READY TO ROLL

Joe Riley looked down into the half-pipe. His skateboard hung over the edge, ready to roll.

It was a typical Wednesday afternoon. School had been kind of boring, but going to the skate park always made Joe feel better. Just placing his foot on the skateboard’s deck filled him with energy.

Joe took a deep breath. Then he dropped into the pipe.

He had been skating that half-pipe since he was nine. Now, five years later, he was an expert.

By the time he reached the other edge, Joe had enough speed for a kickflip. For an instant, he was completely airborne. With one hand, he held his board against his feet.

He did a few more tricks. Then he glided to the bottom.

Finally, he headed back to the top of the pipe to go again. But as he steadied himself before dropping in, someone grabbed his shoulder.

Joe spun around.

Three older kids from Joe’s school were standing there. “Nice board, kid,” one of them said. “Mind if I test it out?”

“Yeah, I do!” Joe snapped. But the other two boys stepped up and pushed him down.

The older boys laughed. “Take it easy,” the first guy said as he grabbed the board from Joe. “I’m not going to break it.”

The other boys held Joe on the ground as their friend spun the skateboard in his hands. Joe had a bad feeling that breaking the board was exactly what they planned to do.

“What are you doing?” Joe yelled as the bully stepped onto his board.

“I’m just having a little fun!” the boy called as he slid hard along a cement bench.

Joe pictured the bully taking the slide too hard and cracking the board.

“You better not break my board!” Joe called out.

One of the boys told him to be quiet. Joe struggled to get up. “Give it back!” he called out.

As the leader of the boys was about to go for another rough slide, a voice shouted out from behind the half-pipe. “Oi, cut it out,” the voice said.

The three bullies looked up. The one on the board came to a stop and kicked the board into his hand.

“What’s the matter?” the bully said. He looked confused as Tony Chu, another older kid and one of the best skaters in Riverton, stepped out from the shadows.

Joe swallowed hard. He’d seen Tony around the school.

Tony was a tough kid. He was always giving younger kids — and even some of the older ones — a hard time.

“We were just fooling around,” said the bully with Joe’s board.

“Enough,” Tony snapped. He took Joe’s board from the bully. “Get lost,” he added.

The three bullies looked confused. “What?” their leader said. “Tony, you do this stuff to these little skaters all the time. What’s your problem today?”

Tony just growled. The three bullies glanced at each other. “Whatever,” their leader said. Then they turned and walked out of the skate park.

Joe got to his feet. Tony dropped the board on its wheels and slid it over to him.

Joe stopped it with his foot. Then he kicked the board into his hand.

“Thanks,” Joe said. But Tony didn’t even look at him. He just turned around and walked off.