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Title: Roadtrip to Snow Summit
Author: Murasaki1200
Disclaimer: These characters are not mine. Not making any money.
Rating: Let’s say PG-13, mostly for language.
Summary: Ashley and Spencer’s adventures in Snow Summit.
Warning: Fluff :). AU. We're almost done, making final edits to the last chapter!
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapters 4 & 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11: Freefall
Spencer tried to gather her thoughts. She'd call home later in the afternoon while her mom was at the hospital. She'd find out from her dad how much trouble she was really in. She'd also needed to have another heart to heart with Glen. She didn't want to have to fight this battle with him as well as her mother if she could help it. Even though her brother behaved like an ass most of the time in front of others, she knew he loved her in his own way.
"Hey, Jack's here," Glen pointed out, glad for the interruption. Spencer looked towards the entrance. Ashley and Jack talked for a few more seconds at the door. Then the two of them joined the others in the kitchen.
"Good morning. So, are you all looking forward to snowboarding today?" Jack's slight German accent seemed a little stronger this morning, Spencer noted idly. She forced herself to greet him cheerfully. The only thing she wanted right now was to get a hug from Ashley and for her to promise that everything was going to be okay. But that would have to wait. She waved good morning and made her escape upstairs to get ready.
When Spencer got upstairs, Chelsea had just stepped out of the shower. "Hey girl, is Madison causing you trouble again? She is such a bitch. I have no idea why she has it in for Ashley like that. Let me know if there's anything I can do to help," the older girl offered.
"Yeah, my mom called. Madison came to get me but I was sleeping. So instead of waking me, she told my mom that the three of us were up here. My mom wasn't happy about Ashley and me sharing the same room. I don't know what she thought we could possibly be doing," Spencer rolled her eyes in frustration.
"We overheard the end of it just before Jack got here. Your girl seemed a bit upset," Chelsea explained.
Spencer nodded. Ashley had seemed a little more subdued than normal. The blonde felt her annoyance at Madison increase that much more. The cheerleader was screwing up her life on so many levels it wasn't funny.
"Thanks Chels, it's good to know at least one of my brothers is dating someone cool. I'm going to hit the shower so we can get going."
When Spencer got out of the shower, Ashley was lying on the bed, holding Mr. Bongo close and avoiding eye contact. The blonde decided to give her a bit of time. She kept glancing at the other girl while getting dressed. Finally, she sat next to her brooding girlfriend.
"Hey, what's up, Ash?" she asked, gazing closely at the brunette's somber expression.
"Spence, I'm so sorry," Ashley blurted out, "No matter how hard I try, I keep getting you in trouble with your parents."
"No, Ashley. I'm going to call my dad later. I'll tell him what happened. He'll talk to my mom," Spencer jumped in to reassure the other girl. Her hand automatically went to smooth the brunette's forehead.
"I'm so deep in the hole with your parents, pretty soon your mother will be shooting me on sight," the brunette sighed.
"Sweetie, you didn't do anything wrong. We didn't do anything wrong. There was no reason for my mom to get all upset. I have no idea why she's so paranoid about us. She's not like that with Glen and Clay," Spencer pointed out.
Ashley sat up. She couldn't help but smile at her girlfriend's impassioned defense. She hated that the most important thing in her life was so much out of her control. The only way she could have stopped that was to rip her own heart out and let Spencer go. But she didn't know how she could deal with not having Spencer in her life. So her only other option was to go full tilt ahead and deal with the consequences later.
She had a suspicion she knew exactly what Spencer's mom was afraid of. Spencer was naturally affectionate. She kept touching the brunette when they were around each other. Every time Spencer initiated a touch, she became bolder and more confident. One day and soon, Paula's sweet and innocent daughter was going to be ready and there would be sexin', much sexin' if Ashley had anything to say about it. To prevent that, Paula would no doubt continue to do everything she could think of to keep the two of them as far apart as possible.
"So…you want to go snowboarding?" the brunette grinned engagingly at her girlfriend, ready to set the morning's unpleasantness aside.
*
Around 10 am, they were all finally ready to get going. Everybody set down their snowboard outside the house, next to the slope leading to the bottom of Summit Run. Beyond was the Beginner's area where newbies could get familiar with basic maneuvers before getting up the mountain.
Ashley and Jack demonstrated how to get boots and bindings adjusted. They also showed everybody how to get in and out of the bindings easily and other basic safety principles. Everyone caught on pretty quickly and soon they were on their way to the Beginner's Area.
The Beginner's Area had its own teleski and chairlift which they used to get some practice. The trickiest bit was getting on and off while keeping in sync with the lift. Glen, Clay and Spencer had already gone downhill skiing so they were familiar with the basic operation of the lifts. But Madison and Chelsea had never skied before and both of them had a hard time getting the hang of it. The slopes in the Beginners' Area were pretty easy to master. They were all able to get down pretty easily. Every time they fell, Jack and Ashley stressed that it was a good opportunity to learn how to get back up which they would certainly need to do once they got onto the real runs.
