Chapter 13
The lodge was quiet for the next couple of days. Griff and Zoe had their feuds, but Griff and I stopped talking to each other. It wasn't anything big. It wasn't like Griff and I would glare at each other during breakfast, it was more like I would pretend he wasn't there, and he would do the same.
Kaori frowned upon our behavior, but dismissed it otherwise as just being "kids". Moby had kept his promise and apologized to Griff and told him that I never told him anything, but that didn't stop Griff from ignoring me. Atomika had also seen to it that my leg was fixed up so I could still board. I talked to him about my pain during my race with Moby, and he had the medical team come in and examine me. I protested a lot (I hated doctors with a passion) but Atomika wouldn't hear of it.
Ever since my loss against Moby, I was determined to win anything at Happiness. I practiced there almost every day, sometimes with Kaori. Most of the time, I went alone. Half of the time, however, Kaori had sent Nate to watch me, incase my leg should give away like it almost did before.
On this particular day, Nate was told to follow me once again. I pretended I didn't notice him, but in the end, I turned around and called out to him.
"You know, if you're trying to follow me without me noticing, you're doin' a pretty lame job!" I said, grinning.
Nate sighed and came out from his hiding spot (a fairly large pine tree) and raised his arms in defeat. "You win, you win,"
I smirked triumphantly. "How long have you been following me out to Happiness, anyway?"
"Well, ever since you started going out to Happiness. Kaori didn't want anything to happen to you, so she forced me to baby-sit you,"
"Baby-sit?" I groaned, "I'm not a baby, you know!"
"Yeah, well, that leg of yours still hasn't healed all the way, kid," Nate said, "So, just in case..."
"Yeah, just in case..." I mumbled.
"Besides," Nate grinned cheekily, "What's wrong with me watching you? You're not that bad, Yuri,"
"Really?" I blushed, "You really think so?"
Nate nodded, "I'd like to see you put those skills you got to work in next week's race. You got a tough line-up, I hear,"
I sighed, "You're right. I have to go against Allegra. I'm a little worried, I heard from Elise and Zoe that she totally kicks!"
"Totally kicks?" Nate chuckled, "You're really starting to use their vocabulary, aren't you? Anyway, I wasn't talking about Allegra, Yuri, I was talking about me."
"You?"
"Yeah, you have to race me next week,"
"Oh no..." I buried my face in my hands.
"What's wrong? You know I totally kick?"
"No, it's not that. You're my friend, Nate. When I smash your face into the snow, you're not gonna stop talking to me, are you?"
Nate looked a little dumbfounded at first, but then laughed, "Sure, sure, don't worry about it. As long as I can push you down first,"
I rolled my eyes, "Nope, not gonna happen,"
"You know, for a girl, you got quite the ego,"
I smiled, "Yep, always have! My brother taught me that you never let your competitors think you're scared! You have to be intimidating! No matter how scared you are on the inside!"
"Well, missy," Nate started, "I think you just let your secret out,"
I opened my mouth to retaliate, but I couldn't think of anything to say.
Nate only laughed. "Yep, secrets out!"
"Big deal," I retorted, "I can still beat you fair and square,"
Nate shook his head. "Whatever you say. Now how about a run down through the course?"
"Um..."
Nate laughed again, "Not so sure about beating me now, are you?"
"You're the leader of Peak Two! You beat me by a mile in that race!"
"How about a show-off event?" Nate asked.
"No way!" I said, "I can't trick if my life depended on it!"
"C'mon, you gonna have to trick eventually! You can't move on to the next Peak if you can't!"
"I guess I lost already," I mumbled.
"No you didn't. I'll help you,"
"Really?"
"Yeah," Nate smiled, "Tomorrow, same time, same place. Okay?"
"Okay,"
***
Nate taught me everything he knew. Every morning, Nate and I would go to the top of Peak One and race down Happiness. Three days later, I could beat him. I beat him nearly every time! It was a close match every time though, and sometimes I could swear he was letting me win.
I was getting better each day, and Nate helped me practice. I kind of felt for Nate, like in a big brother way. He was so cool and nice to me ever since I first met him!
Nate and I were practicing one morning (I was burying his face in the snow, I was so good!) when Mac showed up. I could feel my cheeks go red when I saw Mac watching me. I widened my eyes in shock and gasped when I landed.
"Mac! What're you doing here?"
"You been practicing here every mornin'?"
I nodded. "With Nate. He's been teaching me everything he knows."
"Yo, Yuri, show me what you got trickwise," He proudly, "I'll screw you up, girl!"
