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Monika didn’t think that her first ski trip would go well in any way. While her friends jokingly referred to her as the athletic one of the bunch, she didn’t have much experience with sports outside of the fall track and winter swimming, and skiing? well lets just say she preferred to not slide down mountains at top speeds on sticks.
But she won a free ticket to the local mountain (well, as local as it can be when it's a three hour drive away), and thought that she might give it a try over her break week.
The skis she had rented were heavy in her arms as she trudged down the stairs to the storage lockers, and she could barely see the steps in front of her. The stairwell was quiet as she slowly worked her way down to the lower level. pausing on a ledge to catch her breath, she eyed with disdain the two more full flights of stairs she had to go down.
“Who thought-“ she exclaimed - “that putting in so many stairs was a good idea?”
Monika’s words fell on deaf ears, and she resigned to the fact that she would be stuck carrying skis down the stairs for the whole trip. She picked up the skiis and began working her way around the turn in the stairs, when suddenly, her foot slipped and she felt herself fall forward down the stairs.
Oh fuck. My equipment , went Monika’s last thought before blacking out
…
Her skis scattered all over, vision fuzzy, Monika looked up and saw someone leaning over her, concerned eyes staring into her own, long hair draping over both of their faces.
“Are you ok?”
The girl’s soft voice rang through the empty hall.
Monika groaned.
“I’ll take that as a no… can you sit up maybe?”
Monika let out a little noise of agreement. She pushed herself up to a sitting position, and the world slid back to its usual, not sideways view.
Standing on the stairs, a few levels down, was a tall girl in a racer’s uniform, dyed purple hair hanging down to nearly her waist. She was bent over trying to pick up all of Monika’s scattered items, her own bags leaning against the wall, but she straightened up when she heard Monika sit up and gave a tentative smile to her.
Monika was sure she had hit her head a little too hard.
“Now, I’m not any sort of medical professional , but I don't think you should be carrying all of that down the stairs on your own after a fall.”
The purple haired girl turned back to pick up Monika’s stuff while she watched, slightly dazed from the fall, and also from the presence of the alarmingly pretty skier. She eventually gathered all of Momika’s stuff and shyly held it out to her, while Monika scrambled to her feet to take her stuff.
But the girl only handed half of her bags back to her.
“Didn't I say you shouldn’t be carrying so much?” She let out a little laugh at Monika's befuddled expression. “I’ve got you!”
“Thank you…” Monika said abashed.
The girl turned to grab the rest of her stuff, and the two traipsed their way down the rest of the stairs.
Once they got to the bottom, they set their stuff down on a bench and Monika began getting ready. She chatted with the girl while she did so.
“So, why are you here this weekend?”
“Oh, I’m actually here for the big race. There are hundreds of people coming in to watch and be here when it happens. Are you not?”
Monika noticed the girl examining her expression, as if seeing if she would pick up on something.
“No, I’ve actually never been skiing before…”
“Oh. Well um, good luck on the mountain today. Lots of people.”
The girl lapsed into silence and Monika chastised herself for not lying. Now the pretty purple haired girl wouldn't think as much of her.
No, ok, she heard herself on that. But it was clear that her companion wasn't the best at talking to others, and Monika had basically just admitted she didn't know anything about the main thing she seemed to be into.
They both continued getting ready in semi-awkward silence, before the other girl looked up at the clock in the room and let out a small gasp.
“Shit! I’m going to be late!”
She frantically grabbed her skis and helmet, nearly knocking over her whole bag.
“Are you going to be ok?” She shot over her shoulder.
Monika nodded quickly.
“Alright, good! It was nice to meet you I hope you feel better byeeee-“
“Wait!” Monika blurted out. “You didn't even tell me your name!”
The girl paused at the doorway, hesitating and shooting an anxious glance at the clock.
“It’s Yuri.”
Yuri. Monika blinked, taking the information in and making sure to not forget it.
“It was nice to meet you, Yuri. My name’s Monika. Thank you for helping me-“
But Yuri had already disappeared up the stairwell, leaving Monika sitting alone in the damp, cold empty locker room.