Текст книги " Kissing Snowflakes"

Автор книги: Abby Sher

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Текущая страница: 6 (всего у книги 12 страниц)

The next morning started with the telephone ringing next to my head. I fumbled before dropping it on the wooden night table.

“Yeah?” my voice was scratchy and slurred. My tongue tasted like a brillo pad.

“Did I wake you, chickadee?” said Dad.

“Nope,” I croaked. Dad laughed softly.

“Fun night?” he asked. I heard Kathy murmuring something in the background.

“Uh-huh.”

The room slowly started to come into focus. I could see Jeremy’s soggy dyspepsia T-shirt hanging over my chair.

“Sounds like it,” said Dad. “Honey, Kathy and I are kinda hungry and I called Jeremy but he’s not quite ready yet, either. So we were thinking of heading downstairs. Is that okay?”

“Sure, yeah. That sounds good.”

I hung up and fell back onto the pillow. I felt my stomach sloshing around. My head was sloshing around, too. My lips felt raw and chapped from all the cold air and the kissing. I ran my finger across the rough line where they met my skin. Wow. We had done some serious kissing!

I heard Jeremy turn on the shower. I wondered when he got back in with Liz. Had they done it? Was sex all that it was cracked up to be? Mind-changing? Earth-shattering? How did he know to trust this girl Liz whom he had just met and who shook her hips and made kissy faces into the microphone? But he was a boy. It was different for them, right? And then I started picturing them naked and lying on his bed and that was gross because he was my brother, after all.

I slipped on some socks and pulled on my hoodie over my pajamas. Everything felt a little fuzzy and I couldn’t move too quickly. Tee-hee! My first real hangover. I was finally a grown-up! Maybe that would mean I had bigger boobs and pouty lips. You know, like in the movies after a crazy party night, when the lead girl looks all disheveled and sultry? I gave a quick look in the mirror. I didn’t look too sultry right now. My hair was stuck to the side of my face and there were deep creases from the pillow across my cheeks. Oh, well.

Now I just needed some coffee and to get to the slopes as soon as possible. I stuck my cell phone in my pocket so I could call Phoebe, and then headed downstairs.

The lobby had a strong fire going, and I could hear people in the dining area stirring their coffee and chatting, and the toaster bell announcing fresh English muffins. Everything felt a little too bright and loud. But by far the loudest thing was a woman standing by the front desk, her hands on her hips and her salt-and-pepper nest of hair shaking as she spoke – or rather, yelled. It was the Albert Einstein lady I saw yapping at Phil the first day.

“I expected more out of you! You call this a family business? I could have stayed at a number of different places, but I chose to come here. It is inexcusable!” Her voice was shrill and only added to the throbbing in my head.

“I’m sorry. I really am.” Eric was standing behind the desk, speaking slowly, carefully.

“Well, what are you going to do about it is what I want to know? Huh?” the woman screeched.

Eric cleared his throat. “I’ll have to talk to my father. We’ve never really had this situation before. I mean, after we replaced the hot water heater —”

“I’ll tell you what you’re going to do. You are obviously going to have to replace it again! But before you do that, you are going to refund me my money and get on that World Wide Web and you are going to find me another place to stay, mister!” She was shaking a single salmon-colored fingernail in his face.

Who was this lady? Who said “World Wide Web” and called people “mister”?

A lot of people in the dining area had quieted down now and were peering over curiously. Nutbags McScreech just kept right on going.

“Come on! Do it!” she commanded. It was disgusting how she was treating him like he was a disobedient puppy.

“Well, I’d like to refund you, but —” started Eric. I could see he was trying to stay calm, taking deep breaths. But his eyes were blinking furiously.

“Good. Because that’s exactly what you’re going to do. Do you hear me?” the woman demanded.

“Yes.”

“Do you?”

I couldn’t take this. I knew it was none of my business, but this was ridiculous. I stepped forward. “Actually, everyone can hear you. You’re waking up the entire inn.” I crossed my arms and tried to exact a menacing gaze.

Lady Einstein spun around like she had been stung by a bee.

“And who are you?” She looked me slowly up and down, her lips pressed together in disgust.

“Sam Levy.” I almost said, “The one with the kissable lips,” but I refrained. “And I was going to have a cup of coffee and sit by the fire, but you kind of ruined that plan.”

