I inhaled. Exhaled. I balanced my weight. Centred my gravity.
It had been a while. But I could do this.
Maybe.
Probably.
Oh god I can't do this.
"The fuck are you waiting for?" one of the boys cried out at the bottom of the half pipe. "Hurry up! You're holding up the line."
"I'm sorry!" I squeaked, instantly growing awkward and frazzled. Nope. Definitely couldn't do this.
I stepped back from my board with a feverish jolt, only to watch on horror as the green skateboard Lloyd had given me began to tilt over the side. I dove for it. Too late. Then I fell down, too.
I slid along the concrete with a hard wince, scratching up my skin big time. A chorus of grimaces and hollers came from the audience around me and I watched helplessly as another skater wiped out trying to avoid my wayward board.
I dropped my head with a groan, standing up properly with a quiet whimper and testing all my limbs. Nothing seemed to be broken, but with how injured I seemed to be anyways, it wouldn't make much of a difference.
I sighed through my nose and went to fetch my board, apologising profusely to the teen who had suffered a familiar fate. They waved it off, called it the rough of the ride, whatever that meant, and went on their way.
Skateboarding just wasn't as fun for me anymore.
I limped my way over to a bench and sat down, placing my board on the ground beside me as I brushed out grit from my injuries. They'd need cleansing with disinfectant. I wasn't looking forward to that.
"What's this?" said an annoyingly familiar voice as he swiped my skateboard from the ground and checked out the design. He snorted.
"Hey!" I cried indignantly, reaching out to snatch my board back. "Don't be a dick, Chen. Give me my skateboard back."
Chen didn't even acknowledge what I had said, instead snickering mockingly at the design on the bottom of it.
"Wait, you have a Green Ninja skateboard, when you're dating Lloyd Garmadon?!" he spat a laugh. "That's kind of hypocritical, isn't it? You're a fan of the guy who beat your boyfriend's dad to a pulp."
"Get over yourself," I rolled my eyes before successfully snatching my skateboard back. "You've given me nothing but trouble since I started school. Don't you have some nerds to do your homework or cheerleaders to unsuccessfully flirt with?"
Chen scoffed at my pissed-off tone before catching sight of my wounds. He playfully winced, making my glower darken.
"Looks like you're not having a good day."
"I'd take a thousand tumbles if it meant I didn't have to look at your face."
"Ouch."
"Good."
Chen flopped his hair over the side and scowled, trying to make himself look taller.
"Whatever," he said, checking his phone nonchalantly before beginning off down the path again. "I've got better places to be. Later, loser. Nice chatting to ya."
"Die in a fucking fire."
Chen disappeared around the corner and I finally released a breath. He was just... infuriating. He wasn't outright horrible. But he was about as annoying as the FSM was powerful.
So pretty annoying.
I slid back onto the seat and closed my eyes. I'd have to make the trek back home soon so I could treat my injuries before they got too bad, but I was too sore to move. Five more minutes...
It wasn't even beat later when another shadow fell over me. I opened my eyes, feeling the person's presence hovering before me. The black hair and multicoloured streaks weren't hard to decipher who they belonged to.
"Oh, hey, Claire," I greeted the girl in a murmur. She glanced at my scratches before sighing.
"Got yourself into trouble again?"
I shrugged.
"You know me," I said airily as I tried to make fun of it. It didn't really work. "I'm a danger to myself."
"Not going to argue with that," Claire snorted before taking the seat next to me, rolling her skateboard along the ground with her feet. She nodded towards my board. "That new?"
"Kind of," I shrugged as I placed it on the ground again. "Lloyd gave it to me after I broke my old one."
