Freestyle with Avery (12 page)

“What do you know! It’s kiddie day at Telluride!” said the third kid … to me. I didn’t care when the BSG teased me about my height, but these three random dudes? Noooo way.

I slapped my knee. “Wow, that’s hilarious! Because I’m short, right? I look like a little kid! Oh, boy, that’s a good one. How original!” I pretended to laugh hysterically and then stopped mid-laugh. Now I
really
had their attention. Jason’s, too!

I leaned in close and squinted my eyes to show I meant business. “Listen. I might be small but that doesn’t mean I can’t shred.”

Two of the guys seemed a little nervous, but the one in the middle leaned in and squinted too. “Oh, yeah? Well if you’re so great, then why haven’t we seen you here before?”

“Yeah!” the other guys mumbled.

“‘Cause … I’m not from here. I’m from Boston,” I replied. “I’m visiting my dad for the Snurfer Competition.”

All the guys burst out laughing. “That’s what
you
think. No grommets allowed in this competition! Snurfman rules!”

I was just about to set them straight when Jason blurted, “Well, guess what? Her dad IS the Snurfman!”

Whoa. That was a surprise. I glanced at him and smiled. He smiled back.

One of the guys whispered something to another and then said, “Your dad’s the Snurfman? No way. You don’t look anything like the Snurfman!”

I felt my throat tense up. I took a deep breath and tried to remember to do what Mom always taught me: be proud of who I was. “Duh, I’m adopted,” I said coolly.

They shut up instantly. “Sorry,” murmured the one who made the comment.

“It’s okay,” I told him. It wasn’t
totally
okay … but I knew that sometimes people said things without thinking about them. I mean, I did it all the time. “I’m Korean-American,” I explained. “My parents got me when I was a baby.”

“My cousin Lydia’s adopted,” said the kid in the middle. “I don’t even think about it most of the time.”

“See, that’s what it’s like for me too,” I replied.

After that no one was mean anymore. The boys asked me about the Snurfer and being from Boston, and even though Jason didn’t say much he definitely looked more comfortable than he had back in the chairlift line.

The gondola pulled into the station and the boys jumped out first. “Nice to meet you, Avery. See you in school, Jason. Later, dudes!” they called and boarded away.
Not so bad
, I thought, once you talked to them for more than a minute.

“Hey … thanks,” I said to Jason as we strapped on our bindings.

He looked confused. “For what?”

“You know … telling those guys about my dad.”

He shrugged. “No prob. I … I know what it’s like. I mean, when you’re new you get used to people asking a lot of questions. It gets annoying after a while.”

“Totally.” Wow, and I thought it was awkward to answer questions when I had a mom and dad and brothers and everything … what about Jason? And Frankie? Suddenly I wasn’t so worried about Jason being able to make it down the mountain. He was definitely brave—no doubt about it!

“All right, you ready to go on your first real shredding run?”

Jason pulled his goggles over his eyes and gave me the thumbs-up.

We started out slowly, and I let Jason lead. That way if he fell I’d be able to board over and help him up. Jason didn’t fall though. That is, until we reached the halfway point. He toppled to a stop, laughing the whole time.

“This is totally awesome. No wonder everyone around here is obsessed with this sport!”

“Told you!” I replied. “Shredding’s the be—” Suddenly a wave of snow sprayed over me, and because I was talking, I got a royal mouthful. “Blech!” I spat and wiped my face.

When the ice fog settled I saw a girl in a magenta coat standing there with a huge smile on her face. Kazie. I should’ve known. “’Sup shredders?” she asked. “You ready to race, Jase? Hah! Race Jase. That rhymes!”

Jason’s face was red … this time almost as red as the snowboards that Kazie and I were riding on.

“I, uh, we’re still …” he stammered.
Back to shy-Jason mode
, I thought.

“Not yet, Kazie,” I said. “We’re chilling this morning.” I pushed up my goggles and looked at her straight in the eye. Actually, I had to look
up
at her. She seemed like a combination of Maeve and Katani in her snowboarding outfit. The pink, well, that was Maeve for sure. But the ribbons and little patches she had sewn on from all the places she’d been … that was Kgirl. Then there was the way she boarded. Like a pro. Kazie was pretty much good at everything … and she knew it, too. How intimidating!

