She's Just A Skater Girl

'I am pretty much irresistible 99% of the time.'

"Adam and Eva, huh? Sounds like Adam and Eve." Jake gave me a mini-glare. "Sorry, carry on with the story!" I apologised quickly. If I kept interrupted Jake would end up never telling me, and I would end up fantasising that they actually fell out because Adam was secretly an alien chicken who had the uncanny ability to twerk like a pro (okay, maybe I'm starting to talk about twerking alien chickens just a little too much now)

"Anyway, the other park in town's skaters - you know, the Fassnidge Park people - often tried to ambush Pole Hill, mostly because they thought we were a bunch of stuck-up douches - although I have a strong feeling that they were just jealous that they still had to skate at their run-down pile of wood."

I frowned. Okay, so maybe Fassnidge Park wasn't that nice (not that I'd actually ever been there, but judging by Jake's description of it, it obviously wasn't the crème de la crème of skate parks), but it didn't mean he had to be rude about it. 

"Hello? Are you even listening?" Jake demanded, snapping his fingers in front of my face.

"Um, yeah! I mean definitely! Carry on!" I blurted out quickly, as Jake glowered. 

"The problem was, Eva was an ex Fassnidge skater. She wasn't even that good of a skater to be honest - she was just one of those attention seekers who carried around their brothers' boards to try and gain attention from boys. But since she was dating Adam at the time, he let her skate here." I tried to stop myself from thinking about the tantalising thought of fake-dating Adam just to be able to get into Pole Hill. Besides, it wouldn't work because Jake hates Adam's guts anyway!

As he carried on, Jake's face hardened a bit, obviously reliving a bad memory. "Adam - being the pushover that he is - let Eva look after the park when we went to our grandmother's funeral in Wales. I told him again, and again that she couldn't be trusted, but Adam wouldn't listen." he spat. "Like I had expected she turned out to be a traitor. When we got back, the whole of Pole Hill was smashed to bits, presumably by her old Fassnidge cronies - and Adam had the audacity to pin the blame on me. Can you bloody believe it?"

I gulped slightly. Nearly all of Jake's face had turned red, and his fists were clenched by his sides, turning white by the second. "Most people started skating at Fassnidge or elsewhere, which was painful enough. And when our mom found out, Adam took the blame, mostly because I'd beat him up if he didn't - although he said he did it for 'love,' and for Eva." He scoffed loudly, kicking the ground. "Too bad she broke up with him a week later. Adam was in a sulk for weeks, but the only thing that I could think was serves you right." 

By the end of Jake's 'little' story I was thoroughly shocked, surprised and most of all: confused. "Wow....that was, I mean wow."

Jake smiled, but it was a slightly bitter one. "A bit heavy for a school project? I thought so. Mind asking me a question that's actually on the sheet now?" He was just going to change the subject that easily?

"Yes, I am going to change the subject that easily." Note to self: make sure all thoughts are actually INSIDE my head, and not coming out of my mouth. "I heard t-"

"Shut up!" I screeched, trying my hardest not to let my face turn red, like his had been a few seconds ago. "So are you telling me you and Adam have been fighting for these past 2 years all because of a stupid skate park? Seriously? I always thought boys were stupid, but this is just ridiculously stupid!" Jake sighed, passing a hand over his eyes.

"You just don't get it, Riley. It was more than just a skate park, and even now it's not the same as it was before." I shook my head in disbelief. It was just pieces of wood and plastic and fibreglass stuck together! There was nothing special about it.