“Well, excuuuuuuse me,” she sneered. “Do you know what ruined my morning?”

“No. What?”

“When I went to get into my shower, there was no hot water. No! Hot! Water!”

“Well, I’m sorry, but that’s no reason to —”

“And this young man says he doesn’t know what he can do about it. I mean, really!”

“I’m sorry, and how is this his fault?” I asked, hands on hips.

She puffed out her cheeks and spluttered. Her lips were colored the same salmon as her nails, and they were thin and flaky. She should learn about cherry ChapStick.

“Well, he works here, doesn’t he?”

“It’s a very old building,” started Eric.

“I’m not talking to you right now. You had your chance.”

I was seriously going to kick this lady in the teeth.

“No, you had your chance. It’s not his fault that there was no hot water. Maybe it’s because you used it up taking a bubble bath the night before. I don’t know. And I don’t care! All I know is that is no way to treat somebody who has opened up his home to you. So you think about how to speak to someone before you open your mouth again, because if I were him, I wouldn’t give you any refund. I would tell you to pack your bags and get out of here!”

I hadn’t meant to go that far. But once again, my mouth was moving faster than my brain, and by the time I stopped, I was breathless. Both Einstein and Eric were staring at me, wide-eyed and stunned.

Finally, Eric spoke. “Mrs. Briley —” he began.

“No, that’s okay,” she said. Her voice was a lot lower and softer now. “I’ll be speaking to your father as soon as he comes in. Make sure you tell him it is urgent. And you —” She turned back to me, her teeth gritted together. “You have quite a mouth on you, young lady. You’d better watch it or one day it is going to get you into some serious, I mean serious trouble.” Her nostrils flared but I just concentrated on her flaky lips and didn’t budge an inch. Then she grabbed an apple from the front desk and marched up the stairs and down the hall.

As soon as we heard her door slam, I burst into giggles. Eric was laughing, too.

“What a witch,” I said.

“Yeah,” he said.

“Sorry I went off like that. Sometimes I get a little carried away. And she just pushed all my buttons.”

“No, I loved it. My dad always says to let him handle anyone who’s trouble, but I was having a really hard time.”

“Yeah, well …”

I nodded. My head felt heavy. I really needed some coffee. And there was something really unnerving about just standing in front of this guy. I thought of him sitting in the dark, drawing. He was kind of weird.

Dad and Kathy were in the corner by one of the floor-to-ceiling windows. “What was that all about?” Dad asked when I came over.

“Oh, nothing. Never mind,” I said, grabbing a coffee cup.

“Wanna join us for breakfast?”

He and Kathy both had plates full of eggs and bacon. I was pleasantly surprised to see Kathy chewing away. I had pegged her as a strictly cantaloupe girl. But still, the thought of food and Kathy made me pretty queasy right now.

“Sorry, gotta make a phone call,” I said, and headed out of the dining room.

I plopped down at my usual spot in front of the fire. I was thinking about getting a sign for this chair that said: Back off. Levy territory.

Mmm, the coffee felt good.

“’lo?” Her voice was faint and sleepy.

“Pheebs!”

“Hey, Sam!”

“Did I wake you?”

“No.” I knew she was lying and that I should let her go back to sleep. But I couldn’t help myself.

“Oh, Pheebs, it was amazing! We sang ‘Lost and Found’ – just the girls – and I closed my eyes like you said. And then we all went into this hot tub – did you get that? Hot tub? And Drew and I kissed – a lot. And it was really fun kissing him and did I mention he has this blond spiky hair and these incredible eyes and he almost went to the Olympics and he reads ravioli and eats lots of magazines but – no, wait. Whatever. You know what I mean. We actually didn’t do much talking; mostly kissing, but he told me I have kissable lips. Can you believe that? Is that even a real adjective? Kissable?”

“I think —”

“But I didn’t let him see my ears, even though he was really close and then he said, ‘I want to explore you’ and I was, like, what? And he totally wanted to have sex! And of course I freaked out and told him that I couldn’t because I was sharing a room with Jeremy, just because, I don’t know. I mean, I just met him, like, twenty-four hours ago, but I mean, no it’s been forty-eight, but still I don’t know, I don’t even know if he’s a serial killer or if he has a middle name or works for the CIA or anything! Help!”

“Okay, first of all Sam, that’s fantastic. And, do you realize how fantastic this is?”

