The Sky’s the Limit: My Journey with Maryellen

My promise to Maryellen keeps me tossing and turning all night. By morning, I’ve decided I need to go home right away. Maryellen asks if I really mean today, and when I say I miss Mom and Dad, she admits she hates to see me go, but she’s glad I’m finally sticking up for myself.

Maryellen comes with me to tell Mr. and Mrs. Larkin and Grandpop and Grandmom. I ask if they can drop me at the airport. I’ll use my return ticket to fly home. Mrs. Larkin says everyone will miss me, but they understand.

As the Larkins pack the car, I change back into my ski uniform, fold Carolyn’s clothes neatly, and leave them in the Airstream. I hug Grandmom, Grandpop, and Tom, saving Mikey for last. He looks so sad and confused that I hurry to the car before he can see me cry.

We pile in and pull away, waving out the windows. Maryellen and I don’t talk much on the drive, but we hold hands, both thinking the same thing: we may be saying goodbye, but I will never forget you.

At the airport, I tell Mrs. Larkin and Maryellen I can handle the ticket exchange myself. I finally understand why the watch sent me to Maryellen. She helped me, and now it’s my turn to help her. Through the car window, I make her promise that if I go home and demand a second chance to tell my story, she’ll demand one from the school newspaper for hers. We shake on it.

Mr. Larkin starts the engine, and Maryellen leans out the window, waving until the car disappears. I click my watch.

I’m back on the ski race awards platform. I tell Coach Stanislav I didn’t cheat, I made a mistake, and I deserve a chance to explain. He hesitates, but Emma speaks up first. She jumped to conclusions when she saw me take a shortcut. She doesn’t know what happened, but she knows me, and knows I’d never cheat.

Coach Stanislav takes off his sunglasses and asks me to explain. I do, and he apologizes, glad I got the chance to set things straight. Emma hugs me and asks for a second chance of her own. Mom and Dad beam as I give Emma a Larkin-style hug, and the missing part of me feels found again.

Later, in our room, Emma says she hopes we never have another misunderstanding like that. She pulls new tinted goggles from her dresser drawer. She says they’re meant to help skiers in bright sunlight, and she holds them out for the next race. I shake my head and finally tell her how I feel. There isn’t going to be another race for me. The team is good for her, but not for me. I only joined because I thought it would make her happy.

Emma asks if skiing itself makes me happy, and I say yes, I love being outside in the cold, swooping down the quiet whiteness. I just want to ski for fun now. Emma asks if I’ve been on the team only because I thought she wanted it. That’s right, I tell her, and now I know it’s wrong, for both of us.

I think of how Maryellen yearned to stand out in her own family, and tell Emma that we may be twins, but we’re different people who should each do what we love. She confirms I want to quit, I say yes, and she slips me a mischievous grin, admitting she’d already guessed, since I groan every time I pull the uniform on. We burst out laughing.