Hi guys! Here's another one-shot. It's not as fluffy as the other one, but it's pretty light. I decided to try my hand at something other than what I've done before.

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Alex Rider no matter how much I pray. Only one person gets the ultimate right to claim him. I do, however, claim the plot and people you may not recognize (which comes to a grand total of two).Sk8r Boi

Alex sighed in frustration as he ran a hand through his fair hair. He stared at the latest homework assignment on his desk. The numbers were starting to blur together and no matter how he turned the page, they just didn't make sense. With a barely audible growl, he pushed away from his desk and walked over to his window.

From his vantage point, he could see the signs of life going on. People were out in the summer sun planting flower gardens and playing in the water sprinklers. Once again, he was in his room catching up on school work that should have been done half a term ago. Once again, MI6 had dictated how his life was supposed to be. If it wasn't for the constant missions, he wouldn't be out of school so much and he wouldn't have so much to catch up on. Usually, he held his tongue and finished what he was supposed to do, giving up any chance of taking a much deserved break. Not anymore.

Alex was tired of living a double life. Sure, he enjoyed the challenge that came with going on missions, but he hated coming home to pick up the pieces that were his life. He hated the fact that he couldn't blow off a homework assignment or two because if he did, he would fail and failing was not and option. He hated that he didn't have any alone time to do what he wanted to do. All that was about to change.

He turned away from his window and walked straight to his closet. He rummaged around for a few moments before pulling out a pair of baggy shorts, a shirt, and deck shoes. He closed the door with his foot and proceeded to change out of his horrible school uniform. Minutes later, he stood in front of the mirror he had put up behind his door and smiled. In his place, he saw a regular sixteen year old boy with fair hair hanging his in eyes wearing khaki shorts, a white shirt with DC written across it in black lettering, and brown DC deck shoes. Nothing about this boy said he was a spy or that he was on the verge of failing. This boy was carefree and Alex liked that. Before he left out of his room, he grabbed a baseball cap.

Alex thundered down the stairs and almost bumped into Jack, who had the phone glued to her ear. Whoever she was talking to seemed to match her personality because the conversation was going non-stop.

"Are you going out?" she asked in between agreeing with the person on the other end of the phone.

"For a bit," he said grabbing his keys off the hook in the kitchen.

"Okay. Call me if you're going to be out later than seven," she said before grabbing an orange and retreating upstairs.

With a nod she didn't see, Alex opened the door that led to the garage and walked in. He scanned the room before his eyes settled on his skateboard. It was by Blind. The top of the deck was covered in deck tape of all colors. The bottom of the deck was light and dark blue with the Blind Reaper Ripper standing in front of the words. He sat on an upturned bucket and placed the board across his lap. With experienced hands, he went over the board making sure that everything was in working condition. Satisfied, he put it down and stepped on it and did an Ollie. When he was done, he left out of the garage and walked back into the kitchen before leaving out of the front door. He hopped on the board and took off towards the closest tube station.

888

Alex got off the tube in the heart of London. He walked passed business people getting off of work. He thought of skating in between them but he knew that that would only irritate them to the point of explosion. With a smirk, he put his board down and skated between them anyway. He laughed out loud when he heard them shouting behind him. He heard "damn kids," "stupid skateboards," and all kinds of crude comments. It didn't take him long to get where he wanted to be: the skate park. When he walked through the gate, he smiled at the sight.

Boys and girls where skating in half pipes and quarter pipes, grinding on rails and anything else that could give them big air while music heavy with guitar rifts filled the air. Those that didn't come to skate stood around talking or eating something from the vendor on the other side of the park. The park wasn't busy since it was a school night, but most of the equipment was being used. Alex skated around until he found the pool empty. He brushed his bangs back and put his hat back on. With a deep breath, he pushed off and entered a world where he ignored everything but the board under his feet and the concrete under that.

When he couldn't see anything from the sweat running into his eyes, Alex took a break, only to find the sides of the pool filled with incredulous faces.

"Can I help you?" he asked wiping his face with a towel he stashed in a pocket.

"Where did you learn to do that?" a bloke asked.

Alex looked at him. He had a red Mohawk and multiple lip piercings.

"Nowhere."

"Oh, come off it. I've never seen anyone pull off grinding fakie before without falling on their ass," he said.

"I didn't learn that anywhere. I just stepped on the board and did it," Alex protested but the bloke didn't seem too convinced. "I'm serious."

"Leave him alone, Chris."

Alex watched the crowd part to allow a girl through. She was wearing baggy cut off sweat pants and a camo tank top that showed off a belly ring. Her dark hair was styled in a pixie cut with neon pink hi-lights. "Chris" seemed to back down but, just a little bit.

"Riley, I swear to you that he was grinding the rail fakie," Chris said.

"I didn't say I didn't believe you," she said in an American accent. She turned her brown eyes to Alex and smiled. "Chris doesn't think that anyone can skate better than he can and when he sees someone that can, it takes him a while to comprehend his new discovery."

Alex could see Chris was flushing and he wanted to diffuse the situation before Chris ended up needing stitches.

"Could you tell him to comprehend his discovery calmly?" Alex asked her.

"Don't worry. He's harmless." She looked at Chris and corrected herself. "Mostly harmless. I'm Riley by the way."

"Alex."

"Well, Alex, would you mind company down there?"

It was then that Alex saw that she had one foot propped up on a skateboard. With a shrug, he watched as Riley pushed off and completed a circuit of the pool before coming to a stop next to him.

"Shall we?" she asked and Alex saw that she had a dimple in her left cheek and a nose stud.

"After you."

Riley didn't need to be told twice. She took off and promptly grinded the closest rail. Alex took off after her. The crowd on the edges stayed where they were watching with interest. Chris didn't like the cold shoulder Riley threw his way so he left, not that he was missed. A few more brave souls decided to join in on the fun and time seemed to fly by. Before he knew it, the clock on his phone read 7:15 and there were six voice messages from Jack. Excusing himself from his new bunch of admirers, Alex called Jack.

"Where are you?" she asked.

"I'm at the park."

"Why haven't you called?"

"I got held up but I'm calling you now," he said rushing the last bit so he could say it before Jack cut him off again.

"Held up doing what?" she asked suspiciously.

"Talking."

"About?"

"Skateboards."

"Oh."

Alex could tell she was a little embarrassed about being so pushy but he knew she was just worried.

"I'm fine, Jack, although I might be late getting in."

"How late?"

"Eleven, maybe?"

"Alex Rider! Have you lost your mind?! It's a school night!"

"I know."

"You know?! Are you feeling okay?"

"Better than I have in a while. Look, I got to go. They're calling me. Bye."

He hung up before she could object anymore. He wanted to be normal and coming home late on a school night was number one on his normal list. With a smirk, he turned his phone on silent and went back to join the discussion he left. Riley looked up as he approached.

"Are you in or what?" she asked with a smile.

"Count me in."

"Well, then. Let's be off," she said as stepped on the edge of her board to pop it into her waiting hand.

Heehee. A little cliff hanger there. I wonder what they could be going off to do? Hmm. Anyway, drop me a line or two if you liked it or not or if you want me to write something else to go with this. I'm sorry if this offended any die hard skaters. Everything up above came from my brother and skateboard.. Hopefully I didn't put anyone off of skating with my horrible term usage. I tried although I hope that the imagery is enough to let your imagination run with it. Enough from me. Until then... -RC