After an hour or so, they were all ready to try something a little more challenging. Jack and Ashley conferred briefly. They decided to start off with Summit, a green run, probably the easiest on the mountain. Ashley would take the lead with Glen, Clay and Spencer, while Jack brought in the rear with Chelsea and Madison. Since the East Mountain Express lift going to the top of Summit Run was a quad, Ashley and her group got on one set of chairs together, while Jack and the other two girls caught the next set.
Ashley and Spencer were sitting next to each other on the lift. This was one of Ashley's favorite parts, traveling high up above the snow covered ground surrounded by the quietness of the mountain. The other chairs were far enough away that it seemed as if they were alone out there. She turned to her girlfriend and gave her a dazzling smile, "I love this. It's almost the way I'd imagined it, except that I didn't think we'd have both of your two brothers with us. I so have to take you to Switzerland. They still have all of these romantic wooden double lifts there, which will work much better. The mountains are so steep. Everything's covered with snow, there's no trace of human presence except for the ski and snowboard tracks. It's like you're in a different world when you're up there," she explained animatedly, eager to share her love of the mountain with her girlfriend.
Sitting next to Spencer, Glen was glancing over at the brunette when he accidentally caught the full force of Ashley's stunning smile. The girl was radiant, exuding an irresistible playful sexiness, all of it focused on his baby sister. Spence seemed equally captivated. He was amazed and not a little rattled.
As Ashley was talking effusively, Spencer reached out to take one of the brunette's hands into both of her gloved ones as if trying to hold all of that irrepressible energy and excitement. The two girls were leaning towards each other, sharing a happy smile, lost in their own world. For the second time today, Glen had an uneasy feeling that he'd just missed something. It was as if a blurred picture had for a second, come into sharp focus, taking life before his eyes, before going back to the original fuzzy and bland image.
As they got closer to the top, the wind rose up, blowing directly in their faces. Everybody drew their hoods closer and squinted into the cold wind. Then it was time to lift the safety bar and get ready to stand up and off the lift chair. Fortunately, they all managed successfully.
Going down Summit Run was a lot more fun than practicing in the beginners' area. The wide slope was groomed to smooth the bumps out and the snow was just right. Spencer enjoyed the long slide down the mountain, surrounded by tall, snow-covered pine trees and a perfect blue sky. Ashley's snowboard carved a nice snaking trail down the slope which the blonde tried to imitate, using the turns to slow down her speed and control her board.
After Summit, they decided to try Miracle Mile, a blue run this time, again at the top of the East Mountain Express. They set out down Miracle Mile, with Ashley in the lead followed by Glen, Clay, Spencer, Madison, Chelsea and Jack.
At one point, the slope forked with the blue run veering left while the path straight ahead turned into a black diamond for a little while before merging back into Miracle Mile a little lower. Glen, Clay and Spencer followed Ashley to the left. They had disappeared from view by the time Madison got to the fork and the cheerleader started down the stretch of black diamond. The black run quickly sloped very steeply down. Soon, the inexperienced girl fell, rolling over and over in the snow until she lay unmoving.
"Madison!" Chelsea was following the cheerleader, and had begun going down the wrong way also. She'd seen the whole incident. It looked very scary, especially when Madison began rolling in the snow, "Madison, are you alright?" she shouted again as Jack quickly went past her to catch up to where Madison was lying.
Spencer, hearing Chelsea's shouts stopped to look backwards. When she realized that Madison had had an accident and was lying to the right of where she was stopped, she started calling out to her also. Without thinking, she slid across to join the cheerleader and make sure she was okay. By the time she reached Madison, the girl was slowly sitting up. Jack was there, helping the cheerleader stand up and asking her if nothing was broken.
The cheerleader was a little shaken, but she recovered pretty quickly and seemed unharmed.
"Are you sure you're okay? Can you get back on your board?" Jack asked trying to gauge from the girl's reactions whether she was in good enough shape to keep going.
Ashley, Glen and Clay had heard the shouts and noticed that the others were not following. Stopped a little further down on Miracle Mile, they were waiting to see whether more help was going to be needed for Madison.
Madison indicated she was okay to continue so Jack signaled to Ashley to continue with Glen and Clay and meet them at the bottom of the mountain.
Chapter 12: Girlfriends and Brothers
Spencer, Chelsea and Jack waved to the other three who were stopped deliberating whether to go or wait further. Ashley was tempted to make her way to the lower run to join her girlfriend, but from where she was stopped, they were separated by fairly steep terrain covered in part by underbrush with bare rocks jutting here and there. It was a good bet that the deep snow was covering more rocks or tree stumps which could make it very dangerous. The brunette sighed in frustration. She hated knowing that Spencer was going to have to get through a black run on her first day of snowboarding.
"Hey, Ashley, since it's just the three of us, let's race down to the bottom!" Glen dared her, a wicked grin on his face.
