mute » tomlinson ON HOLD

nine; skiing

"Lou, c'mon. Sam and I are going to the slopes for a few hours," Trevor leaned against the door frame, his arms crossed in front of his chest. My eyes casually flicked up to meet his figure before diverting back to the laptop screen.

"You two go ahead; I think I'm going to stay in for the night." My chin rested in the dip of my hand, preventing it from doing much movement as I shook my head.

Instead of responding, Trevor took long strides towards my position at the head of the bed. My hands scurried across the mouse pad to click minimize, but his eyes had already scanned my computer's screen.

The sudden impact of his hand at the back of my head caused my body to jerk forward. Sending him a wicked glare, I closed my laptop and pushed it away from me.

"Sign language, Lou? What are you doing learning sign language?" he stood with his hands perched on his hips and his brows raised questioningly.

I shrugged and drew nonsense patterns into the rough comforter that covered the bed. "Thinking about taking a course at Chicago."

Something I'd come to notice about Trevor was that he was always curious, even when we were in mere third grade. I remembered clearly when he burst into my childhood room, tears staining his chubby cheeks. He cried to me that he had been searching through his mother's phone, desperate to find any hint of his Christmas gifts when he came across quite a shocking picture. The rest of the night was filled with him cuddling into my side and incoherently whispering the word "boobies".

"For what? You're in the architecture major, not some lame language degree."

Sighing, my eyelids fell over my eyes as I tried to untangle the mess swarming my mind. "I don't know, Trevor. Do I have to have a reason for everything? Maybe I just want to spice up my schedule, or maybe I want to do something abnormal for a change," I paused to look over his expression, blank. Sighing, I gave in, "I'll meet you out there in a minute just– I'll meet you out there."

I climbed off the bed as Trevor walked towards the open door, sending me one last look before closing it behind him.

At the sound of the door's click, I visibly released the tension in my shoulders. Of course, I wasn't taking a course in sign language; however after my mind pondered over it, I found it wasn't not such a bad idea. Maybe in the future, I would consider it more thoroughly, but as of now, I had Rainy to teach me signing.

With the thought of her name, my head wandered to the image of her freckled face showing a shy smile. I hadn't realized how much I missed the sole feeling of just being around her. I missed the feeling of short triumph when she gave off a small, crooked smile. And the feeling of pure electricity when our skin brushed lightly against each other. And the feeling of simple admiration whenever she tucked a stray lock of brown hair behind her ear. And the feeling of happiness when she was simply there.

I missed Rainy, and it had only been two days at the resort. My body was itching to be sat in the comfort of my car, driving home to Chicago to my apartment where I could start the lessons with Rainy. Instead, my body moved towards the door to meet Trevor and Sam at the slopes.

"Race?" Sam spoke through the bandana that guarding his face from the harsh wind. The blond chunks of hair that weren't covered by his beanie were speckled with numerous dots of white. His face was flushed with a healthy pink due to the coldness at the top of the mountain.

Gusts of wind carried swarms of snow as they encircled the three of us. The layer of white powder beneath us was incredible and not at all icy. The sun was high in the sky and glistened against the gentle crystals covering the ground. The resort was beautiful, though the smooth ride down the slope was impossibly more breathtaking.