“Look, the good news is, we’re almost to the halfway mark,” I said. “I’ve gone up and down the tram many times in my life. I have almost every peak and valley memorized. Once we go over the central tower, that’s halfway. It’s all downhill from there.”
“I’m fine,” he said through clenched teeth.
“Sure you are, big guy. You know what’s funny?”
He closed his eyes and mumbled something unintelligible but obviously disgruntled.
“All downhill from here. It can mean things are easier from here on out because now you can coast. But it can also mean things are only going to get worse. Let’s hope it’s the former,” I said helpfully, but his eyes squeezed tighter.
“An autoantonym or a contronym,” he said.
“Say what now?”
“That’s what that’s called. When one word or expression can have opposing meanings. A contronym,” he explained slowly as though choosing his words carefully.
“Cool. I had no idea that was a thing.” Could a person be a contronym? Because the more wild I acted, the more eccentricI dressed, the less I seemed to be noticed. I didn’t want to ponder this right now. Instead, I studied Owen carefully, an idea forming to help distract him.
“What’s another example?” I asked him.
He shuffled on his feet, but when he shot me a quick look, he had to have seen my sincerity.
Again, he chose his words slowly. “I think a common example is probably ‘bound.’ It means to be restrained but also to go forward.”
“That’s just a failure in the English language.”
“Oh or, uh, overlook,” he added with a little more pep.
“Because you can overlook something right in front of you?—”
“Or ‘overlook’ to watch over. Exactly.”
I wondered if he’d intentionally chosen that last example because of who I was or … it didn’t matter. I’d distracted him. Go me.
“Well, you taught me something new today. I appreciate that.” He held my gaze for a beat, and for a fraction of a second, I thought I might get to see his smile again. I pretended to look out the surrounding windows with almost no visibility. “Almost to halfway. Looks like it’s all downhill from here.”
He huffed out a shuddered half-laugh.
As if on cue, the tram rumbled as it went over the center support tower that marked the midway point. The ground was at the closest point for the trip, with a pretty ridge to the left. If it wasn’t nighttime and whiteout snow conditions, the emergency cabin, aka the Hookup Hut, would be visible where it was tucked not a half mile away into the trees. It was meant for hunters or hikers in an extreme emergency but was mostly known as a sexy-time spot for tram employees/ski instructors who kept it well stocked with booze and food (and probably condoms). Not that I had personal experience, but I was aware of these things.
“And as soon as we get over this bump, we are …” I started.
The Can came to a slow creaking crawl, then stopped so abruptly we both slipped sideways.
“Huh,” I said.
“What was that?” Owen asked, eyes wide and bouncing around the space.
“It appears we have stopped.”
“That’s not normal. Is that normal?”
“That is nottypical.” I stood, went to the window, and tried to crane my neck to see the top of the tram where it dangled from the cable thingy. Not that I could see anything. Not that I knew what to look for, even if I could.
Silver lining: Being stuck at this point on the tower meant we were locked more firmly in place, so the swaying lessened. The bad news was we definitely weren’t supposed to be stuck here. I’d heard stories of this happening before. Probably more than any sort of federal regulation would allow. But that was Benny Jr. and his shoddy business practices for ya.
This was not the plan. This was getting further from the plan. Why did the universe smite me?Why, universe, why?All I wanted was to prove I wasn’t the dorky little wallflower this town made me out to be, and it wouldn’t even let me do that.
My anger instantly spilled up and out of me, needing a place to land like lightning from the sky onto the nearest tall pine.