The brunette rolled her eyes, "Glen, Hello? Did your head have an unfortunate encounter with a basketball recently? Spence, Chelsea and your skank of a girlfriend are stuck over there on a black run, did you notice?"
Glen had the good grace to look a little embarrassed, but his smile returned quickly, "Jack's with them right? Isn't he going to help them out?"
Ashley shook her head. The blonde boy was so predictably self-centered, yet full of easy-going charm, it was really remarkable and very annoying at the same time.
She looked to Clay for support, "Are you sure he's your and Spence's brother? He wasn't switched at birth or something?" Clay chuckled, shooting an indulgent smile at his brother who was already on his way.
*
Jack scouted the black run ahead. Most of it was in the shade. The snow was packed and icy in parts. He'd have to figure out how to best break it up in manageable chunks. "We're going to take our time. I'm going to go first and we'll stop often, okay?" He took the lead, stopping after the first difficult part, and turned to face the three girls to encourage them to follow him.
"Spencer, your turn!" he shouted, the wind making his voice sound like it was coming from much further away. Spencer looked carefully at the track Jack had created. Twenty feet ahead, it was going steeply down. She'd have to take it on faith that she'd be able to just keep following his track. She was beginning to seriously regret her impulse to come to Madison's rescue earlier.
Trying to remember Ashley and Jack's coaching from earlier in the day, she steeled herself and began gliding across to where Jack was waiting. Keeping her weight forward facing the bottom of the slope, her board flat on the snow, she let the board's friction on the icy snow break her speed right into the turn. It was scary but thrilling at the same time. Finally, she reached Jack, both exhilarated and relieved, bringing her board to a stop while he congratulated her.
"That was beautiful. Great job!" Jack gave her a high five. Now it was Chelsea's turn to get coaxed down the slope.
*
Glen had a little bit of a head start. He made the most of it, gathering vertical speed down the slope while Clay followed at a more leisurely pace. Ashley figured she'd have to take up Glen's challenge if she wanted to avoid having him brag for the rest of the day. Thankfully she was pretty familiar with this particular run. She knew that by freeriding outside the groomed portion of the run further down, she'd be able to cut across some of the turns and catch up despite Glen's initial head start.
Glen didn't see the brunette until she reappeared in front of him from the left, jumping above the snow bank piled up by the grooming machines on the edge of the run. She jumped again into the unpacked snow on the other side without slowing down, soon disappearing from view. He briefly considered following her but decided against it, realizing he was not going to win this one. The brunette's skills were just a little too far out of his league.
*
By the time Spencer, Madison and Chelsea got to the bottom of the short stretch of black run, all three girls had fallen at least once and were ready for a break. It had been a slow process, with Jack leading the way each time, then signaling for Spencer to follow. When the blonde reached him, both of them would take turns talking the least experienced girls into making their way down the slope.
At one point, the slope became so steep that it was impossible to even see the track ahead. It just disappeared from view in the vertical slope below her after a couple of feet. It took a while for Spencer to gather the nerve to go for it. Surprisingly, when she did, she found that it wasn't so different, or even that much harder. The snowboard felt solid under her feet and her legs responded when she needed them to, so she just went with it, trusting her body to do the right thing, gaining confidence as she went along.
The incredible adrenaline rush was just one of those things that was impossible to describe. When the other girls' turn came, Spencer found herself unable to articulate how she'd done it. At one point, it looked like they were going to be stuck and Jack undid his bindings, thinking he was going to have to climb back up the slope to rescue Chelsea and Madison.
If she hadn't been mildly stressed herself, Spencer would have found the situation fairly amusing, especially the way Madison and Chelsea finally insisted on sliding most of the way down on their butts, claiming it wasn't as scary that way.
*
Ashley was leaning nonchalantly against a pine tree, listening to her iPod, gazing at a group of snowboarders standing next to the lift. Glen slowed down when he saw her, and stopped next to the brunette. He gave her a mock salute, inclining his head to acknowledge her victory. Ashley glanced at him briefly before going back to her contemplation.
Glen allowed himself to stare at the brunette. He couldn't stop grinning as he once again acknowledged to himself that the girl was truly hot, maybe even more than usual in her snowboarding outfit.
"Hey, Ashley!" he interrupted cheerily. The brunette turned towards him, stopping her music and nodding in reply.
He followed her gaze, his grin getting wider when he noticed what she'd been looking at. Four hotties were getting ready to board the lift. They seemed like good friends, talking and gesturing animatedly, as they adjusted their equipment and waited in line. Glen turned back towards the brunette, "Woohoo. Hot!" he exclaimed approvingly, clapping her on the shoulder chummily.
