Aurora

10.

I couldn't even see the bottom of the hill.

"There's no way I'm skiing down that."

Through his goggles, I saw Landon roll his eyes. "You won't die, Aurora."

And then he pushed me.

You would think I would've been able to keep my balance and stop myself from zooming down the slope, but no. The minute he pushed me, I slid forward and darted down the hill.

Wind speared through my winter coat and whistled through my ears. I tried to keep my eyes on Natalie, who was in front of me, attempting to copy her. But I couldn't. Let's face it, I didn't know how to ski. Landon was behind me, and I could hear him yelling: "Slow down! Ski in the shape of an S. Or else you're gonna fall!"

I didn't take his advice. I continued racing down the hill, snow spraying onto my goggles.

And that's when I lost my balance. My stomach dropped when my ankle gave out and I fell forward, collapsing onto the snow. I tumbled down, one of my skis breaking off my boot as I rolled across the hill. Pain shot through my leg. I heard a yell and felt a ski ram into my ribcage, before the person fell beside me. I pushed myself up and glanced over. Landon.

He was lying there, holding his arm in pain. He winced and sat up. His eyes widened when he saw me. "Are you okay? You're bleeding!"

I took off my glove and touched my nose, which was numb from the cold, and felt blood. I pulled my hand away and wiped the blood onto the snow, standing up and dusting myself off. Pain ran through my body. "I'm fine." I said. "Are you?"

"Yeah," he replied. He was still holding onto his arm.

"Are you sure? You seem to be holding onto that arm like it's going to fall off."

"I'm sure," he said. He looked over his shoulder and saw my ski lying in the snow. "I'll go get it."

"Thanks."

I glanced at the hill. Natalie, Julien and Connor were nowhere in sight. They had probably already made it to the bottom.

When I looked back towards Landon, he was holding my ski and bringing it towards me. "Thanks," I said again. I dropped it onto the snow and placed my boot in it.

--

When we made it back to the chairlifts, Natalie was giggling at Julien, and Connor seemed bored.

"Where have you been?" Connor said, "I've been waiting an eternity. I've been growing old. I'm no longer ten, that's for sure."

"Aurora fell down the hill," Landon chuckled.

I rolled my eyes. "Oh please, don't act like you didn't too."

Connor laughed. "Rory, your nose is bleeding."

"Still?" I said, taking off my glove once again and touching my nose. I didn't feel any blood this time.

"Just kidding," he grinned.

I glared at him.

"Also," Connor continued. "Natalie and Julien are being gross. I no longer ship Natalien. I just... I can't."

"Why?"

Connor whispered for only me and Landon to hear, "They kissed. In front of me. Like, you just... You don't do that."

I laughed, but Landon didn't. He glanced over at Natalie and Julien and said nothing. My smile faded. "Landon, you okay?"

His attention snapped back to me. "Huh? Oh, yeah. Yeah, I'm fine."

A/N: -Gabyy- I updated, you proud of me? :D I've decided I'm going to make Aurora a short story/novella, so it shouldn't be more than around 30 chapters, around 300-800 words each. Anyway, hope you enjoyed the chapter c: Thanks for reading!