Skateboard Renegade (5 page)

Zach laughed. “Nope, can't say that I have.”

“Well, you just met your first,” Benny said. “Probably your last, too. Oh, well. Everybody gets bad breaks. Gotta live with
'em. So what's yours?”

Zach smiled. “I went and got this done to myself over the weekend,” he confessed. “Isn't that stupid?”

“Thought you'd fit in better?” Benny asked dryly. “Good call. You blend in really well—with the food, of course. Not the kids.”

Hey,
Zach thought, cracking up.
This kid is really funny!

“Amherst is okay,” Benny told him between bites of his food. “It's hard, but the teachers are good, and most of them are pretty
fair. Anyway, it's way better than my old school, Kingsway. I used to get tortured there every single day. Kids will look
at you funny here, but they won't flush your head in the toilet or pull on your underwear or anything.”

Zach's eyes widened. “That actually happened to you?” he gasped. Benny only shrugged, but Zach could see the pain in his eyes.
Poor kid,
he thought.
He really needs a friend here
—
and so do I.

“My friends from Brighton all got their hair bleached and their ears pierced,” Zach explained.

“Oh, I see,” said Benny. “You're in a gang?”

“No, not really,” Zach said with a chuckle. “We all skateboard, so we're kind of a crew, I guess. We did get in trouble with
the police last week, for boarding on the steps at Brighton School.”

“Wow!” Benny said, impressed. “You're a bad dude, huh?”

“Yeah, that's me,” Zach said, cracking up again. “You're pretty funny, you know that?”

“So I'm told,” Benny said. “It helps to have a sense of humor, 'specially if you're me.” Finished with his food, Benny picked
up his tray. “I've gotta go. I've got Software Design next period.”

“Hey, me too!” Zach said. “I'll come with you.”

“Listen, what club are you gonna join?” Benny asked as they walked.

“I don't know,” Zach said. He remembered the principal talking about clubs during the assembly, but Zach hadn't really been
paying attention. He'd been too busy checking out the kids in the audience.

“They meet after school for an hour, Mondays and Wednesdays,” Benny explained. “You can join two clubs, but you have to join
at least one. So what are you interested in?”

“You don't have a skateboarding club, do you?” Zach asked, joking.

“Maybe
virtual
skateboarding,” Benny said with a grin. “Nah, we've got chess and debating and forensics and chemistry—and of course computer
club, which has about six branches. A lot of kids are into it. I could introduce you around.”

“Cool!” Zach said. “I was going to say that computers are my second interest after boarding. I've been wanting to check out
the school's equipment.”

“Oh, man, it's awesome!” Benny enthused. “Wait till you see it!”

Zach was floored by what he saw in the school's huge computer room. All the latest equipment, with software to do anything
you wanted. Full, fast Internet access and two faculty members who were experts on all of it!

The kids Benny introduced him to were all friendly. There was Bernard, of course, and Maurice, Enid, Tabitha, and Stuart.
Nice kids, all of them—but if Brian Jeffers ever laid eyes on them, he'd fall over laughing. They looked as nerdy as could
be.

“We thought you were a big snob when we saw you in the auditorium,” Enid said. She had long, greasy hair and was about six
feet tall, not counting her two-inch platform heels.

Her friend Tabitha, one of those kids who had been dressed by her parents, nodded in agreement. “You didn't talk to anybody
this morning,” she pointed out. “So everyone was saying you're stuck up. But you're not! That's so cool!”

“Yeah,” Maurice said, a lock of his red hair falling over his eyes. “You're just the new kid on the block! Hahahaha!” Maurice
had a weird laugh.

The newest nerd on the block, you mean,
Zach said to himself. Great. Just great.

“So what's up with the hair and the pants?” Enid asked. “Are you trying to annoy your parents or something?”

Zach sighed. “You wouldn't understand,” he said.

He wasn't even sure
he
understood.

B
y the time he got home after Computer Club, it was four o'clock. Zoey was waiting for him on the front steps, with Lorena
sitting next to her.

“Hi, Thack!” Lorena said with a big smile and a wave as he got off the late bus.

“Where have you been?” Zoey demanded. “I've been waiting and waiting for my lesson.”

“Your lesson!” Zach said. “Sorry, I forgot.”

“That's nice,” Zoey said sarcastically. “I can still tell Mom and Dad about you and my piggy.”

