“There’s only one thing to do.” I give Freddie back his board.
And then I lift Jake’s board up beside my head.
“What are you doing?” Freddie says.
“Time to skate,” I say. “Let’s finish what we started.”
“You want to compete again?” he asks.
“Sure,” I tell him, but not because I want to beat him this time. I mean I do, but it’s more about what Mr. MacDonald said. “You can’t think when you’re rattled.”
Freddie is pretty rattled. There’s no point in talking. He needs to skate.
“You ready?” I ask.
“Always,” he says, and he has a really mean look on his face. “But this time, we play S.K.A.T.E.”
Vera and I used to play all the time.
It goes like this: Each player does whatever trick they want. If they land it, the next person to go needs to land it too. Whoever bails, gets a letter. The first person to get S, K, A, T, and E loses.
“Let’s do it,” I tell him.
“Not so fast,” he says. “We play my version. No more of the simple stuff any poser could do. My rules. If you dare.”
“What are your rules?” asks Esther.
“I go first,” says Freddie.
“Whatever,” I say. “Fine.”
“And I shout the trick just before I do it,” he says. “If you land it, you take a turn in the lead. Unless one of us bails, it’s back to me in the lead and so on. Got it?”
“Got it.” I nod.
“There’s more,” Freddie continues. “First one to bail on any trick gets all the letters at once. Sudden death.”
Freddie puts his helmet on.
“In or out?” he says.
Even though I’m feeling more confident, Freddie’s version of S.K.A.T.E. has me doubting myself again. But, I have to do it anyway. Just as I’m about to tell Freddie I’m in, I look at Esther, Hannah, and Charlie Parker Drysdale and decide the bet needs to change.
“I have new terms.”
“What?” says Freddie.
What Pops said was true. Freddie doesn’t have the right to bully me or my new friends because his grandpa died.
“You lose, you stop calling out Charlie Parker Drysdale about his sweater-vests and stop making fun of Esther’s blue hair.”
“Thanks, Sibby,” says Esther.
“Don’t get too happy,” says Freddie to Esther. “She’s gonna lose.”
I look at Hannah. She’s staring at me through those big round glasses.
“And leave Hannah and her glasses alone, too,” I say.
“I still get your ugly shoes,” he says.
“Then she still gets your board,” says Charlie Parker Drysdale.
“You get this one,” says Freddie and he holds up the board he always uses. “But there’s one more thing.”
“What?” I ask.
“When I win,” he says, and he steps closer to me, “you can never, ever use this skatepark again.” He waves his arm all around him like he’s trying to make sure I know what he means by “this skatepark.”
“What!?” says Hannah. “That’s nuts.”
“No way,” says Esther.
“Don’t do it, Sibby,” says Charlie Parker Drysdale.
“Freddie,” says Jake. “Come on, man.”
I sure wasn’t expecting that. But, I wasn’t expecting to make friends either and I’m tired of being scared.
“You know what?” I put my helmet on my head. “I’ll take your bet.”
“Enjoy your last skate at this park,” says Freddie as he’s dropping in. I jump on Jake’s board and follow Freddie. He’s headed toward the wooden ledge I bailed off during yesterday’s competition. I’m pretty sure he’s going to try another backside bluntslide, so I get ready.
He’s riding on an angle toward the ledge. Someone turned up the music, and it’s really loud.
Freddie ollies and yells, “Frontside nosegrind!”
Ugh, I have to change the picture in my head. It’s okay though. Doing a frontside nosegrind has always come easy for me. I’m not on a good angle, but I pop up on the ledge. My front foot is right where Jackson Jo says it should be: right behind the bolts on the deck.
Don’t stick. Don’t stick.
I come to the end of the ledge, pop the nose of my board, level out, and land.
My heart is beating really fast. Freddie sure means business, but so do I.
I push off and head toward the pyramid. I glance down at my shoes and start thinking about how it will feel to lose them to Freddie. Then I remember what Pops said: “Just think about riding your skateboard.”
I’m at the pyramid. “Backside flip!” I yell. And I skate up, ollie, flip. BAM.
“Easy!” shouts Freddie and he follows right behind me. BAM. He lands. I barely have time to catch my breath when Freddie is skating into the bowl.
He is pushing really hard, but I’m right behind him.
“Frontside invert,” he yells as he heads up the wall. When he gets to the top, he reaches for the coping with one hand. His body and board float into the air. He’s almost completely upside down.
The people watching us are going crazy. I mean that is a serious trick. If I’m going to beat him, I can’t just land the tricks he yells out. I need to make my tricks harder. I love inverts, which is why I used to practice them over and over. Sometimes I bail but not today, I tell myself.
I’m up the wall. I reach for the coping with my right hand and feel my body and my board leave the ground. We’re basically upside down.
“WHOAAAAAA,” I hear voices yelling. “SICK.”
I bring myself and my board back down.
“GO SIBBY,” I hear. “GO FREDDIE.”
Everyone is going crazy yelling at us.
I ride back down the wall trying to figure out what the next trick should be. But then I see Freddie skating hard in my direction.
“Wrong way,” he shouts as he passes me.
