Bringing Summer Back To Life

My brother was not as good at skating as he claimed, but he did alright. No bails so far.

“Enough of this, get to the real stuff.” I called to them from the fence. A few skaters came over to watch, eyeing me (a girl!) curiously.

Jason started out on an easy grind, on the edge of a short brick wall. He kick-flipped the board as he jumped the edge, and landed easily. He skated over to my brother, and fist-pump-tagged him.

Jarredt ramped the wall, landing the board nicely on the edge of the wall. Of course, I had no doubt that my brother could do that part, I was worried about the end.

Jarredt prepped the board for the kick-flip, and at the last second decided against it, and just launched his board straight off, landing easy. No tricks.

“What was that?” Jason called from the side.

My brother shrugged as he came to a stop next to Jason. “Wasn’t feelin’ it, man.”

That was the end of the uneventful competition. I was grateful that I didn’t have to take my brother home bloody.

Jarredt let me use his board as Jason taught me how to master an ollie. I was psyched when I did it. Jason, it turns out is a really good teacher. He’s patient and explains things so that it’s easy to follow through.

I was becoming so comfortable in his presence. After Ryan, I’d pretty much spent the last year on my own. I cut of most of my friends, and honestly, I didn’t miss them. Jarredt didn’t mind having me around to bother him a bit more, but I knew that he hated that I was always on my own, that I wasn’t living the way I should have been. He invited me to accompany him to countless parties, and I always turned him down. Besides, if I had gone with (which I didn’t want to) I would have cramped his style. Nothing says you’re not getting any game tonight like having your little sister on your arm – he would have been so busy trying to protect me.

I stole glances at him while I was practicing with Jason. My brother was making friends with some of the skaters at the park. Laughing. He looked happy.

I felt a little less guilty for the move. It’s his senior year this year, and because of me, he has to move to a new school. Jarredt is the kind of guy who makes friends easily though, so I guess it wouldn’t be hard on him. He never once seemed angry at me for making him move, but I still felt his sadness when he had to leave behind his friends, his reputation and his endless string of girlfriends.

Jason was also in his senior year this year, though he was already eighteen. My brother wouldn’t be for a couple of months more, and he was already dying to get his driver’s licence.

“Where are we going next?” I asked Jason after I landed another ollie.

“You had enough already?” I shrugged at him and picked up the board, heading over to my brother. He stopped his conversation with two other skaters and gave me his attention.

“You ready to go some place else?” I asked him.

He looked at Jason and nodded. “Summer, this is Graeme and Kyle.” He gestured to each boy in turn.

Graeme had dirt-coloured shaggy hair, brown eyes and a gash on his chin that was bloody, no doubt he got it that day. Kyle had short-cropped blonde hair, and was big and muscled like a rugby player. I smiled politely, “Hi,”

The boys nodded at me.

“Later,” my brother said to them and fist-pumped them.

We left the skate park and headed for the beach-bar to get some grub. I was starved, all the skating had eaten up all the energy I had from the pancakes.

The beach bar, as it turned out, was a restaurant with a thatched roof that had glass-walls facing the beach. It was pretty cool, with Caribbean-themed décor. Jarredt and I sat at a table while Jason got us drinks. He got me a brutal fruit and my brother and himself beers. Jason was already legal, being eighteen, and my brother and I looked it, though I was only sixteen. Jarredt didn’t ask what we wanted, just assumed, and I liked that he picked right.