Winters in Minnesota were always bitterly cold. Everyone knew that and they tended to stay inside during those long winter months. Except the children, that is. They always went sledding and made snowmen and had snow ball fights. It didn't matter what age you were, kids from five to eighteen always played outside during the cold snow days.
James Diamond was no exception. He and his friends always raced outside the second the woke up. Kendall's house was the meeting place, everyone brought there sleds and snow gear there to suit up and head for the hills (literally.)
Upon arriving at Kendall's, he found he was the third one there. Logan, Kendall, and AJ were waiting for him in the Knight's living room. He smiled and waved at Logan and Kendall, then walked over and sat down next to AJ. She was one of the prettiest girls he knew and it was no secret to anyone that he had a huge crush on her. Even she knew, but she didn't do anything about it.
"Hey, AJ." He said, faking a yawn and putting his arm around her. AJ turned a nice shade of pink and said a quiet 'hey.' Kendall and Logan both looked like they were trying not to laugh when there was another knock at the door. Kendall jumped up and answered it, revealing Carlos. He was always late. ALWAYS.
"So, now were only missing Alex?" James asked. AJ sat up straighter at that and frowned slightly. Alex was occasionally late, but never later than Carlos.
"Oh, yeah. She's spending today with-"
"Danny." Everyone groaned together. They all had different views on their best friend's boyfriend. Danny and Alex had been dating since Megan Teddington's party three months ago. No one had expected them to last longer than a week, but they were surprising everyone. Danny was one of the stars of the Soccer team, while Alex was one of the stars of the Hockey team. So far, Danny had been to all of their games, cheering her on. To everyone, he seemed like a good guy, but her friends weren't so sure.
AJ liked him, he made Alex happy; so what wasn't there to like? Logan had had to tutor him a year ago, so he thought he was okay. Carlos liked just about everyone and didn't see a problem with him, but Kendall didn't like him. He swore that there was just something weird about him and he didn't trust him. James didn't like him either, only because it was best friend code to hate whoever your best friend hated.
"Didn't she spend last snow day with him? When do we get our friend back?" Carlos whined.
"I'm sure we'll get her back soon. Maybe she'll spend the afternoon with us?" AJ said hopefully. She loved they guys, but they were a lot to deal with if you didn't have another girl around.
"Yeah, I'm sure she will. Somebody should text her and ask." Logan suggested. All five of them whipped out their cell phones and texted her the same message. '1:15, Hills?'
After the minutes of nervously waiting, AJ got a short text 'Sure. Tell others.' Was all it said. She told them Alex's answer and they all headed for the hills. They sledded all morning, all of them enjoying it. At twelve, they walked back to the Knight's house and had grilled cheese, chips, and hot chocolate.
James and AJ were sitting together again, but James didn't have his arm around AJ. They were talking and they looked like they were enjoying themselves. Kendall, Carlos, and Logan were all smiling, making bets on when James would ask AJ to the movies.
"You've got…a little…Right here, here let me get it." James tried to tell AJ she had whipped cream mustache. He reached up and wiped it off with a napkin, making her smile.
"Uh, AJ? Do you, um maybe want to, I don't know…Go to the movies sometime?" He asked, staring into her almond shaped brown eyes.
"You mean like a date?" AJ asked, smile growing wider.
"Not if you don't y'know, want it to be?" James's voice went up on the last word, making it seem like a question. AJ just smiled and nodded, knocking him back onto the couch with a hug. He just laughed and hugged her back. Carlos and Logan laughed and Kendall catcalled. The two pulled away, AJ blushing.
"So, let's go tell Alex the good news!" AJ said, standing up. Everyone else followed her to the door.
"Oh yeah, she'll hate that the missed this!" Logan said with a laugh. The grouped walked back up to the hill, everyone smiling at the afternoon to come.
Alex was standing at the top of the hill, looking down at the ground. She was standing next to Danny, holding a long, plastic sled. The part of the hill she was standing at the top of was the biggest, iciest, steepest part. She had never sledded down it before, and she was unsettled.
Alexandra Reid didn't get scared. Being scared was for little kids, and AJ and Carlos. Alex didn't believe in getting scared, especially at her age. Being almost fourteen meant you were almost and adult; and adults don't get scared.
So, it was hard for Alex to admit she was a little shaken up. Danny wanted to go down the hill together on her sled, and she had agreed to it. But that was at the bottom of the hill. Now, her stomach was flittering. Alex wasn't sure she could do it.
One look at Danny and Alex could tell he still wanted to. She didn't want to argue with him, so she set her sled down and motioned for him to get on.
"No, babe. Smallest rides up front, everyone knows that." He said, bending down to hold it still; waiting for her to step on. Alex took a deep, icy breath and sat down on it, waiting for Danny to do the same. Instead of feeling him sit down behind her, she felt someone push the back of the sleigh and she heard Danny laughing.
