The Group Talks And Gears Up

Brian flicked a set of light switches at the base of the stairs, and bright lights illuminated the room the group filed into. Mostly hardwood, the lower floor was in a primarily open-concept setup. The four corners of the room each had a door leading into walk-in closets; one for the snowboards and skis, another for a selection of snow gear, and a third for hiking packs and supplies. The fourth and final was tucked behind a built-in bar that housed various types of **** ranging from wine to hard liquor, of course under lock and key. From there, the room was designed around a home theater in the center with a wall-wide flat screen with rows of descending leather seats and more than a few built-in speakers.

"Jesus fucking Christ, Brian," Nicole awed with a giggle, "Does your family crap gold?"

Brian let out a breathy laugh, "Sure, that sounds way more fun than where we actually get our money," Brian joked, "I'd put you to sleep if I explained,"

"Yeah, no thanks," Nicole looked JJ up and down, "You really think you're gonna beat me, don't you?"

"Nikki, of course, I don't think I'm going to be you," JJ easily replied, and Nicole victoriously smiled, "I know I'm going to beat you," The jock clarified, wiping the grin right off the redhead's face,

"Oh, pfft, right. Big bravado, you're going to eat those fucking words," Nicole snapped at Brian twice, "Where are the boards, playboy?"

Brian opened the closet door on his left, "Boards and Ski's are on the other side in that right closet," The teen flipped a switch inside the closet in front of him and stepped in, "Snow gear is in here. Grab what you need," Brian grabbed a gray and blue jacket off the first hanger and stepped aside, which allowed Claire, Kennedy, Juliet, and Anna to rush inside while Nicole and JJ were heading into the opposite closet to get first pick on boards first which Brian moved to join. Avery wandered over to one of the bar stools and sat down, waiting for both groups out. After a few brief moments, Kenny made his way down the steps as well.

With muffled conversation coming from both rooms, Kenny decided to wait his turn and instead headed over to Avery, "I'm with you, dude; I'm not trying to tussle with anyone over picking their favorite board or jacket,"

"I figure the further I stay away from the skiing crowd, the more likely I won't be **** to join in later today," Avery dryly replied in a joking fashion, though Kenny knew the truth behind the statement regardless, "No, Mindy?"

"Eh, she's...not feeling great; she's taking a few minutes in her room to lie down. It's her stomach, I think," Kenny half-heartedly kept to their agreed-upon story,

Avery set his phone down and looked up at Kenny, "She's upstairs trying to ditch out on this to write, isn't she?"

"Nail on the head," Kenny smirked, and Avery let out an exhaling laugh through his nose, "Yeah, she's not as slick as she thinks she is. That little bluff is mainly for the others, not you and JJ,"

"Yeah, I figured," Avery glared over at the snow gear closet, "Really rough pick for roommate earlier. I'd probably have just headed home if I ended up with Kennedy,"

"Hey, maybe with school finally over, she'll start to chill out and not act like we're the nerds to her popular crowd?" Avery gave Kenny a disapproving frown, "What? I'm just trying to be optimistic about it," Kenny shrugged.

Meanwhile, inside the closet, Juliet and Kennedy were deep in a conversation. Despite knowing all of Kennedy's flaws as a person, Juliet did actually like the girl. She knew somewhere inside there was a good person in Kennedy, and having done her best to keep the blonde on a short lease in high school and reprimanded her bullying when she noticed helped. Still, there was one thing that Juliet could do with Kennedy like no other, and that was shit talk the guys she just couldn't stand and the man of the hour today was her lovely new roommate, of course, "I just know he's going to try something this week, and I don't care if this is his place, I'm going to tell him off,"

Kennedy gave a look of revulsion, "Damn right. If he's gonna get all creepy and pervy on you, then you better set him straight. I'd kick a motherfucker right down the mountain if they tried some of that creep shit on me. I mean fuck, could you imagine him trying to steal your underwear or something?"

