One Smooth Move

by Matt Christopher

  CHAPTER SIX

  Neither Charlie nor his mother ate much lunch. The car ride back to the house was silent, each of them lost in their own thoughts.

  X stole my skateboard! The same sentence spun through Charlie’s mind over and over.

  Then Charlie shook himself. Before I call him a thief, I better be sure.

  So he asked his mom if she had moved his skateboard. She hadn’t. Neither had his dad. Charlie checked the garage again. He saw garbage cans, lawn equipment, and the stack of flattened boxes. No skateboard.

  Charlie returned to the house and climbed the stairs to his bedroom. He pulled out a box from his closet. Inside were his inline skates. Charlie sat holding the skates in his lap thinking, I can blade to the park. See if X is there. Exactly what he’d do if he found X with his board, he didn’t know.

  He carried the skates outside and snapped them on. He tugged his helmet into place and took off, skating slowly toward the park. He was halfway there when he heard someone call his name. He turned and saw Bizz skating toward him. Another girl — possibly the most beautiful girl Charlie had ever seen—was skating with her.

  “Hey, Charlie!” Bizz said. “Are you heading to the skatepark?”

  Charlie nodded. He tried not to stare at Bizz’s friend.

  “Savannah and I are going there too,” Bizz said. “C’mon, let’s race!” She took off, her feet a blur of movement. Savannah smiled at Charlie and hurried after Bizz.

  Charlie scrambled to catch up. Savannah wasn’t very fast, but Bizz was a blur of motion. Man, he thought, that girl can skate!

  Alison was at the park entrance again.

  “So, the new kid can inline too, I see!” She waved the threesome through.

  “Um, Alison? Have you seen X here?” Charlie asked after he’d caught his breath.

  Bizz gave a little shout. “You know X? How crazy! We’re meeting him and some other guys here!”

  “He’s over at the rails,” Alison said. “He couldn’t wait to get to them today.”

  Sure enough, when Charlie looked, X was flying over a high rail. Bizz and Savannah hurried to join him. Two other boys were there, too. Charlie hung back, watching. But his eyes weren’t on any of the kids. They were on the board X was riding. As X popped an ollie, Charlie saw a flash of black and red. His heart sank.

  He did steal it, he thought miserably. Until that moment, he hadn’t wanted to believe it was true.

  Further proof came seconds later. Bizz was talking with X. She pointed in Charlie’s direction, and X looked over. As soon as Charlie made eye contact with him, X quickly rode away, leaving through the park’s back entrance.

  Bizz skated back to Charlie. She looked puzzled.

  “That’s weird. He just took off,” she said. “I don’t get it.”

  “Well, I do,” Charlie burst out. “He stole my board—and he knows I saw him with it!”

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  Bizz gaped at him. She seemed incapable of speaking. Alison, on the other hand, spoke right up.

  “Those are pretty strong words,” she said, frowning. “What proof do you have?”

  Before Charlie could reply, Bizz found her voice. “I don’t care what proof he thinks he has,” she thundered. “If he thinks X stole his board, he’s crazy! X is one of the nicest, friendliest, most honest boys I know! He would never take something that didn’t belong to him!”

  Her fury was so intense that Charlie took a step backward before speaking.

  “Look, all I know is, yesterday, X couldn’t get enough of my board. My black-and-red board,” he added pointedly. “Yesterday, X’s board was blue and orange. Today, I can’t find my board—and X shows up riding a black-and-red one!”

  “It’s true, Bizz,” Alison said reluctantly. “X was riding a different board this morning.”

  “That doesn’t mean anything,” Bizz said. Her lips were tight with anger.

  “Oh, yeah?” Charlie replied. “If he didn’t steal it, how come he took off the minute he saw me?”

  “That does seem a little weird,” Alison admitted.

  Bizz adjusted her helmet. “Still doesn’t mean anything,” she muttered. With one last sour look at Charlie, she spun and skated quickly back to her friends. When she reached them, she started talking and waving her arms around wildly. At one point, all four looked over at him.

