Girls Like Skaters (Chapter 3)

Later, Skye left Jeffrey and his ex-girlfriend, Jan, by themselves so she could see what her bandmates were up to. From afar, she could see them helping each other remove all of their equipment from the back of the van. Kent carried a black speaker into the park and stopped when he saw Skye coming. She stopped also as he set the heavy speaker down.
"You finally came to help?" he asked.
"No, " answered Skye. "Can I talk to you?"
"Sure, I could use a break." Kent sat on top of the speaker. "What's up?"
"I just met Jeffrey's ex-girlfriend."
"He still talks to his ex-girlfriend?"
"Yeah and I just met her. I didn't even know he had other girlfriends besides that evil rat, Marla."
"Well, you should've known. He's a cutie."
"Whatever. Anyway, he had the nerve to tell me what we should play. Jan doesn't like alternative rock, she likes the electronic sound. Like who cares what she likes? We should play what we want to play. Like who does she think she is? Some cool, skateboarding chick? 'Look at me, my hair is dyed electric pink and jet black and I wear black gel eyeliner and I shop at Hot Topic.' I bet her name is short for 'Janice' or something. Old lady's name if you ask me."
"Don't get me wrong but you have pink in your hair, you put on black eyeliner, some of your clothes are from Hot Topic and your name is short for 'Skylar'."
Skye crossed her arms. "I know who I am."
"Skye, if Jan is Jeffrey's ex-girlfriend, there's no need for you to be freakishly jealous."
"I am not jealous. I just don't like her."
"Of course, you don't, you girl."
"Don't insult me."
"You're a girl."
"And you said it like an insult. Sorry, I don't want to yell at you but look at them over there."
Skye and Kent turned their attention to the area in the park where there are tables for people to sit at. Jeffrey and Jan were sitting across from each other, talking and laughing.
"She is all over him."
"They're barely sitting next to each other," noted Kent.
"I don't care. She's probably telling him how hot he is and how ugly I am."
"Will you stop bugging?"
"Sorry. I just don't want to lose him."
"Why do you think you're gonna lose him?"
"You should've been there. Jeffrey was all like, 'Wow, Jan, I love the way you skate. Mmm-nagh!'"
"You think you're gonna lose him because she can skate?"
"Well, I don't do anything good."
"You can sing."
"So can everyone. Wait! I just got an idea."
"I knew it would come to this. You want me to fondle you a little bit to make Jeffrey jealous."
"No, you chunk of beef. Don't you skate?"
"Yeah. Why?"
"You have to teach me. Like today. Right now."
"Uh, you're not gonna learn how to skate in a day. Have you ever skated in your life?"
"No but I've played 'Tony Hawk: American Wasteland' when I used to play video games."
"You can't learn how to skate that way."
"Lizzie learned how to drive by playing 'Grand Theft Auto'."

Within a hour, Skye convinced Kent to teach her how to skateboard. So they rented some boards, elbow pads, knee pads, and helmets and settled in a clear space inside the park.
"First of all, you should be able to know how to just ride it. Just hop on like this..." Kent stepped on the board, the length of his feet overcoming the width, as if he was standing on a regular surface. "...then push off like that." He planted his right foot on the ground then swept it to push his board forward.
Skye watched Kent as he rode his skateboard three yards away from her. She then tried to imitate him. She hopped on the board like Kent did then swept her right foot off the ground. After making a few feet, Skye fell forward and landed on the ground on her knees. She put her hands out so she wouldn't fall all the way down. Her feet halted the board by pushing down the top end. She let it go as she helped herself up. Kent skated towards her and stopped a few inches from her.
"Well, you didn't do that right," he said. "You're supposed to balance yourself."
"Well, I'm not a ballerina," Skye noted.
"Let's try again."
Skye hopped on her board. Kent held onto Skye's waist and helped her position herself correctly on the skateboard.
"I'm gonna push you," Kent said. "Is that okay?"
"Yeah, yeah."
Kent lightly pushed Skye on the arm, moving the skateboard across the surface. Slowly, she traveled a few yards, trying to keep still.
"Now stop," ordered Kent.
Quickly, Skye pressed her right foot on the ground beside the board. Unfortunately, her left foot slipped and she fell down again. She put her hands out before her so she wouldn't slam. But she still hurt her knees and feet. Kent ran up to Skye as she slowly got up.
"Are you alright?" he asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine," she replied, massaging her left hand. "I hurt my wrist a bit."
"Maybe this is a sign." Kent held onto Skye's wrist. "Maybe you shouldn't be skateboarding."
"Maybe you shouldn't keep ordering pizza with anchovies. Because your breath hurts my nose."
"You don't got to be such a female dog about it."