Chapter 4: Ben Barry and Andie Anderson
After a nasty break up, a ski trip with her best friend, Mary, is all that Y/N needs to relax. But when Mary’s cousin Chris shows up, she gets a little more out of this week away than she bargained for. With one jealous ex, not enough beds, and a lot of secrets, Y/N is in for the vacation of a lifetime. She just needs to make sure Mary doesn’t find out.
Here’s Chapter 4 of “Behind Closed Doors”. You can read the previous chapters here. Next update on Wednesday!
______________________________________________________________
“So Joe said he could teach us the basics all morning, and then come back to the cabin for lunch,” Mary explained. “After, we’ll go back out. We’ll be queens on the mountain for sure. How long can learning to snowboard take? Like 20 minutes?”
Y/N thought Mary might be a little over-optimistic, but she wasn’t about to dampen her friend’s spirits. Neither of them had ever attempted snowboarding before, so 20 minutes seemed like a stretch.
The three of them made their way to the mountain, which was a very quick drive from the cabin. Mary and Y/N needed to get equipment from the rental shop, but Joe was a seasoned snowboarder and had his own gear. He looked like a professional, with his close-cropped hair covered by his helmet. His green eyes, which always gave away how amused he was by Mary’s antics, were hidden behind reflective goggles. The whole look gave him a serious edge.
Y/N and Mary were soon kitted out in a similar fashion. Y/N didn’t feel quite as impressive as Joe; she just felt like a child playing dress up. They all journeyed to the bunny hill.
“Now, the most important thing is balance,” Joe said sternly. “No hills until you can balance correctly.”
Joe was a demanding teacher, and he wanted Mary and Y/N to show him that they could balance on their boards properly and swivel their feet before he let them on the bunny hill itself. It was an hour before he let them even try.
Mary’s balance was definitely better than Y/N’s, and after a few falls, she got the hang of it. Y/N was having a lot more trouble. She fell often. Joe kept reminding her to keep her hips over the board and point her head where she wanted to go, but it didn’t come naturally to her. She knew that she was going to be sore from more than her couch-bed after all of this, but she was still having a great time. By lunch, Joe was confident that they had mastered the basics enough to let them on the green circle hills. It was the easiest type, but the ladies were excited to graduate off of the bunny hill.
Before they could try the real slopes however, Joe insisted on lunch.
The mountain had its own lodge with food, so the three stayed instead of returning to the cabin. They met up with Edward and Mickey, who were drinking the day away in their snow attire. Edward told them that he was much more suited to being a lodge bunny than out on the slopes, and Mickey had obliged him. The group chatted about their plans for the rest of the day, and soon enough Y/N, Joe, and Mary were back out on the mountain.
The lift was designed for two, so Joe and Mary took the first chair up to their destination. Y/N waited for the next one, when she saw someone slide up out of the corner of her eye.
“Mind if I join you?”
Of course it was Chris. And she did mind. But it was too late, and the next chair was coming around the bend. It hit them in the back of the legs, and they were off, up the mountain, alone.
You just need to sit with him until you get to the top, thought Y/N. It’s only a few minutes, you can handle that.
She focused her attention ahead, trying not to register the awkward silence. She saw Joe and Mary playfully teasing each other on the chair in front of them. It felt like intruding, and she had to look away. It was getting more awkward by the second.
They were getting closer to the top when the chair just stopped moving. Y/N was no expert, but she was pretty sure the lift was supposed to keep going, round and round. It wasn’t really intended to stop.
She looked behind her, back at where they came from, to see if she could decipher the problem. She saw that Daisy and Tom, clad in skis, were in the chair behind. They were snuggled close together - was that necessary? - with Tom looking off into the distance. Daisy, however, was glaring daggers at Y/N. Y/N looked ahead again, trying to avoid any unneeded and unwanted drama.
“Someone probably fell. It’ll start moving again in a second,” said Chris, who must have noticed her searching.
They sat in the ever-deepening awkward silence for about a minute when Y/N started to feel restless. Why weren’t they moving?
“What if it’s broken?” Y/N asked, trying not to let any panic creep into her voice. She didn’t especially like being up here. Not with him. Not this close.
“Then we wait, and we try to find a way to entertain ourselves.”
She could hear the smirk that seemed to be permanently plastered on his face, and she refused to look at him. She hated to admit it, but the smirk was starting to grow on her.
