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  Carlie was surprised and relieved at the same time. Still, she wasn’t so sure she wanted to be stuck with a girl she didn’t know. But she didn’t particularly want to be stuck with Chelsea either. Mostly she didn’t want to be left by herself. She smiled at Whitney. “Sure, why not?”

  “What ab out me?” asked Amy. “Who’s going to be my buddy?”

  “But aren’t you skiing?” asked Chelsea.

  “Well … I was … but maybe I’ll snowboard instead.” Amy smiled at Chelsea in a hopeful way. “Do you want to be my buddy, Chels?”

  “But you don’t even know how to ride, Amy.”

  Amy looked hurt now. “I can learn.”

  “Maybe I should ride with Amy,” offered Carlie. “The beginners could stick together.”

  “No,” said Whitney stubbornly. “You said you’d be my partner.”

  “But maybe Chelsea would be better for you,” suggested Carlie. She grinned now. “Besides, you both like sushi.”

  “You were paying attention to that?” said Chelsea with surprise.

  “Sort of …”

  “Maybe we can all sort of stick together,” offered Emily. “I mean, since we’re all snowboarding. We can see how it goes, and if some of us are better riders than others, we can switch buddies.” She glanced over to where Janna was pulling on her ski clothes. “Is that okay, Janna?”

  “Sure,” called Janna. “Just as long as no one gets left on their own. Whatever you do, let’s get going. We’re burning daylight, girls.”

  chapter four

  Suddenly the room got very noisy as the girls started opening bags and layering on snow clothes. Everyone was excited and happy, and Carlie couldn’t wait to try out a snowboard. She just hoped she wouldn’t slow down Whitney too much. It had been sweet of this new girl to be willing to risk it with her. Carlie wasn’t even sure why she was being so nice, but she suspected it wouldn’t be too long before Whitney regretted her choice. Maybe she would discover that Chelsea was a lot better and want to switch buddies. Then Carlie would be stuck with Amy. It’s not that she didn’t like Amy, but Amy just wasn’t very athletic. Carlie would be surprised if she was coordinated on a snowboard. Still, it would be better than being alone.

  “Okay,” called Janna. “The girls who are renting equipment, come with me.”

  It took about an hour to get the right boots and boards, and by the time Carlie and Whitney were finally riding up the bunny-hill chair, it was past two. “This is going to be a pretty short day,” said Whitney.

  “That’s okay,” said Carlie happily. “We still have two more.”

  Then, as they rode up, Whitney gave Carlie some pointers on how to ride, talking about balance and how to lean and how to use your hands.

  “Do you think I should go to the beginners snowboard class tomorrow morning?” asked Carlie. Suddenly she felt uncertain. What if this was really hard?

  “Let’s see how you do today,” said Whitney. “You might not even need it. I never did.”

  “So what do we do at the top of this hill?” asked Carlie. “Just jump off the lift?”

  “Yeah, then you get out of the way so the people behind us don’t crash into us. Once we’re settled, I’ll help you put on your board and we’ll get ready to ride.”

  Whitney slid off the lift with no problem, but Carlie felt clumsy as she clung to her board and scurried to get out of the way. Then Whitney led her off to one side and helped her put on her board. But as soon as Carlie had both feet on the board, she fell down, flat on her face.

  Whitney looked like she was trying not to laugh as Carlie slowly struggled to get herself turned around, brushing cold snow from her face and checking to see if her nose was still in place. “Looks like I’m off to a stunning start,” she said, and then Whitney did laugh — but not in a mean way. At least that was something.

  “Okay, Carlie,” said Whitney. “The first rule in riding is that if you feel yourself falling, lean back and fall onto your rear end — not your face. That way it doesn’t hurt nearly as much.” Then Whitney actually demonstrated this move, planting her bottom into the snow. “Like this. And see …” she used her hands to push herself upright, “then you can get back up.” She pointed to a rider over on a different slope who had just fallen down. “See that guy in khaki over there? Watch as he gets right back up. See how he squats really low, how he uses his hands to kind of guide him along until he gets his balance again.”

  Carlie nodded, shaking snow out of her hair and trying to regain some confidence. “It looks simple enough.”

