CHAPTER 5
After school the next day, Evan found Ryan sitting on the front steps of their school, waiting for him.
“Hey,” Ryan said as Evan walked up. “Did you see this?” He pulled out an orange piece of paper. It was a flier for the Skate-Off.
“Yes,” Evan said, groaning. “Don’t remind me. Chris showed it to me last night at home.”
“You should enter,” Ryan said. “You’re one of the best skaters around.”
“Yeah right,” Evan said. “I’m okay, but I’m nowhere near as good as some of the other guys. Besides, I don’t have a board.”
“You could use my board,” Ryan offered. “If the judges let us share.”
Evan thought about it for a minute. Then he shook his head. “I can’t,” he said. “It’s bad enough that I skate in secret. Entering a contest is just asking to get caught.”
Ryan pointed to the flier. “It’s at Shaffer Park,” he said. “That’s all the way on the other side of town. How would your parents ever find out?”
Evan was quiet. “I don’t know,” he said finally. “I’ll think about it.”
The two boys walked to the bike rack. They hopped on their bikes and headed to the skate park. As they biked, Evan thought about the Skate-Off. Competing was sounding better and better.
Maybe I should enter, Evan thought. It’s just one competition. What’s the worst that could happen?
* * *
After half an hour at the skate park, Evan realized he wasn’t the only one thinking about competing. It seemed like every boarder there was planning to enter. Even though it made him nervous, Evan decided to enter, too.
“I hope they let us share skateboards,” Evan said. “If I need my own, I’m out.”
“I’m sure they’ll let us share,” Ryan said.
“I might have an old one you can borrow,” another skateboarder offered. Everyone knew about the ban Evan’s parents had put on skateboarding.
“Thanks,” Evan said. “Now let’s get to work. If I’m entering this thing, I need the practice.”
Evan and Ryan went back and forth, trading the skateboard and working on the basics. They tried to grind the rails over and over again. Halfway through one grind, Evan lost his balance and had to bail.
“Easy on the deck,” Ryan shouted from the top of the halfpipe. “Neither of us will be able to compete if you break it!”
When his turn was over, Evan watched the other guys. All the boarders were trying their most difficult moves.
Then Evan remembered the trick he’d seen in the magazine. The eggplant. It had looked tricky, but Evan wondered if he could do it.
There was only one way to find out.
It’ll be easy, Evan thought. But he was a little nervous. The pros always made tricks look easy. But they rarely were.
Evan rolled up the halfpipe and reverted to roll back down. Gaining speed, he aimed for the spine of the ramp. He crouched low and put out his front hand.
When he was close, he reached for the spine. Evan’s hand touched the metal along the top, and he slipped.
The board rolled one way, and Evan went down, face first, onto the ramp. A total wipeout!
“Nice!” one of the guys shouted.
Evan rolled onto his back and stared up at the sky. “Looks like it’s not going to be as easy as I thought,” he muttered. The eggplant would take practice. He sat up and saw Ryan snatch up his escaping skateboard.
“What were you trying to do?” Ryan asked. He checked his board for damage. “That looked like a face plant.”
“Close,” Evan said. He got to his feet. “It was supposed to be an eggplant, but . . .”
Evan didn’t finish his sentence. Something near the skate-park entrance caught his eye.
An older woman stood there, watching him. Evan squinted. Then he realized he knew her. It was his grandmother!