“I think you just made that clear. Jake ever let you hop on his board?” she asks.
“Nope. It was for the best. Is it bad luck to let someone you’re not madly in love with on your prized possession?”
“I hope not. I let Bethany on my skateboard like five times.”
I gasp and pull my hand free. “The betrayal!”
Heaven rolls her eyes then flips her board around with its wheels up like she’s going to present it to me. I look at the illustration on the back. I remember Jake’s had a screaming skull with roses on the back and white wheels. Heaven’s has this really cool painting of the sand and waves, and her wheels are neon green. “I will never let you skate on this alone.”
“Why not?”
“Because you’re gonna skate on it with me,” she says, and I almost die from the romance of it all. “Come on. It’s skating time.”
“Yay!” I yell with this big smile I know is annoying the heck out of her. “Okay, so what do we do first?”
Heaven drops her board to the ground, controlling it in a smooth motion with the toe of her sneaker, then she moves so the skateboard is right between us. “Gimme your hands.” I put my hands in her open palms, and my skin starts to tingle at the way she’s being so gentle with my fingers on my busted side.
“Okay, step up, one foot at a time. I got you. I did this with Bethany too. She loved it.”
“Are you trying to make me jealous?” I ask as I stand on the skateboard. It jerks and rolls not even a half an inch, but it’s enough to make me feel like I’m falling off a building. Heaven steadies me, though.
“Maybe.” She slowly starts walking, still gripping my hands. She tows me along with her.
“You’re a flirt, you know that? When did that happen?”
“I mean, it’s your fault. You keep calling me ‘Cutie’ and sending me sweet texts. I’m just trying to match your energy.”
“I mean, I’m crushing on you pretty hard. I just thought it would be rude not to.”
“Mm-hmm.”
We’re moving real slow. It feels like I could fall at any moment. Every tiny groove in the cement pops under the wheels. We go a few feet before Heaven pivots and starts moving me back the way we came. We do this three times, back and forth. Every pass, Heaven moves a little faster. Soon she speeds up to a little jog, and we zip back and forth across the hard top, and it’s the most amazing thing I’ve ever felt. The air whips past my face. My hands grip Heaven’s a little bit harder. I can’t stop myself from laughing as she speeds up even more.
Eventually, she brings me and the board to a gentle stop, but my heart is still racing. I hold on to her shoulders as I step off and ignore the shiver that runs through me when she steadies me with a hand around my waist. She kicks the board up with one smooth motion of her toe and lifts it off the ground.
“You get it now?” she asks. She’s actually smiling. Like a huge smile. I’ve never seen her smile like this before.
“Ah yeah,” I reply, still breathless. “That was amazing. I don’t think I could do it on my own without breaking something. I mean breaking something else.”
“The chances of breaking something are likeninety-seven percent. Jake broke his ankle in eighth grade trying to show off down by the pier. Axel’s broken his arm twice,” Heaven replies as she steps a little closer to me. I put my hand on her waist and step even closer.
“Well, I guess people injure themselves playing basketball all the time. There’s nothing scarier than watching someone go left after a rebound and their whole kneecap cutting to the right. Or you know, tripping over their own feet and breaking their arm and face.”
“Nah, you’re tough now, though.” She lightly lifts up my cast. “Look at all this street cred.”
“Yeah. It’s pretty gnarly. So, you gonna show meyourskills? Without breaking anything, I hope.”
“Are you sure you’re ready? You might fall completely in love with me.”
“I promise to control myself. I’m gonna laugh my ass off if you’re low-key terrible at skating.”
She glares back at me. “Look up directions to the closest emergency room just in case. Come on.”
I follow her over to this ramp thing that looks like an empty swimming pool. There’s this cool LBC mural spray-painted on the inside. Heaven walks over to the edge, tips her board up, and just drops in. I’ve seen Jake skate a pool ramp like this on his BeeBop, but it’s completely different watching the object of your affection fling herself into a concrete ditch—it’s a lot to handle.
Luckily, Heaven doesn’t die. She coasts to the side of the pool and flips the board around in midair with a twist of her feet before dropping down again. She comes back nearme and lands on her feet, catching the board with her hand. I’m stunned, I can’t lie, and thinking about asking her never to do that again. I glance over at Heaven before I look down into the death trap she just escaped. I look back at her as she casually wipes a bead of sweat off her forehead.
“That was the most stressful thirty seconds of my life,” I say.