  Charlie hadn’t thought he could feel any worse. But that look made his toes curl inside his skates. He turned to leave.

  “You know, there is one way you can find out for sure if X took your board,” Alison said thoughtfully.

  “How?” Charlie asked.

  Alison looked him straight in the eye. “Ask him.”

  Charlie thought about Alison’s suggestion the whole way home. Could he just flat out ask X if he’d taken his board?

  He shook his head. No, he couldn’t. What if he was wrong? He’d already made an enemy out of Bizz. Her friends, too, probably. Asking X about his board would just make X hate him too. There had to be another way. But what?

  “Everything okay, Charlie?” his father asked after dinner. “Your lips have been zipped all night. Here, open ’em up and have some of this pie Mrs. McSweeney made.”

  Charlie looked away. Even though the pie smelled delicious, his stomach churned. There was no way he could eat even a bite of pie made by X’s mother.

  “That reminds me,” Charlie’s mom said. “I should get that pie plate back to Mrs. McSweeney. Charlie, could you take it to her? They live just a few blocks away.”

  Going to X’s house was the last thing Charlie wanted to do. But he couldn’t think of a way out of it. So ten minutes later, he was ringing the McSweeneys’ doorbell.

  There was the sound of a dog barking and a chorus of voices. X’s voice called out above the others. “I’ll get it!”

  Charlie’s heart knocked inside his chest. He wanted to put the pie plate down and run away. He didn’t have the chance. The door opened — and the two boys were standing face to face.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  Charlie spoke first. “Here,” he said, thrusting the pie plate at X. “My mom says thanks for the pie.”

  “Okay,” X mumbled. He didn’t look directly at Charlie, but he didn’t close the door, either.

  Suddenly, Charlie had an inspiration. Instead of accusing X of stealing his skateboard, he’d give X the chance to confess — or to return the board, no questions asked.

  “So, you wanna meet at the skatepark tomorrow morning, do some more boarding?” Charlie asked.

  X looked up, his face full of surprise. Then he broke out in a huge grin. “Sure, that’d be cool!” he said.

  “The only thing is, I’ll have to share your board with you,” Charlie continued. “Mine’s missing.” He watched X’s face very carefully for any sign of guilt. But X’s expression didn’t change.

  Charlie felt a bubble of hope rise in his chest. Maybe I am wrong! he thought. Then X said something that popped the bubble.

  “No prob. My board is your board.” X started to shut the door. “Come around nine-thirty. That’s when the kids I hang with show up.”

  Charlie walked home, more confused than ever. X hadn’t seemed like he was hiding anything. In fact, he’d seemed relieved, even eager to go boarding with Charlie! Yet, what did he mean by “my board is your board”? Was that a confession? Or did it just mean that X didn’t mind sharing his board?

  “Oh, brother.” Charlie groaned to himself. “My brain hurts.”

  His brain was still hurting the next morning. He snapped on his inline skates and made his way to the park. He was the first one there when Alison unlocked the gate at 9:30. He wasn’t alone for long.

  Next to arrive was Bizz. She frowned at Charlie and headed straight to the half pipe without saying a word. Charlie sighed and skated to the rails. He planned to practice jumping over them until X showed up.

  Half an hour later, he was still practicing. Many more kids had come to the park, including some of the kids he
’d seen with Bizz and X the day before. But there was no sign of X.

  Should I try calling him? he wondered. He pulled out his cell phone, then realized he didn’t know X’s number. Besides, the phone was for emergencies only. He tucked the phone back into his pocket.

  X still hadn’t shown up by 10:20. Charlie had been skating alone for almost an hour. He was tired of jumping — and fed up with waiting.

  “That’s it. I’m outta here,” he said to the empty air.

  X must be some kind of actor. He sure had me fooled, he thought. I really believed he wanted to meet me here today. That he wanted to be friends.

