A/N: Mmkay, new update. Hopefully you guys like it, and thank you for those who reviewed.
Three days into the Snowdream competition, I caved.
Psymon was lounged out behind the bleachers smoking a cigarette after practice runs. He was wearing dirty jeans and a wife beater, and didn't even seem to feel the biting cold.
Hostility reflected in Psymon's stone grey eyes but somehow I felt compelled to go closer. I walked over towards him slowly, my black boots crunching on the thin sheet of ice coating the parking lot.
"Can I bum one?" I asked. Psymon looked up at me, and held out his crumpled pack of cigarettes.
"You back for more?" Psymon spoke gruffly. "I knew you couldn't get enough of me."
"I've had a long fucking day, okay?" I retorted, snatching one of the cigarettes and lighting it. My cheeks burned with embarrassment, and it felt like he was undressing me with his eyes. Why did I have to get naked with Psymon Stark?
"So how come you're not even cold at all?" I asked out of whim. I was shivering on the spot all bundled up, with a fluffy scarf and everything, and he was practically bare chested. The moonlight casted shadows on all of the ripples in Psymon's upper body muscles, as well as catching all of the angles in his goatee'd, pierced, scarred face. I think if i weren't frozen solid I would have turned right around and left.
"I killed off a bunch of my nerve endings in an accident," he replied. "Don't tell me one of those stupid skanks hasn't filled you in yet?"
I looked up into his gaze, stone grey eyes boring into me. It's true, I'd heard garbled tales and snarky comments galore about a BMX accident and some power lines. I've seen Psymon's irregular behavior and personality quirks after being on the tour for a month or so. Heard the screams coming from his room late at night. Listened to him bitch to Rahzel about the 'cute, little pills' he simply refused to take.
"So did you come over here because you want to fuck me again, or what?" asked Psymon. He smirked.
"No, I'm actually here to smoke," I replied. "I haven't touched one of these things since last spring."
"This is a bitch habit to fall back into," Psymon replied. He blew a smoke ring at me.
We stood in silence and smoked. The rush of nicotine made me feel at ease and a tad bit lightheaded. But it was welcome after the tedious day of practice runs cooped up in Japan's biggest indoor ski resort. No matter how many times I busted out 1080s, mistys and rodeos paired with uber tricks, I couldn't even touch Mac's records. I ate so much fake snow. I really hope that shit isn't toxic.
Psymon finished his cigarette and flicked the butt away, sighing as the smoke poured out into the crisp night air. He turned back towards the parking lot.
"A few of us are going to grab some dinner in an hour or so. You up for it?" I offered, placing my hand on his forearm to grab his attention. Big mistake.
Psymon's muscles tensed. "You want to keep that hand?"
I was left leaning against the bleachers alone, cigarette perched between my frozen fingers. I waited until Psymon was long gone before I headed back to the lodge. The snowboard under my arm seemed ten times heavier than it had all day.
I brought sushi and chicken flavored ramen back to the hotel with Zoe after we hit up a few of the stores on the main fashion strip in Tokyo. I had blown most of my paycheck buying new clothes, boards, boots, and some other odds and ends just because I had the money.
The streets were crowded with throngs of people and bright neon signs glowed and buzzed everywhere you looked. A heavy flow of traffic was ever present in the streets. But I loved the soundtrack of the city, it's what I grew up knowing.
Zoe had signed a ton of autographs in one of the parks we were cutting through after some young girls recognized her as a semi-professional snowboarder. Only one of the girls knew my name, and she held out a sharpie and scrap of paper sheepishly. But I didn't feel the least bit overshadowed somehow.
Once we came back, Zoe ran off with Moby 'just for a few minutes'.
I sat on my bed eating with chopsticks and flipping through channels on the plasma two hours later. Japanese tv shows were very odd. There were people covered in honey who were rolling around in piles of money. Click. An eating contest. Click. Some crappy Anime. Click. More anime...
Just as I had stumbled upon a channel that was in English, someone knocked loudly.
I flung open the door to see Elise's slender figure standing in the door frame. She towered over me by at least five or six inches, not counting her black pumps. Despite my urges to slam the door shut in her face, I said, "Hey bombshell. Funny seeing you here."
