The Winter of Terror... ~Ashley~

[Emilee Jonson]

"...is a term used to describe the three month period during the winter of 1950-1951 when a previously unrecorded number of avalanches took place in the Alps. The series of 649 avalanches killed over 265 persons and caused large amounts of damage to residential and other man-made structures.

Austria suffered most damage and loss of human life with one hundred killed and many villages destroyed. Thousands of acres of economically valuable forest were also damaged during the period.

The Valais canton of Switzerland suffered ninety two human deaths, approximately five hundred cattle deaths and nine hundred man-made structures destroyed. As in Austria, economically important forests were also damaged during the period.
The Swiss town of Andermatt located in the Adula Alps was hit by six avalanches within a sixty minute period resulting in thirteen human deaths.

This period is thought to be a result of atypical weather conditions in the Alps. High precipitation due to the meeting of an Atlantic warm front with a Polar cold front resulted in 3-4.5 metres of snow being deposited in a 1-3 hour period. More than 600 buildings were destroyed and over 40,000 people were buried under snow..."

The teacher droned on in his monatone voice. It was part of basic Rosehurst Academy curriculum that all students learn about the Winter of Terror at some point. It was part of Rosehurst's own history. That however, didn't make the class any more bearable then usual.

Most kids in the class were texting or listening to music. It seemed like the teacher didn't even care anymore. There was paper planes floating around and things getting drawn on the desks. One student was even sleep.

Brittany was in the center of the back row. Wynter was sitting beside her to her left. On Brittany's right was her cousin, Damon. Brittany and Wynter had been texting back and forth. Talking about everything from clothes to boys. Damon on the other hand was eyeing all the girls in class. He was still fairly new to the school and was already known as the bad boy.

It seemed like the teacher had finally gotten sick of all the disrespect. The class was started by an ear splitting bang! They quickly turned their attention to the front of the classroom where the noise came from. The teacher was glaring at the students. It looked like he let a heavy book fall onto his desk, making the loud noise.

"I am sick of being ignored!" He yelled at the kids. He then started pointing to kids, pairing them up. "I am pairing you up. You and your partner will work on a project about the Winter of Terror." He walked around the classroom, continuing to pair kids up. "This project is worth 50% of your semesters grade. For those of you who don't understand, if you fail this project, you fail this class. And that means you will not be able to move onto the 11th grade."

As he got down to the last couple of students, he paired Damon Whitmore up with a girl he didn't know. Someone named Ashley Aimes. He didn't know her but she looked like she could be fun. She was a petite blonde with a nice body. Unfortunately she covered it up in baggy sweatshirts. As Damon continued to study Ashley, the bell rang and all the kids started to scramble. Damon stayed seated and smiled. He looked perfectly calm.

[Ashley Aimes]

Ashley was sitting in the front row but was in the corner. She spent most of the class taking notes. She was by no means a geek but strived to do well in school. She was a sophomore in school but was eligible to graduate this year. She was only taking four classes due to the fact that she was a nationally ranked gymnast and spoke a few different languages fluently. Those four classes she was enrolled in all happened to be A.P., advanced, or honors.

Ashley looked up when the book hit the table. She was one of the only ones not talking and actually listening. She wasn't too worried about the assignment. Then he started assigning partners. That definitely complicated things. Most kids at Rosehurst had families that could easily buy their admissions. Which meant most of them didn't worry about grades. That also meant, whoever he partner was, wasn't going to do anything. Granted, Ashley came from a family that could buy her admission into any school in the country but she just didn't do things that way.

The teacher was pairing students of and Ashley was one of the last to get partnered up. She was paired up with Damon Whitmore. He had only been here for a month or two and already had a reputation. He was the resident bad boy. The guys wanted to be him and the girls wanted to get with him. Ashley however wasn't impressed. She knew a few guys just like him. Throw a few compliments around, flirt, and wham bam thank you ma'am.

Ashley collected her books and got up from her desk. She couldn't help but feel a pair of eyes watchin her every move. When she finally turned around, her gaze was met with Damon's. He smirked. By this time, everybody had cleared out of the classroom. If was just them and the teacher. Ashley walked over to his desk and waved. "Hi, I'm Ashley. Your partner." She told him, but had a feeling he already knew that. Her hair was up in a high pony tail but there were a few whisks of hair framing her face perfectly.