Ashley glanced at the blond boy, trying to cover her surprise at his unexpected show of camaraderie. Her eyes rolled heavenward when she saw the smirk on his face and where his eyes were now trained. Was he somehow under the delusion that they were bonding over watching the same girls? She knew he wasn't exactly perceptive, but still, this new development was more than a little disturbing. Glen was the epitome of crass, indiscriminate, horny teenage boy. They couldn't possibly be having a moment. Sure, she did enjoy watching hot chicks as much as anyone. She'd always been happy to oblige hot chicks when they wanted a piece of the Ashley train, but…the brunette stopped herself. This was starting to sound dodgy, and maybe a tiny little bit like self-rationalization as her therapist would say.
*
Spencer's cell phone began playing Ashley's custom ring tone, the intro to "She drives me crazy", while they were sitting in the snow, resting before tackling the rest of Miracle Mile. The thought of her girlfriend made the blonde smile. Ashley had installed the ring tone herself.
"Hey Ash, what's up?" Spencer answered cheerfully, standing up to walk a few feet away, "Where are you guys?"
"Hey, Spence! We're next to the lift, just hanging around waiting for you guys," Ashley responded, cheered by the other girl's voice, "By the way, I swear I'm going to kick your brother's ass, he's sooooo annoying," the brunette added, half-seriously.
"Okay, but don't do it without me. After dealing with him all these years, I think I'm entitled to some ass kicking action too."
"He's freaking me out. We had a moment. I may be traumatized for life," the brunette voice sounded so irked, Spencer couldn't help but find it awfully cute.
"In that case, don't wait for me to kick as much of his ass as you'd like. You have my full and complete support," the blonde laughed
"10-4 on that. Thanks babe," Ashley joked back, feeling better now that she'd vented a bit.
"So what did he do this time?" Spencer asked, curious about what had caused this outburst.
"He's such a skanky Ho, it made me realize that I'm one too. I hate it when that happens," Ashley admitted, still aggravated, "You still love me anyways, right?" That came out sounding a little more tentative than she'd intended.
"Yep, I sure do," Spencer confirmed happily, "I already knew you're a total perv. Not sure if I should be glad or worried that you're spending some quality time with my brother though."
Ashley smiled at that. She loved that Spencer could call her on her bullshit as her friend, and still want to be her girlfriend. "Worried, definitely worried. At least I am. Hey, where are you guys right now?"
"We just got back onto Miracle Mile," Spencer replied, "We had a few scary moments, but we're all in one piece."
"Great, you're past the hardest bit. There's a little hamburger place on the left at the bottom of the lifts. Glen and Clay are going over there right now, so we'll just wait there for you guys, okay?"
"Okay, we'll see you there," Spencer agreed. She turned to the others to let them know what the plan was. Madison had stepped away from the group a little and was talking on her cell. Spencer couldn't make out what was being said, but Chelsea indicated that Glen was on the other side of the phone. The cheerleader seemed irritated, and ended the conversation abruptly.
While Spencer explained where the others were waiting for them, Madison adjusted her bindings as if she was getting ready to go.
"I'm ready. Let's get moving." Madison declared in a commanding tone. Spencer could go either way, but Chelsea shook her head signaling that she wasn't ready yet. The blonde shook her head also, "Sorry, we're going to catch our breath for a couple more minutes here," she replied, looking up at the cheerleader.
The other girl huffed impatiently, so Jack jumped in. "It's pretty easy from here on out if you'd like to go ahead without us. Just take your time." The cheerleader thought about it for a few seconds and decided to start down on her own. Jack watched her as she was trying to gather some momentum down the slope and glanced quizzically at Spencer who shrugged.
"Don't look at me. I have no idea why she's in such a hurry that she wouldn't wait for us," the blonde said, "But whatever... Hey, since we're among friends now, how about some good dirt from when Ashley was learning to snowboard? I'm sure you have some interesting stories."
Jack scratched his head, "I don't know that I should tell you guys any stories. Ashley knows where I live. She can be pretty terrifying despite her small size," he laughed, "Actually, that's pretty much how she snowboards. She's completely fearless. She used to scare me when we first started snowboarding together. She bounces back from falling like she's made of rubber so that doesn't stop her either. I always tell her that it's because she doesn't have that far to fall," Jack added, remembering how the brunette usually retaliated for that joke by pulling on his ponytail.
Spencer could totally picture Ashley, zooming down the slopes at top speed. The girl didn't seem to care about much outside of music, but when she put her mind to something, she was usually amazing at it.
"Figures," Chelsea chuckled, shaking her head.
The three of them negotiated the rest of the run without any incidents after Chelsea got over her initial apprehension. When Spencer got to the bottom, Jack pointed out to her the place where Ashley and her brothers were waiting, just a little further ahead.
"Hey, I have to go to my job at the store pretty soon. Can you tell Ashley?" Jack explained as they were waiting for Chelsea to join them, "Also, I'm thinking about having a party on Friday night with some friends that Ashley and I often jam with when we're both up here. Do you think she'd like that?" he asked.
"I'm sure she'd love it. I'll talk to her. She's lucky to have a friend like you," the blonde grinned, impulsively hugging him, "Do you have to leave right away?"
"Yeah, I'm already running a little late. Sorry," Jack apologized.