After about another minute, she gave in. “What did you have in mind?”
“Well, we don’t have a ton of space up here,” he noted. “But I think we should play a game. You know, to pass the time.”
“Like what? I spy with my little eye, something white? It’s all white if you hadn’t noticed, Chris.”
“I was thinking more the ‘Never Have I Ever’ route,” Chris replied.
Y/N rolled her eyes. “Are you 14?”
“I don’t see you providing any better suggestions,” he said with a shrug. “We could just go back to sitting in silence until this thing starts up again. No problem here.”
Y/N took him up on the offer. They sat in silence for a few minutes, but Y/N was getting antsy. The quiet was getting oppressive, and she was starting to feel like something was really wrong with the machinery back down on the ground. Being up so high was starting to get uncomfortable. She didn’t trust his intentions, but without a distraction, she was going to freak out sooner or later.
“Fine!” she relented.
“I knew you’d come around,” Chris said confidently. “They always do.”
The cockiness grated on her nerves, and she almost told him he could fuck right off, but the chair started to sway with the wind, and she needed to think about something other than falling to her death. She put her hand up with five fingers extended.
“Never have I ever… broken a bone,” Chris started. He was smiling innocently, but his eyes didn’t tell the same story.
Y/N put a finger down.
“What happened?” Chris asked.
“I was in an accident in high school. Broke a few ribs and a collarbone,” Y/N said nonchalantly.
“Oh shit, I’m sorry. That must have sucked.”
“It took a while to heal, but I got better.”
She was sort of surprised that the first confession was so tame. She expected him to go straight to the nasty, raunchy stuff. Maybe she had underestimated him.
Or maybe this game was just warming up.
Y/N started easy as well. “Never have I ever snowboarded before.”
“Really? This is your first time?” Chris asked as he put one of his five fingers down.
“Yeah. I don’t really seem to be a natural at it either. I’ve fallen about 30 times today, and that’s just counting before lunch.”
“Well aren’t you in luck. I just so happen to be an excellent teacher.”
Y/N studied him. Mary said he was into winter activities, so maybe that was true. Joe had seemed capable all morning though, and she wasn’t really in the market for a new teacher. Just when she started to think he might be being earnest, he spoke again.
“I’d always catch you if you fell.”
Y/N was positive he was incapable of being serious.
They went on like that for a bit. Chris said he’d never been in a helicopter; both kept fingers up. Y/N had never eaten Thai food; Chris put a finger down. Y/N had to put a finger down for watching Keeping Up With the Kardashians (guilty pleasure), eating Artichoke Pizza (she firmly believed Chris was missing out), and falling asleep in a movie theater (she hated war movies, and Austin had always dragged her along). Chris put down a finger for riding a motorcycle and cheating on a test.
Both of them had one more finger up, and it was Chris’ turn.
“Never have I ever…” The tell-tale mischievous glint had returned to his eye. Y/N did not like where this was going.
“… made out with anyone in a hot tub.”
Y/N put her last finger down.
“Well I’ll be damned. Looks like I win.” He didn’t sound triumphant, more curious.
“Evidently you have an extremely boring love life, Chris,” Y/N said, as she felt the heat creeping up the back of her neck.
“Well since you have all of this experience, maybe you could help me with that later.” His signature smirk was back.
“No, I don’t think I will,” she retorted. Y/N felt like she was losing at more than just Never Have I Ever. She felt like every time he spoke, he was worming his way deeper under her skin.
Before she had to confront the complicated mess of emotions she was feeling, the lift started to move again. Y/N thanked whoever was listening for letting her get away from this man.
“That was fun. Maybe we can play again later.”
Y/N didn’t respond as they got off the lift. She slid her way over to Mary and Joe, while Chris went off in search of a more difficult slope. Once she was safely with her friends, she turned to see Daisy and Tom’s skis hitting the ground and them move out of the way of the oncoming chairs. Tom made to follow Chris, but Y/N saw Daisy pause and shoot a murderous look her way. She then followed her boyfriend in the opposite direction.
So much for avoiding drama, Y/N thought. She turned back to her friends and realized Joe was talking about the best way to make it down this hill. She only caught the tail end of what he had to say though, and Mary and Joe took off down the mountain.
Maybe I should have taken Chris up on that offer after all. Y/N took a deep breath and did her best to follow her friends back down.
dysphoricfem-deactivated2020011