  “It really is, once you get the hang of it.” Whitney stood now, spreading her arms as if to balance herself and then bending at her waist and knees. “See, like this, Carlie. It’s all about balance, just like on a skateboard. And you have to expect to fall down sometimes. Just try not to do another face-plant.” Whitney slapped her backside. “This is much softer. Okay, want me to go first so you can kind of watch and try to imitate me?”

  “Sounds good.” Carlie stood up, carefully bending her knees and holding her arms out for balance — just like Whitney. She couldn’t believe how nice this girl was being — how patient. Carlie had obviously been wrong about her.

  “Here I go,” said Whitney, slowly taking off. She wove back and forth down the slight incline of the bunny hill, pausing to look back and to make sure that Carlie was still upright. But about midway down, Carlie fell. Fortunately she must’ve remembered what Whitney said because she fell backward. Then she got up and kept going. She fell once more. This time it was kind of sideways, but she still got back up and rode the rest of the way down without another spill.

  “Not bad,” said Whitney.

  “Really?” Carlie adjusted her goggles.

  “Yeah, I think there’s hope for you yet.”

  “That was pretty fun,” said Carlie with enthusiasm. “Well, other than the falling part.”

  “How’s it going?” asked Amy as she and Chelsea came and stopped beside them. Carlie was surprised to see that Amy was managing fairly well.

  “Amy’s catching on,” admitted Chelsea. “Who’d of thunk?”

  Amy grinned. “Yeah, it’s not that hard. It’s about balance.”

  “Right,” said Carlie, feeling a little discouraged now.

  “I didn’t even fall down on the bunny hill,” bragged Amy. “And Chelsea fell down once.”

  “That’s only because I was watching you,” said Chelsea. Then she laughed. “Don’t worry about Amy, I think she’s going to be a natural.”

  Carlie frowned. “I fell down like three times already.”

  “Maybe you should try skiing,” suggested Amy.

  “Not yet,” said Whitney, tugging on Carlie’s arm. “One run is too soon to give up. Time to go again.”

  “Let’s do the bunny hill again too,” Chelsea said to Amy. “And if you don’t fall down, maybe we can try a longer slope.”

  “What do you mean if I don’t fall down?” said Amy defensively. “You’re the one who fell down.”

  “Fine,” said Chelsea. “Let’s hit the regular slope then.”

  Now Amy didn’t look so sure. “Okay, maybe one more bunny-hill run.”

  “How about you guys?” asked Chelsea to Carlie. “You going to try a regular slope today?”

  “I think I should do the bunny slope a few times first,” said Carlie.

  “Let’s get going,” called Chelsea as she led the way toward the bunny-hill lift line with Amy trailing behind her.

  “Use your back foot to push yourself along like this,” said Whitney, showing Carlie how to propel her board along like the other girls were doing.

  Carlie imitated Whitney and discovered that it was actually pretty easy. In a way it was like skateboarding.

  “That’s good,” said Whitney.

  “It’s not that hard,” said Carlie, but still she focused. She really wanted to get this.

  “Let’s get in line,” called Whitney as she glided along. “This time we’
ll ride up with our boards on, okay?”

  “Okay.”

  It took a bit of doing, and the lift operator had to pause the lift when they got on, but Carlie managed to get on with her board still attached to her foot. “Getting off can be tricky,” warned Whitney. “Just make sure you keep your board pointing straight ahead, and use that back foot to keep it going straight. You think you can do that?”

  “I think I can, I think I can, I think I can.”

  Whitney laughed. “You sound like the Little Blue Engine.”

  “I know.” Carlie kept looking straight ahead. “I’m trying to think positively.”

  Carlie’s positive thinking appeared to be working because she got off the lift without any problem.

  “Wow,” said Whitney. “I’m actually impressed.”

  “Lead the way,” said Carlie with a pleased grin.

  This time they made it down the hill with only one tumble, and this time Carlie landed nicely on her behind and got back up in the same motion. Whitney yelled and cheered for her, slapping her on the back when she got to the bottom of the hill. “That was awesome, Carlie. You’re getting it.”

  “Thanks,” said Carlie. “You’re a patient teacher.”

  Whitney just shrugged.

  “So, are you guys ready to try a bigger hill now?” asked Chelsea with a slightly impatient tone.

  “Not yet,” said Whitney. “I want Carlie to take one more run on this chair.”

  “That sounds like a good idea,” said Amy. “Me too. I took a pretty good fall on that last run.”

  Chelsea groaned. “This bunny hill is so lame.” She pointed to a group of little kids who were beginners too. “We look so juvenile.”

  “Just one more time,” said Carlie.

  “Whatever.” Chelsea just shook her head then took off ahead of them and got into line.

  Soon they were all down at the bottom of the hill again. And this time no one fell down.

  Amy actually slapped Carlie on the back. “Hey, I think we’re doing pretty good for beginners,” she said. “Maybe we won’t need the beginner’s class tomorrow after all.”

  “So, can we hit a real slope now?” demanded Chelsea as she pulled her hat down over her brow and frowned at the rest of them.

  “Okay,” said Carlie confidently. “Let’s go for it, girls.”

  “Are you sure, Carlie?” asked Whitney.

  “Sure, I’m sure.”

  Of course, once Carlie got off of the “real” lift and saw the big, tall white slope looming down in front of her, she wasn’t so sure.

  “It’s okay,” said Whitney, “you can do this.”

  Carlie peered curiously at her new friend. “How do you know that?”

  Whitney grinned. “I can just tell. As soon as I saw you I thought you were a girl who could take on an adventure.”

  Carlie smiled now. “Yeah,” she said. “I am.” Feeling confident and good, she started her first ride down the mountain. As long as she stayed focused and slightly relaxed, she managed to do fairly well. It was when she doubted herself that she usually fell. But at least she fell on her bottom now, and more and more she would pop back up and continue. Riding was turning out to be totally cool, and at this rate Carlie expected to be as good as the best after a couple more days.

  “Woo-hoo!” she hooted as she took off on her sixth run down the “real” slope. This time she made it all the way down without falling once — a record for her.

  “You’re doing great,” Whitney told Carlie as they rode up for what everyone agreed would be the last time.

  “You’re a great teacher,” said Carlie.

  “And you’re a good learner.”

  “Thanks.”

  chapter five

  By the end of the day, Carlie felt a little bit sore, but mostly she felt really, really good. She could tell she’d gotten a lot better. “I can’t wait to go again tomorrow,” she told Whitney as they carried their boards back to their cabin.

  “Well, you’re doing great,” said Whitney. “I’m sure you’ll be an old pro by the time we go home.”

  Morgan and Emily were walking with them, and just as they reached the turnoff to the cabin, Chelsea and Amy joined them too. But no one was walking too fast.

  “Man, am I starved,” said Morgan as they stopped in front of their cabin, taking turns putting their boards into the racks by the door.

  “Me too,” said Carlie as she stomped the snow off her boots. “Too bad dinner isn’t for like an hour.”

  “Gives us time to do some primping,” said Amy.

  “I’m not primping,” declared Carlie.

  “Me neither,” said Morgan.

  “Why not?” Whitney peered curiously at her now.

  “Why should I?” asked Carlie.

  “Don’t you want to look pretty?” demanded Amy.

  Carlie laughed. “Not only do I not want to look pretty, I might not even take a shower.”

  “Eeuw!” Amy pinched her fingers over her nose. “Nasty!”

  But Carlie just laughed. “This is supposed to be like a vacation,” she said. “I have to clean up all the time at home. I plan to be a total bum here.”

  “Me too,” said Morgan with a grin.

  “I’m with them,” added Emily. “Let’s go slumming, girls.”

  “No way,” said Amy. “I’m not going to walk around looking like a slob.”

  “You girls are seriously going to let yourselves go when there are guys around to see?” Chelsea looked honestly stunned.

  “Why not?” Carlie asked as she flopped onto her bunk and started to remove her boots.

  “Yeah, who cares about boys?” said Emily.

  Whitney peered curiously at them like she thought they’d either lost their minds or were just pulling her leg. “Yeah, right,” she said finally. “You guys don’t care about guys. Tell me another one.”

  “Forget about them,” said Chelsea. “Besides, this will keep the bathroom from getting too crowded anyway.” And suddenly they were placing dibs on the mirror and making a mad dash to get their primping things and squeezing themselves into the bathroom.

  “Save room in there for me,” called Amy as she tossed her pink fluffy hat onto her bed and grabbed up her bag.

  Emily laughed. “Let them primp until the cows come home,” she said as she peeled off her damp parka and slung it over a chair. “I could care less.”

  “I guess we’ll be the three slobs,” said Carlie.

  “Oh, I don’t know,” said Morgan. “I might go all out a little later and put on some lip gloss.”

  “I’m not touching my hair,” said Emily as she casually flipped a blonde braid into the air. “These are staying put until I go home.”

  “I wish my hair was long enough for braids,” said Carlie sadly. “All this moisture, and I won’t be able to get a brush through these curls.”

  “So, don’t,” suggested Morgan. “Just go au naturale. Maybe we can work your hair into dreadlocks.”

  “Really?” Okay, Carlie didn’t even know what dreadlocks were, but if Morgan thought it would be cool, maybe Carlie would try it.

  After a while, Chelsea, Whitney, and Amy emerged from the bathroom, complete with makeup and hairstyles that looked just about perfect. Plus, they’d all changed their clothes. Not only that, but it smelled like a perfume counter in the cabin as Chelsea liberally doused herself with something in a pink bottle.

  “Is that Pink Sugar cologne?” asked Amy with interest.

  “Sure is,” said Chelsea.

  “Ooh,” said Amy. “I love that fragrance.”

  “Want some?” asked Chelsea, holding out the bottle.

  “All right!” Amy laughed as she gave herself a generous squirt.

  “What’s up with the perfume?” demanded Carlie as she sniffed the air indignantly. “What about the rights of other people’s noses?”

  “Yeah,” said Emily. “And what is up with all this primping anyway?”

  “You do seem to
be taking this fashion show a little too seriously,” agreed Morgan as she tossed a damp sock across the room. “What’s up?”

  Amy laughed. “Nothing you girls would care about.”

  “She means boys,” said Emily.

  “Do you really think boys are going to care that you fixed your hair?” asked Carlie.

  “Or put on makeup,” added Emily.

  Morgan peeled off a second soggy sock. “Seriously, don’t you know what kind of guys are on this trip?”

  “Cute guys.” Amy giggled and smoothed her hand over her already smooth hair.

  “Yeah,” said Whitney. “That Jeff Sanders is adorable.”

  “You can have him,” said Chelsea. “It’s Enrico that I want. Don’t you think he looks just like Antonio Banderas?”

  “He does,” agreed Amy.

  “But I get first dibs,” said Chelsea.

  Carlie tried not to gag as Morgan and Emily ducked into the bathroom.

  “I think you girls deserve whatever you get,” said Carlie lightly, hoping that might end this stupid conversation.

  But now Whitney bent down and looked directly at Carlie, who was still sitting on her bunk. “And, seriously, Carlie, you’ll probably be sorry that you’re missing out on all the fun.”

  “Yeah, right.” Carlie shook her head and rolled her eyes. “What fun.”

  “Don’t pick on us because we care about our looks,” said Amy indignantly. “We can’t help it if we don’t want to go around like slobs.”

  “We’re heading to the lodge now,” said Chelsea lightly. “Amy and I challenged a couple of the boys to a before-dinner pool game.”

  Carlie frowned at the three of them. “Why?”

  Amy laughed. “Oh, don’t worry, Carlie, someday you’ll understand.”

  “When you’re older that is,” added Chelsea.

  Of course, this only aggravated Carlie more. Just because she wasn’t thirteen yet didn’t mean she didn’t understand their stupidity right now. Besides, she was older than Amy. Even so, she wouldn’t lower herself to their standards. But it did hurt a bit to see Whitney acting like this after she’d been such a patient snowboard instructor earlier. Carlie had almost started to think that the two of them might become friends. Now she wasn’t so sure.