To be continued...one more chapter to go.
Author: Murasaki1200
Disclaimer: These characters are not mine. Not making any money.
Rating: Let’s say PG-13, mostly for language.
Summary: Ashley and Spencer’s adventures in Snow Summit.
Warning: Fluff :). AU. We're almost done, making final edits to the last chapter!
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapters 4 & 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11: Freefall
Spencer tried to gather her thoughts. She'd call home later in the afternoon while her mom was at the hospital. She'd find out from her dad how much trouble she was really in. She'd also needed to have another heart to heart with Glen. She didn't want to have to fight this battle with him as well as her mother if she could help it. Even though her brother behaved like an ass most of the time in front of others, she knew he loved her in his own way.
"Hey, Jack's here," Glen pointed out, glad for the interruption. Spencer looked towards the entrance. Ashley and Jack talked for a few more seconds at the door. Then the two of them joined the others in the kitchen.
"Good morning. So, are you all looking forward to snowboarding today?" Jack's slight German accent seemed a little stronger this morning, Spencer noted idly. She forced herself to greet him cheerfully. The only thing she wanted right now was to get a hug from Ashley and for her to promise that everything was going to be okay. But that would have to wait. She waved good morning and made her escape upstairs to get ready.
When Spencer got upstairs, Chelsea had just stepped out of the shower. "Hey girl, is Madison causing you trouble again? She is such a bitch. I have no idea why she has it in for Ashley like that. Let me know if there's anything I can do to help," the older girl offered.
"Yeah, my mom called. Madison came to get me but I was sleeping. So instead of waking me, she told my mom that the three of us were up here. My mom wasn't happy about Ashley and me sharing the same room. I don't know what she thought we could possibly be doing," Spencer rolled her eyes in frustration.
"We overheard the end of it just before Jack got here. Your girl seemed a bit upset," Chelsea explained.
Spencer nodded. Ashley had seemed a little more subdued than normal. The blonde felt her annoyance at Madison increase that much more. The cheerleader was screwing up her life on so many levels it wasn't funny.
"Thanks Chels, it's good to know at least one of my brothers is dating someone cool. I'm going to hit the shower so we can get going."
When Spencer got out of the shower, Ashley was lying on the bed, holding Mr. Bongo close and avoiding eye contact. The blonde decided to give her a bit of time. She kept glancing at the other girl while getting dressed. Finally, she sat next to her brooding girlfriend.
"Hey, what's up, Ash?" she asked, gazing closely at the brunette's somber expression.
"Spence, I'm so sorry," Ashley blurted out, "No matter how hard I try, I keep getting you in trouble with your parents."
"No, Ashley. I'm going to call my dad later. I'll tell him what happened. He'll talk to my mom," Spencer jumped in to reassure the other girl. Her hand automatically went to smooth the brunette's forehead.
"I'm so deep in the hole with your parents, pretty soon your mother will be shooting me on sight," the brunette sighed.
"Sweetie, you didn't do anything wrong. We didn't do anything wrong. There was no reason for my mom to get all upset. I have no idea why she's so paranoid about us. She's not like that with Glen and Clay," Spencer pointed out.
Ashley sat up. She couldn't help but smile at her girlfriend's impassioned defense. She hated that the most important thing in her life was so much out of her control. The only way she could have stopped that was to rip her own heart out and let Spencer go. But she didn't know how she could deal with not having Spencer in her life. So her only other option was to go full tilt ahead and deal with the consequences later.
She had a suspicion she knew exactly what Spencer's mom was afraid of. Spencer was naturally affectionate. She kept touching the brunette when they were around each other. Every time Spencer initiated a touch, she became bolder and more confident. One day and soon, Paula's sweet and innocent daughter was going to be ready and there would be sexin', much sexin' if Ashley had anything to say about it. To prevent that, Paula would no doubt continue to do everything she could think of to keep the two of them as far apart as possible.
"So…you want to go snowboarding?" the brunette grinned engagingly at her girlfriend, ready to set the morning's unpleasantness aside.
*
Around 10 am, they were all finally ready to get going. Everybody set down their snowboard outside the house, next to the slope leading to the bottom of Summit Run. Beyond was the Beginner's area where newbies could get familiar with basic maneuvers before getting up the mountain.
Ashley and Jack demonstrated how to get boots and bindings adjusted. They also showed everybody how to get in and out of the bindings easily and other basic safety principles. Everyone caught on pretty quickly and soon they were on their way to the Beginner's Area.
The Beginner's Area had its own teleski and chairlift which they used to get some practice. The trickiest bit was getting on and off while keeping in sync with the lift. Glen, Clay and Spencer had already gone downhill skiing so they were familiar with the basic operation of the lifts. But Madison and Chelsea had never skied before and both of them had a hard time getting the hang of it. The slopes in the Beginners' Area were pretty easy to master. They were all able to get down pretty easily. Every time they fell, Jack and Ashley stressed that it was a good opportunity to learn how to get back up which they would certainly need to do once they got onto the real runs.
