A few runs later, Ryan was starting to get the hang of the sport. He had played lots of other sports, and was generally well balanced. It was pretty easy to ski slowly down the hill, his skis in a wedge, making small turns. He felt a little silly as he watched Oliver's perfect form, and Marissa, who was less perfect but always graceful, as she wound her way down the steep slope.
He could tell Oliver was beginning to get frustrated by the slow pace Ryan was setting. He was always down at the bottom of the mountain waiting, long before Ryan ever arrived. They had tried calling Seth and Anna, to see if Ryan could be pawned off on them- despite Ryan's objections, but that pair had already given up skiing for the day and were cuddled up inside Oliver's lodge. Ryan didn't blame them, as he glanced at Melissa. He was tired, and cuddling by a warm fire sounded very enjoyable, but she was clearly far from ready to head off the slopes.
"Maybe we could try a more difficult run?" Oliver suggested. "There's a black diamond that's nice and smooth down one side, and only has bumps on the other. Ryan, if you stayed to that side, I'm sure you'd be fine."
Ryan wanted to object, he looked to Marissa hopefully, "Yeah Ryan, that sounds good. That way Oliver can get some real skiing in. I feel bad that we've been dragging him up and down this bunny slope," She laughed.
"Or, Oliver could go take a few runs and meet us back here," Ryan suggested, his voice tight even as he tried not to sound annoyed. A dark cloud passed over Oliver's face.
"Yeah, that's fine. Just abandon me because my girlfriend couldn't show up… Ryan, if you don't want me around just say it!"
"Oliver, it's not like that at all!" Marissa protested, glaring at Ryan.
"Yeah, I see how it is. Fine, I'll go ski by myself, even though I was the one who invited you all out here. See you back at the lodge!" He turned and launched himself down the mountain.
Marissa shot an annoyed look at Ryan. "He's right, we're all supposed to be spending time together!" And with that she sped after Oliver down the slope. Ryan watched them go, feeling rather hopeless. They were going far too fast for Ryan to ever keep up with him. So much for togetherness… He thought as he looked around and realized he was completely alone on the ski slope, and he had no clue how to get back to the lodge. All the tree-lined slopes looked the same to him, and he lost his sense of direction as they followed along the white lines, that always seemed to lead to miraculously lead to a chair lift at the bottom.
Sighing, he decided to head down to the bottom of this run, maybe he could still catch them if they were in line or something. Not that he was really sure he wanted to…