Girls Like Skaters (Chapter 5)

                Eventually, Skye started to feel better. Her head was still aching but it wasn't so bad. Many people checked up on her to make sure she was okay. But she was fine; she wasn't loopy anymore. Her bandmates soon consoled her at the table she was sitting at.

                "I told her not to do it," mentioned Kent.

                "Sure, Kent," said David.

                "He really did," defended Skye. "But I did it anyway because I'm an idiot."

                "Yeah, you are."

                Skye pinched David on the arm, making him flinch. He held onto his arm and uttered, "Ow!"

                "Skye, what you did was stupid," shared Sean. "But I appreciate it." He formed his hand into a fist so the two could fist-bump. "You're hardcore, sister. You're hardcore."

                Skye shook her head and giggled. Soon she looked up and saw Jeffrey coming her way. The guys saw him, too, so they left to give them a little bit of privacy. Jeffrey sat on the bench next to Skye.

                "How's your head?" he asked.

                "How a head should feel," Skye responded.

                "You know, you could've really hurt yourself. Why did you do that?"

                "I don't know. I guess I was trying to get your attention."

                "You're my girlfriend. If you want my attention, you can have it."

                "I know. I'm just an attention whore."

                Jeffrey snickered.

                "Why is that funny?" Skye smiled.

                "I don't know."

                "You do know." Skye softly squeezed his cheek so it wouldn't hurt. "But you're right, I could've hurt myself. I mean I did but I know what you mean."

                "Yeah. Just never do anything like that again. You're the first girl I truly like and to lose such a girl would devastate me."

                "I'm sorry, Jeffrey. I promise I won't do that again. I'll probably do a lot of stupid things in the future but it won't be that."

                Jeffrey laughed, showing his cute smile. "You're too much."

                "Are you sure I'm not too little?"

                "I love you."

                Skye just stared at him. Suddenly, her headache came back. "I-I'm s-sorry," she stuttered. "I didn't h-hear you. Can you say that again?"

                "I said I love you."

                Skye was silent again. "O-Of course you did," she slowly said. "Of course you said that. Okay." She smiled, trying to be cute. She pinched Jeffrey's cheek again, maintaining eye contact. "You know how I feel about you."

                She let go of his cheek and kept smiling. Jeffrey felt awkward, losing his smile and staring at Skye who wouldn't stop looking at him. He wanted to hear the words yet he didn't want to take it the wrong way.

                Later, as the evening arrived, Skye was with her band who were at their usual positions. Sean and David were holding their guitars, Kent was sitting at his drums and Skye was standing in front of a microphone stand. Besides them were speakers which their instruments were plugged into. And in front of them were every skateboarder at the park.

                "How is everyone doing today?" Skye hollered into the microphone.

                The teenagers cheered as loud as they could.

                "Did anyone here see me cheat death?"

                The teens cheered again.

                "Yeah, I don't know how to skateboard very well. But I know I can do one thing and that's sing. Do you hear us rock?!"

                They cheered again.

                "Let's go!"

                The teenagers cheered and applauded the band as they began to play. Kent did a drum roll before Sean and David started to play a melodious riff on their guitars for the pop punky intro. Skye began to sing over the new rhythm that the band then produced.

He was a boy, she was a girl

Can I make it any more obvious?

He was a punk, she did ballet

What more can I say?

He wanted her, she'd never tell

And secretly, she wanted him as well

But all of her friends stuck up their nose

They had a problem with his baggy clothes

                The band played louder when Skye started to sing the chorus.

He was a skater boy

She said see you later, boy

He wasn't good enough for her

She had a pretty face

But her head was up in space

She needed to come back down to earth

                The band played the introduction again then started to play a little quieter for the bridge. Skye took off the microphone and walked around, singing into it with more emotion.

Sorry, girl, but you missed out

Well, tough luck, that boy's mine now

We are more than just good friends

This is how the story ends

Too bad that you couldn't see

See the man that boy could be

This is more than meets the eye

I see the soul that is inside

He's just a boy and I'm just a girl

Can I make it any more obvious?

We are in love, haven't you heard

How we rock each other's world

I'm with the skater boy

I said see you later, boy

I'll be backstage after the show

I'll be at the studio, singing the song we wrote

About a girl you used to know

I'm with the skater boy

I said see you later, boy

I'll be backstage after the show

I'll be at the studio, singing the song we wrote

About a girl you used to know

                Skye put the microphone back on the stand after the boys finished the song. David shook his guitar to let it ring for a while. The watching and listening skateboarders went wild, applauding the band. Skye smiled and waved at Jeffrey, the biggest supporter present who was clapping it up. 