"Cut the small talk, Thompson," Elise retorted. She swept by me and entered the suite. "I lost my key somewhere. I'll get a new one tomorrow."
Whatever. I shrugged and resumed my place watching the news. Who the hell am I kidding, I hate the news.
"So what's with you and Sketchy? I saw you two smoking together last night," said Elise. She was indian style on her own bed, still clad in a black, low-cut dress. A bunch of the racers must have gone out clubbing.
I shrugged. "Let's see here... Nobody else around here smokes. I blew all my money on some new shit and can't afford a pack here. They're expensive as hell."
Elise laughed. "Charlotte, you're so naive. Don't think nobody saw you and Psymon slip into his room last time on New Year's eve. You were all over each other."
I froze on the spot. Who else knew?
As if Elise could read my mind, she replied, "I haven't told anybody. I think it's kind of sweet."
"I didn't get with Psymon," I replied dully.
"Then what exactly were you doing running your hands all over each other, kissing and giggling and spending the night together?" asked Elise sweetly.
I frowned. Okay, so Elise knew. I had to scrape together some dirt on her. One thing I know about girls like her is they don't understand niceness, the only language they speak is bitch.
"Well I you flirt with Brodi every single chance you get. Got a little crush, Elise?" I retorted. Elise narrowed her eyes.
"I respect him for his talent," Elise retorted.
"No, you want to bang him," I corrected.
Elise stormed off into the shower, so I was safe. The less people who knew about me shacking up with Psymon, the better. I don't want to be labeled as crazy by association.
Snowdream was closed the morning before the race so they could do a full cleanup and get plenty of fake snow on the slopes, so I went into the hotel's gym with Zoe for a workout. I noticed a little congestion deep in my chest while I was on the treadmill, I was definitely getting a cold. I never liked running very much but it was a vital part of my fitness plan. I figured that, snowboarding skills aside, I could outrun half of the boarders on the circuit who were not in the best of shape.
Across the gym Jp was pumping iron while Luther spotted him. Even from across a room full of sweaty people and fitness equipment, I could still smell Luther, he was pungent like a perennial dumpster diver.
Zoe was doing upside-down crunches on a bar. "What are you on?" I asked, taking a swig of fancy french water. I brushed my sweaty bangs out of my eyes. They were just long enough to be in my face, but too short to tuck behind my ears.
"One ninety two... Once ninety three..." Zoe grunted in between crunches. A couple sets later, she crawled back into an upright position on the ground.
"I don't remember that last time I sweated like this," Zoe laughed, grabbing my water bottle and downing the rest. "It's nice though, puts me in a good mood."
Zoe could be a really responsive person when she was in such a mood, so I figured this would be a good time to get some stuff off my chest.
"So what exactly is Psymon's malfunction, he's so anti-social," I said casually. Zoe chuckled, shaking her head.
"He is off in his own little world," she replied. Zoe sat down on a bench. "When we met last circuit him and I hung out some, but he never came out clubbing with us, or even did anything with anyone. The only times I saw him were when we raced."
I nodded. "He seems to be a couple fries short of a happy meal."
"Understatement of the year," Zoe laughed. She reached for another bottle of water. "But you know, he had an accident. I don't think he's been right in the head since."
"You know him pretty well then?"
"Psymon used to kind of have a crush on me, but he's not my type."
"Yeah, he's not balding or British," I grinned.
"Shut it," she yelped, punching me on the arm.
"So how is Moby, you guys seem to be getting along well," I said.
Zoe shrugged. "I love him, but he's kind of an idiot sometimes."
I couldn't help but chuckle. "Like that time he decked that paparazzi for bugging you. Or the other day at lunch when he bitched out Mac for wearing red pants with an orange shirt."
"Yeah, he's way more fashion conscious than I am," admitted Zoe. "But it's over if he ever wears nail polish like Holeshot over there," she remarked, nodding over at Jp and Luther.
I looked over just in time to see Luther scream out in pain as JP accidently dropped a 25 lb weight on his foot.
Zoe laughed, shaking her head and chugging some more water before climbing back up on her bar. She kind of looked like a bat hanging upside-down. What with her crimson colored hair and dark clothes.
I decided to move onto weight training, I needed to rack up some more knockdowns in the next race.