“Oh! And you know what the best thing about him is? He is nothing like Leo! I’ve totally moved on. I am over him. You were so right, Pheebs. I just needed some crisp mountain air and a few kisses in a hot tub to realize there are other fish in the sea, you know? I mean, what did Leo and I have in common really except the play, right? We never really talked. I think I idealized him because he was my first kiss, but it wasn’t really a kiss. I mean, who says ‘purty’ right? And now that I’ve really been kissed, it’s so completely different. I mean, Drew is more confident, more serious, more mature….

“I wish that you could meet him, Pheebs. Well, maybe you will. Maybe he’ll come down to New York for spring break. I bet he has frequent flyer miles. Did I mention he’s eighteen! Oh! it looks like my dad and Kathy are done with breakfast. I gotta get ready to go to the slopes. Hey, but wait – I didn’t hear anything about you.”

“Oh, nothing. Same old. You’re the one with news.” Phoebe sounded excited for me, but there was definitely a little edge in her voice. Uh-oh.

“How’s Grandma?” I asked.

“Okay, I guess. She called me Florence the whole time, and she can’t find her cockatoo.”

“And what’d you do last night?”

“Murphy’s. The usual crowd.”

“Any time with Paprika?”

“No, but I didn’t even see him.”

“Really? Why not?”

“Oh … I don’t know … It just wound up being a few of us watching movies. It was stupid.” She sounded distracted and there was this weird pause at the end of her sentence. But then, before I could cut in, she started again, cheery and bright. “Anyway, you gotta go. You’ve got a man waiting for you.”

“Yeah!” I said. I tried to sound upbeat, too.

“Call me later,” she said.

“Or you call me!” But she had already clicked OFF.

By the time we got to Sugar Peak, there was already a long line for the ski rentals. It was so hot in the chalet with all the furry collars and matching leg warmers. Dad and Kathy were going back out to some of the cross-country trails, and Jeremy and I got fitted and headed to the chairlift. I tried not to look too eager as I searched for Drew’s dirty-blond spikes and orange goggles. It was 10:30. He would be teaching his new class by now, right?

“Looking for someone?” I felt a hand on my shoulder. I gasped, turning around.

“Gotcha!” said Jeremy, his eyes on fire, his freckles laughing.

“Dumb butt,” I said, and punched him in the arm.

“Oh, come on. Can’t you take a joke?”

“Not funny,” I replied, pushing past him. The chairlift came, and we slid into our seats.

“Come on, Sam. You can’t take everything so seriously. Anyway, how was it?”

“Fine.” There was no way I was talking about this with Jeremy. “So, what’s up with you and Liz?”

“Oh, you know. Whatever,” he said.

“What’s that? Whatever. You left the hot tub together.”

“Sam, it’s none of your business.”

“Jeremy has a new girlfriend,” I sang. I know. I definitely regress about ten years when I’m around him sometimes.

“No I don’t,” he said, annoyed.

“But why not? She seems pretty cool and she was really into you – which, let me tell you, Jer – it takes a special breed of woman to want to be with you. It probably takes —”

“Listen, Sam. Just shut up, okay? I didn’t want to do anything with her because I – whatever. I just wasn’t interested.” And now his voice was more than annoyed. It was teetering on real anger.

“Okay, I get it,” I said.

“Listen,” he said, softer this time. “Just, don’t go blabbing about this to any of your friends like Phoebe or … Rachel, okay?” He looked me right in the eye. And I knew he was waiting for me to answer.

“Fine,” I said, rolling my eyes.

“Promise?” he pushed.

“Yes, okay! Jeesh!” Wow, that was really good ammunition. Rachel was friends with this girl from the orchestra named Anna. I knew that Jeremy and she had hooked up once at a party. Rachel had told me. But when I asked him about it he, of course, wouldn’t tell me anything. I didn’t know that he was still interested. I have to say, even though I acted like he was bugging me, I was kind of impressed. Maybe Jeremy wasn’t such an unfeeling robot after all.

It didn’t take long for him to break my little reverie, though.

“Besides, Sam, we’re only here for a week. It’s stupid to get involved with someone.”

“Right,” I said.

“You know that, don’t you?” he asked.

“Yeah, whatever.”

“Sam, I’m talking about you.”