“Where are you going?” I stop quick. “It’s my turn to be in the lead.”
Freddie stops too. “New rule,” he says. “I can change the rules whenever I want,” he barely finishes the sentence when he’s skating toward the top of the wall again.
“Hey, no fair,” I hear Jake yelling.
“It’s Sibby’s turn!” yells Hannah.
I am so mad. But I need to stop thinking about what a jerk move Freddie just made. Stay focused, I remind myself.
Freddie is back at the top of the wall with his board over the coping. He turns his shoulders frontside. “Frontside rock n’ roll,” he yells.
Jackson Jo did a video on her channel about how to do this trick. It’s a lot more fun than backside because you get to twist your body.
People are cheering as Freddie rides back down.
I skate up the wall. I don’t let myself think about how the last time I did this trick, my back foot slipped off—just like when I try a backside bluntslide.
I think about Jackson’s Jo’s advice. Keep the front foot back a little. I turn my shoulders frontside. Rock. Kickturn really fast.
I’m on my way back down. Wind’s in my face as I go.
People are cheering louder for me now than they just did for Freddie.
“SIBBY, SIBBY, SIBBY,” chants fill the air.
It feels amazing.
My heart is pounding like it did the day of the competition in Charlottetown.
“My turn!” I shout at Freddie as I exit the bowl and head toward the gap.
Kickflip or 50? I can’t decide. I try to remember if I saw Freddie do either when Charlie Parker Drysdale showed me the videos of him.
No, I tell myself. Stop thinking about what Freddie can or can’t do. This is about what I can do.
I come to a fu
ll stop and stare at the wooden ledge.
“Did she quit?” I hear someone yelling.
“You done?” shouts Freddie as he catches up with me.
“SIBBY, SIBBY, SIBBY,” I hear from the crowd.
“What are you waiting for, Poser?” he asks.
“For you to get closer,” I say.
“Huh?” he says.
“So I can tell you the next trick and you’ll have lots of time to think about it,” I say.
“What is it?” he asks.
“Backside bluntslide.” I push as hard as I can and head toward the ledge.
“Bail before the slide and you lose!” I hear Freddie yell after me.
“If we both land it, it comes down to whoever slides the longest,” I shout as I go.
Then I hear Pops. He’s here. He’s yelling, “JUST SKATE! ”
I want to look up, but I don’t. I need to stay focused. I’m almost at the ledge when I hear the music stop. Jake is yelling, “No, man. Come on.”
I scan the crowd and see Nan, Pops, Jake, Hannah, Esther, and Charlie Parker Drysdale. Mr. MacDonald is there, too. Everyone is either frowning or yelling. I hear the sound of Freddie’s skateboard getting louder and louder. I turn my head to look behind me, but just as I do, Freddie goes zipping by.
He cuts me off. He totally snaked me, and then he ollies and lands in the middle of the ledge. He’s sliding.
One Mississippi. Freddie’s off the ledge.
BAM. He lands.
“No. Don’t do that,” Jake is yelling and waving his arms at Freddie. “You’re no snake.”
“Why do you keep taking her side?” shouts Freddie at Jake.
“Fair is fair,” yells Jake. “That wasn’t cool, dude. You’re better than this.”
Freddie ignores Jake and stares at me. “Don’t bail a third time, Poser,” he says.
I must have a surprised look on my face because then he says, “What? Didn’t think I’d figure out that video came from you and not Jake?”
“How’d you know?” I ask.
“There’s no way he would’ve stopped the video before seeing if you either made the trick or bailed.”
Freddie’s right. And I feel even worse for messing with Jake’s video. I mean, I did something I knew I shouldn’t have all because I was afraid to lose. And it didn’t change anything. It just made me feel like…well…not me.
“SIBBY! SIBBY!” Everyone is cheering.
That’s it. I’m not letting Freddie or the things I’m afraid of get inside my head. Not anymore. I may not be chill and I may not be able to avoid trouble, but board or no board, I’m a skateboarder.
I try to block out the cheering and refocus. I don’t look all the way up, but from the corner of my eye I see Esther and Hannah jumping up and down and I see a pacing yellow sweater-vest.
Freddie landed in the middle of the ledge. If I’m going to slide longer, I need to land closer to this end of it.
I skate back to where I need to go to get up enough speed. Someone turned the music back up and between that and the cheering, I can’t hear much of anything.
I head toward the ledge and I pop the tail and slam it into the bluntslide position.
Back trucks are on the ledge and most of my weight is on my back foot. It doesn’t slip down this time. I’m sliding.
“SIBBY, SIBBY…OH YEAH…DOPE…SICK…NO WAY…”
I feel the board underneath me, supporting me as I go.
Hold. Just go with it.
One Mississippi.
Stay balanced. Concentrate.
Hold.
Two Mississippi.
I’m off the ledge.
BAM!
I land. I’m back on the ground. My arms fly straight into the air as I skate away.
“I did it!” I yell. “I actually did it.”
I look up. Jake, Hannah, Charlie Parker Drysdale, and Esther are all jumping up and down, and so are the rest of the people watching, even Mr. MacDonald. Nan, too.