She was smiling from ear to ear. “What are you … chicken? Bok, bok, bok.” Kazie made her arms into wings and did a little chicken dance on her board. She was talking to me now … not Jason. And Jason, beside me, was laughing a little bit. Did he think she was funny?

“Please. I’d race you any day. But no racing on the job,” I told her. “We’re in the middle of a lesson.” Period—the end. I wasn’t going to let Kazie spoil this.

“Whatever. Looking good, Jason. Nice moves.” Kazie gave him a thumbs-up, which made him smile. “Yo, Avery—see you on the pipe … if you dare.” And Kazie slipped off, flying over a jump as she sped away. As she did she tucked the
tail
of her board, grabbed with her left hand, and did a perfect 180-degree spin.

“She’s really good, isn’t she?” Jason said, staring after her. Uh-oh. Another member of the Crazie Kazie Fan Club? Then he said something that scared me even more. “Can we go to the Superpipe?”

“You … want to ride the … PIPE?” The Superpipe was
going to be the run for the Snurfer! How could I tell Jason that he was sooo not ready for the pipe without hurting his feelings? “Don’t you think that this run might be a little better for you? Remember, it’s still your first day …”

“No way! I’m not going ride it. I kind of wanted to see you ride it … actually.”

“Oh.” Then I had a thought. “And Kazie, right?”

Jason shook his head and looked at the ground. “I mean, she’s good, but …”

I didn’t give him time to answer. “Fine. We’ll go.” I’d known Crazie Kazie for like two days and
already
I could tell that she had to be the center of attention. Well, if Jason wanted to watch her showoff-y tricks, fine. I didn’t wait to see if he was ready or not. I slid off—FAST.

“Hey, Avery, wait up!” Jason shouted after me.

I stopped and turned. Just as I did, a little boy on skis cut right in front of Jason. “Heeeeere I come!” the kid squealed. He was bent over with his little poles tucked right under his arms and going faster than a speeding bullet. This type of thing drove boarders crazy.

I jumped to the side and avoided him, but Jason wasn’t so lucky. When the kid cut him off it sent him totally out of control.

“Ahhhh!” he cried. He was slipping right toward me. “Avery, look out!”

One second I looked up and the next—
BAM!
My head hit the snow and I felt something heavy on top of my lower half. I was glad I was wearing a helmet! “Ouch …” I moaned and opened my eyes. “Jason?”

Jason awkwardly rolled off of my legs as fast as he
could with his feet still strapped into the board. He looked totally embarrassed. “Oh, geesh. I’m sorry, Avery.” He shook his head and brushed the snow out of the cracks of his coat. “Aw, man … just when I thought I was getting the hang of this, I almost killed my teacher.”

“Hey, don’t worry about it.” I suddenly felt kind of weird lying on the ground so close to Jason. On top of that, I also felt guilty that I’d boarded away instead of waiting for him.

Jason kept apologizing as he brushed the snow out of his hair. He looked everywhere but at me. “I’m really, really sorry.”

“It wasn’t your fault. You were
blindsided
. I blame the
Knee Rocket
.”

Jason scrunched his eyebrows and stopped brushing. “Knee Rocket?”

“Oh, yeah. Little kids who can’t stop skiing until they hit something. Bad news for boarders. But they’re sooo adorable,” I joked. We both laughed, and then suddenly Jason stopped.

“Hey, Avery … Kazie’s really good,” Jason began. Uh-oh. There it was—the annoyed feeling coming back. “And I was thinking,” he continued, “maybe you should be at the pipe practicing for the Snurfer without worrying about helping me. The Snurfer’s in two days, remember?”

“I’ll be fine.” But the truth was—I knew Jason was right. Kazie was good … and I was rusty. If I wanted to have any chance of placing at all in the competition, I should be practicing hardcore.

“That’s why I thought maybe we could go to the halfpipe,” Jason explained.

Wow. He was thinking of me after all—not Kazie. I opened my mouth to tell him that a promise was a promise when I felt another blast of snow hit my face.

“Okay, listen, I don’t know what your problem is—” I looked up. “DAD?”

“Whoa, Mr. M! You really got us!” Jason laughed.

There he was: the Snurfman himself—bright blue jester cap and all. “What are you doing here?” I asked.

“Thought I’d take the newest member of the ATS team out for a lunch on the slopes. On the company. I could really use a cheeseburger right now. What do you say, Jason?” Dad quickly looked at me and winked. I knew just what he was up to. He was giving me a chance to go practice.

