Aster was skiing by herself while her girlfriend was out of town and there was plenty of new powder to explore. She wasn’t the biggest fan of going alone but today was just too perfect to miss. The crowds were minimal and the temperature wasn’t too cold either. A picturesque weekday on the mountain.

She approached the lift line and chose the singles line since there were still some crowds. She kept her eyes down and shuffled into a group of three men her age. She probably knew them from high school knowing her luck. Yo, join us, we have three. Dave stated with a half wave. Thanks, Aster said in almost a whisper of gratitude. Fuck, its Dave she thought. She knew Dave from: ski team, high school, middle school. Basically her entire childhood paralleled Dave’s up until college. They knew each other for a long time but never close. Only sharing occasional blunt rotations in high school and holiday parties, but they hadn’t interacted with each other in years after Aster cut off several people from her hometown. 

The chair smoothly attached and the four of them were airborne. The three boys grunted and talked amongst themselves and spat the normal bullshit about skiing and snow conditions. Dave, sitting next to Aster, looked toward the pastel pink and clean black outfitted girl. He looked down at her ON3P skis with the purple “Ski Tuning Palace” stickers on them. Wait, are you a local? Dave said to Aster, trying to meet her eyes through her goggles. The lenses were yellow, so he noticed her avoiding his eye contact. With a sigh, she met his curious gaze. Hey, Dave, she stated with her unaltered, untrained voice. That voice ran into Dave’s ears and registered as a distant memory. Then with a moment of clarity, Eric? was muttered from Dave. Yeeep, Aster said in a long drawn out matter of fact way. Dude, I haven’t seen you in forever! Weren’t you in grad school studying like science or some shit? Dave dove straight into the typical skier bro talk, saying “bro” no less than 20 times and “dude” probably 15 times. He told Aster about his wife and his job, then how his dog needed surgery. He tore his ACL last year so this year was his “recovery year”. He turned to his buddies and continued the conversation about “best chair beers of all time”. Aster maybe said five words the entire chair ride and waved goodbye as she went left and the three boys went right. How do people not evolve after high school? Aster said to herself as she ducked under a tree branch to find her secret spot.

Submitted by IRIS ROSE