  Head down, Charlie skated toward the gate. His mood was as sour as a lemon. He didn’t see X until he slammed right into him.

  “You’re still here!” X exclaimed.

  “Surprised to see me?” Charlie sneered. “Well, take a good look, because the next thing you’ll see is my back!” He shoved X aside and skated as fast as he could away from the skatepark.

  CHAPTER NINE

  Charlie didn’t slow down until he got to his house. His breathing was ragged and his heart was hammering. Without bothering to take off his skates, he clumped across the lawn to a tree. He sat down heavily, drew his knees up, and rested his head on his arms.

  I won’t cry! I won’t cry! he thought fiercely. But still his eyes welled up with tears.

  Suddenly, he heard a shout.

  “There he is! Under that tree!” Charlie didn’t recognize the voice. He raised his head and looked around.

  A young boy with dark skin and a flattop haircut was pointing at him. A moment later, X joined him, followed closely by Bizz, Savannah, and another boy. All started toward him.

  Charlie braced himself. Much as he wanted to run away, he couldn’t get up easily because he still had his skates on. The last thing he wanted to do was fall on his face in front of them!

  X was the first one to speak.

  “Charlie, I think there’s been a massive mix-up. Look.” He thrust his skateboard into Charlie’s hands. Charlie had no choice but to take it. He was certain he was holding his missing skateboard.

  Then he looked at it more closely. True, this skateboard was shiny black with red designs, just like his. But it wasn’t his skateboard. The designs were completely different. And this skateboard had a nick in the nose.

  He stared up at X, speechless.

  “I didn’t steal your board, Charlie,” X said quietly. “Your board looked so cool, I tried fixing up mine to look like it. But I didn’t steal it.”

  Charlie wished the ground would swallow him up. He wanted to apologize to X, but all he could say was, “Oh.”

  Then something occurred to him. “Why did you take off when you saw me at the park the other day?”

  Now it was X’s turn to look uncomfortable. “Um, I, uh,” he stammered.

  “Oh, for Pete’s sake, spit it out!” Bizz cried.

  X nodded. “I felt bad for what I said about your grandmother. You know, making out like I was her dead body and all. I was trying to be funny.” He kicked at the grass. “I didn’t know she was your grandmother. My mom told me later that night, after she met your mom. So, um, sorry about that.” Bizz nudged him. “Oh, yeah. Sorry about being so late this morning, too. I overslept.”

  Charlie thought about how X had changed his board to look like his. He thought about how much more fun he’d had jumping the rails with X than boarding by himself. He thought about how much he wanted to change Bizz’s angry look to a friendly one. At last, he unsnapped his skates and stood up.

  “And I’m sorry I thought you stole my board. So let’s forget both things ever happened. Now,” he added, “there are two last mysteries that need to be cleared up.”

  “What?” X asked.

  “Number one, where is my skateboard? And number two,” Charlie said, jerking a thumb at the two other boys, “who are these guys and do they have crazy nicknames too?”

  CHAPTER TEN

  The two other boys were introduced as Mark Goldstein and Jonas Malloy. “But you can call me Jonas,” the kid with the flattop joked. “My bud X here tells me you can surf the pavement with the best of them. That grinding the rails is as easy for you as blowing a nostril slug into a tissue.”

  “Blowing a what?”

  “Nostril slug.” Bizz rolled her eyes. “That’s Jonas’s term for ‘booger.’ He likes to make up things like that. He thinks he’s being creative.”

  “I am being creative!” Jonas shouted.

  “Gross is more like it,” Savannah murmured.

  Laughing, X held up a hand. “Listen, it’s time to take off our helmets and put on our detective hats,” he said. He turned to Charlie. “Where’s the last place you saw your board?”

  “I put it in the garage the night we boarded together. In the morning it was gone.”

  “To the garage then, men!”

  Bizz cleared her throat and Savannah raised an eyebrow.