Girls Like Skaters (Chapter 4)

"Skye, you can't do this," said Kent.
Skye caught a glimpse of the huge ramp under her feet. "I got to," she said, looking at Kent. "Jan rode this ramp."
"Because Jan is a skilled skateboarder."
"How hard can this be?"
"How hard can this be? You can't even ride a skateboard by yourself."
"Whatever. I just want Jeffrey to see me."
"Yeah, see you die."
"At least I'd be catching his attention instead of Jan."
"Skye, you're gonna die."
"I lived a good life."
"You can honestly say that?"
"No."
"Skye, you can't do this. You just can't. You're not physically equipped for this."
"What do you mean by 'physically equipped'?"
"Your arm is bleeding."
Skye looked at her skinned elbow which was oozing blood down her arm to her hand. "Of course I'm bleeding. I'm human."
"Arms don't normally bleed, Skye."
"Well, I bleed once a month normally. So how is bleeding from my arm any different?"
"Okay, that's gross. You didn't have to say that to me."
"Look, is there anything else you want to say before I do this? Because I'm gonna do it anyway."
"Just don't blame this on me when you survive."
"Alright. Besides, I prayed when I was climbing up here. I think I'll be alright."
Skye stepped on her board in the correct position. She looked down at the ramp and took deep breaths.
Kent looked up to the clear sky and whispered, "God, you're a fool."
Skye closed her eyes and took her last breath. She opened her eyes and looked down at the ramp again. Skye pushed her board off the edge of the flat surface and propelled down the ramp. Briskly, she cleared the whole ramp. However, she was too brisk that she flew highly over the other flat surface and began to descend behind it. The fellow skateboarders who were trying to use the ramp witnessed her catch air.
"Kent, if I die, I'm gonna kill you!" Skye yelled as she fell down.
Kent just stood there on the first flat surface of the ramp. Skye just disappeared from his view after she flew over the other end. Before hearing a thud, Kent hollered, "That would be impossible!"

Skye gradually began to wake up. As she opened her eyes, her vision was blurry. She almost could not comprehend what was going on. But she was on the bench of a table with gauze wrapped around her head. She could feel someone cooling her head with a Ziploc bag of ice.
"Am I dead?" she groaned.
"No but you're barely alive," said Jan.
Skye recognized Jan's voice and face even though it looked she had three heads. "If I didn't die, why am I in Hell?" she asked.
"Excuse me?"
Skye weakly lifted herself up from the bench. "You heard me. Stay away from my boyfriend." Her voice began to slur.
Jan awkwardly giggled. "Stay away?"
"Yeah, he doesn't want you. He wants me, his girlfriend. Did you know I was his girlfriend?"
"Yeah, he tells me everything."
"Why is he confiding in you? I'm the one who's his girlfriend."
"I'm sorry but I'm his friend."
"And that's the problem. Exes cannot be friends with exes. You just can't. All exes want to do is buh-bang! And you ain't gonna buh-bang my boyfriend."
"I'm not. We're just friends."
"That's what they all say. But once I turn around, buh-bang!" Skye fell flat on the bench with her back. "Ow."
"Skye, I am not trying to steal your boyfriend away from you."
"But you are! He thinks you're so cool. He thinks you skateboard good. And you do! And I can't. So you might as well take him. God knows I tried. I almost died for him but he wants you. And I don't know what else to do. I mean I can listen to the electronic sound but frankly, I just don't want to do that. You both can listen to it together."
"Skye, listen."
Skye lifted herself up again.
"Me and Jeffrey had a thing. We were a thing because we were such close friends and a lot of people pressured us into dating. So we did but then it made everything weird. So we agreed to not impress anyone and continue being friends. Now we're friends and we're fine. I like Jeffrey but I don't want to date him anymore. Besides, I'm more into girls."
Skye's eyes widened but her vision was still unclear. "You're a lesbian?"
"No, I'm bisexual. I'm just more into girls. In fact, I have a girlfriend."
"Oh, congrats! Keep dating girls, girl. As long as you're dating girls, you and me are cool."
"Good... I guess."
"You know what? I think I'm feeling better."
"Really?"
"Yeah, I never felt so free!" She threw her arms in the air, making her fall over and land on the ground. This time, she did not put her hands out. "Ow," she muttered.

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."

Girls Like Skaters (Chapter 2)

