Page 29 of We Shouldn't Be Together
She knocks on her helmet. “This is reinforced because I live life at the extreme.”
I can’t help grinning at her. “Yes, James, you’re very rad.”
She shoves me again, and this time I’m knocked off my skateboard. “I am!”
“Yes, okay, okay.”
“Say it!”
I can’t help laughing. “You’re more than rad. You’re more extreme than all of us combined.”
She folds her arms and juts her chin up. “Good.”
“Well…” I rub the underside of my chin. “Better than Parker and Lewis combined.”
“Hey! I heard that,” Lewis calls out, circling his skateboard around the obstacles.
Jamie clicks her tongue. “I don’t need your words to prove anything. I’ve got game.”
“And I’m trying not to have my car taken away.”
“Pfft.“ Jamie smirks. “Chicken.”
I get back on my board, push off, and when I feel the right amount of speed, I flip my board three-sixty on its axis. I let Jamie’s words linger in the air as I gain speed on another obstacle and use an ollie to jump over it. Air whips around me as I glide on the board. I lower on bended knees, taking on a ramp, and can’t help outdoing Tyler on my landing.
When I come off the ramp, I can’t help catching Jamie gawking at me.
I clear my throat as I board toward her. “You were saying something about game?”
She points around the skatepark. “Umm, yeah, I demonstrated it before you did your little party tricks.”
I fall forward with laughter. “You can’t give it up, can you?”
“Can you?” she persists.
I wave it off. “Whatever. You can live in denial.”
“Wha-ha-ta-ev-er,” she drags out the syllables, blading behind me as I brake near a bench.
I sit on the edge, rocking my skateboard with the toe of my sneaker, and fold my arms. “So I was remembering earlier today in the hallway.”
She sits beside me. “What hallway?”
“With Camila and Tabitha.”
She tenses. “It was nothing.”
“I just wanted you to know. I read Tabitha Jones the riot act in chemistry today.”
“You what?” Jamie’s brow furrows. “Why were you talking to Tabitha?”
“Because Mrs. Field had a genius idea of reassigning lab partners.”
Jamie’s chin drops, but I note the curl in the corners of her mouth. “You got reassigned to sit next to Tabitha?” She does a bad job of squashing a laugh. “Lucky you.”
“Don’t get smart with me, James,” I warn. “I was trying to tell you I did you a favor.”
“A favor? I didn’t ask for that.”