Juliet nearly lifted off the floor, tightening up and cringing, "Eeeeeewwwww, don't say that! I was already worried about that and told him to stay away from my dresser," A chill visibly ran down the brunette's body, "Do you really think he'd do that though?"

"Uh, Brian White? Duh," Kennedy scoffed, "He'd stick his dick in a snowman if it had tits. He's a perv. I'd hide your underwear unless you want him using it as a cumrag by tonight,"

"Gross!" Juliet exclaimed.

While Juliet fought off the urge to take a shower and wash off the gross feeling Kennedy helped reinforce, Claire was doing her best to learn more about this mysterious blonde girl she'd rarely ever seen without Nicole glued to her hip. "So did you, like, just never make the team in school?"

Anna looked over curiously, "Hmm? Team?"

"Yeah, the team! The cheer squad?" She clarified,

"Oooh," Anna let out a half laugh, "No, I didn't make the team, but that's only because I never tried out for it. Cheerleading was just not for me, and I knew it,"

"That's fine, a lot of girls are like that," Claire warmly smiled, "Besides, we're probably lucky; with a body like yours, you'd have been on the team in a heartbeat, and I might have been cut or something,"

"Oh, you're being too nice; I-I'm not that pretty," Anna sheepishly looked away, admitted feeling a swelling of pride at the compliment,

Claire let out a long hum, looking Anna over and absently tapping her pointer finger as she planted her hands on her hips, "So if you didn't cheer, did you play like volleyball or tennis or something?"

Anna shook her head once more, "No, no, I didn't play any sports either. I really wasn't too focused on that side of things in high school. I just focused on my classes. Oh! But I did start doing English tutoring for struggling kids a few days a week after school, so that was pretty fun,"

Claire dimly looked back at him, "Wow...so you're just like...really boring?" Anna's eyes widened, and she gave Claire a double-take as if she couldn't believe what she was hearing, "Oh my God, I totally didn't mean that in a mean way!" Claire lifted her hands, giving them a quick shake of denial, "Some girls are boring, but that's okay; we need boring girls too! If every girl were fun, then no one would be fun. Boring girls are important. Plus, they get all the boring guys too. That's what you need, a nice, cute, boring guy."

"O-Oh? Um...I...I suppose that's nice of you to say," Anna uncomfortably rubbed her forearm,

"No problem! Everyone tells me I'm, like, really good when it comes to matching girls with guys. I always know what works," Claire proudly replied with a wide smile before letting out a little gasping scream, "Ah, Pink! I want that jacket!" The short blonde girl yanked a pink and white jacket off her hook and excitedly turned around, walking over to Kennedy to show it off while Anna lightly shook her head, unsure of what to make of the girl.

Another fifteen minutes came and went before the entirety of the group was finished making their selections for their needed gear. With jackets on, boots strapped, and boards in hand, Brian gathered up the group one last time, "Alright, if everyone is set with what they got, then I think we're good to head out. I'll just need to swing by the shed and turn on power to the ski lift," With excited smiles looking back at him, Brian turned for the exit but stopped short, "Wait," He looked back, "We missing someone?"

The group of teens began to look around and Kenny let out a soft chuckle under his breath, "Damn, caught her immediately," He murmured to himself,

"Yeah, where's quiet girl?" Kennedy frowned, "She run away?"

Kenny's smile immediately faded, "She's upstairs in her room," He immediately replied, "She's not feeling well, she'll be down a bit later,"

Kennedy shrugged and turned away but JJ shook his head, "Oh no, we all know what that means. That girl isn't ditching us already. Ken, go get her and bring her outside,"

"Aw, yeah, bring Mindy. This trip is for all of us," Anna sweetly added on, "Unless she really is feeling under the weather,"

"Alright, alright," Kenny lamented, "You guys head out and I'll get her. We'll be right behind you,"

"Sweet man, we'll be just around the back," Brian clarified before giving his hand a toss, "Ah, you know where the lift is," Kenny gave him a thumbs up and jogged back up the stairs while the remaining herd of teenagers followed Brian out of thick wooden door out to the cold mountainside.