How To Skate Like Tony Hawk: A Guide By Nick Young

Chapter 2: The Teaching

The two teammates stood in the alley behind the house, one still wearing pajama pants with no shirt, the other clad in knee and elbow pads, clutching a skateboard to his chest.

"Aren't you gonna skate with me?" Larry asked, noticing that Nick did not have his skateboard with him.

"This is about teaching YOU how to skate. I already know how."

"Yeah, but can't you teach me better if you demonstrate, you know, the skateboard tricks and stuff?"

Nick rolled his eyes. "No."

Shrugging, Larry set the wheels of the board on the ground. "So, what, do I just stand on it?"

"Right. Just stand on it and I'll push you real slowly so you can get used to balancing on it and stuff."

Larry gingerly set one foot on the board, where it seemed ready to roll out from under him. Then, convinced that the board would at least stay in place, he carefully lifted up his other foot and planted next to the other. After a few seconds of being stationary, he lifted his arms up in success. "I did it!"

Nick looked up from checking texts on his phone. "Okay. Now I push you."

"Slowly," Larry reminded, feeling Nick's hands on his shoulder and thigh. When he felt himself begin to roll forward, he instinctively stuck out his arms to maintain his balance. This caused him to wobble despite only having rolled a few feet. For a brief second he thought he would fall off, but the board rolled to a stop with Larry still standing proudly on it.

"You got it! You got it!" Nick encouraged. "Now try to move yourself with your foot like in the video games."

Larry again put one foot on the board, but this time, he gently pushed off the ground with the other. With much concentration he was able to get both feet in position, but this action caused him to lose what meager forward momentum he had managed to build up, and he rolled a few more inches before stopping.

Larry and Nick stared at each other. Finally, Larry spoke. "Rad."

Nick gave the thumbs up and nodded.