I raised an eyebrow, "Hmph. From what I hear you lost your throne to Allegra,"
Mac huffed, I could see the anger in his eyes at the mention of "Allegra", "That doesn't stop me from keeping you outta the way,"
Nate came up behind me and glared at him. "Don't try anything stupid, Mac. She just healed from the accident with Stark,"
Mac ignored him, "I wanna see what the kid's got,"
"I wouldn't be calling me kid," I said playfully, "You don't act so grown up yourself,"
Mac's face flushed.
I smiled, "I'm just playing, now are we gonna race or what?"
Mac nodded, "Alright, prepare to lose,"
"Being cocky so he won't know you're scared?" Nate whispered in my ear.
I nodded.
"Let's do this,"
"Happiness course. See you at the end, girl," With that, Mac pushed off. I groaned and pushed off myself.
I turned up my M-comm full blast and tried to ignore the nervousness in my as I listened to "Thrice". I liked that song. Everytime it came on it gave me a new confidence.
I was going to start out simple. I did a 180 on the ground to build up speed. This was it. I was going to get Mac out of my way, and then I was going to beat Allegra.
"It doesn't matter who makes it down the bottom first," I whispered, still trying to calm myself down. "It's all about the tricks..."
I saw an approaching ramp and bent my legs a little so I could push off.
"Round About Spinster!" I shouted, executing the trick perfectly, "Hell yeah!"
I could hear Nate laughing behind me when "Thrice" ended and Atomika was talking on the radio. Suddenly, I heard Atomika say my name.
"Yes, Yuri Yoshioka is currently duking it out with Mac "Smack" Fraser on Peak One's Happiness course! Yuri, if you're listening, good luck, girl. You need a lot of points to match up to the race you missed,
I rolled my eyes.
"If she wins, she gets a total of $7,500 and a shit load of points!"
I gasped. He had to be joking. He had to be joking.
Joking or not, I leaned forward. I wasn't going to let Mac win now. I performed a forward flip while grabbing the nose of my board and laying down on it. Nate taught me that the more you move around on your board, the more points you rack up.
I needed points...I was so far behind everyone that it wasn't even funny!
I closed my eyes and prayed that by some miracle I could beat the Mac Fraser.
The lodge was quiet for the next couple of days. Griff and Zoe had their feuds, but Griff and I stopped talking to each other. It wasn't anything big. It wasn't like Griff and I would glare at each other during breakfast, it was more like I would pretend he wasn't there, and he would do the same.
Kaori frowned upon our behavior, but dismissed it otherwise as just being "kids". Moby had kept his promise and apologized to Griff and told him that I never told him anything, but that didn't stop Griff from ignoring me. Atomika had also seen to it that my leg was fixed up so I could still board. I talked to him about my pain during my race with Moby, and he had the medical team come in and examine me. I protested a lot (I hated doctors with a passion) but Atomika wouldn't hear of it.
Ever since my loss against Moby, I was determined to win anything at Happiness. I practiced there almost every day, sometimes with Kaori. Most of the time, I went alone. Half of the time, however, Kaori had sent Nate to watch me, incase my leg should give away like it almost did before.
On this particular day, Nate was told to follow me once again. I pretended I didn't notice him, but in the end, I turned around and called out to him.
"You know, if you're trying to follow me without me noticing, you're doin' a pretty lame job!" I said, grinning.
Nate sighed and came out from his hiding spot (a fairly large pine tree) and raised his arms in defeat. "You win, you win,"
I smirked triumphantly. "How long have you been following me out to Happiness, anyway?"
"Well, ever since you started going out to Happiness. Kaori didn't want anything to happen to you, so she forced me to baby-sit you,"
"Baby-sit?" I groaned, "I'm not a baby, you know!"
"Yeah, well, that leg of yours still hasn't healed all the way, kid," Nate said, "So, just in case..."
"Yeah, just in case..." I mumbled.
"Besides," Nate grinned cheekily, "What's wrong with me watching you? You're not that bad, Yuri,"
"Really?" I blushed, "You really think so?"
Nate nodded, "I'd like to see you put those skills you got to work in next week's race. You got a tough line-up, I hear,"
I sighed, "You're right. I have to go against Allegra. I'm a little worried, I heard from Elise and Zoe that she totally kicks!"
"Totally kicks?" Nate chuckled, "You're really starting to use their vocabulary, aren't you? Anyway, I wasn't talking about Allegra, Yuri, I was talking about me."
