Before You Go | A Prequel

1.5 | The Park

"ALRIGHT, LISTEN UP! THE RULES ARE you gotta make it all the way around— no stops! You stop? You're OUT! Lose your board? You're OUT! And if ya fall? AHNT!" The boy sat upon the graffitied concrete wall and made an X with his arms as he imitated the buzzer sound. "OUT! Got it?!"

"Got it." Claudia nodded with the other racers. Her foot moved her board back and forth as she stood lined up beside Redhead and his two friends.

"Nervous?" Redhead's mouth tilted up at one side. Claudia kept her expression cool.

"Not a chance." She looked up at the boy sitting upon the ledge. "Yo! Anything else?"

The kid's knitted beanie-and-hoodie combo (an absurd choice for the summer heat) served to hide almost his entire face, save for his mouth which crooked into a sneer.

"Winner takes all, no take-backs!" He shouted, "So no cryin' like a little girl if ya lose!"

Redhead and his friends snickered. Claudia paid them no mind. She was focused.

"Yo Jake!" Redhead shouted to the kid on the ledge."Just call it already! I got some skittles with my name on 'em!"

"Hey!" Exclaimed one of the other kids.

At last, the boy (Presumably Jake) reached fixed his hoodie on his head and he reached behind himself. A staunchly colored, red and blue Nerf Blaster was raised high into the air.

"Ready! On your mark..."

Anticipation brimmed through Claudia as she shifted her posture and switched her foot to ready for a strong takeoff.

"Does the Lady require a head start?" Redhead sneered in her ear. Claudia didn't even bother appeasing him with a reaction this time. It was like Dad used to say, 'Let your success speak for itself'. The method had always worked for him, and now it was her turn to prove that she was indeed, her father's daughter.

-"GO!"

The dart shot off and so did she. A single foot propelled her forward and the wind whistled past her ears as her body swayed and leaned, her balance unfaltering, movements lithe and precise. Even as she navigated around the many beams and benches lining the perimeter of the skatepark, she didn't shake, nor wobble. She moved through each obstacle as easily as they appeared.

There was no point in looking back— no need to gauge just how far ahead she was of her competitors. She was in the lead, and she was giving her whole hundred-and-ten percent and that was what matters. But close behind her she could hear the wheels and the telltale snicker of a certain cocky ginger gaining on her, and out of the corner of her eye she saw the boy coming up on her left.

They split the approaching bench in opposite directions and it left them neck-and-neck when they reconvened. Claudia swept her foot against the ground several times, revving up all the speed she needed to get the jump on him and break the tie. Redhead seemed to have the same idea. He copied her movements— determined to catch up.

Claudia wasn't impressed. Sure, imitation might have been the highest form of flattery or whatever it was Dad used to say, but she wasn't flattered. She was here to prove a point.

"Copy this, dickwad." She muttered.

Up ahead was another beam. This time, instead of avoiding it like she'd done for the others in the race, she leaped up. The satisfying screech of metal-on-metal skirted through the walls of the skatepark, though it was almost to be drowned out by the whoops and cheers from all those who watched.