Page 6 of Double Trouble

I cross an x over my heart. Damn, I hope I didn’t just lie to her.

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I don’t get an answer from Mad until it’s past ten-thirty. I’m still at work… decided to mop the whole place while I had it out. And well, there was a part of me that hoped she’d text back while we were closing, and she could get some ride time in. Pete often looks the other way when she comes in while we close.

But no go, and her text makes it seem like she’s not coming in for a while.

Not tonight. It’s been a day. Probably gonna ease up on the training for a bit.

My brow furrows, confusion pulling at the threads in my mind of what I know about this amazing girl. If it’s been a day, that would give her more motivation to show. Boarding is her catharsis. Watching her feels like mine.

Not to be that guy… but that doesn’t sound like you,I type.

It’s not.

I wait for her to elaborate, but she doesn’t. The last light above the halfpipe turns off, plunging me into semi-darkness.

It’d be easy… to sneak her in. She needs her boarding, and I know I’m only talking to her via text, but I can tell it’ll help.

I quick check outside the Wheel Zone, eyeing the main entrance to Troublemakers. The manager’s office has its light on, but other than that, it’s just me left to close up.

Pete won’t check on me. He won’t come near the Wheel Zone… I mean, unless he just makes sure I turned the lights out. But he’ll be out of here soon.

My heart pumps double time as the doors to the Wheel Zone click shut and echo in the surrounding blackness. Shit, if we get caught, not only could I lose my job, Mad might get banned from Troublemakers indefinitely. Maybe get a trespassing charge. I’d take the fall one hundred percent. Still, it has me hesitating over our message thread, wondering if I should make the offer.

Bubbles pop up, and I hold my breath and wait for her message first.

Honestly, Tanner… I don’t think I’ll be boarding. There aren’t a ton of skate parks close by, and the other really good training arena is at Troublemakers, and you close RIDICULOUSLY early??I just don’t see how boarding is in the cards for me right now.

Again, it may be text only, but I know grief when I hear it… or read it, I guess. Her heart is cracking under whatever pressure she’s going through, and being the selfless person she is, she’s giving up the one thing that she does for herself.

Suddenly, I don’t give a shit if I get fired.

Okay, Brink. I’m offering one more time, and this time I’m dead serious. Get to Troublemakers and meet me at the back door near the dumpsters. You and your board will have the half-pipe for as long as you need.

I keep the screen open, my heart thumping through my ears and brain. I know her well enough that she’ll want to say no. She’ll know exactly how this might affect my job. She won’t want to risk it, and I prepare for many, many messages to argue and convince her that she needs to train. Her sponsorship is her dream, and she can’t give it up when she’s so close.

It's so long I start to wonder if she’s just gone to bed. I peek out the Wheel Zone doors and see the office light off and Pete nowhere in sight.

“Hello?” I call out into the empty space. Nothing. It’s kinda creepy being here by myself, knowing there are alarms set and any moment I could get caught and canned.

I duck into the Wheel Zone and use my phone’s flashlight and make my way to the back door, past all the garbage bins. Still crickets from Mad, so I assume she went to bed or didn’t take my offer seriously.

It’s just as well. Sneaking her in and then asking her out wasn’t exactly how I pictured the moment. Damn, I really was relying on that Yoda pulling the weight.

I bump the door open with my butt, and as the smells of campfire and late summer night greet me, I get a slight scent of apples and rubber smell I only associate with…

“Uh… heya.”

I peer around the door, and standing behind it is Brink, her hazel eyes cautious and a little embarrassed. Pink tinges her cheeks, and her long dark hair waves around her bare shoulders.

She came. She’s here, her board in hand, her helmet on her head, her spirit dampened but not broken. She looks ready to ride it out, and I can’t wait to watch her.

An auto-smile wraps my lips, and I prop the door open with my foot. “Ready to break a few rules?”

Pieces of my soul fasten together with every drop-in and grind. Every grab and slide and switch and fakie and ollie produces another thread that joins one piece of my split soul to another, and by the time I’m doused in sweat, my muscles aching from exertion, I feel whole again.

I skid to a stop next to Tanner by one of the railings, his forehead glistening under the overhead lights, his hair damp and matted, his helmet resting next to his foot on his board. He rolls the board back and forth, taking a deep swig from his water bottle. He chose to board with me, occasionally taking his phone out and filming. If Tanner isn’t on a board, he’s recording something. Mostly me.

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