Ever since I was 11 years old, I'd loved the feeling of having a skateboard beneath my feet. My mother Renee had been at me to take up a sport, something that didn't particularly interest me, so I'd been making excuses to get out of anything she suggested. Until one day when we headed down to the beach.

The beachside skate park was more crowded than I'd ever seen it, so we decided to see what all the fuss was about. A few pro skaters were in town, and they were shredding up the local spot, signing autographs and giving out free stuff as part of some sort of promotion. My mother quickly lost interest, but I was drawn to the sculpted concrete, and soon I was leaning against a metal railing looking down at a graffitied concrete bowl, watching every move the sweaty boys were making. It amazed me how much control they had over the planks of wood they manoeuvred on. I stood and stared for hours, after telling Renee to go on without me. I knew she wouldn't go into the water alone, but she could soak up the sun at least.

I was disappointed when the demo finished, and turned to leave, walking quickly and not looking where I was going. All of a sudden I ran right into something. A tall, sweaty, human something. I looked up into the face of one of the skaters I'd spent the afternoon watching, Dustin Dollin. I recognized him from posters and magazine covers, and I was momentarily too stunned to say or do anything. He grinned apologetically,

"Sorry dude" he said quickly, and did a double take. He looked me up and down, "Do you skate? "

For a moment I could only shake my head, but I managed to stutter "I w-was on m-m-my way t-to the bee-each."

My answer seemed to amuse him. "You're the girl who was standing by the railing all arvo eh?" He asked. I nodded, confused by his recognition. My confusion must have shown on my face, because his grin spread wider, and he explained "Sorry, we just don't get a lot of girls around this scene, so you caught my eye. Have you ever been on a board?"

I shook my head again, and he laughed and motioned for me to follow him. We weaved through the crowds past security to where the tour bus was parked. He ran inside and emerged with a skateboard. And so began one of the strangest experiences of my life... I was being given private skating lessons by a pro skater, and it was fun! I easily got my balance and started skating around, and Dustin jokingly suggested I should try an Ollie. I thought back through my memories...

The kid next door. Jack? No Jake... Jacob... Isn't an Ollie the trick he was bragging about? Yeah. As soon as he could do it, he made sure she showed everyone in the neighbourhood... How did he do it?

I strained to remember

"It's easy really. You just pop the board with one foot, and slide the other one, and stomp down."

Pop, slide, stomp. He'd repeated the words over and over until everyone got sick of it.

I looked around. No one had noticed Dustin missing yet, so there was no attention on us. I took a deep breath and thought about those annoying words.

Pop, slide, stomp.

I surprised myself when I became temporarily airborne, so much so that I missed my landing. The board shot away from beneath my feet, and I landed on my backside on the hard concrete. I looked up to see Dustin staring at me in amazement.

"How did you DO that?! Are you sure you've never skated? Little dudette that was sick as!" His smile was the biggest I'd seen it, and I smiled back. He hi-fived me, and I heard my name being called. I looked across to see that my mother had come looking for me.

"I have to go", I said starting to hand the skateboard back to him, "thank-you, this was cool"

But he refused "keep it. You're a natural" He smiled again, and my mother's calling started to gain a frantic edge. I waved goodbye, and ran towards my mother's voice, with Dustin's words echoing in my mind "You're a natural"

Okay, this is only my first fanfic. Let me know if you want me to continue, or get lost (: Incase you were wondering, Edward will be introduced in the next chapter, and Jacob in the one after. (: