Chapter 8: Snowboarding Lessons

That night I slept as soon as my head hit the pillow. For once, it was a dreamless sleep, and I woke up the next morning very refreshed. A bright light was illuminating the room from the slightly opened curtain, and I guessed it was going to be a sunny day. I looked at the sofa and noticed that Chris wasn't lying there. I checked around me once more, and that’s when I heard the bathroom door opens. Chris strolled out and raised his eyebrows when he noticed me sitting on the bed.

“Good morning! You’re awake!” he said, his voice laced with enthusiasm.

“'Morning. Did you sleep well?”

“I did. It’s gonna be a full day; I hope you're prepared.”

“As much as I can,” I sighed and walked to the bathroom.

“My dad called me a few minutes ago; he said we should get ready for breakfast.”

I nodded and finally once in the bathroom I followed my morning routine. It'd be a lie to say that I wasn’t nervous. Snowboarding was considered one of the winter’s extreme sports, and it was very likely as a beginner to get injured. I silently prayed to get back home in one piece. On the contrary, a small part of me was excited about what was coming.

I walked into the room again to find Christopher dressed and seated at the edge of my bed.

“I'm ready. I’ll go check on my dad and your mom,” he said, as soon as he sensed my presence.

“Okay. I’ll join you when I get dressed.”

He walked out of the room, and I started getting ready. I wore an isothermal T-shirt and leggings under my oversized sweater and jeans. I quickly braided my hair, wore my boots, and grabbed my phone. I was looking at the unread messages from Izzie when I almost bumped into my mom, who was standing outside our room.

“Hello, angel! I was about to knock,” my mom said and hugged me.

“Good morning, mom. You almost gave me a heart attack,” I chuckled.

“You were the one looking at your phone. Did you contact your grandparents?”

“No, since last night, but we can call them after breakfast. Izzie sent me a couple of messages I have to reply,” I answered.

She nodded and smiled. David joined us with Chris following suit.

We had breakfast and discussed our day’s plan. We were going to be all day outside skiing or snowboarding. I thanked my lucky stars because I was in good physical shape; all the training and the hours I’ve spent at the gym would come handy for once. I ate as much as I could and dunk a cup of tea, while the other enjoyed their morning coffee.

After breakfast, we headed back to our rooms to wear more appropriate clothes. The waterproof jacket and pants I had bought with mom were perfect. Since I hadn’t been snowboarding before, I had to rent the rest of the gear, but thankfully Chris had a spare helmet and snowboard goggles to lent me. Chris and David had their equipment, so when mom and I had rent ours we parted ways.

I looked around, and all I could see was people skiing or snowboarding, and kids playing with the snow.

Chris led me to a quieter area, and once there he asked me if I had been snowboarding before.

“You mean if I had strapped both my legs on a snowboard and descend a snow-covered slope? I didn't have a death wish…”

“You’re so optimistic,” he said, rolling his eyes at me.

“And you better…” I didn’t have the chance to finish my sentence, because Chris gave me a push from behind, and I ended up almost falling. I looked at him with pure shock cover my face.

“You’re a goofy-footed,” he said nonchalantly.

“I'm what? We didn’t even start, and you are trying to make me fall,” I almost yelled at him.

“Relax! I just wanted to see with which foot you're gonna lead your snowboard; your dominant foot is your right,” he exclaimed, and I didn’t dare to add anything else.

He checked my protection gear and he started explaining to me the basics. He told me the basic parts of a snowboard, helped strap in and out, and he showed me how to carry my snowboard. I was correct, and I’d be falling a lot until I’d learn how to snowboard, so Chris explained to me how to fall properly.

Body stance and balance were key points to master this winter sport quickly. I’ve learned how to stand up from a seated position, how to walk in a snowboard with me right leg strap in, and how to move uphill when I'm strapped in. And then the fun part began because we started gliding down the hill; I learned how to stop, and control my speed. It was a bit more difficult to learn how to turn, but Chris was very patient with me, and eventually, I got better at that, too.

“Congrats, you have successfully learned the basics,” Chris exclaimed when we slide down together once more.

I had fallen more times than I care to count, but I didn’t get any serious injury; although I was sure that bruises would form on my buttocks and knees. For the first time, I wished I had fast healing like some other supernaturals.

“Thank you! You’re a great instructor,” I said and he smiled proudly.

“Remember always look where you want to go,” he said once more, and before I could understand what happened, he pushed me, and I start sliding down by myself.

“I hate you,” I yelled at him, and I tried to apply all these things I’ve been learning. Usually, he was gliding down with me, but now thanks to my enhanced hearing, I could hear him chuckling and observing me from the little hill we were.

Once I reached a flat area, I stopped and turned around to see Chris. He slid downhill on his snowboard, while he showed off some of the tricks he knew.

“Not bad; I bet you’d have fallen,” he said to me when he stopped a few meters away from me.

“You weren’t that bad yourself, too,” I complimented him back.

“I know, darling. To master these tricks needs years of practice,” Chris boasted.

“Show off,” I muttered under my breath with an eyes roll.

“I didn’t get that?” he asked and, before I knew it, a snowball was flying my way.

Call it instinct or good reflexes, my hands extended at the last moment, but the snowball never hit me. I opened my eyes to see a startled Christopher, while some snow was floating around us.

“What on earth was that?” he exclaimed, with a perplexed look on his face.

“That was one of my tricks; it took me years of practice to master it,” I mimicked his previous words, and I internally facepalmed myself.

How can I be so dumb to make a snowball burst into snowflakes without even touch it, in front of a human, who has no idea about supernaturals? And how on earth was I even capable of doing that? I was pretty sure it wasn’t a part of my superpowers.

“You need to teach me that trick,” he said, still looking fascinated by what had just happened.

“Shall we go grab a snack or a hot chocolate?” I asked trying to change the subject.

“Yeah, that’s a good idea. I should call my dad or your mother.”

“I’ll call my mom.”

I was relieved when I heard she didn’t get any injured, too. We decided to meet and eat something for lunch. I have to admit that all this exercise was very exhausting. That little break was all I need for my sore muscles to relax a bit. We ate sandwiches and salads, and I drunk a lot of water to avoid dehydration. I was a bit sweaty from all the workout and the bright sun; thankfully I had applied some sunscreen on my face.

After lunch, we decided to use the chairlift. I stared around me amazed by nature once more; everything was white and covered with soft snow, the blue sky, and the gleaming sun, the small clouds that looked like cotton candy. I took in the scenery around me, and I tried to engrave every little detail on my mind; so I could paint it when I was back home.

We slide down the slope, and for the first time, I felt so many emotions at once; excitement mixed with fear, freedom, and happiness. We were going faster than I’d thought; the adrenaline pumping into my veins made my senses even more heightened. Chris had the chance to show us plenty of the tricks he knew, and I watched him fascinated. My mother was better than I expected, she could glide down without falling and control her speed perfectly. David must have been a good instructor like Chris was. We use the chairlift a couple more times that day, and we took different roots each time.

When we head back to our rooms we’re exhausted. We showered and wore clean clothes, so we can have dinner. We talked about our adventures while we separated and made a quick plan for the next day. If we were very tired, we could spend the day indoors. Once in our room, Chris and I watched a film, and then I drifted into a deep slumber.

After all, it wasn’t that bad idea to visit that winter resort…