o_18vdqvms01tdp1ck54q91frg17mg2d.pdf

"Ah," he said triumphantly. "She finally cracks."
I glowered. "She does not." After another survey of his crazy route, I conceded. "Okay. Let's do
it."
He gestured. "You first."
I took a deep breath and leapt off. My skis slid smoothly over the snow, and piercing wind
blasted into my face. I made the first jump neatly and precisely, but as the next part of the
course sped forward, I realized just how dangerous it really was. In that split second, I had a
decision to make. If I didn't do it, I'd never hear the end of it from Mason—and I really wanted
to show him up. If I did manage it, I could feel pretty secure about my awesomeness. But if I
tried and messed up … I could break my neck.
Somewhere in my head, a voice that sounded suspiciously like Dimitri's started talking about
wise choices and learning when to show restraint.
I decided to ignore that voice and went for it.
This course was as hard as I'd feared, but I pulled it off flawlessly, one insane move after
another. Snow flew up around me as I made each sharp, dangerous turn. When I safely reached
bottom, I looked up and saw Mason gesturing wildly. I couldn't make out his expression or
words, but I could imagine his cheers. I waved back and waited for him to follow suit.
But he didn't. Because when Mason got halfway down, he wasn't able to pull off one of the
jumps. His skis caught, and his legs twisted. Down he went.
I reached him at about the same time some of the resort staff did. To everyone's relief, Mason
hadn't broken his neck or anything else. His ankle did appear to have a nasty sprain, however,
which was probably going to limit his skiing for the rest of the trip.
One of the instructors monitoring the slopes ran forward, fury all over her face.
"What were you kids thinking?" she exclaimed. She turned on me. "I couldn't believe it when
you did those stupid stunts!" Her glare fixed on Mason next. "And then you had to go ahead and
copy her!"