It appeared to be a podcast interview between a man and Kirby, their screens split. Kirby was in her room in Oberhof. They were both smiling and laughing a lot.
“It’s muted,” she said as mildly as she could, even as dread trembled through her.
Seeing Kirby smiling, laughing, and looking gorgeous made Mara’s heart thump in her throat. She had felt different since theirincident. Like what they had done was permanently marked on her skin. She couldn’t believe every person she’d interacted with hadn’t been able to look at her and know.
“There are subtitles.”
Mara took a deep breath and pictured a pond of calm water. It was all she could do to keep from seeing red.
“I didn’t read them.” The video had cycled to a new clip of cats playing with a cardboard box. Her dad’s Facebook algorithm was truly a mystery.
He sighed in exasperation and fiddled with his phone to get back to the video. “Listen to it.”
“I’m not going to listen to a video in the middle of a coffee shop without headphones.”
“Jesus, Mara. Why are you being so contrary? She bashes you.”
“Let me see.” She snatched the phone from her dad and held it up to her ear.
The man’s voice filtered through. “And what about Mara May? What is your strategy in a race with her?”
Kirby says, “Ah man. Don’t ask me that. You’ll get me in trouble.”
Mara frowned. She wasn’t sure what she’d expected. She glanced at the screen and could see it was from a podcast calledArctic Out and About.There was an Alaska state flag and a progress Pride flag in the background. Kirby chatting with a queer podcast from Mara’s home turf rubbed her all kinds of wrong. Not that they would have ever thought to invite her to their podcast. Being unapproachable and private had that effect.
“You like trouble, though,” the man said. “That’s what you’re known for!”
Kirby laughed, which made Mara’s breath catch.
“You caught me. Fuck, okay. Keep her within your sights. Then she gets too confident or too gassed and bang, champagne toasts and gold.”There was a weird blip like words had been cut. Maybe the host’s next question. “She’s perfectly fine. But unless it’s about ski gear or trail conditions, we don’t have anything in common. Mara is…hmm, how do I say this nicely? She’s a very self-contained and unflappable human being.”
“Are you saying she’s boring?” the host asked. “I feel the need to defend my fellow Alaskan.”
“Have you ever met her?” Kirby asked. “I’ve heard Anchorage described as the biggest small town.”
“I saw her on the trails once. I waved.”
“Did she wave back?” Kirby asked, delight evident in her voice.
“No.”
They both cracked up at that.
“Well,boringis your interpretation, not mine.” Kirby’s tone was the equivalent of a shrug.
Mara handed the phone back. It was impressive how Kirby had managed to make something so bland sound so mean.
“That wasn’t too bad.”
“You don’t care at all that she’s talking about you?”
“It’s a pointless video.”
“Has”—her dad turned the phone around to look at the screen—“Arctic Out and Aboutasked to interview you?”
Mara pinched the bridge of her nose. She almost felt like laughing. “No.”
“You’re a better skier. You should be getting these interviews. Plus, you’re,you know.”
