Brazen Girl by Ali Dean Page 0,58
his mouth. “The same Friday Southskate starts.”
Beck’s face breaks into a smile. “We can make out in front of everyone after we compete instead of making a statement.”
Zora cheers. “Yes! That will show Camila!”
“I just don’t want the added pressure of having to beat her. You guys are going to be all bummed if I don’t beat her and honestly unless Sarah Kase falls a lot I’m definitely not in a position to beat her.”
Ellie raises her hand. “By the way, how did Camila even make the finals on Shred Live? That’s bullshit.”
“It was rigged,” Griff says from the phone.
Lucy pats my arm. “No, Jordan, there’s no way we’d be disappointed. We just want to see you have fun out there. Besides, if you don’t beat her, you can stick it to her when you make out with Beck.”
I can feel the excitement from everyone, and there’s energy vibrating through me too, but not all of it is good. There’s anxiety too.
“What if I have a panic attack?”
“Then we’ll all be there for you,” Ellie says in a reassuring tone before adding, “And you can still make out with Beck in front of everyone.”
“You won’t have a panic attack,” Zora says with so much confidence I almost believe her.
“When do I have to decide by?” I ask Griff.
“Tomorrow. Brie’s supposed to get back to them by tomorrow afternoon.”
Beck rubs my back, and I look at him. “What do you think I should do?” He’s the only one who witnessed me unable to skate. He knows just how far I’ve come and how far I have to go.
“I want you to do it. For you. Not for me, or Griff, or even your friends. Sorry,” he adds, shooting them a little smile. “If it helps to motivate you, you can try to beat Camila, because I know you will anyway, but don’t do it just for that either. Do it because you want to compete and it’ll be fun.”
“Do it!” Ellie whisper-shouts.
Zora starts chanting, “Do it! Do it! Do it!” And everyone chimes in, even Griff.
Beck, however, whispers in my ear, “But you can always come just to watch me and I’ll still grab your ass in front of everyone and stick my tongue down your throat. It’s up to you.”
“It’s street and park, right?” I confirm. Even though I already know Southskate has a contest for both styles, that doesn’t mean both spots are open. I’m better at park, but someday I want to try competing in street too.
“Yeah, you could probably just do one and Brie could do the other, but I think you should just do both,” Griff answers.
“I know I should sleep on it first,” I finally cut off my little fan club. “But I don’t want to overthink it. I’ll do it.” I rush out the words and a wave of excitement and anxiety hits me all at once.
“And tomorrow, I’ll open a social media account again.”
I figure why not go all in while I’m at it?
Chapter Twenty-Three
Beck
“Wait, you mean you didn’t skateboard, like at all, from the day you crashed until Beck came to visit you in April?” Summer asks Jordan as we pile into my van after an awesome morning session at Rampas.
“No, I wasn’t even cleared until three months after the crash.”
“Yeah, but you still could have skated, just not verts,” Naomi points out the obvious.
“I know, but I couldn’t even get on a skateboard to go down my parents’ driveway. I still don’t really know what was wrong with me.”
“Well, you aren’t skating now like you took any time off. If I saw you skating and didn’t know you, I’d be like, she’s definitely a pro,” Summer tells Jordan.
“Well she is a pro, or she will be officially in a couple of days,” I tell them.
“What?” Naomi nearly shrieks. “Are you repping Brazen again?”
Jordan twists in the passenger seat as I crank the AC.
“Yep. Griff’s getting the contract ready and I’m going to Southskate Fest.”
“No way,” Summer says. “Seriously? How did we not know any of this?”
“Because I decided this last night at like eleven. Past my bedtime, so maybe I wasn’t in the right state of mind. Could have been peer pressure. My roommates want me to do it so I can beat Camila.” I notice she doesn’t mention Sarah Kase. Jordan thinks the one time she beat her was a fluke, but I know better.
“Oh, hell yeah,” Naomi shouts. “Wait, did you watch the show?”
“Binge watched the entire thing yesterday