A/N: This chapter is dedicated to the the memory of my beloved kitten, Greggo, who died unexpectedly this weekend. A pet as loving and as special as you didn't deserve to die so soon.
On a happier note, I'd like to thank Scott and Aaron for their very positive reviews. Keep 'em coming!

When Val and Twister entered the house, there were two extra people at the kitchen table; but they weren't Chuy and Roderick. The first person was a very large boy, about 6'2" and over 200 pounds: brown hair with blond tips stuck out from underneath his trucker hat. He was wearing faded Wrangler jeans and a black T-shirt with the Van Halen logo on it.
The second person was a short girl who had curly chocolate brown hair cut in a pageboy. She had quite a few freckles. She was dressed in a lavendar zip-up sweatshirt, a pink t-shirt that said "Cheer" across the front, embroidered denim capris, and bubblegum pink Converse Chuck Taylors.

Val smiled at them. "Twister, meet my friends Kerri and Jacob."

Twister shook hands with the pair, who were apparently siblings. Kerri hugged Val.

"How come you weren't at the beach party a couple days ago?" Twister asked.

"We were in Arizona," Kerri explained.

"How was it?" Val wanted to know.

"Does 'Arizona' mean 'surface of the sun?'" said Jacob. "I had to throw out one of my shirts 'cause it got so rank."

"How'd the contest go?" his fellow skater asked.

"Contest?" said Twister, not up to speed on Val's friends.

"Jacob is a sponsored skater for Birdhouse." Val clarified.

"Did someone say 'Birdhouse?'" Otto poked his head around the kitchen doorway. "As in owned by Tony Hawk Birdhouse? As in the team with the best skaters on the planet?"

"Yep," said Jacob. "I did okay. I mean, I got fourth place."

"Speaking of Birdhouse, Jacob has great news for Val." said Kerri.

"How would you like to have this?" Jacob held up a hot-off-the-truck Birdhouse skateboard. "All you have to do is sign a few papers, and it's all yours. The bigwigs upstairs wanna put you on the team."

Val's eyes popped; a blush crept to her cheeks.

"Are you serious?" Otto asked. "You--you can't be. V-Val hasn't competed in over a year. How could this happen?"

Jacob shrugged. "You got me. I'm just the messenger."

Will Val accept the offer? Find out in Chapter 15, coming soon!