After an hour or so, they were all ready to try something a little more challenging. Jack and Ashley conferred briefly. They decided to start off with Summit, a green run, probably the easiest on the mountain. Ashley would take the lead with Glen, Clay and Spencer, while Jack brought in the rear with Chelsea and Madison. Since the East Mountain Express lift going to the top of Summit Run was a quad, Ashley and her group got on one set of chairs together, while Jack and the other two girls caught the next set.
Ashley and Spencer were sitting next to each other on the lift. This was one of Ashley's favorite parts, traveling high up above the snow covered ground surrounded by the quietness of the mountain. The other chairs were far enough away that it seemed as if they were alone out there. She turned to her girlfriend and gave her a dazzling smile, "I love this. It's almost the way I'd imagined it, except that I didn't think we'd have both of your two brothers with us. I so have to take you to Switzerland. They still have all of these romantic wooden double lifts there, which will work much better. The mountains are so steep. Everything's covered with snow, there's no trace of human presence except for the ski and snowboard tracks. It's like you're in a different world when you're up there," she explained animatedly, eager to share her love of the mountain with her girlfriend.
Sitting next to Spencer, Glen was glancing over at the brunette when he accidentally caught the full force of Ashley's stunning smile. The girl was radiant, exuding an irresistible playful sexiness, all of it focused on his baby sister. Spence seemed equally captivated. He was amazed and not a little rattled.
As Ashley was talking effusively, Spencer reached out to take one of the brunette's hands into both of her gloved ones as if trying to hold all of that irrepressible energy and excitement. The two girls were leaning towards each other, sharing a happy smile, lost in their own world. For the second time today, Glen had an uneasy feeling that he'd just missed something. It was as if a blurred picture had for a second, come into sharp focus, taking life before his eyes, before going back to the original fuzzy and bland image.
As they got closer to the top, the wind rose up, blowing directly in their faces. Everybody drew their hoods closer and squinted into the cold wind. Then it was time to lift the safety bar and get ready to stand up and off the lift chair. Fortunately, they all managed successfully.
Going down Summit Run was a lot more fun than practicing in the beginners' area. The wide slope was groomed to smooth the bumps out and the snow was just right. Spencer enjoyed the long slide down the mountain, surrounded by tall, snow-covered pine trees and a perfect blue sky. Ashley's snowboard carved a nice snaking trail down the slope which the blonde tried to imitate, using the turns to slow down her speed and control her board.
After Summit, they decided to try Miracle Mile, a blue run this time, again at the top of the East Mountain Express. They set out down Miracle Mile, with Ashley in the lead followed by Glen, Clay, Spencer, Madison, Chelsea and Jack.
At one point, the slope forked with the blue run veering left while the path straight ahead turned into a black diamond for a little while before merging back into Miracle Mile a little lower. Glen, Clay and Spencer followed Ashley to the left. They had disappeared from view by the time Madison got to the fork and the cheerleader started down the stretch of black diamond. The black run quickly sloped very steeply down. Soon, the inexperienced girl fell, rolling over and over in the snow until she lay unmoving.
"Madison!" Chelsea was following the cheerleader, and had begun going down the wrong way also. She'd seen the whole incident. It looked very scary, especially when Madison began rolling in the snow, "Madison, are you alright?" she shouted again as Jack quickly went past her to catch up to where Madison was lying.
Spencer, hearing Chelsea's shouts stopped to look backwards. When she realized that Madison had had an accident and was lying to the right of where she was stopped, she started calling out to her also. Without thinking, she slid across to join the cheerleader and make sure she was okay. By the time she reached Madison, the girl was slowly sitting up. Jack was there, helping the cheerleader stand up and asking her if nothing was broken.
The cheerleader was a little shaken, but she recovered pretty quickly and seemed unharmed.
"Are you sure you're okay? Can you get back on your board?" Jack asked trying to gauge from the girl's reactions whether she was in good enough shape to keep going.
Ashley, Glen and Clay had heard the shouts and noticed that the others were not following. Stopped a little further down on Miracle Mile, they were waiting to see whether more help was going to be needed for Madison.
Madison indicated she was okay to continue so Jack signaled to Ashley to continue with Glen and Clay and meet them at the bottom of the mountain.
Chapter 12: Girlfriends and Brothers
Spencer, Chelsea and Jack waved to the other three who were stopped deliberating whether to go or wait further. Ashley was tempted to make her way to the lower run to join her girlfriend, but from where she was stopped, they were separated by fairly steep terrain covered in part by underbrush with bare rocks jutting here and there. It was a good bet that the deep snow was covering more rocks or tree stumps which could make it very dangerous. The brunette sighed in frustration. She hated knowing that Spencer was going to have to get through a black run on her first day of snowboarding.
"Hey, Ashley, since it's just the three of us, let's race down to the bottom!" Glen dared her, a wicked grin on his face.
