The Big Day

On Saturday morning, Joe met Rob on the way to the park. Both boys were skating slowly down the street as the Sun rose higher in the sky. Rob was eating an apple, and Joe was carrying his rucksack.

“You ready?” Rob said to Joe as he skated next to his friend.

“I guess so,” Joe replied.

“What’s in the bag?” Rob asked, nodding at Joe’s rucksack.

“Just my board repair tool kit,” Joe replied. “You never know.”

Soon they were rolling up to the park gate.

“Wow,” Rob said. “I’ve never seen the park like this before.”

Skaters were everywhere. At the half-pipe, a bunch of kids were waiting for their turns while one skater did tricks like spins, inverts, and indy grabs.

“Whoa, did you see that?” Rob asked.

Joe nodded. He said, “An indy grab. I guess I don’t have a chance after all.”

The awesome skater did a couple more tricks and then stepped off the board.

“That guy’s amazing,” Rob said. “Well, at least you can come second.”

Joe nodded. Then the skater’s helmet came off. “That’s not a guy. It’s Lizzie!” he said with a laugh.

“Cool!” said Rob. “But she’s a judge, so you’re still the best in the competition.”

“Okay, guys,” Lizzie announced from the half-pipe platform. “Thanks to everyone for showing up for the park’s first competition.”

Everyone gathered around the half-pipe. Joe spotted Tony and his bully friends pushing their way to the front of the pack.

“We’re going to get the first round started right away,” Lizzie went on. “This is going to be a quick round. And I’ll be the only judge. When you finish, I’ll give you a thumbs-up or a thumbs-down to let you know if you’ll be skating in the second round.”

The skaters realized some of them would be out in just a few minutes. There was some muttering in the crowd.

“Line up and get ready to show me something awesome,” Lizzie said.

Soon, music was blasting. A queue of one hundred skaters was forming.

Joe dropped his rucksack off in Lizzie’s office. Then he and Rob got in line.

“I can’t even see the half-pipe from here,” Rob said, stretching his neck.

“But there’s Lizzie,” Joe said, pointing to the head judge standing at the side of the half-pipe. “I can see whether people are getting thumbs-up or down, at least.”

Rob couldn’t see Lizzie, so as each skater came off the pipe, Joe told Rob how the judging was going.

“There’s a thumbs-down, and another,” he said. “Oooh, there’s a thumbs-up.”

The skater who’d gotten the thumbs-up pulled off his helmet. “It’s Tony!” Joe said.

Rob shook his head. “Who else?” he said.

After about twenty minutes of waiting, it was Rob’s turn. He did a perfect spin and a few clean kickflips and grabs before gliding out of the pipe. Lizzie gave him a thumbs-up.

Joe called out, “Nice one, Rob!”

Then the whistle blew again. It was Joe’s turn.

He dropped in straight and crouched to get some speed. His first time up the vert, he got pretty good air and landed fakie.

Up the other side, he pulled off a spin. On his last pass, he rock and rolled and then glided out. Lizzie gave him a thumbs-up.

Rob was at the edge of the ramp. He gave him a high five. “Nice one, Joe!” he said. “You hear the applause you got for that spin?”

Joe nodded. “That was a pretty good run!” he said.

“Now the real skating starts,” said Rob. “Come on. Lets go and wait with all of the other skaters who got thumbs-up.”

Rob and Joe walked over. About ten other skaters were there. Joe recognized a few from school, including Tony Chu.

“Oi, kid,” Tony said. “It’s not too late for you to go home.”

The other skaters looked at Joe. He felt himself turning red.

Joe and Rob sat on a cement bench. “Why won’t he leave me alone?” Joe said.

“He’s just messing with you,” Rob said. “He’s trying to make you look stupid in front of the other skaters, so you’ll quit.”

Joe shook his head. “There’s no way I’m going to quit now,” he said.