Alex grabbed the piece of rope used to steer it and held on with all of her might. She screamed as she felt herself go over a bump that sent her air-born. Alex wanted to close her eyes, but knew that if she did she could run into something. So, she settled for pushing herself against the back of the sled and screaming.
She kept going down the hill and she could see the bottom. 'Finally,' she thought 'it's almost over.' Alex reached the bottom…then she reached the street…then she saw a big, brown thing in front of her. She screamed, thinking it was a car and she was about to die. Alex made contact with her, and she saw something red trickle down her face. The next second, she heard someone ask her if she was okay. Alex managed to shake her head no before trying to stand up.
The person helped her and brought her towards a house. "Do you want me to call 911?" They asked. Alex shook her head, only making it hurt worse. "No, I just need some ice for my head. It's killing me!" She said, reaching up a gloved hand to touch it. When she pulled her hand away, she saw her once blue gloves were now purple and sticky. She was bleeding sort of bad.
A hand reached out to steady her, and she saw it was a lady. Probably the person who had asked if she was okay. "I'm calling for an ambulance." She said, walking back towards her house. A minute later, the woman returned and told her they would be here soon. Alex said a quiet okay.
"Do you want me to call your parents?" She asked and Alex told her their number. Her mother was at home and her father was at work, but they were both going to met her at the hospital.
After the ride in the ambulance, Alex and the woman were in the hospital. The lady's name was Mrs. Fisher and she said she would wait with Alex until her parents got there. Alex thanked her and asked what had happened.
"I just remember going down the huge hill on my sled and then hitting something brown. Everything else is fuzzy." She admitted.
"You hit my fence and knocked out a post. It's okay though, as long as you're okay." Mrs. Fisher told her. Alex nodded and tried to pull her cell phone out of her jacket pocket; but her hands were numb from the cold. Mrs. Fisher helped her and pulled her gloves off, making Alex's hands warmer. Alex saw she had several missed calls and texts from her friends, all wondering where she was. It was nearly and hour after she had told them she would meet them.
Alex called Kendall, the last to call her. It rang two times before he answered.
"Hello?" He asked, sounding distracted. She guessed he hadn't looked at the caller ID before picking up.
"Hey Kendall."
"Alex? Where are you? Why'd you ditch us?" He asked, sounding slightly mad.
"Don't be mad at me Kendall. I was just about to meet you when Danny asked me to go down the really huge hill with him. We were both supposed to go down, but before he got on he pushed me down the hill by myself. I ran into Mrs. Fisher's fence and now I'm at the hospital…" She said, after a few seconds of silence, he finally spoke up.
"I'll kill him."
"Don't you dare! He didn't know I was going to hit a fence! He probably just thought it would be funny."
"Fine." Kendall growled. "We're coming to see you. What room are you in?" He asked.
Alex smiled at the thought. Even thought she had been spending less and less time with her friends lately, they still wanted to make sure she was okay. "I'm still in the ER. I'll call you again if when they take me back." She answered. They said bye and hung up.
THE GANG THE GANG THE GANG THE GANG THE GANG THE GANG
"Was that Alex?" Carlos asked, meeting him at the bottom of the hill. They had all decided to go sleigh riding, even if Alex wasn't there.
"Yeah. Dude, she's in the hospital. Danny made her go down the huge hill and she went through a fence. We've gotta go see her." Kendall said, Carlos nodded his head and they waited for everyone else to meet them. Carlos explained what had happened while Kendall called his mom to take them to the hospital. She agreed and met them with the car and Katie. Mrs. Knight drove a minivan so everyone could fit.
The drove to the hospital and met Alex, her parents, and Mrs. Fisher in the ER. Everyone seemed to agree that Danny was responsible, and Mr. and Mrs. Reid decided to give his parents a call; embarrassing Alex. Danny texted her later saying that he was grounded and they were through. Instead of being heart-broken, Alex was mad. She agreed with Kendall and James; who wanted to get back at him. Soon, the six friends had a plan to prank him so bad he would be the laughing stock of school for weeks. The plan worked well and soon, the gang were back to hanging out every day after hockey and everything was just back to the way everyone liked it.
So, I know this chapter and the last seem sort of slow. The next one will be two,
but the one after that will be the one with Gustavo (most likely, it might be the one after that.)
But, the point is that they'll get better.
Anyway, to answer a question I got: By the end of this story, all four boys will have an OC.
All I'm saying about the OC is: James and AJ will more than likely be together.
If you don't like this, please feel free to review that you don't want them to be together.
I'd like to hear who you want Alex to be with (even though this chapter sort of hints at it!)
Also, next chapter I'll need two OCs! In chapter 5 (I think!) is an OC app, please reply with that.
No, it won't be an OC for James, but it has a chance of being on OC for Carlos or Logan (if I like it enough)
The girls will be 14 or 15 and they're ice skaters. NOT HOCKEY PLAYERS. Ice skaters. So, REVIEW!
