String of Fate

Chapter Sixty Seven

Scarlett sat in the front seat of the car, panicking about the competition. Chase was driving and trying to give her words of encouragement in order to calm her down, but it wasn't really helping her to be calm. I knew she'd do great, we all did, but she didn't seem to think that herself. Lucas was sitting on the other side of the car with a big grump on. Chase glanced in the back seat and noticed that Lucas was in a mood. "What's wrong, Lucas?"

"He's upset because I'm here and he doesn't want me to be." I explained. Lucas turned to glare at me, not liking the fact that I had answered for him even though I had been right. "Relax. I'll be fine. I'm almost sixteen. I can take care of myself. Besides, it's an official event so it's not like I'm going to be getting into any trouble. Stop being a spoilsport."

"Your birthday isn't until tomorrow so you're still a child for the time being. You might be able to look after yourself in your house or in your school but not at a skating competition!" Lucas complained, upset that he was now needing to babysit me. "There'll be crowds of people where you could get lost, or even get hurt. What if something goes wrong with one of the skaters and you end up with a skateboard in your head?"

I groaned. He always had the same crappy argument that we had been through about a hundred times in the last week alone, and he always seemed to think of the worst possible solution. "You and Chase will look after me, anyway, so, I'll be fine!"

"How will you be fine?!" Lucas shouted.

"Geez, will you two be quiet?! Lucas, it's too late to worry about Peyton now because she's here. It'll be better if you stick with her to look after her." Scarlett exclaimed. Her nerves were making her ratty. She turned and looked at me. "Peyton, I want you to stick as close to Lucas and Chase as possible. You have to keep your phone safe and if you do get lost then I want you to ring Lucas immediately. Now, the pair of you, stop bickering like children and deal with the situation. Got it?"

"Yes." Lucas and I replied at the same time. I leaned back into the seat and turned to look out the window. I didn't know how far away we were from the arena that Scarlett was skating in. Lucas continued speaking. "Have you ever been here before, Chase?"

"No. I never went to proper skate competitions or shows. My mate from the skate park suggested it but Scarlett's a better skater than me so it was better for her to sign up." Chase explained. He glanced at Scarlett. "I'm sure you'll be fine. You've been skating for five years so you know what you're doing."

"I know but it doesn't stop nerves from creeping up." Scarlett complained. She pulled down the visor and started using the built in mirror to check her make-up and hair, not that her hair mattered because it would be messed up as soon as she moved her skateboard. "Do you think there'll be many skaters there?"

"There's twenty, but it is the amateur one, so, it's not surprising that there's so many competitors. They all had to submit their entry videos, though, so there was probably a lot more. I bet you'll be the best, though." Chase stated, turning off the motorway. The car became a little quiet until Chase continued, turning down a dual carriageway off the roundabout. "It won't be long now and you'll be back on your board. I can't believe you made it to the finals, though. All your hard work has paid off."

"I just had a good teacher." Scarlett said, smiling at him even though he was concentrating on the road. She had forced him to teach her to skate and now even Chase had thought that she was better than him.

An hour later, Lucas and I were standing at the front of one of the stands overlooking the skating arena. There was a bunch of ramps and half-pipes and metal bars for skateboard tricks. I had seen Scarlett skate before and she would be able to do some tricks to earn a good score. It had already gotten quite crowded with spectators, even though there was still another half an hour until the competition started. I had to stay close to Lucas to make sure that I didn't get lost. Lucas would kill me if I did get lost. Luckily, the three of us were standing at the front near the railings, so, we had a perfect view.