The brunette rolled her eyes, "Glen, Hello? Did your head have an unfortunate encounter with a basketball recently? Spence, Chelsea and your skank of a girlfriend are stuck over there on a black run, did you notice?"
Glen had the good grace to look a little embarrassed, but his smile returned quickly, "Jack's with them right? Isn't he going to help them out?"
Ashley shook her head. The blonde boy was so predictably self-centered, yet full of easy-going charm, it was really remarkable and very annoying at the same time.
She looked to Clay for support, "Are you sure he's your and Spence's brother? He wasn't switched at birth or something?" Clay chuckled, shooting an indulgent smile at his brother who was already on his way.
*
Jack scouted the black run ahead. Most of it was in the shade. The snow was packed and icy in parts. He'd have to figure out how to best break it up in manageable chunks. "We're going to take our time. I'm going to go first and we'll stop often, okay?" He took the lead, stopping after the first difficult part, and turned to face the three girls to encourage them to follow him.
"Spencer, your turn!" he shouted, the wind making his voice sound like it was coming from much further away. Spencer looked carefully at the track Jack had created. Twenty feet ahead, it was going steeply down. She'd have to take it on faith that she'd be able to just keep following his track. She was beginning to seriously regret her impulse to come to Madison's rescue earlier.
Trying to remember Ashley and Jack's coaching from earlier in the day, she steeled herself and began gliding across to where Jack was waiting. Keeping her weight forward facing the bottom of the slope, her board flat on the snow, she let the board's friction on the icy snow break her speed right into the turn. It was scary but thrilling at the same time. Finally, she reached Jack, both exhilarated and relieved, bringing her board to a stop while he congratulated her.
"That was beautiful. Great job!" Jack gave her a high five. Now it was Chelsea's turn to get coaxed down the slope.
*
Glen had a little bit of a head start. He made the most of it, gathering vertical speed down the slope while Clay followed at a more leisurely pace. Ashley figured she'd have to take up Glen's challenge if she wanted to avoid having him brag for the rest of the day. Thankfully she was pretty familiar with this particular run. She knew that by freeriding outside the groomed portion of the run further down, she'd be able to cut across some of the turns and catch up despite Glen's initial head start.
Glen didn't see the brunette until she reappeared in front of him from the left, jumping above the snow bank piled up by the grooming machines on the edge of the run. She jumped again into the unpacked snow on the other side without slowing down, soon disappearing from view. He briefly considered following her but decided against it, realizing he was not going to win this one. The brunette's skills were just a little too far out of his league.
*
By the time Spencer, Madison and Chelsea got to the bottom of the short stretch of black run, all three girls had fallen at least once and were ready for a break. It had been a slow process, with Jack leading the way each time, then signaling for Spencer to follow. When the blonde reached him, both of them would take turns talking the least experienced girls into making their way down the slope.
At one point, the slope became so steep that it was impossible to even see the track ahead. It just disappeared from view in the vertical slope below her after a couple of feet. It took a while for Spencer to gather the nerve to go for it. Surprisingly, when she did, she found that it wasn't so different, or even that much harder. The snowboard felt solid under her feet and her legs responded when she needed them to, so she just went with it, trusting her body to do the right thing, gaining confidence as she went along.
The incredible adrenaline rush was just one of those things that was impossible to describe. When the other girls' turn came, Spencer found herself unable to articulate how she'd done it. At one point, it looked like they were going to be stuck and Jack undid his bindings, thinking he was going to have to climb back up the slope to rescue Chelsea and Madison.
If she hadn't been mildly stressed herself, Spencer would have found the situation fairly amusing, especially the way Madison and Chelsea finally insisted on sliding most of the way down on their butts, claiming it wasn't as scary that way.
*
Ashley was leaning nonchalantly against a pine tree, listening to her iPod, gazing at a group of snowboarders standing next to the lift. Glen slowed down when he saw her, and stopped next to the brunette. He gave her a mock salute, inclining his head to acknowledge her victory. Ashley glanced at him briefly before going back to her contemplation.
Glen allowed himself to stare at the brunette. He couldn't stop grinning as he once again acknowledged to himself that the girl was truly hot, maybe even more than usual in her snowboarding outfit.
"Hey, Ashley!" he interrupted cheerily. The brunette turned towards him, stopping her music and nodding in reply.
He followed her gaze, his grin getting wider when he noticed what she'd been looking at. Four hotties were getting ready to board the lift. They seemed like good friends, talking and gesturing animatedly, as they adjusted their equipment and waited in line. Glen turned back towards the brunette, "Woohoo. Hot!" he exclaimed approvingly, clapping her on the shoulder chummily.
Ashley glanced at the blond boy, trying to cover her surprise at his unexpected show of camaraderie. Her eyes rolled heavenward when she saw the smirk on his face and where his eyes were now trained. Was he somehow under the delusion that they were bonding over watching the same girls? She knew he wasn't exactly perceptive, but still, this new development was more than a little disturbing. Glen was the epitome of crass, indiscriminate, horny teenage boy. They couldn't possibly be having a moment. Sure, she did enjoy watching hot chicks as much as anyone. She'd always been happy to oblige hot chicks when they wanted a piece of the Ashley train, but…the brunette stopped herself. This was starting to sound dodgy, and maybe a tiny little bit like self-rationalization as her therapist would say.
