Rektok Ross - Ski Weekend: A Novel

PRAISE FOR SKI WEEKEND

This is a suspenseful book that had me thoroughly hooked from page one.... The emotional journey of Ski Weekend is relentless...

READERS FAVORITE, five stars

This book will send so many chills up your spine, youll feel like youre alongside the snowbound characters. The only time I dont recommend reading this book is right before bed. You wont be able to sleep, and you wont want to.

JEFF ZENTNER, award-winning author of Rayne & Delilahs Midnight Matinee

[A]ll the intensity and thrills of The Hunger Games packed into one car over a snowy weekend. Secrets, lies, strong characters, and twists will keep readers turning pages. If youve ever wondered how far you would go to survive, you need to read this book.

EILEEN COOK, author of You Owe Me a Murder

Ross weaves a stirring tale where each of her characters wrestle with choices that could result in life or deathsome survive, and some dont.

PAUL GRECI, award-winning author of Surviving Bear Island and The Wild Lands

Ripped from the headlines, Ski Weekend is so real youll be shivering with the characters, fighting the elements, and asking yourselfwhat would you be willing to do to survive? Forget Netflix and chill. Binge this book.

SORBONI BANERJEE, Emmy Awardwinning journalist and author of Hide With Me

This pulse-pounding story of survival mirrors all the highs and lows of the hit reality TV show Survivor. In my case, I knew I could quit any time, but these kids arent so lucky. Buckle upthis is one wild ride!

CORINNE KAPLAN, two-time Survivor and Amazing Race player and reality TV star

Captivating and shocking! I loved it!

ELISE LEE, owner at Away With Words Bookshop

2021 Firebird Award Winner in Young Adult Fiction

Featured in Cosmopolitans 15 Compelling Fall 2021 Books to Add to Your Reading List

SKI
WEEKEND

Copyright 2021 Rektok Ross

All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever.

Published by SparkPress, a BookSparks imprint,

A division of SparkPoint Studio, LLC

Phoenix, Arizona, USA, 85007

www.gosparkpress.com

Published 2021

Printed in the United States of America

Print ISBN: 978-1-68463-109-4

E-ISBN: 978-1-68463-110-0

Library of Congress Control Number: 2021905238

Interior design by Tabitha Lahr

All company and/or product names may be trade names, logos, trademarks, and/or registered trademarks and are the property of their respective owners.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the authors imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

For those who said yes when everyone else said no.

December 20 8:45 p.m. 6,005 feet
Northern California, 10 miles south of the Mount Sierra Pass

W ere almost to the foothills when the trouble begins. Flashes of red and blue light up the stormy night sky as police cars hurry along the side of the snowy mountain highway. My heart does this flip-floppy, somersaulty thing in my chest as I watch them line up, blocking the path ahead. I just know this is something bad.

The surrounding cars slow, but my brother is too busy messing around with the stupid car radio again to notice. Hes got the volume turned up so high it takes all five of us yelling over his throbbing techno music to get his attention. Finally, he looks up and then slams on the brakes so hard the SUVs tires buck and squeal beneath us. We skid clear across the left lane, heading straight for the massive semi-trailer truck in front of us.

I let out a scream, my overactive imagination going straight to that place where I like to envision worst-case scenarios. This time its our car plummeting straight off Highway 90 and exploding into a fiery ball of teenager parts and ski gear.

Somehow tire tread miraculously connects with concrete, stopping us mere inches from the trucks bumper. For a moment, we just stare at each other in shock. My best friend, Lily, does this deep-breathing meditation exercise she learned in ACT boot camp, pinching her nose and blowing out air slowly, while Champion jumps up from the floor, attempting to scramble all ninety pounds of animal muscle and fur onto my lap. I wince as sharp claws dig into my jeans and his wet nose burrows against my chest, hiding there. Gavins dog is on the verge of a full-scale panic attack, and hes not the only one.

Co, Stuey! Lily yells next to me, breaking the silence.

I roughly translate this into the f-bomb. Lily curses in Mandarin when shes upset, a habit she picked up hanging out with her dad in the kitchen of their family-owned Chinese restaurant. Some words I know by heart now.

My bad. Stuart turns around in the drivers seat, giving his girlfriend an apologetic half smile. Sorry, Lils. I didnt know anyone was braking.

Jesus, Stu! You need to pay attention! I say, finding my own voice. We couldve died!

He groans loudly. Alright, now youre just being dramatic, Sam. Were fine, arent we? Eyes the same shade as mine twinkle back with laughter. Sometimes Im convinced our bluish-green seafoam-colored eyes and pale skin that never tans are the only things my little brother and I have in common.

Barely, I mutter, my pulse still racing from our near miss. I pull out a few peanut butter treats from my pocket and coax the trembling dog back to the floor.

Just be more careful, okay, babe? Lily is already grinning at Stuart, letting him off the hook. Theyve only been dating a few months and are still in that yucky honeymoon phase.

And this is why they dont let sophomores on Ski Weekend, Britney says in the middle row in front of me, making the sign of the cross like shes thanking God were still alive. Who invited you on this trip anyway, Stu Poo?

Watch it, Miller, I warn. Stuart got his horrible nickname after an unfortunate accident freshman year. It was after his back surgery and the doctors overprescribed his pain meds and... well... it wasnt pretty.

Most people dont have the nerve to call him that in front of me, but not Britney MillerSeaside Highs queen of everything. Most popular. Head cheerleader. Shes even president of our schools prayer group, which is ironic because Britney and her friends are the biggest assholes in school.

Oh, relax. He knows what I mean. She grins at me, tossing her golden blond hair over one shoulder. Everyone knows Ski Weekend is seniors only.

Stuart throws the gear into park as car horns blare around us.

Whats going on? Why isnt anyone moving? Lily asks, adjusting her eyeglasses and tucking a strand of long black hair behind one ear. She cranes her neck above the middle rows headrest, but were too far back in the SUV to see much.

Gavins brand-new GMC truck is an extended-cab affair with two seats up front followed by two full row benches and a cargo area in back that we filled to the brim with our luggage, ski gear, my dads cooler, and a twenty-four-pack of bottled waters for the weekend. It would be considered spacious with plenty of room for six people under normal circumstances, but not when youre crammed in between a dog the size of a small pony, Lily, and every school supply she owns.