long distance

e i g h t

"so vinnie had a girl over last night" alex says into his camera
"no oh my god you can't start it like that" i tell him
"i need some source of clickbait"
"well then in that case, hi i'm the girl"
"this is bri, her and vinnie are hooking up"
"okay no"
"friends"
"yes"
"with benefits"
"no"
"okay you gotta give me something"
"i flew a thousand miles to meet vinegar hacker" i tell the camera
"perfect"

with that vinnie comes down the stairs looking a little annoyed.
"what's wrong" michael asks
"my fucking head hurts"
"i gave you advil last night"
"that's funny" calvin laughs
"drink water and take more pain killers" i tell him
he nods and sits at the table after grabbing a water, the advil had been left out on the counter for anyone who needed it last night.

"what do you wanna do today" he asks
"i don't care"
"you gotta have something in mind"
"i don't"
"do you know how to skateboard"
"no"
"i can teach you"
"will i get hurt"
"probably not"
"fine"
"if you wear jeans and a t shirt you should be good"
"jeans? won't it like hurt if i land wearing jeans"
"they're more comfortable than you would think"
"i'll head upstairs and start to get ready"
"wait where are you going" dixie asks
"to get ready for the day, wanna come"
"yeah" she grabs her yogurt off the counter and follows behind me up the stairs.

"what's up for today" she asks me
"vinnie will be attempting to teach me how to skateboard"
"that's so cute" she puffs out her bottom lip
"it won't last that long, i'll fall and give up"
"nah we'll all be cheering you on"
"that's even worse"
i put on loose blue jeans and a brown sweatshirt, it was windy and misting so i figured we really wouldn't be out there that long.
vinnie walked into his room and grabbed a gray sweatshirt putting it on.
"i'll wait downstairs" i tell him
he nods and i drag dixie back downstairs with me.

"where are you guys off too" alex asks
"i think it's safe to say i'm not sure" i tell him
"we're going to the parking lot on northview, today's the day bri learns to skate" vinnie says as he walks down the stairs.
"yeah there's no way we're missing this" thomas grabs his camera and meets us at the door.
"this is so embarrassing" i tell him
"you're good, it's all fun"
"it's like a five minute walk from here" he says and grabs his board.

"alright you're gonna jump and the board will flip, then you'll land. i'll show you first then you'll try"
"i have no idea what you even said"
he laughs and takes the board doing exactly what he had just told me to do. it looked simple but there was no way i wouldn't fall.
"you got it, just don't think about it"
"maybe you should do it one more time"
"i'll help you the first few tries but you're gonna get it by the time we're done"
"okay"

he puts the board down in front of me and stand on the other side of it.
"this is not going to end well alex if then ends up in your vlog i'll kill you, same to you thomas"
"pretend they're not here, focus on the board"
vinnie puts his hands on my hips while mine rest on his biceps.
"i'll count to three and you jump, try to go a bit forward not just straight up"
"okay"
"3...2...1..."
i jump up and land on the board but lean way too far back, vinnie keeps me stabilized leaving over me but keeping me off of the ground.
"woah"
"i got you" he says
"maybe skateboarding just really isn't my thing"
"give it a few tries"

after multiple attempts, laugh and falls i was just about ready to give up.
"one more then we'll be done"
"vin" i sigh
"one more bri"
"fine"
i jump on this board this time actually landing and steadying myself.
"there it is" vin cheers
"finally" i groan

"now let's try a shuv it"
"a what it?"
"the board is gonna rotate while you're on it"
"watch"
he takes the board from my hand and does whatever he just called it, and he landed it.
"practice scooping the board with you back foot" he says and positions my feet in place.
"this is too hard" i groan after 'scooping' the board a few times.

"let's try it, alex you might wanna film
this" he says
"no alex do not"
"i listen to vinnie so i don't get punished later sorry"
"ew" i laugh
"ready" he asks
"nope"
his hands go on my hips while mine go on his arms again.
i jump up and begin to move the board with my back foot when vinnie lifts me higher than expected and pulls me closer to him, i wrap legs around his waist while he rotates the board under my feet and plants me back down.
"a true skater" he says
"what can i say, i'm a girl of many talents" i laugh.

"and there's my clickbait" alex says
"there has to be a more interesting thing than us" vinnie tells him
"not even close"
he walks off with kouvr and watches michael skate leaving dixie vinnie and i.
"go skate vin, i've had my fun"
"come here for a sec"
"what"
"i wanna see if we can both be on it and skate"
"you are a dork"
i do as he says grabbing his hand in the process but we had managed to do it with dixie snapping a pic for her own enjoyment.
"alright i need to get off this thing before i break my leg"

i sit on the ground with dixie watching all the guys do there tricks.
"you know that was really cute what he did right?" she says
"he would have done the same if it were you and you were done with skating and wanted to make you smile." i tell her
"you really don't think he's into you?"
"no, i think we're good friends"
"come on bri, he's been happier in the last two days than he has the past two months."
"i don't know, i don't wanna get the wrong idea in my head about what we could be"
"then talk to him" she suggests
"i refuse to have the whole feelings conversation with him when i don't even know how i feel"
"i guess that makes sense but it has to come up soon"
"then i'll wait"
"the picture i took is cute, i'll send it to you"

my phone buzzes and i look at the picture smiling to myself, i had no idea where vin and i were going but i knew it was trouble.