[Emilee Jonson]

Damon smirked. Ashley looked like a lot of fun to play with. At least for a few days. As soon as he was done with the report he would move on to the next girl. Right now however, he was focused on Ashley. He wondered what she looked like naked...

Damon had been focusing so much on Ashley's body, he didn't even bother to look up to her face. Until now. When he finally looked up, he was shocked. She literally looked like an angle. Light blonde hair that looked silky smooth, big watery blue eyes(That he got lost in for a moment but would never admit), full puffy pink lips, perfect skin with a slight glow to it. She looked...perfect.

This girl obviously put a lot of effort in her appearance which he found weird because she covered up her body and didn't do much else. She didn't have much make-up on which Damon found refreshing and her hair was in a simple pony tail. Most girls here looked like they walked right off of a runway. They all tried too hard or didn't try at all. But Ashley looked like she tried without actually trying at all. It was kind of amazing.

"I'm Damon." He said as he took Ashley's tiny hand and kissed the back of it gently while looking up at her. His kiss lingered a little longer then usual. When he finally let Ashley's hand go, he smiled. "I guess we need to rearrange a date to meet." Damon told Ashley as he got out of his chair and slung his bag over his shoulder.

Damon took out a small piece of paper and started writing something on it. Brittany and Wynter called him soon after. "Damon! Come on! We're going to be late." They were standing by the door, watching them. Damon turned around. "It's lunch time. We don't have anything to be late to." He insisted and sighed. "Go on. I'll catch up with you guys." He told them then turned back to Ashley. The girls just rolled their eyes and walked away.

"Call me tonight so we can set it up. Or if you ever get lonely." He said the last part with a wink. He handed the paper to her revealing his phone number. "Later." He said as he headed out of the classroom.

[Ashley Aimes]

Ashley felt uncomfortable with Damon staring at her like that. It was like she was naked or something. She looked down at herself. Once she was sure she was't naked she crossed her arms across her chest.

When he kissed her hand, she wanted to pull away but didn't. She wasn't impressed with his charm. Unlike most girls, she had enough self respect to not be swooned by him. She knew guys like him. She had friends like him. It never ended well for the girl.

This was going to be an interesting week. This project was worth half of the semester grade. Ashley was not about to fail this class because of her partner. It wasn't worth it. She would do the whole project if she had to. But she knew Damon was a lot smarter then most people gave him credit for. They all just thought he was just a rich playboy but Ashley knew there was more to him.

Ashley watched in amusement as Damon fought with the two cheerleaders. It was cute. They were like his sisters. She know one of them was his cousin and the other was her friend. She took his phone number and left the room after Damon.

[Emilee Jonson]

As Damon left, he couldn't stop thinking about his history partner. If he had swept any other girl at the school off her feet like he just did with Ashley, they would be swooning or following him around like a puppy dog. But not Ashley. She didn't seem impressed with any of his usual trick. He guessed that meant he would just have to work harder.

Damon met up with Brittany and Wynter soon enough. They were at the table in the back in the dining hall. "So who was that girl you were talking to at the end of class?" They asked. Damon smirked. "What? Jealous?" He asked. He knew at least Ashley was. She had a crush on him since she was in the fifth grade. It was cute. Damon then took this time to look around the dining hall. There was no sight of Ashley. Maybe she already ate. Wait. Why did he care? He cared because so far she was the only girl able to resist his charm.

[Ashley Aimes]

Ashley went to her room after class. It was lunch time so everybody was in the dining hall. Except for Ashley that is. Ashley wasn't hungry so she just skipped it.

Ashley sat down at her desk and turned her computer on. She figured she would have to do this project on her own if she wanted a decent grade and she wasn't going to fail because of Damon. He didn't really strike her as a team player. A player yes, a team player not so much. She pulled her notes out of her bag and put them on the desk in front of her while the computer hummed to life. As she scanned through them, a small note fell to the floor. Ashley picked it up and looked at it. It was the piece of paper Damon had written his number down on.

She figured she would text him. He probably would be too busy with those cheerleaders that were calling him earlier but it wouldn't hurt anyone if she asked. 'Hey, It's Ashley. Do you want to meet up in the library after school to work on our history project."

[Emilee Jonson]

Damon was utterly bored. Most of the people at the table he was sitting at were girls and they were acting like he wasn't even there. He had already finished eating so he couldn't even do that. He was actually starting to fall asleep at the table. Just as Damon was wishing for something, anything, to happen, his phone went off. It was a text message.