She’s waving at me and Pops is blowing his nose and wiping his eyes. They’re wearing their matching swishy suits.
I take a deep breath and skate back up to where I was standing when I did my drop-in.
“Sibby, that was amazing,” says Hannah.
“That was THE BEST thing I’ve ever seen—since my dinosaur replica anyway,” says Charlie Parker Drysdale.
“Copy,” says Hannah.
“Replica,” says Charlie Parker Drysdale.
“Dude,” I hear Jake’s voice from behind me. “Serious respect.” He lifts his fist in the air and I do the same until mine hits his.
Freddie is walking toward me.
“Fair and square,” he says and passes me his board. “Take it.”
“Keep it,” I say. “I don’t need your board any more than you need my shoes.”
“Deal’s a deal,” says Freddie and he drops his board in front of me. He keeps his head down and runs back toward the school.
Everyone is cheering and congratulating me. Nan gives me a hug and says we’re going to go back home and order pizza.
“With pepperoni,” says Pops.
“But…” says Charlie Parker Drysdale.
“And we’ll order a pizza Margherita too,” says Nan.
He and Esther start cheering again. But, I’m watching Freddie run away and it sort of makes it feel like what just happened is the opposite of winning.
Jake says he’s going to catch up with Freddie. “Maybe he’ll want to hang out at my place. Later.” He waves.
“Later.” I wave back.
Charlie Parker Drysdale, Hannah, and Esther talk about me winning all the way to my grandparents’ house. They’re walking with Pops and telling him the story as if he hadn’t even been there. He just keeps nodding and smiling.
Nan is telling me how proud she is.
“But I’ve done all of those tricks before,” I say.
Nan stops walking, bends down, and looks me in the eye. “Not at that park. Not in front of that crowd and not with so many things on your mind,” she says. “It takes courage to do what you did.”
“I figured something out,” I tell her. “And there’s something I need to do before I can eat pizza.”
“What?” she asks.
I whisper in Nan’s ear.
She nods and says, “We won’t eat until you get back.”
I start to run back toward the school.
“Sibby,” calls Nan.
I stop and turn.
“I am proud of my brave and smart granddaughter,” she says. “But I am most proud of that mighty heart of yours.”
Now I feel like I’ve won something.
Chapter 18
Making Things Right
As I get closer to the school, I try to picture the house Jake said he lived in. He said it was brown and on the other side of the empty lot.
It sure feels weird to be walking instead of skateboarding, especially since I have Freddie’s skateboard in my hand. But riding it would be wrong, which is weird since I rode his other board even before he did.
When I reach the side of the school, I look past the empty lot for a brown house. All I can think about is that I need to make things right. I need to go to Jake’s and find Freddie and give him back his board.
I stop walking when I see someone sitting on a skateboard in the middle of the weedy pavement. It’s Freddie.
I decide I’d better not sneak up on him so I drop the board and let the sound tell him I’m behind him.
He turns and stands up. His face softens a bit when he sees me.
“Guess Jake didn’t find you,” I say.
“Was he looking?” asks Freddie.
“Totally,” I say.
Freddie shrugs. “You come to ru
b it in?”
“Sorry about your grandpa,” I say.
He doesn’t say anything. He just looks down at his skateboard. It’s the one his grandfather gave him.
“Super dope,” I say and I point to the board.
He smiles. “Yep.”
“You gonna ride it?” I ask.
“Guess so, since you won my other one,” he says.
“Here.” I push his old board toward him with my foot.
“What’re you doing? You won,” he says.
“Maybe you would’ve held the slide longer another day. Besides, if my pops died, I wouldn’t have been able to skate the way I know I can skate, you know?” I say.
“Whatever,” he says. “I bailed. That was the rule.”
“I don’t like rules,” I say.
Freddie smiles a little.
“You being nice because my grandpa died?” he asks.
“Maybe. I dunno about that. I just know I want a do over,” I say.
“Forget it,” says Freddie and he pushes the board back in my direction. “Everyone saw me bail. Probably all think I’m a poser now.”
“Posers don’t skate like you just did,” I say. “Seriously. You’re no poser. And you can always show how good you are by getting back on your board. And now you have two again ’cause I’m not keeping this one,” I say, and I push the board back at him—but harder so it goes past him.
He doesn’t reach for it. “It can just stay out here then, ’cause I’m not taking it either,” he says.
“Suit yourself.” I start to walk away.
“Hey,” yells Freddie. “Did you see how all my friends were cheering for you? I mean, seriously.”
“They were cheering for both of us,” I say. “But the thing is…” I start. And then I realize that Vera wasn’t exactly right about making friends. It’s not all about being chill. “…It’s about being nice. And that’s hard when you’re not feeling chill. I get it, but you have to keep trying.”
“If I ask you something, will you promise not to tell anyone?” he says.
“Guess so,” I say and start to walk back to Freddie.
“Promise,” he says. “Serious. I mean I really called you out today, but I need you to promise. Skater to skater.”
“Promise,” I tell him. “Skater to skater.”
“Does everyone think I turned into a mean bully?”
Skateboard Sibby Page 10