Chapter 2: First Mistake

An announcement came from none other than the King himself, a grand peacock with vibrant plumage and a really interesting up-do. It was obviously not a good one since his face was covered in despair. I braced myself for the worst.

"Young vamps of Babylon, I'm afraid to disappoint you but the Prince will be unable to see you all since he's not feeling well. Sorry for the inconvenience."

A complete sigh could be heard by all the girls at once, including myself. Going through all this just to meet the guy was going to bother me for days. And another side of me hoped that nothing serious was happening to him…

I could see Rosie from afar and called out to her. She waved back and squeezed her way through the crowd over to me.

"Can you believe this? The most important night of our young lives and he's not here for it!" she complained.

"Hey, it's not his fault. The bird flu is spreading like crazy now…"

"Well whatever he's got I hope he gets over it. Now I won't be able to sleep without thinking about how I could've won his heart!"

Rosie was the last person to keep things to herself. In a way she was a disease that could easily infect you at the most unexpected moments. The mob of girls that once crowded the gate now dissolved and Rosie and I left for home.

This morning I realized I'd forgotten something important: I didn't repair Jet and Storm's boards! This was just great! First I didn't get married and now I wouldn't get to see my idol! This day sucked!

Only way to make things happen was to get assistance and that could only come from my dad. He was always the first one to be up and the last one to go to bed. When I went into the shop it was no surprise to me that he was right there tinkering with-Jet's board!

"Wave…where'd you acquire this board?" he asked suspiciously.

"Uh…these guys were playing around in the junkyard and I noticed that-"

"There boards were broken so you decide to go in and help them. Yes I know how you are Wave, but these are really odd looking. Are they from around here?"

"Not exactly. One of them is the son of Thunder Hawk and the other was just a friend."

"Thunder Hawk you say…" Dad's voice grew faint, "then he is one client we cannot trust."

My eyes widened. Cannot trust, I thought. What did he ever do that was so wrong?

"Wave I can't explain to you in detail but Thunder Hawk has had a history of major crimes against the Laws of Babylon. He promotes a clean image of himself through his natural gift of riding extreme gear extremely well and it's too late to erase what he's done. I'm sure his boy isn't the same way but still…I want you to keep an eye on him and his friend. Some shady things have been occurring outside these walls."

Suddenly I wasn't as eager to meet him as before. My father would've never lied to me to keep me away from something…would he? "Okay. But first could you help me get these boards done? Jet and Storm will be here in a few hours and I REALLY want to meet Thunder Hawk!"

He then gave me a serious stare. "Did you not here me? Thunder Hawk is a criminal! I will not have you see him!"

"But…" I whined.

"No more. We'll repair these boards for the boys and you will return them but you will not leave this city. Understood?"

I could merely nod for I knew only too well the wrath of my overprotective parent. He literally beat the brains out of two seagulls for making a pass at my mom! Even so I still ached for not being able to meet him.

After 3 long hours the task was done and I was more than proud to have served the son of Thunder Hawk. Dad handed me the boards and motioned me over to the door. Still a little nervous about seeing those guys again, I barely tiptoed my way to the exit when it burst open and both of them popped out. I hopped back a stared down at them on the floor.

"Man, do you know how hard it was to get here?" moaned Storm.

"Yeah, I totally had to lie to my dad just to get into this place!" Jet commented as he rose from the ground.

The first thing he noticed was my dad.

"Hey, don't I know you from somewhere pop?"

"…It's plausible…" he stated.

There was an awkward silence which was quickly broken when Storm noticed the great work we'd done.

"Oh, wow! Jet look at this! The boards look like we just got 'em!" he ravenously snatched his out of my hands.

Jet then took his and examined it carefully. "Hmm…not bad girl. Actually it's really sweet! What's your name…?"

"Wave. Wave the Swallow." I said with confidence.

"Nice. So you ready to go or what?" he asked.

I was afraid to answer because then I'd have to get embarrassed in front of these guys by my dad so I had to think of something.

"Dad, is it okay if I ride around with these guys for a while?"

You could tell by looking at him that he wasn't too keen on the idea, but he let me go anyways. Without a second thought I grabbed my Extreme Gear and left home with them. Already they had zipped across the city towards the borders and I found it difficult to keep up.

"Hey looks like you need to spend some time on your own board!" cackled Storm.

My focus grew as it was time to show these boys what I could really do. At the right time I launched into the air and spiraled gracefully then landed right next to Jet. He stared at me bluntly.

"Impressed?" I solicited hoping for a 'yes'.

"Not bad…for a frilly little girl!" he scoffed, and then burst out laughing.

I couldn't believe this guy! One minute he's cool and the next he's insulting me to tears! I felt like socking him in his pretty little face…so I did it. This made him fall off and roll backwards and I was so happy with what I'd done that I didn't notice he was bleeding.

"Geez! Look what ya did to Jet, he's gonna bleed to death!" yelled Storm rushing to Jet's aid.

He sat up and wiped his face clean. "No, it's cool Storm. Didn't expect her to hit me…so I'll just have to hit her back!"

His reaction was so fast I didn't even see it coming and he whacked me on the face with a feather used by Thunder. It stung for a long time.

"Hey," I snapped, "you can't hit me!"

"Because you're a girl right? Sorry but that stupid rule doesn't apply to me if the girl can duke it out."

Anyone who was around knew what would happen next only it didn't happen. My limit was near and my father's words hovered in my head. "Anyways, I have to go. My dad said I can't leave to meet Thunder Hawk."

"Are you gonna let him take charge of you your whole life?" wondered Jet. "You can tell I don't listen to my dad anymore because I'm getting too old for that! I'm 11 for Pete sake!"

"Yeah, me neither and I'm 14!" added Storm.

"I'm still…" I paused.

"Fine. You can let 'em control you if you want but it doesn't matter to me. I have to leave too of else my dad will catch on…"

His ride powered up and then he jumped onto it. Storm followed and I could see my dreams float away. This guy who was my one and only ticket to happiness was drifting off…I couldn't let this go on.

"Hey Jet! Wait up I've changed my mind!" I cried out to him.

He and Storm stopped and waited for me to catch up. Once we met eye to eye I noticed a smirk on his face.

"I knew you would." He said.

Then without looking back the three of us rode of into the sun, a sense of satisfaction inside me.

Yet even for that moment I knew what I was doing was wrong. I knew it was going to bite me in the tail feather later and I knew that I had disobeyed my dad. But I felt no regrets and besides nothing bad would come of it…right?