Chapter Six

CRASH AND BURN

Chloe, Mateo, and Valeria stood at the top of Long Street. It was the perfect spot for a first downhill. It didn’t have much traffic, it wasn’t too steep, and if you got going too fast, you could easily bail on the grass next to the road.

Valeria stared down the street. She had ridden this road hundreds of times before. I could probably do this blindfolded, she thought. So why am I so nervous?

Mateo took the lead. “I’ll go first,” he said, “and then Valeria can tell you what I’m doing. I’ll show you how to bail — that way if you get going too fast, you’ll know what to do.”

Mateo pushed off and started picking up speed. He carved a turn or two. After he got going a little faster, he jumped off his board into the grass.

“You don’t need to carve right now,” said Valeria. “Just start going down the hill a little bit, then bail. Make sure when you jump off your board, you really jump off and start running — like Mateo did.”

“Got it,” said Chloe. “I watched lots of videos last night. If I watch other people doing things a bunch of times, my body seems to know what to do — well at least it’s like that for tennis.”

Valeria understood. She loved watching videos of Ana Torres, her favorite pro rider. After she watched something enough, she could picture herself doing it too.

Chloe pushed off and scrunched low. As soon as she picked up speed, she jumped off the board and started running. Mateo and Chloe went down the hill a few more times. Each time, Chloe seemed to get more confident and even started carving a bit. Valeria filmed some of the runs on Mateo’s phone so Chloe could watch herself later.

“Qué padre!” Mateo exclaimed after they watched a few.

“Um… said Chloe. “What father?”

“It means, ‘that’s tight’!” said Mateo.

“Oh good,” said Chloe. “I thought you were saying I longboarded like an old guy.”

“Hey, Valeria,” said Mateo. “It’s your turn. Show Chloe how it’s really done.”

Valeria took a big breath. This is nothing, she told herself.

She stepped on her board, pushed off, and carved down the hill. She felt great as she began picking up speed. But in a flash, something caught her eye.

Her balance wavered. It shouldn’t have been a big deal. But she panicked. Fear took ahold of her and she fell. Hard.

Chloe and Mateo ran toward her.

Valeria was not okay. She was embarrassed and confused. How could I have fallen on such an easy hill? she thought.