“No, Zoey, you don't need to do that.”

“Fine. Let's start.”

“Wait—wait now, I can't do it this minute.”

“And why not?” she asked, her hands on her hips.

“I promised the guys I'd meet them at the park.”

“So what? This is more important.”

“To you, maybe.”

Zoey narrowed her eyes. “I want my lesson —now—or I'm telling Mom and Dad everything.”

Zach gritted his teeth and threw his backpack violently on the lawn. “Okay, okay!” he barked. “Let's get started. It's already
late, and I don't have all afternoon. I'll give you half an hour.”

“An hour.”

“Okay, okay! Come on, let's go. Start putting on the pads.”

“I still don't see why I have to wear all this stupid equipment,” Zoey said as Zach tightened the helmet strap under her chin.
“It doesn't even fit me.”

“Neither does the board,” Zach pointed out. “You ought to get yourself a smaller one.”

“I don't have any money until you pay me back,” she countered.

“Oh, yeah. Right.” Not much he could say to that, Zach realized. He looked over at Lorena, who was still sitting on the steps
at the side of the driveway. “Hey,” he called to her. “Your parents need me to baby-sit anytime soon?”

“I dunno,” Lorena said with a shrug. “Are you gonna give me a lethon, too?”

“You'll get a turn,” he promised her.

“Thankth, Thack,” she said, showing him her grin with the big dimples. “You're nithe.”

Zach nodded and smiled, then picked up his board. “Now, this is the board,” he began, showing it to them both.

“I know that already,” Zoey said impatiently. “Lemme ride it!”

“Uh-uh-uh!” Zach cautioned, holding the board out of her reach. “First learn, then ride.” He showed them both the different
parts of the board—the deck, the trucks, the wheels, the skid plate, the kick tail, and the rail bar. “The rail bar is for
doing grinds.”

“What are grindth?” Lorena wanted to know.

“Sliding, kind of,” Zach explained. “Like on a curb or a rail or the top of a ramp or half pipe.”

“Oh.”

“Here, I'll show you.”

“No,
I
wanna do it!” Zoey said, holding firmly onto the board.

“You're not ready to do tricks yet. First, you —”

“First, I ride!” Zoey said.

“No—
first
you learn to
fall,”
Zach said. “Then you ride.”

“I know how to fall,” Zoey insisted.

“Oh, yeah? How?” he asked.

“Like this!” Zoey flopped down on the pavement, and Lorena burst out laughing.

“Thoey, you are tho funny!” she sputtered hysterically. “Ithn't thee funny, Thack?”

“A riot,” Zach said dryly. “Look, here's the two ways to fall. First, there's the forward roll.” He demonstrated, tucking
his head under as he fell forward, extending his arms out to guide his somersault.

“And here's the knee slide,” he said. He took the knee pads from Zoey, snugged them into place, then ran three steps forward
and slid onto his knees, gliding to a stop on his pads.

“Let me try, let me try!” Zoey begged.

“Okay, okay,” he said, and put the pads on her knees. “There. Now you're all decked out. Helmet, elbow pads, wrist protectors,
knee pads, sneakers. The works. Go!”

Zoey practiced falling, then let Lorena put on the equipment and have a turn.

“Now
can I ride?” Zoey asked again.

“Next time,” Zach put her off. “I've gotta go meet the guys at Moorehead Park.”

“Oh, no you don't!” Zoey ordered. “Not till I've had my lesson!”

“You've had your lesson!”

“You call that a lesson? I haven't even ridden yet!”

“Me, neither!” Lorena echoed.

“Okay, okay,” Zach grumbled, beaten. She had him over a barrel. He owed her, and she knew it.

So he stayed, even though he knew it was making him late. He stayed and taught them how to stand on the board, where to put
their feet, and how to keep their weight low and forward. He taught them how to push off, how to maneuver their feet into
riding position, and how to turn the board by leaning left and right. Finally, he showed them how to stop the board by dragging
their back foot alongside it.

“Okay, that's all for today,” he finally said. “Practice some more tomorrow and next time, I'll show you how to do wheelies
and stuff.”

“That was fun!” Zoey said happily. “I like falling the best.”

“You sure did a lot of it,” Zach quipped. “Hey, you'll like riding, too, once you get a little practice.” He gave Zoey a smile.
He'd actually enjoyed giving them a lesson. This wasn't going to be so bad after all.

