Sugar Moon (Vermonters Forever)
Page 19
When Beckett’s best friend discovers Jordan on his own and wants to offer her the opportunity of a lifetime, Jordan finds herself considering a future she never imagined. She never wanted to get pulled into the world of sponsorships, competitions, and social media frenzy. But is she willing to sacrifice her obscurity if it means having Beckett Steele in her life?
Jordan
I’m right where I’ve always wanted to be, and I’m about to have a panic attack. My heart is racing, my palms sweating so bad I worry I’ll drop my skateboard. This is Riptide Skatepark. It’s where the skateboarding scene began, where the legends of the sport practiced, where they still practice today.
Some of them are riding around shirtless right before my eyes. I take a gulp of air. And then another.
“You okay?” my new roommate, Lucy Briones, asks.
I glance over at her. We met two days ago at freshman orientation, and she’s almost everything I could have asked for in an assigned dorm mate. I say almost because she’s a surfer, not a skateboarder.
She holds her board now, glancing between me and the park. “The waves aren’t that great. I can stay if you want,” she offers.
My legs are nearly shaking but I force myself to swallow and flash a weak smile. “Nah, I got this.”
Lucy’s eyes twinkle at my false bravado but she puts out a fist to bump with mine, not calling me out.
“Cool, I’ll be back in like, an hour. Or two.” She starts walking backward. “Depends who I run into. You never know when you might meet the love of your life.” Lucy wiggles two fingers in a little wave before spinning around and heading to the beach.
I watch her go, taking one deep breath after the next. Maybe I should have taken her up on her offer to invite some of her friends who skateboard. I thought I wanted to skate this park for the first time alone, but now that I’m here, it takes strength to turn myself back around instead of chasing Lucy down to the water. She’s already comfortable at this landmark beach, having lived her entire life in Newdale, a town nearby.
The place is packed. I’ve been to crowded skateparks before, plenty of times, but this one isn’t just filled with skaters. There are dozens of people milling about watching, some snapping videos from their phones, or with legit cameras. It isn’t the usual mix I see at the skateboard parks back in Connecticut. There are no young kids, scooter-riders, or obvious newbies. No, Riptide is a place for the hardcore skateboarders. With that realization, I should know I belong, but I’m still hesitating.
My eyes scan the park, and my heartbeat picks up again when I can’t find a single female skater. Riptide is where it all happens, a symbol of skateboarding culture worldwide. And yet, on a sunny Saturday afternoon in August, there is not a single girl to be found. Except for me.
That thought sends a ripple of determination through me. It’s enough to shake loose some of the panic. I hold on to that, ignoring the trepidation threatening to overtake me, and I drop my board.
With my left leg leading, my right pushes off, and I move up the sidewalk and into the park. Some heads turn with the presence of estrogen entering the scene, but I don’t acknowledge them. If I could get away with wearing headphones, I’d tune out the world around me entirely. But it’s too dangerous with the park so crowded.
I skate over to the smallest bowls, and wait my turn to drop in. After a minute, the guy next to me nods, and I slide down. Rolling across the surface with the smell of salt water freshening the air instantly loosens my tense muscles. I carve around a wall, and that little rush makes me smile. And remember why it’s all worth it. My legs move as one with my board, applying pressure to pick up speed, leaning slightly to the side to turn in a figure-eight around the bowl.
I’m only warming up, but the sense of freedom hits me in the chest, obliterating the panic attack that was brewing minutes earlier. This is what I moved across the country for. This is why I chose a college so far from home. Skateboarding makes me feel alive more than anything else in the world ever could.
I catch a little air as I exit the bowl, but I’m not going for any tricks. Still, the guy who nodded at me earlier lets out a whistle. My neck instantly heats, and not for the first time, I wish there were other women in the park. It’s not like I’ve done anything special, but just the sight of someone with boobs riding garners attention I’m not into.
After a couple more drops in the smaller bowl, I make my way to the bigger bowl. People seem to be migrating to the half pipe, but there’s still a wait to get into the kidney-shaped structure that I’m familiar with from watching YouTube videos online.
The sound of female voices has me swinging my head over to the half pipe. A group of five young women about my age are standing by the large structure. But they don’t have skateboards. They’re here for the spectacle. And I can’t blame them. It’s only my own need to skate that’s keeping me from watching the guys riding the pipe right now.
Beckett Steele and Griffin Perry were the first two I recognized when we approached the park earlier. They’re probably responsible for my near-panic attack. But they aren’t the only skateboarders riding mere feet away from me that I’ve watched online. I’ve studied some of these guys’ style and tricks for hours on end from my laptop. I knew a lot of them skated around here, of course I did. I was even prepared to spot one or two today. I just wasn’t prepared for so many of them. Okay fine, it was Beckett and Griffin I really wasn’t prepared for.
Which is why I’m ignoring their presence. Even as the sound of girls laughing and screaming increases, I keep my eyes trained on the kidney-shaped bowl below me. After ten minutes waiting my turn, I realize the guys don’t think I’m planning on dropping in. They aren’t giving me the chance because they assume I’m too scared. That I’m only here to watch them.
My eyes connect with the half dozen skateboarders surrounding the bowl. One by one I look at them, letting them know I’m going in. A few nod, one smiles, and only one frowns, like he’s worried for me, or maybe confused at the prospect of a girl riding such a steep vert. Whatever.
When I finally get my turn, my legs are shaky. This vert is intense, and my board takes off faster than I’m prepared for. After a few conservative carves, I get a feel for the line of the bowl. I’ve been watching others as they drop in and lose speed, and I know I’ve got to carve hard and pump to get the speed needed to reach the lip and do some tricks.
Once I’ve worked up momentum, I hit the coping for some basic tricks. There are cheers when I catch some air, and it hypes me up, even if I’m not entirely sure they’re for me. Could be for Beckett and Griffin on the half pipe. The hollers grow as I increase speed, hugging the walls and staying high. This is my favorite part of skateboarding, going fast as I prepare for my next trick. I get to show off my style, aggressive yet feminine, and I grin, knowing I skate like a girl. I’m proud of it, and I’m about to try a trick that very few women have landed. It won’t be the first time, but each time I land a 540, it’s just as satisfying.
Once I’ve got the speed, I aim for the wall, and when I’ve sped to the edge, I launch in the air. One hand flies high for balance while the other grabs the board, and I spin my body once and then a half turn before I hit the ground, feet landing on the board. I made it.
My skateboard rides forward, and that familiar rush of pure joy floods over me. I let the momentum pull me up the other side of the wall and exit the bowl. There’s the sound of guys cheering, and I look back, confirming it’s for me. A small crowd has gathered around, and they’re calling out as I skate away. Ignoring the skateboarding pros and their audience on the half pipe, I ride out of the skatepark and down the sidewalk.
There’s only a small twinge of disappointment to the day. As I kick off my shoes and walk onto the beach to find Lucy, I wish there’d been some girl skateboarders at the park. But I’ll settle for landing a 540 at Riptide. Hell, that alone will get me through my entire first week of classes.
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