    Jeffrey rode his skateboard down the biggest ramp in the park. He was wearing a black helmet and elbow pads. He also took his glasses off, letting Skye hang them from the neck of her gray T-shirt. Briskly, he made it to the other end of the ramp then curved back down it. Skye stood yards away from the ramp, clapping and cheering her boyfriend on. He skated up the ramp, holding onto to his board mid-air while making a curve then letting go before riding down. Once he got to the other end, he did a spin move before dropping down the ramp and going up, jumping onto the flat surface where some skaters were standing.
    "Whoo!" shouted Skye while clapping. "Yeah, Jeff!"
    Jeffrey climbed down the ladder behind the ramp while holding his board. He then ran towards Skye and hugged her.
    "That was awesome," she said as Jeffrey pulled away. She handed him back his glasses.
    "I mean it was okay," shrugged Jeffrey, putting his glasses on. "It was just some simple stuff."
    "Simple stuff? I can't do that. You're a good skateboarder."
    "Thank you. You're a good girlfriend."
    "Ha, being a girlfriend is easy. I can do it in my sleep."
    "I know. You once talked me while you were sleeping."
    "I know, you told me. And I still don't believe you."
    The couple turned their attention to something else when they heard other skateboarders making a hosanna. They looked at the large ramp and saw a person doing all sorts of moves on it. They had on black knee pads and elbow pads and a blue helmet which looked like it was covering their eyes. Yet it appeared that it wasn't since they were conquering the ramp. The person was fast and looked like they had tons of experience. The fellow skateboarders watched the person in awe. Even Skye and Jeffrey were wonderstruck. When the person was done and hopped on the flat surface, many skaters applauded them, including Skye and Jeffrey. The person with the big, blue helmet climbed down the ladder with their board in their arm then hopped on it to skate towards the couple.
    "Wow, that was sick as always," commented Jeffrey when the person stopped a foot away from him.
    The person took off the strap off her helmet then took it off. She wiggled her black and pink hair out by shaking her head. "Why thank you," she smiled, holding her helmet under her left arm.
    "Whoa, I didn't know you were a girl," said Skye. "Not that girls can't skateboard or anything."
    "No, it's alright. I got my helmet from a thrift shop. A really scary thrift shop."
    Skye chuckled.
    "I'd like to see you try something intricate, Jeffrey." The Caucasian girl poked her finger in his chest.
    "Ah, maybe one day," Jeffrey smiled. "I don't want to break a femur."
    "You probably don't even know what a femur is."
    "Well, whatever it is, I don't want to break it."
    The girl laughed. Then she looked at Skye. "What's your name?"
    "Skye," she answered. "What's yours?"
    "I'm Jan."
    "How do you know Jeffrey? Skateboarding buddies?"
    "Yeah, we met here about four years ago. I'm his ex-girlfriend and best friend."
    "I wouldn't say you're my best friend," said Jeffrey.
    "Uh, yeah, you would. I know everything about you. What don't I know?"
    "Well, that's true."
    "Ex-girlfriend?" Skye's smile began to dull.
    "Yeah," replied Jeffrey. "But we only dated for a year."
    "One year but it felt like twelve," added Jan, holding her helmet with her other arm. She used her arm to rest it on Jeffrey's shoulder.
    "Why twelve?"
    "It just felt like twelve."
    "That's so random. Speaking of random, Skye is gonna perform here with her band. They're called, 'A New Yesterday'."
    "Oh, that's cool! What kind of music do they play?"
    "Alternative rock and pop punk."
    "Oh, you know I love pop punk. But alternative, not so much. I'm into the electronic sound."
    "Oh, yeah, that's right. You're not gonna do anything alternative, are you, Skye?"
    Skye just stared at them for a few seconds. "No but I got some alternatives," she responded, raising her eyebrows.

Girls Like Skaters (Chapter 1)

                One morning in the beginning of the week, Skye's bandmate, David, drove her and the rest of the bandmates to a skate park in Orange County. Skye was invited by her boyfriend, Jeffrey, to the park to watch him skateboard and perform some songs for his skater friends. Skye's band was down for it so they gathered all their instruments in David's van then head off together. After more than twenty minutes, David parked his large car in a half-filled parking lot and before the crew could take their equipment out, they let themselves through the open door of the fence into the park full of skating teenagers. Jeffrey immediately saw his girlfriend come in so he rode towards her with his skateboard. Skye stopped when she saw him heading towards her. When he was a foot away, Jeffrey kicked his skateboard into his hands and ran up to Skye.

                "Hey, Skye High," he smiled.

                "Hey," Skye smiled as well.

                She wrapped her arm around Jeffrey's neck then pecked him several times on the lips.

                "Yeah, put some tongue into it," said Kent, the drummer.

                Skye broke the kiss and looked at Kent. "Ew, don't watch us."

                "Then don't kiss in front of me."

                "I'm glad you made it," admitted Jeffrey. "You weren't too tired, were you?"

                "I mean I was," responded Skye. "But I splashed some water on my face like a Proactiv commercial then got over it."

                "Hmm, that's my girl. Hey, do you want to see me do a few tricks?"

                "Sure."

                "Alright." Jeffrey turned around and dropped his board on the ground. He stepped on it and swept his foot off the ground so he could ride away.

                "Hey, you're supposed to help us get the crud out of the van," reminded David.

                "You're men," said Skye. "Do it yourselves."

                Skye walked away while the boys glanced at each other.

                "You hear that?" asked Sean, the bassist. "She called us men."

                "You're not a man, Sean," said David. "You can barely pick up a drumstick."

                "That's not funny. And I would be able to lift if my shake weight came in on time."

                "Ew, you ordered a shake weight?" questioned Kent.

                "Why does everybody got to say 'ew' every time I say 'shake weight'?"