“I like falling, too. Thankth, Thack!” Lorena said.

“Don't mention it,” Zach said. “Okay, I'd better get going. It's already getting close to dinnertime.”

Just then, he heard his mom ringing the dinner bell inside. “Already?” he cried. “What time is it?”

“Six-thirty,” Zoey said, consulting her watch.

“That's impossible!” Zach cried. “Dang! I've already missed them!” Flinging down his helmet, he stormed into the house, on
the verge of tears. That stupid Zoey! She'd made him miss seeing his friends!

“So where were you today, dude?”

“Huh? What? I can't hear you, Kareem. Hold on a second.” Zach was on the telephone in the kitchen, taking a break from cleaning
up after dinner. Behind him, his dad was loading the dishwasher, making a lot of noise. “Dad, could you cut it out a second?
I'm on the phone.”

“Oh. Sorry,” his dad said with a sheepish smile, then mouthed the words
Who is it?

Zach rolled his eyes and turned his back to his father. Like it was his parents' business whom he talked to! “There,” he told
Kareem. “Now what did you say?”

“I said, Where were you today after school?”

“Oh. I was …” Zach hesitated. He didn't want the guys to know he hadn't shown up because he was giving his little sister skateboarding
lessons!

“I had to baby-sit,” he fudged.

“Oh. Man, that bites. I hope you made good money.”

“Yeah. I really needed to, after Saturday.”

There was a pause on the other end of the line. “Saturday?”

“Yeah, you know, at the mall. I missed you guys there.”

Another mysterious pause. “Uh, yeah. Well, anyway, are you coming to the park tomorrow?”

“Definitely. I've got to check out how you guys all look!”

“Uh, yeah. Well, see you then.” Kareem hung up, and so did Zach, puzzled by the tone in his friend's voice. It was more than
a little weird.

“I didn't know you were baby-sitting this afternoon,” his dad said, surprised.

“That's because I wasn't,” Zach said. “It's complicated.”

“Oh. I see. Well, then,” his dad said, rinsing another dish. “Come on, let's go back to work.”

They finished rinsing the dishes and cleaning off the table and putting the leftovers in the fridge. “You haven't said much
about your first day at school,” his dad suddenly said.

“Oh. It was fine,” Zach said, rinsing his hands in the sink.

“How were the facilities?”

“Great. Those were fantastic.”

“Good!”

“Yeah, I guess.” Zach heaved a sigh.

His dad regarded him for a long moment. “You don't seem very happy about it. Is there something I should know?”

“No, Dad,” Zach said. He dried his hands on a dishtowel. “Like I said, it's complicated. You wouldn't understand.”

He left the room, not wanting to see the hurt look in his father's eyes.

H
e endured the next day at Amherst, but it wasn't easy. Like the day before, most kids just stared at him, as if they couldn't
get over how weird he looked. It was enough to drive Zach crazy. He was about ready to start staring back at them, with his
mouth open like an idiot.

Luckily, lunchtime rolled around. He sat with the gang from Computer Club. But even among them, he was quiet and thoughtful.
Something was bothering him … something about how Kareem had sounded on the phone the night before.

He couldn't wait to see the guys and get back among true friends. These nerdy kids were nice enough, but other than computers,
what did he really have in common with them? He barely knew them.

He felt torn away from everything familiar, alone
in a strange new world. He paid no attention during his afternoon classes, and barely escaped ridicule when a teacher asked
him a question he hadn't heard because he was daydreaming.

After school he went home and put on his gear. He checked himself out in the mirror. Somehow, he just couldn't get used to
his new look. He didn't blame the kids at Amherst for giving him weird glances. He'd have done the same thing in their place.

Well, the hair was the hair. Nothing he could do about it. But the iron bar in his ear? It looked totally stupid.

The guy had said to wear it for forty-eight hours, to keep the hole open until it healed and stayed that way by itself. Well,
it had to be forty-eight hours by now, Zach figured. Carefully, he twisted the bar open, and pulled it out of his ear.

There was no pain, to Zach's surprise. He could see the hole now, for the first time. It didn't look too bad. But without
something in his ear, all there was to look at was his stupid hairstyle. The blond spikes would look okay on some of the other
guys. But he didn't care what the hairstylist had said. They didn't look good on
him.