Ch. 82: Snowglobe

CHAPTER 82
Rachel~
I woke up excited. I loved travel, everything about it. The anticipation, the planning, the journey. Everything. Meg looked more irritated than ever, but I didn’t mind. My mom would be driving and I would be her ‘co-pilot.’ I was in charge of music and controlling the Maps on my mom’s phone. She gets stressed out dealing with her phone while driving, so I would be the one entering in the address of our rental, and any time we needed gas or a rest stop I would be the one searching for it. I loved that too.
We took our showers and my mom just finished packing up the cooler with snacks and drinks when Meg and I walked out of our room with our bags. Ready. We loaded up the car and hit the road. Meg fell back asleep pretty quickly and I let my mind get lost in the scenery passing by.
I had the most invigorating dream last night, I couldn’t stop thinking about it. I was in the woods again at night, running with a pack of wolves. One, a dark gray one with gold in its eyes wouldn’t leave my side. We ran all over and came across a river. When I looked in I saw myself, and a white wolf just behind my eyes. The energy and freedom in the air made me feel invincible. I could nearly smell the forest.
“You seem in a good mood, Rachelle, I’m glad,” my mom noted.
With her accent she always said my name differently than native English speakers. I kind of liked Rachelle more than Rachel anyway.
I smiled and said, “I’m just excited.”
For what? I don’t know. But it felt like something was brewing.
Kicking Vance’s behind last night, discovering something other about myself, it all felt just as thrilling as the dream. I didn’t care to think much about what I had done. That’s a problem for future-Rachel. This Rachel wants to enjoy the sun on her face, and the power she feels coursing through her.
I won’t let Vance, or anyone ever touch me again. I’m in control of my own body, godda*nit.

Some hours later we arrived at our cabin. The crisp scent of snow hits me the moment I open my door. I inhale deeply and take in the sight of trees and snow. There are a few cabins peppered along the road out of here, smoke coming out their chimneys. This is wonderful!
We bring in our bags and I get a fire started in the fireplace using the stacks of newspaper the owners left here for kindling. My dad taught me how to start a fire. In the home we lived in until the separation and divorce there wasn’t any way of heating the house other than the fireplace. I had taken over making the fires when my dad wasn’t at home, after seeing my mom curse in frustration at whatever she was trying to light in our fireplace.
She had enough to deal with. So, it had become my responsibility. It felt automatic to do the same here. I angled the chopped wood up in a cone formation, stuffing balls of crumpled newspaper underneath and inside the formation. Once satisfied, I pulled the big lighter kept here and lit the inner most part of my kindling. The fire began to grow and I sat in front, making sure nothing collapsed on me. The wood began to burn after a few minutes, and the crackling assured me all was well.
Meg was getting comfortable by the couch window, playing her handheld game. And my mom had the oven going. Another great way to heat the place, by baking some cookies. Looking back at the fire once more I went to the bunk room to grab some fuzzy socks and a book, and got myself ready for cozy comfort.

In the late afternoon I felt like going for a walk. After getting dressed for the snow (putting on my snow boots and thick winter coat), I asked Meg if she wanted to come along but she turned me down. So, I let my mom know I was going on a brief walk around the block. After making sure I had my phone with me she let me go.
The cold immediately bit at my nose and I pulled my hood over my ears. Walking no place in particular I focused on the feeling of the sun on my cheeks, and the sound of my footsteps crunching in the snow. I hear the babbling of water somewhere up ahead and start in that direction. A few moments later I found a creek with moving water. I’m looking uphill, seeing if I can find the source of this water when I feel like someone is watching me.
I turn around to see a tall, broad-shouldered guy there looking at me. He’s latino looking, with deep brown eyes that seem like they see all of me. I feel exposed.
“Oh uh-” I sputter, unsure what to say.
I look at him for a second, he seems so familiar.
“Do I know you?” I ask him.
“I think so,” he says, his kind smile widening a bit.
I move my head to the side and really feel like there’s some memory, right there, just barely out of reach.
“The movie theater, by Druer City,” he prompted.
I suddenly remembered him there when Sean and I had come out from a movie.
“Oh! Yeah, you were with two other tall guys” I smiled, relieved to have remembered. “That’s so random- what are you doing out here? Oh. Sorry if that sounded rude. I guess we’re all out here from the Bay, right?”
He smiled. “Yeah, I guess so. It’s the place to be this time of year.”
His voice rumbled through me and I found myself taking a step towards him.
“So, are your friends out here too?” I asked him.
His easy smile and the light in his eyes drew me in. Something about him felt so genuine.
“Yeah, they’re back with the rest of our group. We’re just here for the night, on our way to Reno,” he said, his face dropping a little.
His shoulders sank a bit and he glanced down at his feet. He seemed like someone who carried everyone’s worries. I wanted to make him smile again.
“Well, I guess that can only mean one thing,” I said, pausing for effect. He looked at me with a silent question and I continued, “you’ve got to get in all the Tahoe snowball battles as possible. Reno just doesn’t have the same snow.”
He chuckled a little, the light returning to his gaze. I found myself beaming at him. When did we get so close?
Just then a wad of snow hit the side of his face.
We turned to the direction it had come from to see one of his tall friends there, grinning widely and laughing at what he had done. The other slightly shorter one was fighting back a smile.
The magnetic guy next to me turned back to look at me when I said, “Well I guess it’s on now!”
I ran back towards a log near the creek and I started compacting snowballs in my gloves. The shapes weren’t staying put as much so I used my teeth to remove my gloves and braved the cold. I peered out behind the log to find the boys throwing snowballs back and forth. No way was I missing out on this. I spotted the first guy and threw the ball of snow with all the force I could muster. It hit him on his neck and he looked over at me incredulously.
“Did you seriously just hit me?!” he yelled back, chuckling in disbelief, a huge grin on his face.
I threw another and he caught it. Who the he*l catches snowballs? And what was that look? The grin on my face disappeared when he looked deeper at me. I forgot how to breathe. I couldn’t break our eye contact, it was just too intense. My heartbeat was wild and I felt hot all over. There was something-
Bam. A snowball hit his face and his friends roared with laughter from behind some trees. He turned to look at them and broke our moment.
I sucked in air and dropped back down, the boulder once more shielding me. My heart wanted to give me a full-on heart attack. It wouldn’t slow down. Was this a panic attack?
I heard the crunching of feet in snow next to me and looked up to see him there towering above me, a hand outstretched to help me up.
I put my hand in his and he pulled me up. I could feel the hair on my arms raise like I had been zapped by static electricity. His hand held my arm for two beats too long. He glanced down twice at my hand.
“Where are your gloves? It’s freezing!” he let go of me and looked around, picking them up off the ground and holding them open one at a time for me to put my hand through.
I looked at him not believing the way he was mother-henning me. What is this guy’s deal?
“Sacrifices must be made in the name of war,” I said matter-of-factly.
He laughed. A big, hearty laugh. It warmed me all over and I felt like I could just melt.