The Consequences of Hell Week (Blue Ridge)

Chapter 2: There's No Hiding From Them

I was just starting my shift at the bottom of one of the chairlifts when I felt it. A stirring in the air. A feeling.

They were coming.

I looked around and I could tell the rest of the employees felt it too.

The skiers who thought they were enjoying a classy, hooligan free, ski trip had no idea what was coming.

Everyone wearing a blue Blue Ridge employee jacket simultaneously looked up the mountain.

Right over the top of the ridge the first one appeared. Then in swarms they poured down the mountain.

Snowboarders. That word alone gave my dad and most of his employees chills, but not me.

I had to hide my smile as I watched them all tear down the hill.

I didn't see the barbaric nature or lack of skill and finesse my dad always insisted they had. They were flying.

Pulling my eyes away and forcing a scowl on my face, I grumbled about how annoying Hell Week was with the other people working the chair lift with me.

When the first group of snowboarders got to the front of the line to get on the lift, I refrained from making small talk with them just like the other employees. Not acknowledging their existence was a form of protest, telling them they may be on our turf, but we weren't happy about it.

"We have to let them on our mountain, but we don't have to like it" was what my dad always said around this time. It didn't matter that we profits shot up during Hell Week or that there were rarely any conflicts that weren't provoked from both sides. In his mind they were a nuisance forced on him by the brother he always hated.

"It's only day one and I'm already sick of them" Jonathan groaned. Jonathan Brooks was the most pretentious and frustrating human being I had ever met. He shared my father's belief that skiing was superior to snowboarding and wasn't afraid to use the topic to kiss my father's behind on a regular basis. Jonathan was nauseating and the fact that my father often suggested that I date a "classy young man like Jonathan" was even more nauseating.

It was hard to tell if Jonathan was always hitting on me to impress my father or if he kissed up to my father to impress me, but either way I had successfully denied all of his advances for the past year.

He was constantly scheduling his shifts on the same lifts at the same times as me, and it made having to work instead of be on the mountain even more frustrating.

"Mhm" I pretended to agree. I turned away from him and found myself face to face with that staggering pair of green eyes.

"Sick of us huh? Sorry I forgot you don't associate with our type" Mason's mystery friend from this morning smirked.

My eyes grew wide and I silently begged him not to blow my cover. If Jonathan found out I was friends with Mason, or even talking to him, he wouldn't hesitate to tell my dad.

"Is that boarder throwing snowballs at the skiers?" mystery guy pointed over Jonathan's shoulder causing him to turn around. Green- eyed mystery guy took the opportunity to lean down and whisper in my ear "don't worry baby girl, I'll keep your secret"

He boarded the lift as if nothing happened, leaving me standing there dumbfounded.

"I don't know what that guy was talking about, there aren't any boarders throwing snowballs, but I wouldn't put it past them" Jonathan shuddered dramatically, and it took all the self-control I had not to throw snow in his face. He was such a snob sometimes.

My phone vibrated in my pocket. I pulled off my gloves and stepped over to the side to answer it.

"You have to come out here. The powder is insane" Mason's voice shouted through the phone.