Chapter Thirty-Two
Raven
The lodge looks so cool!
My friends and I, and the rest of the junior class, can’t stop staring at the place. There is a huge fireplace in the foyer that makes you want to sit right in front of it and get all warm and toasty after spending the whole day outside. Many couches sit around the room, each one looking comfier than the next. There’s an area with a table and chairs to eat, and there’s a staircase that leads to the rooms upstairs. The overall design and atmosphere of the place make you feel like you’re at home and like you’ll never want to leave.
I wouldn’t be surprised if some students choose to hang out in here instead of doing any of the outdoor activities.
After the chaperones take attendance to make sure everyone has gotten off the bus and arrived here safely, they give out the keys to the rooms. Addie sprints over to grab our keys. Each room gets two, so we decide to give them to the two most responsible people in our group. That would be Addie and me.
The chaperones tell us to stash our bags in our rooms and then come back down to eat breakfast. All the food that’s being provided here is being catered by someone not affiliated with the lodge. The boyfriends are such gentlemen for offering to help their girlfriends lug their bags up to our room. Girls will be on the second floor while the boys will be on the third.
As I lift my suitcase to follow my friends and their boyfriends up the stairs, someone slides his fingers through the handle and gently yanks the suitcase out of my hand. My head snaps up to discover Kylen.
With a sweet smile, he says, “May I take your bag up to your room, m’lady?”
My stomach gets into knots as I smile and say, “Thank you, kind gentleman.”
Of course I can take my suitcase up to my room on my own, but there’s something sweet about the gesture. Besides, a girl can be spoiled now and then, can’t she?
The rooms are awesome, too. Each one has three beds—one is queen sized while the other two are twins—there are a few dressers and a closet to store our clothes. The TV on the wall is pretty big and there’s a mini fridge that is stocked with water and soda.
After the boyfriends deliver the suitcases to the room, my friends hug and kiss them, promising to catch up with them soon. I offer Kylen another smile as I take my suitcase from him. “Thanks again.”
He bows. “No problem, my sweet Juliet. I shall see you downstairs, where we shall break bread over breakfast?”
I once again giggle at how adorably dorky he is. “I’ll be there, my handsome Romeo.”
His jaw falls open and then he punches a fist in the air. “She has called me handsome! I may never wash my ears ever again.”
I continue laughing as I wheel my suitcase further into the room, my cheeks pink. Kylen and the boyfriends wave goodbye and leave the room.
“Now this is a ski lodge,” Carly says as she falls back on the queen-sized bed with a happy sigh and stares up at the ceiling. “Who wants to share this bed?”
“I strongly advise that I sleep in my own bed,” Sophie says. “I roll around too much and can smack someone in the face.”
“And I worry I’ll have a nightmare,” Addie admits. “It’s rare, and I haven’t had one in a long time, but a new environment might trigger one.”
Carly beams at me. “That leaves you and me, Raven.”
“Awesome. I bet we won’t stop whispering to each other all night. Addie and Sophie will try to murder us the next morning.” I lift my suitcase onto the queen-sized bed and then help Sophie with hers, since the thing weighs like a million pounds. Sheesh, I thought she decided to bring fewer books on the trip, but it seems she added them at the last minute.
Then we follow all the other girls down the hallway and the stairs, where the catering company is setting up breakfast. From the smell, I can tell this is going to be just as gourmet and delicious as the food they provide for us at school. And that makes me super excited.
“I’m starving,” Carly whispers as she stares at the food like she’s a lion ready to pounce on its prey.
“Same,” I say. “The food looks and smells so darn good.”
A few feet away from us are Kylen and his friends. Beck doesn’t seem to be able to stand still as he stares at the food like he’s a bull ready to charge. Actually, as I gaze around the room, it seems like many of the students look like they’re ready to devour the entire table.
So when they’re done setting up, everyone rushes forward to sit down at the table. There isn’t a lot of pushing and shoving—I would call this controlled chaos—but my friends and I decide to wait until things calm down before sitting down at the end of the table, where Damian managed to save us seats. There’s also enough room for Kylen and his friends.
No one says much to each other as we stuff our faces with the delicious food. Even the kids who normally don’t care for the food are packing it in. The chaperones tell us that we should eat enough because we won’t be eating again until dinnertime, and since we’ll be engaging in the many activities here, we want to have enough energy.
“Man, how am I going to survive all the way until dinnertime?” Beck grumbles as he adds a second helping of nearly everything onto his plate.
“I saw vending machines on the floors,” Kylen tells him. “There are all sorts of snacks we can buy. Don’t worry, man. You won’t die.”
