It was a clear and sunny day, in the middle of a long weekend. The weather was perfect for some outdoors activities. It is fair to say that Jake would be grinning as he and Polly walked hand in hand towards the skate park even if it was raining cats and dogs.
It was a new annex to the regular old park of their suburban neighbourhood, a new amenity the mayor had opened recently ahead of the electoral cycle. Since it was such a novelty at their bland urban landscape, it attracted many a new practitioner of the sport.
Besides, it is the perfect excuse to get out of the house and spend an afternoon together.
He brought the hand he was holding to his mouth and laid a sweet kiss on its back. "Are you nervous?"
"Not with you by my side." She grinned in response, as a manner of self-assurance.
He rolled his eyes, but Polly caught his wide-toothed smile he tried to hide from her with a turn of his head. For the entire time they were walking the ten blocks between her house and the park, her boyfriend doggedly tried to hide how excited he was, but she knew him well enough by now to know what his side-long glances meant.
To be completely honest, she never had much of an interest in skateboarding, but her great-aunt bought her a board for her last birthday, talking about some article or another about mortality rates on cardiovascular diseases and the youth these days. It had been collecting dust on her closet for months, but now is as good a time as any to learn, especially since her boyfriend had so gently volunteered to teach her.
Besides, Polly loved any excuse to be with him, and it was pretty cute how passionate he was about it.
Reaching the park, Jake led his girlfriend to a less busy corner of the circuits, placing the board he was carrying carefully on the ground. Polly followed suit, eyeing it warily.
"Are you ready to start?" He asked, looking over at her. "I'll catch you if you fall."
The girl scoffed. "Of course, you will."
He merely smirked and winked at her insinuation.
Tentatively, Polly stepped onto the board. The board started to slip out from under her the moment she stepped on. It took only a second before Jake's strong hands caught her before she fell. He shot her an encouraging smile, and straightened out her stance.
"You make this look so easy." She told him.
The blond boy shrugged. "Well, I have a lot more practice."
It took a couple of tries before Polly could actually start to move the board on her own. The balance that she had gained from many years on cheerleading proved to be helpful, though. She wonders whether Alicia or Flick would have as difficult of a time with it as she did, but then she remembered that neither would be caught dead in such a position.
She also had plenty of help. No matter what, Jake was always there behind her, keeping careful watch. It simultaneously made her feel comforted and self-conscious. Whenever she caught his eye, he smiled at her, and she could feel herself calm down.
"You know, you're actually a really good teacher." The girl told him as she slowly skated around the park, holding his hand to keep herself from falling.
He smirked. "You say that like it's surprising,"
"Because it is! I've never seen you teach anyone, anything." Polly chuckled, almost losing balance in the process. "You seem to be correcting my stance a lot, though."
"That's because I don't want you to permanently damage your knees." Jake quipped.
She shot him a knowing look. "Are you sure that's why?"
"I guess I like a hands-on approach." The blond teen admitted, placing an arm around her again for good measure.
Polly laughed. "Of course. That must be it."
They continued to ride it on the same manner for a couple more minutes before the boy held her still by the hips.
"Do you want to take a break so you can watch the master at work?" He offered his girlfriend.
"Oh, did you invite Mort over today?" She teased
His eyes opened wide, and his mouth was agape. She held his gaze for a few moments before bursting out laughing. He rolled his eyes, and blushed slightly.
Kissing him on the cheek, Polly ruffled his hair. "Give it your best shot, Master."
"When did you become such a smartass?" Jake mumbled under his breath before mounting his board.
The girl went to go sit down on a park bench so she could watch him. As much as she liked to tease him, she could not deny how good he actually was at the sport.
They had been friends forever before actually dating, and she remembers when, back in elementary school, he got his first board. She remembers when he came running to her house to show her, and how much he used to practice back during recess. For all highs and lows they went through for all these years, she is glad to realize that something, something good, had remained unchanged.
Jake focused squarely on the board, and his usually aloof expression is replaced with pure concentration. Polly could not help but notice how he was miles better than everyone else at the park, doing all different sorts of tricks with his board that she had never seen before. Some were things she did not even know that he could do.
If he was trying to impress her, it was definitely working.
"So how do you think I did?" He asked her after he was finished, sitting down next to her.
"I think you were okay." The girl responded, her demeanour serious, not to let herself show her true feelings.
His face slowly fell.
"I'm teasing you, silly." She laughed and kissed his cheek. "You were incredible, Jake. I'm really impressed."
Polly watched relief wash over him.
"You are going to kill me." The blond sighed.
She giggled before leaning across the park bench and kissing him. Jake kissed her back, placing a hand on the back of her head. They started moving closer to each other until Polly was practically on his lap.
"Get a room!" Some kid across the park yelled.
"Maybe we should wait to do that until we have more privacy." Polly blushed, climbing off of his lap.
"Whatever you want, babe." Jake laughed and kissed her one last time. "Ready to try again?"
"Sure, let's do it." She nodded her head, and got back on her board.
"Can you put both feet on the board? I want you to try something for me." The blond boy asked.
Her eyes widened. "Both feet? To start out with?"
He smiled in assurance. "Yeah. Just trust me, babe. I won't let anything bad happen, I promise."
"Fine." Polly obliged, putting her left foot on the board along with her right. "What are you trying to do with me?"
"Just trust me." He insisted. "Alright, hold on steady."
Jake put both hands against her back, and started to push, lightly at first, and then with more and more force. Polly, immediately knowing what he was trying to do, put both arms out, and let the wind run through her hair.
Laughing wildly, the boy pushed her around the park for a few minutes, as his girlfriend grew increasingly more confident about her balance atop the skateboard.
"I'm the queen of the world!" Polly shouted, catching disapproving eyes from a few parents.
Eventually, Jake slowed down, and let her off the board. Out of breath, he took Polly in his arms, pulling her up on his embrace and spinning her around as she screamed playfully.
He, then, placed her on her unsteady feet, holding her up by the waist. Their faces were just short of each other, and the girl could feel his hot breath on her cheek.
"See? Sometimes you've just got to trust me." He breathed.
"I trust you, Jake." She giggled, putting her arms around his neck and pulling him in for a kiss. "I trust you."
"Good." He said before kissing her back.
"You know…" He said, pulling away. "You're not half bad at this whole skating thing."
"Then maybe you'll have to take me skating more often."
"Maybe."