us moved.

"Danny!' K.C. was complaining from the other side of the couch, not much more comfortable than us.

"Alright guys, settle down," Ms. Larkson started. "Everyone here and settled in? It's around two o'clock right now…so you guys have about four hours to hit the slopes or relax. We're all having dinner at the lodge at around seven, so be there on time please. Oh, and also, one last thing, you're going to need buddies for when you're on the slopes. I don't want anyone going up there alone." she emphasized. "We have an even number of people, so pair up."

Danny punched K.C. "Partners, Abramowitz?"

"Yeah, yeah," K.C. grumbled, still pissed that he was getting crushed into the couch.

I quickly turned to look at Clarisse, but she had already partnered up with Gina O'Malley. Cynthia was with one of the freshman boys.

"So," Cam suddenly said, next to me, dragging out the word. "Since you don't really know anyone here except me…wanna partner up?" he asked casually, keeping his gaze forward.

"Um…" I started. I looked around the lobby of the lodge. Everyone else was already partnered up. "Fine, I guess." I sighed.

"Does everyone have their buddy? Alright then, you're free to go! Just be careful!" Ms. Larkson called out as everyone immediately started separating.

"People who need to rent skis, follow me over here!" the Doc. hollered over the din of all of us.

Cam pulled himself to his feet and stretched, his sweater and his thermal riding up to reveal the tanned muscles of his abdominals. I quickly averted my eyes.

"I need to rent the skis…are you coming with me?" Cam asked as I stood up. "Partner?" he added cheekily at the end, flashing another smirk in my direction.

I blushed. "Yeah, I'm coming," I answered as I followed him to where Doc. was talking to one of the ski attendants behind the counter.