*
Spencer's cell phone began playing Ashley's custom ring tone, the intro to "She drives me crazy", while they were sitting in the snow, resting before tackling the rest of Miracle Mile. The thought of her girlfriend made the blonde smile. Ashley had installed the ring tone herself.
"Hey Ash, what's up?" Spencer answered cheerfully, standing up to walk a few feet away, "Where are you guys?"
"Hey, Spence! We're next to the lift, just hanging around waiting for you guys," Ashley responded, cheered by the other girl's voice, "By the way, I swear I'm going to kick your brother's ass, he's sooooo annoying," the brunette added, half-seriously.
"Okay, but don't do it without me. After dealing with him all these years, I think I'm entitled to some ass kicking action too."
"He's freaking me out. We had a moment. I may be traumatized for life," the brunette voice sounded so irked, Spencer couldn't help but find it awfully cute.
"In that case, don't wait for me to kick as much of his ass as you'd like. You have my full and complete support," the blonde laughed
"10-4 on that. Thanks babe," Ashley joked back, feeling better now that she'd vented a bit.
"So what did he do this time?" Spencer asked, curious about what had caused this outburst.
"He's such a skanky Ho, it made me realize that I'm one too. I hate it when that happens," Ashley admitted, still aggravated, "You still love me anyways, right?" That came out sounding a little more tentative than she'd intended.
"Yep, I sure do," Spencer confirmed happily, "I already knew you're a total perv. Not sure if I should be glad or worried that you're spending some quality time with my brother though."
Ashley smiled at that. She loved that Spencer could call her on her bullshit as her friend, and still want to be her girlfriend. "Worried, definitely worried. At least I am. Hey, where are you guys right now?"
"We just got back onto Miracle Mile," Spencer replied, "We had a few scary moments, but we're all in one piece."
"Great, you're past the hardest bit. There's a little hamburger place on the left at the bottom of the lifts. Glen and Clay are going over there right now, so we'll just wait there for you guys, okay?"
"Okay, we'll see you there," Spencer agreed. She turned to the others to let them know what the plan was. Madison had stepped away from the group a little and was talking on her cell. Spencer couldn't make out what was being said, but Chelsea indicated that Glen was on the other side of the phone. The cheerleader seemed irritated, and ended the conversation abruptly.
While Spencer explained where the others were waiting for them, Madison adjusted her bindings as if she was getting ready to go.
"I'm ready. Let's get moving." Madison declared in a commanding tone. Spencer could go either way, but Chelsea shook her head signaling that she wasn't ready yet. The blonde shook her head also, "Sorry, we're going to catch our breath for a couple more minutes here," she replied, looking up at the cheerleader.
The other girl huffed impatiently, so Jack jumped in. "It's pretty easy from here on out if you'd like to go ahead without us. Just take your time." The cheerleader thought about it for a few seconds and decided to start down on her own. Jack watched her as she was trying to gather some momentum down the slope and glanced quizzically at Spencer who shrugged.
"Don't look at me. I have no idea why she's in such a hurry that she wouldn't wait for us," the blonde said, "But whatever... Hey, since we're among friends now, how about some good dirt from when Ashley was learning to snowboard? I'm sure you have some interesting stories."
Jack scratched his head, "I don't know that I should tell you guys any stories. Ashley knows where I live. She can be pretty terrifying despite her small size," he laughed, "Actually, that's pretty much how she snowboards. She's completely fearless. She used to scare me when we first started snowboarding together. She bounces back from falling like she's made of rubber so that doesn't stop her either. I always tell her that it's because she doesn't have that far to fall," Jack added, remembering how the brunette usually retaliated for that joke by pulling on his ponytail.
Spencer could totally picture Ashley, zooming down the slopes at top speed. The girl didn't seem to care about much outside of music, but when she put her mind to something, she was usually amazing at it.
"Figures," Chelsea chuckled, shaking her head.
The three of them negotiated the rest of the run without any incidents after Chelsea got over her initial apprehension. When Spencer got to the bottom, Jack pointed out to her the place where Ashley and her brothers were waiting, just a little further ahead.
"Hey, I have to go to my job at the store pretty soon. Can you tell Ashley?" Jack explained as they were waiting for Chelsea to join them, "Also, I'm thinking about having a party on Friday night with some friends that Ashley and I often jam with when we're both up here. Do you think she'd like that?" he asked.
"I'm sure she'd love it. I'll talk to her. She's lucky to have a friend like you," the blonde grinned, impulsively hugging him, "Do you have to leave right away?"
"Yeah, I'm already running a little late. Sorry," Jack apologized.
To be continued...one more chapter to go.
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