"You?"
"Yeah, you have to race me next week,"
"Oh no..." I buried my face in my hands.
"What's wrong? You know I totally kick?"
"No, it's not that. You're my friend, Nate. When I smash your face into the snow, you're not gonna stop talking to me, are you?"
Nate looked a little dumbfounded at first, but then laughed, "Sure, sure, don't worry about it. As long as I can push you down first,"
I rolled my eyes, "Nope, not gonna happen,"
"You know, for a girl, you got quite the ego,"
I smiled, "Yep, always have! My brother taught me that you never let your competitors think you're scared! You have to be intimidating! No matter how scared you are on the inside!"
"Well, missy," Nate started, "I think you just let your secret out,"
I opened my mouth to retaliate, but I couldn't think of anything to say.
Nate only laughed. "Yep, secrets out!"
"Big deal," I retorted, "I can still beat you fair and square,"
Nate shook his head. "Whatever you say. Now how about a run down through the course?"
"Um..."
Nate laughed again, "Not so sure about beating me now, are you?"
"You're the leader of Peak Two! You beat me by a mile in that race!"
"How about a show-off event?" Nate asked.
"No way!" I said, "I can't trick if my life depended on it!"
"C'mon, you gonna have to trick eventually! You can't move on to the next Peak if you can't!"
"I guess I lost already," I mumbled.
"No you didn't. I'll help you,"
"Really?"
"Yeah," Nate smiled, "Tomorrow, same time, same place. Okay?"
"Okay,"
***
Nate taught me everything he knew. Every morning, Nate and I would go to the top of Peak One and race down Happiness. Three days later, I could beat him. I beat him nearly every time! It was a close match every time though, and sometimes I could swear he was letting me win.
I was getting better each day, and Nate helped me practice. I kind of felt for Nate, like in a big brother way. He was so cool and nice to me ever since I first met him!
Nate and I were practicing one morning (I was burying his face in the snow, I was so good!) when Mac showed up. I could feel my cheeks go red when I saw Mac watching me. I widened my eyes in shock and gasped when I landed.
"Mac! What're you doing here?"
"You been practicing here every mornin'?"
I nodded. "With Nate. He's been teaching me everything he knows."
"Yo, Yuri, show me what you got trickwise," He proudly, "I'll screw you up, girl!"
I raised an eyebrow, "Hmph. From what I hear you lost your throne to Allegra,"
Mac huffed, I could see the anger in his eyes at the mention of "Allegra", "That doesn't stop me from keeping you outta the way,"
Nate came up behind me and glared at him. "Don't try anything stupid, Mac. She just healed from the accident with Stark,"
Mac ignored him, "I wanna see what the kid's got,"
"I wouldn't be calling me kid," I said playfully, "You don't act so grown up yourself,"
Mac's face flushed.
I smiled, "I'm just playing, now are we gonna race or what?"
Mac nodded, "Alright, prepare to lose,"
"Being cocky so he won't know you're scared?" Nate whispered in my ear.
I nodded.
"Let's do this,"
"Happiness course. See you at the end, girl," With that, Mac pushed off. I groaned and pushed off myself.
I turned up my M-comm full blast and tried to ignore the nervousness in my as I listened to "Thrice". I liked that song. Everytime it came on it gave me a new confidence.
I was going to start out simple. I did a 180 on the ground to build up speed. This was it. I was going to get Mac out of my way, and then I was going to beat Allegra.
"It doesn't matter who makes it down the bottom first," I whispered, still trying to calm myself down. "It's all about the tricks..."
I saw an approaching ramp and bent my legs a little so I could push off.
"Round About Spinster!" I shouted, executing the trick perfectly, "Hell yeah!"
I could hear Nate laughing behind me when "Thrice" ended and Atomika was talking on the radio. Suddenly, I heard Atomika say my name.
"Yes, Yuri Yoshioka is currently duking it out with Mac "Smack" Fraser on Peak One's Happiness course! Yuri, if you're listening, good luck, girl. You need a lot of points to match up to the race you missed,
I rolled my eyes.
"If she wins, she gets a total of $7,500 and a shit load of points!"
I gasped. He had to be joking. He had to be joking.
Joking or not, I leaned forward. I wasn't going to let Mac win now. I performed a forward flip while grabbing the nose of my board and laying down on it. Nate taught me that the more you move around on your board, the more points you rack up.
I needed points...I was so far behind everyone that it wasn't even funny!
I closed my eyes and prayed that by some miracle I could beat the Mac Fraser.