“What? Who said I was getting involved?”

“It’s all over your face.”

“No it’s not.”

“Yes it is.”

“Not it’s not!”

Ugh. How did he always turn it back to me? “Whatever,” he said. “Remember, we came here for Dad and to ski.”

“Right.” My stomach felt even more twisted than before. Because I guess part of me thought Jeremy had a good point. I mean, we were only here for a week. What did I expect, anyway? To meet the man of my dreams? To fall in love? And was Drew really the one? He said things like, “That’s what I’m talking about,” and “hot mama.” And he didn’t read books. Not that I was in any position to judge. Before last night, the most action I had gotten was from a down pillow. I thought of Drew’s lips tracing a path down my neck. I felt my breath get quick and shallow. And I was glad we hadn’t gone any further last night.

We pushed off the chair at the top. I had forgotten what a thrill it was to jump off. Jeremy was totally unimpressed that I came to a perfect T-stop, but I didn’t need his opinion any more this morning. There were colorful jackets and pom-pom hats zipping down the sides of the mountain in every direction. No sign of Drew, though. Where was that area that he took us to yesterday?

“Hey, so I was gonna check out the Pine Bluffs trail today. Aaron says it’s got some cool inclines,” said Jeremy.

Might as well, Levy. It beat going back to the Junior Slope alone. Where was the Junior Slope anyway? I could picture myself foraging for nuts and berries in the woods after taking a wrong turn.

Pine Bluffs looked really challenging. Lots of turns and twists, even some little jumps. I tried to remember what Drew had taught me about leaning into one leg and then another. I tried to think about how he had me bend my knees and stay low to the ground. But I have to admit, I was mostly thinking about his hands on my waist. And then on my neck and in my hair.

“This look okay to you?” asked Jeremy.

“Uh-huh,” I said, but I was still thinking about those hands.

“Okay, then. See you at the bottom, nerd,” said Jeremy, and he pushed off, snaking his way along the path.

I looked around me. We were pretty high up. Above the tree line. The air felt thin and sharp. C’mon Levy. You can do this. You’re strong. Lean into it. Concentrate. Leave the behind – agh! That was too ridiculous.

I did pretty well. Got about a third of the way down before I fell, but I knew how to brace myself. The rest of the way, it was a series of short runs and some scooting on my butt.

Jeremy was waiting for me at the bottom of the trail.

“And, bringing up the rear for the Turtle team, is Samantha Levy!”

“Thank you! Thank you very much!” I said in my best Elvis impersonation.

“Again?” Jeremy asked.

“Sure.”

We did Pine Bluffs another three more times before Jeremy decided he was hungry and we should go to the chalet for some lunch.

Lunch. I felt sick and excited at the same time. Drew would be taking his lunch break, too, now, right?

The chalet was packed again, of course. And now there was the smell of hamburgers and pizza. Mmmm. Even with a nervous stomach, I had worked up an appetite. Jeremy waved me over to his place in line, but I was busy looking for something else. If only some of these fluffy coats would move.

I saw his blond hair first. He was over at the table by the hot chocolate bar, sitting with what I guessed was his class from that morning – a middle-aged couple, a man with gray hair and glasses, and two girls and a guy about my age. One of the girls was wearing a lavender turtleneck sweater and had long, honey-colored braids. She was leaning across the table and was talking with her hands, and Drew was tipping his head back and laughing.

My heart jumped. Was I supposed to play it cool and just eat with Jeremy and see if Drew noticed me? Or did I need to say something? Maybe just walk over there and say something casual like:

Hey, last night was really special and I think you’re a great kisser and I don’t want you to think that just because I was too freaked out to have sex that I’m not interested because I am very interested and as a matter of fact maybe I am ready to have sex but I just have to talk to my friend Phoebe some more or maybe I should call my mom but she might be with Jon who has a gross ponytail. So I guess, yeah, let’s just do it, right? But maybe we could talk before, during, and afterward so I’m not so scared. Oh, and hey, you want one of my French fries?

Yeah, that would do the trick, Levy.

We paid for our food, and then Jeremy spotted Dad and Kathy at a table all the way in the back of the room by the bathrooms. I groaned.

“Come on. Play nice,” Jeremy instructed. We made our way over and sat down.

“How was it, you two?” gushed Kathy.

“Oh, great,” said Jeremy. “What about you?”

“Really nice,” said Dad.

“Beautiful! Magnificent! Fantabulous!” Kathy exclaimed.

Ugh. I wanted to tell her I was allergic to adjectives. I really had decided in the car that morning that I was going to try and ignore her. But she sure was making it hard.

“Did you love it? Was it awesome?” she continued. This lady just didn’t give up.

“Yeah, it was fun,” said Jeremy. Then he turned to me and mouthed, “Nice.”

“Yeah, fun,” I echoed, biting into my sandwich.

That was all Kathy needed.

“Yay! Where’d you go? What’d you see?” she chirped. I’d let Jeremy handle that one. I had work to do. The three of them started chatting away about the tremendous sights and breathtaking heights while I shoved my fries into my mouth and scanned the crowd for Drew’s blond hair.

There he was. Still with Honey Braids in the lavender. Breathe and chew, Levy.

Breathe and chew.

But it was pointless. I soon got the hiccups from inhaling my food too fast.

“Oh, Sam. Come on. Just go over and say something already.” Jeremy’s mouth was, of course, full of American cheese.

“Go over where?” asked Kathy.

None of your business, I thought. But I just pretended not to hear and punched Jeremy in the leg.

“You’re a wimp,” he muttered.

Time to prove him wrong.

I took a slow sip of Diet Coke and stood up.

“Okay, I’ll be right back,” I announced.

“Where is she going?” I heard Dad say. But I didn’t wait to hear Jeremy’s answer. I was on a mission. I could do this.

Most of the group had finished their meals and were just watching Honey Braids. She was still talking, her hands waving wildly in the air.

“And all of a sudden, this bear was in our tent. And we were like, aaaaaaaaaah!” she recounted with a syrupy Southern twang.

“Whoa!” said Drew, leaning back in his chair.

I stepped up to the edge of the table. “Um, Drew?”

“Yeah? Oh, hey, Sam!” Was he excited to see me? I couldn’t tell.

“Hey. I just wanted to say … hep!”

“What?”

“Sorry, I have the hiccups. Hep! I just wanted to say … hey.”

“Hey,” he said again. He gave me a slight smile, but didn’t say anything else.

I obviously hadn’t thought this through too far. Was that it?

Quick! Think, Levy, think. Use the noggin.

I sucked in my breath. “Jeremy and I did the Pine Bluffs trail this morning. Hep!”

“Really? How did that go?” He nodded his head like he was impressed. At least, that’s what I hoped it meant.

“Good! I mean, really awesome. Hep!”

“That’s what I’m talking about.” He gave me a high five. Not exactly romantic, but at least it was physical contact, right?

“Hey listen, Sam. I’m glad you found us. I have to get back to class, but a bunch of us were going to go to the Fondue Pot tonight. This place in town. If you want to come, they have these big pots in the middle of the table with cheese and chocolate. It’s crazy good. And they have a special on hot toddies Tuesday nights.”

“Mmmm,” said Honey Braids, patting her stomach.

“What do you think?” Drew’s eyes narrowed on me now, and his voice was quiet and close, like it was just for us to hear.

“Sure!” I said, maybe a little too fast. “Hep!”

“Sweet. I’ll pick you up at the inn around 6:30. And bring your brother, too, if you want.” He winked at me and turned back to the table. “All right, folks. Who’s staying with me for the afternoon? Let’s hit it.”

Wait. Was I just invited out on a date with my brother? And was Honey Braids coming, too? But I couldn’t think about that now. I had to think positive and remember the way Drew’s eyes looked like dazzling blue marbles and his lips came together, smooth and shiny and the way that – hep! Ugh. Still had those hiccups.

I made my way back to our lunch table in the back.

“Hey, guess who found us,” Jeremy said, barely moving his lips. Liz was standing next to him in her white furry jacket. She had a new, long scarf in pink and red, and her cheeks were the same colors, warm and rosy.

“Heard you did PB!” she said.

“Huh?”

“Pine Bluffs,” explained Jeremy.

“Oh, yeah,” I said.

“Wow! Would you be up for doing it again with me this afternoon? Heidi and Dina were lame-o’s and stayed back at our hotel.” She looked from me to Jeremy, so hopeful. I felt a little bad for her. I knew what it was like to want to be liked.

“Sure,” I said, and hooked my arm through hers.