Bail | LRH

Chapter 11: to jump, or not to jump

Adrian Casey

Just think about it.

And I did think about it. I thought about it all night. Was I really going to let him be the bigger person and put our differences aside while I was going to act like a child and essentially bully him? Absolutely not.

The thing is, I've never known not being an absolute menace to this boy. For as long as I can remember it's always been a cutthroat game between the two of us, and I can't really imagine it being anything but that. I've been nothing but rude, and cocky, and snarky toward him since day one, it's the only way I know how to interact with the boy. I can't just put everything that's happened between the two of us in the past and forget about it with the snap of my fingers, I don't think I could just drop everything that easily. Being nice and buddy-buddy with him is such a foreign concept, I don't know how to approach this at all.

I know that if he's done with everything and he's truly being genuine about us basically starting over and on better terms, then I should probably give him the benefit of the doubt and try to reciprocate everything. It would look especially bad if everyone catches me tormenting this boy for what would seem like absolutely no reason if he's not giving me anything in return. I wasn't a bully, nor was I a bitch. What people give me, I give them back. The energy and attitude people have towards me, will be returned the same. That's how I've always been. But I've been so stuck and used to having this attitude towards him, and now that he's switched things up on me, it's quite hard to shake this habit. If he's going to be nice and civil, I'd have to reciprocate it.

I'm not exactly sure how I was going to do that, I might have to tape my mouth shut to refrain from making any comments. This was going to be hard to say the least.

...

Today was Wednesday which meant that I was just going to get some runs in on the resort side of the mountain, and since my dad was busy again with work meetings, I was doing everything solo today. After I get my runs in, I'm supposed to go over to the facility building that was part of the resort, and get some strength and conditioning in which means, running on the treadmill, lifting weights, working on my core and sometimes even swimming some laps in the pool. I'm always responsible when it comes to training on my own, while I know some people have trouble getting themselves to do everything if they don't have someone else to push them, I find it easy for myself to push forward as long as I have what I'm working for in my mind.

My dad dropped me off at the bottom of the mountain, and I was dragging my board behind me through the snow, making my way over to the line for the lift. Luckily there weren't many people here again so the line was fairly short.

I put my board down and stuck my right foot into the binding and strapped it in as tight as it would go making sure my foot was secure. With my free foot I pushed off on the snow to slowly move myself forward as the line progressed, and in no time I was sitting on the lift.

Sitting next to some random girl who was probably nine years old and her dad, I looked over at them, turning my head to the left and giving them a smile and a good morning. The ride up was quiet but the little girl was telling her dad how excited she was to go skiing today with him. It made my heart warm knowing that this father and his daughter had this to bond over like I had with my dad.

Once I got off the lift, I put my left foot into the empty binding and tightened that one as well, while I pushed myself toward the start of the decline. It was colder today than it had recently been, so cutting through the air was definitely going to sting a little bit.

I got in a couple of runs, gliding down the mountain, maneuvering over to the terrain park and hitting some easy jumps, and then making my way back in line for the lift. I was last in line, and I noticed the familiar red helmet that belonged to Ashton, and Michael stood next to him about to get on the lift. They noticed me in line and both gave me a wave which I returned.