expect Eliza to like him back She revolved in another social circle entirely For a brief moment in time though during football season he and Eliza had spoken to one another Since then though it was like she didn’t even know he existed Gabe slouched down in his seat and sat quietly for the remainder of the bus ride He used one glove to scrape the frost from the inside of his window and stared out at Grover Lake as the bus drove through town Finally the bus turned into the parking lot for Mount Grove Gabe saw the sign by the road two mountain peaks carved into a square hunk of wood shaped like the M in 10
Mount Grove’s name The excitement in the bus ramped up as kids prepared to shove and jostle their way down the narrow aisle Here we go Logan said rubbing his hands together like a maniacal super-villain about to unleash a devilish plan on an unsuspecting hero Gabe followed his friends into the aisle His boots clunked down the steps and onto the hard-packed snow He looked up at the massive hill in front of him It was filled with powder and trails and trees and ski lifts and people carving their way from the peak to the bottom and he muttered under his breath Oh boy 11
CHAPTER 2 The chalet at Mount Grove was a two-story building On the first floor was a rental counter and a locker room lined with banged up blue lockers The second floor consisted of a cafeteria Gabe’s first stop after getting his lift pass was the rental area A man in his 30s with a beard and a pair of thick glasses passed Gabe a set of old white skis and poles a pair of boots some goggles and a helmet 12
Gabe carried his gear outside Logan and Ben already had one foot strapped into their snowboards They stood near one of the chairlifts pointing up at the nearest trail Ready to go Gabe Annie asked She was securing her helmet A device almost like a miner’s light was attached to the front of it Gabe pointed at it What’s that A video camera That way I can get some first-person footage of me skiing down a hill Cool Nearby Eliza Monroe stood with her friends Her skis were stuck in the ground next to her and she had one arm around them 13