Before he got a chance to even see who it was, Brittany grabbed the phone. Then Wynter proceeded to read the message out load. And everybody at the table was now looking at him. Great, now they were interested in him. "'Hey, It's Ashley....'" Wynter said, and read the rest of it.

Damon was over Brittany and Wynter's childish games. This was why he would never even consider going out with Wynter. She was a brat. He reached over the table and whispered into Brittany's ear, "Give me the damn phone." With his teach clenched together. The way Damon was talking to Brittany, scared her. Brittany handed the phone to him, trying to collect herself. Nobody ever spoke to her like that. "What, is she your girlfriend now or something?" She hissed. Damon just rolled his eyes and left the table. "Gat a life, Brittany!" He told her as he was walking away, loud enough so everyone could here.

[Ashley Aimes]

Ashley waited a good five to ten minutes for a reply from Damon. After that time slot, she decided he wasn't going to reply and took his answer as a no. Ashley shut her computer off and gathered her notes and headed out of her dorm room. She hopped down the steps and her hair was falling into her face. When she got down the stairs, she pulled her hair back again.

The day was so pretty. Ashley just loved Autumn days. The leaves were all beautiful colors and the air was so crisp. Most of the kids were still in the dining hall so Ashley cut right across the quad.

[Emilee Jonson]

Damon scrolled through his text messages but couldn't find the one Ashley sent. He then realized Brittany had deleted it. He guessed that meant he wasn't going to text Ashley... Damon walked out of the dining hall. The fresh is was exactly what he needed.

He headed through the quad to his dorm. Across the quad, who did he see? None other then Ashley. Talk about luck. Damon smirked as he made his way towards her. He approached her very quietly. Damon put his arm around her slim waist and said "Hey, I was just going to call you."

[Ashley Aimes]

Ashley didn't hear Damon come but felt his arm wrap around her waist. She laughed to herself. "Hey yourself. What's up?" She asked, still walking to the library. "And here I thought you were ditching me." She said.

[Emilee Jonson]

Damon walked side by side with Ashley. "Oh you know. This, that..." He said with a smile. Damon pulled Ashley closer to him with his arm that was around her small waist, but he was careful. She was so unbelievably tiny. She looked like a doll and he didn't want to break her. It was kind of weird for Damon to actually be careful with a girl like this. "You? I would never ditch such a pretty girl." He said, obviously flirting.

[Ashley Aimes]

Ashley smiled. It was flattering to be flirted with but she wasn't interested. "I was actually just heading to the library to work on our assignment. They arrived at the library steps and Ashley stopped to turn to Damon. She looked at him with a smile. "So are you going to join me, or do you have something more important?" She asked as she shifted the books from one hip to the other.

[Emilee Jonson]

Damon was a little taken aback. If he did what he just did with any other girl, they would have swooned. But Ashley seemed utterly un-phased. She was so different then the girls he usually hung out with. Who could resist his charm? All the girls at this school would love if he payed the slightest attention to them. But not Ashley. Which made it all the more fun and made him all the more determined.

"Let's go." He told her with a smile. Damon took Ashley's books from her and headed into the library with her. For the most part nobody was there. It was like a ghost town. Even the little old library was gone for lunch.

[Ashley Aimes]

Ashley followed Damon into the library. Like she expected, it was pretty empty. She liked going places at meal times because people were never out. Damon had stopped walking so Ashley sighed, grabbed his hand, and pulled him to an empty table in the corner. She turned the desk light on and took her notes from Damon.

She flashed a smile at him before asking "So how much did you actually listen to in class?" She wasting expecting much. The few times she had seen him in class he always had his phone out or was talking to a girl.

[Emilee Jonson]

Damon sat down with Ashley and watched her get situated. The way the sun was hitting her, her hair looked golden and it was falling in her face. He reached over and brushed it behind her ear then smiled. He sat back in his chair and just watched Ashley. She had a certain grace to her that was amazing to watch.

When she asked if he actually listened in class, he smirked. Everyone never got to get to know him and just made assumptions. Most of them wrong. Like that he did poorly in school. That was definitely wrong. Contrary to popular belief, he was smart. And he kept a 3.9 grade point average.

He took out his bag and pulled out a lined piece of paper. Damon handed it to her and leaned back in his chair with his hands behind his head.