And when it came to the French, well, Victor was so used to everyone falling at his feet back home that he often seemed bored with others’ opinions. He argued in a way that sounded more like he was telling them what to think. I liked to draw him when he spoke, and I was always trying to capture that unique expression on his face that came every year on the first day when he was reminded that at the summit the others didn’t automatically agree with him. Simon, Celeste, and Isaac were more subtle in their arrogance, but as an observer it was fun to see how each nation felt they were the better one.
After breakfast we dressed for a day outside and ventured out to do the yearly competitions.
As always, we were split into teams. I was with Doreen and Thor and felt like a peacemaker between the two. At our first competition we had to run across an open field, but because of all the snow we were using snowshoes. Thor was athletic and competitive and started out for our group. Racing against Lachlan, Simon, Freya, and Celeste, Thor was the clear winner. With fast movements he untied the snowshoes to pass them to Doreen. She was already stressed and fumbled with the bindings before she got going.
“Faster!” Thor screamed at her, but for the Motlanders the yearly competitions had never been about winning. They cared more about sharing an experience of teamwork. “Come on, Doreen, I could walk faster than that without the snowshoes. Get your ass moving already.”
Doreen turned to stare at Thor and from the way she blinked her eyes and the edges of her lips turned down, I was afraid she was going to cry.
Three of the other teams were now passing their snowshoes from the first contestant to the next.
“It’s okay, Doreen. Just take one step at a time. You can do it,” I encouraged her and jumped up and down, clapping my hands. “Let’s go.”
When Thor sucked in a breath and opened his mouth to shout again, I placed my hand on his arm and shook my head. “Don’t be negative. You’re stressing her out.”
He groaned. “See, this is why I hate being on teams with Motlanders. They can’t take criticism for shit.”
“Then try with positive encouragement,” I suggested.
“Like what?”
“Tell her that she’s doing a great job.”
“Hey, Doreen, you’re doing a great job at losing the head start I got for us,” Thor shouted before meeting my not-so-impressed glare.
“What? I didn’t curse or call her names,” he defended himself.
With Indiana and Aubri competing against Doreen, Oliver, and Harper, my group was no longer ahead. Doreen dragged her feet and stumbled several times while Aubri and Indiana moved with fast, effective steps, showing that they had experience with snowshoeing.
When Doreen finally made it back and passed on the snowshoes to me, the last round had already begun. Isaac was in the lead, followed by Holly, who was laughing and moving like a snail.
Thor helped me put on the snowshoes and kept looking over his shoulder toward Mason and Victor, who were waiting for their teammates to return so they could get moving. As soon as he was done, Thor jumped back to give me space while shouting, “Go, go, go!!”
I had never tried snowshoeing before but with the pressure on my shoulders, I put all my energy into it and imitated what I’d seen Aubri do. With every step I tried to optimize my technique and heard Thor shout behind me. “That’s it, Belle. You’re overtaking Holly. Keep pushing and don’t look back. Just fucking run as fast as you can.”
I did run, or the closest thing to it. I was panting as I kept my eyes on the stick ahead that signaled my turning point. In my peripheral view I saw Victor was now off and chasing me, and it made me push harder.
“You’re doing amazing, Belle. Remember to have fun out there,” Doreen shouted.
Keeping my head down I lifted my boots with the snowshoes and took another step and then another. I paced past Holly, who cheered me on.
“Look at you. I like your style.”
“Thank you.”
With Holly now behind me, I was catching up to Isaac, who was white with snow and brushing himself off after a fall.
“You okay?” I asked him as I powered through.
“Yes, there’s something wrong with my snowshoe. It keeps tripping me up.” It was so typical of an A citizen to blame the equipment instead of admitting they sucked at something.
I touched the stick as I trampled around it following the trail Thor and the others had made on their runs before me.
“Now get your butt back here,” Thor shouted. “Be careful. Victor and Mason are right behind you. If they get close, you fucking elbow them, do you hear me?”
“Thor! What an awful thing to say.” Several of the Motlanders were pointing out that throwing elbows was dishonest and dirty.
“I don’t care if she has to flash them her boobs to distract them, but we’re fucking winning this race.”
The idea of flashing my breasts broke my concentration and made me laugh. It was then that I heard laughter behind me. Looking over my shoulder I saw Victor coming around me.
“Yeah, show us your boobs.” He grinned with me because it was so stupid that we couldn’t take it seriously, but then Mason appeared and didn’t seem amused at all. Victor was no small man and he was fit but seeing Mason, who had started much later than the rest of us, come running through the snow like he was out jogging on a paved street amazed me. He was a giant and had to weigh twice what I did, which logically should make him sink down, but he didn’t. His technique was so graceful that it seemed like he was defying gravity and running on top of the snow.
“How does he do that?” I asked Victor.
“The Nmen are a different breed of human,” Victor joked and slowed down a little.
There was no need for us to chase after Mason. We would have to grow wings to catch up with the machine that was his body.
“Don’t you fucking give up, Belle,” Thor demanded, standing by the finish line with a scowl on his face and his hands planted on his hips. “I need you to give everything you have.”
“Hurry up, Victor.” Aubri held both hands to her mouth and made cheering sounds. “You can’t let a woman beat you.”
“Why would you say that when you’re a woman yourself?” I shouted at her.
“Because it always seems to spur men on. Get your lazy ass in overdrive, Victor. I’ll give you a kiss if you beat Belle.”
Victor accelerated and it motivated me to do the same, but I still heard Indiana go after Aubri for her comment.
“That’s not funny. You’re not kissing him in this lifetime.”
The last length was a sprint to the finish line with Victor and me pushing at each other while poor Aubri was being chastised by Thor, Indiana, and Mason, who threw his snowshoes on the ground.
“It was just a joke,” she defended herself.
“Do you see us laughing?” Indiana thundered.
We all watched them. Freya stood next to me and in between my panting I managed to ask, “Can’t you help her?”
“Don’t worry. Aubri can handle them.”
“Yeah, but still.”
Freya was wearing a white winter jacket with a hoodie that had soft fur surrounding her face. She had assured the Motlanders that it was faux fur, but I didn’t care about that sort of thing. We French were carnivores and plenty of people wore fur back home. Unlike Aubri’s red hair and creamy skin, Freya was a mix of her dark father and fair-skinned mother. She had a beautiful caramel color and dark hair, but my favorite thing about her was the intelligence in her green eyes. I’d always found Freya sophisticated in the way she argued her case. She used questions and tended to rope her opponents into a net without them knowing.