  “And women too, of course,” X added hurriedly.

  One by one they filed through the side door into the garage. Charlie flicked the light on. A quick look revealed the same stuff he’d seen the morning before: garbage cans, boxes, and lawn equipment. No skateboard.

  Charlie sighed and reached over to flick the light off again. His hand accidentally hit the button for the garage door opener instead. The sudden sound and movement of the door opening startled Jonas. He jumped backward and bumped into the stack of moving boxes.

  “Look out!” Charlie shouted. The whole stack came tumbling down, burying Jonas underneath.

  Charlie and the others quickly pushed the boxes aside. Jonas stood up, rubbing his head. “Man, what are those things made of? Bricks?”

  “Don’t be such a baby,” Bizz scoffed. “It’s just cardboard.”

  “Yeah, well, something hard hit me, and it wasn’t just cardboard’!”

  “Wait a minute.” X waded into the sea of boxes and started to feel around. Suddenly, he broke into a huge smile. From beneath the cardboard, he withdrew Charlie’s skateboard!

  “I don’t believe it!” Charlie grabbed the board and hugged it to his chest. “How did it get stuck in there?”

  “I think I can answer that question.” The children turned to see Charlie’s father enter the garage.

  “Remember when all the boxes fell over the other night?” he asked. “When I cleaned them up, I just sort of shoved them into a stack. I guess I shoved your skateboard in with them. Er, sorry. Hope it didn’t cause any problems.”

  Charlie and X looked at each other and started laughing. The other kids joined in.

  “No, Dad, no problem at all!” Still laughing, Charlie grabbed his board and yelled, “Last one to the skatepark is a nostril slug!”

  Learn the Move! The Ollie

  Do you already know how to ride a skateboard? If so, you may be ready to learn the first basic trick of skateboarding: the ollie. When you do an ollie, your board pops up underneath you. All four wheels clear the pavement as you and your board catch air. This jump is the basis for most skateboarding tricks. Before you can learn any other trick, you should master the ollie.

  The best way to learn to do an ollie is to have someone who already knows how to do it show you. Otherwise, you can follow the steps on the next page. With practice and patience, you should get the hang of it! *

  Step one: Stand on your board and jump, landing with both feet back on the board. Be careful the skateboard doesn’t shoot out from under you. This first step seems simple, but it requires balance and concentration. Once you feel comfortable with these jumps, move on to the next step.

  Step two: Put your right foot on the tail, or back end, of the board. Put your left foot near the center but closer to the tail than the nose, or front end, of the board. You’re now in ollie position.

  Step three: To do the ollie, you have to do three things at the same time. 1) Stamp down on the tail with your right foot; 2) Slide your left foot forward toward the nose; and 3) Jum
p into the air. If you can do all three simultaneously—and land safely with both feet on the board—you can do an ollie!

  THe eXTReme Team

  #1 ONE SMOOTH MOVE

  #2 DAY OF THE DRAGON

  #3 ROLLER HOCKEY RUMBLE

  #4 ON THIN ICE

  MATT CHRISTOPHER

  THe eXTReme Team #1

  ONE SMOOTH MOVE

  Illustrated by Michael Koelsch

  Charlie Abbott is the new kid in town-again. He and his parents have moved eight times in the past ten years. He hates everything about moving, especially trying to make new friends. Then he meets a kid named X who shares his love of skateboarding. Together, they practice their moves at the fabulous town skatepark. But soon everything falls apart. First, Charlie’s skateboard vanishes from his garage. Then, X starts avoiding him-and riding around on a skateboard that looks just like Charlie’s! Is Charlie’s new life about to become a disaster?

  Matt Christopher is the name behind the sports series for young readers. The latest series, The Extreme Team, showcases a different kind of sport-the fast-growing individual activities known as sports, including skateboarding, inline skating, snowboarding, rock climbing, and more. Check it out!

  * Remember, always wear your helmet and safety gear whenever skateboarding!