“Really, Mr. M? That’d be great! I’m starved. What about you, Avery?”

“Not yet,” I said. “I think I’m going to try to squeeze in a few more runs before lunch, if that’s okay.”

“Fine by me,” Dad said. “As long as Jason’s okay with having a substitute teacher for a little bit.”

“Yeah! And Avery, this’ll give you a chance to hit the pipe after all.” Jason looked relieved.

“Good idea.” Dad winked at me again. “But first …” He reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a black case. “Picture time!”

I liked getting my picture taken. Most girls pretended to hate it, but come on. Who didn’t secretly love seeing a picture of themselves? “C’mon, Jason. Do what I’m doing. It’ll be funny!”

Jason shook his head. “No, thanks.”

Dad motioned for him to get in the picture, and Jason stood there stiffly.

“Smile, guys. This is Jason’s first time on the slopes, remember? Now get together and say ‘fleas!’”

“Fleas?” Jason whispered.

“Yeah … my dad thinks it’s funny,” I told him.

“One, two, three,” counted Dad.

“Fleas!”

Flying magenta coat was the first thing I saw when I got to the Superpipe. And there was the Flying Magenta Coat Fan Club—Tessa, Siobhan, and even the boys from the gondola—cheering every time Kazie went for a jump. And I had to admit, she really rocked it.
This mountain ain’t big enough for the two of us
! I wanted to tell her.

“Hey, Avery! You made it!” Kazie practically screamed up the mountain.

“Ahoy to you too,” I whispered under my breath.

I gave a little wave and waited for all the kids to go back to perfecting their own jumps. They didn’t. Seemed like everyone wanted to know if the Snurfman’s daughter was a decent boarder or not. I felt warm inside my coat. Really warm. It wasn’t the spring snowboarding type of warm … it was the kind of warm when the teacher asked you a question and you didn’t know the answer. Was I actually nervous? Yikes! This never happened to me on the slopes.

I stood at the top of the pipe and wondered what move I should do. If I tried to do a flip and looked bad, or worse yet, FELL, they’d think I was a total loser! Kazie’d probably laugh and then tell the story to Dad and Andie later, acting out the whole thing. Or worse, mention it in front of Jason. And knowing Kazie … she definitely would.

There was only one way to get through this and it wasn’t going to be pretty. I pulled down my goggles and tipped my board forward into the bowl. “There she goes!” one of the kids shouted.

In a heartbeat I felt that rush. I really wanted to fly off of the jump, do a
backside 540
air and finish in a
McTwist
—one of my best tricks, but I couldn’t risk messing up. Thankfully, I had a plan. I
hammered
all the way to the jump, took off, and soared, getting amazing air. I was going to be the
hucker
of the century on purpose. I raised my arms and wiggled them in the air. “Cowabunga dude! I’m out of controoooool!” Then I scrunched my body into a ball to do a little roll, but instead I hit the ground with a
SPLAT
. Wow, that hurt. Now I
really
couldn’t breathe. When I finally stopped moving I was lying on my back.

Then I heard a noise. Laughing! Everyone was laughing—hard—but at least they were laughing
with
me … not
at me
. I jumped to my feet, took a deep breath, and bowed dramatically.

“Yeah, Avery! That was hilarious!” yelled the kids. They clapped, cheered, and whistled. Hah! My plan had worked perfectly. I could just see the headline: S
NURFMAN’S
D
AUGHTER
I
S
S
NOWBOARDING
C
OMEDY
G
ENIUS!

Kazie sailed down the pipe on the opposite side, went
straight up the wall and into the air, and slid back down without turning—a
pop tart
. Then she rocketed off the other side and let out a loud, “Yeee haaw!” In the air, she rotated 90 degrees, flipped over, and rotated ANOTHER 90 degrees, landing right on her feet. It was as perfect a crippler as I had ever seen, even in the Olympics. She finished her halfpipe show with a midair flip, turning 90 degrees and landing backward—a
wet cat
. I gulped. There was no question … Kazie was a totally
hardcore
snowboarder—probably a shoo-in for Snurfer Champion.

Kazie slid beside me and shook her hair out of her helmet. I knew what that look on her face meant:
See, Avery, that’s how it’s done
.

I also knew how important it was to always be an all-star good sport, even if it meant
not
being the all-star. “Wow, Kazie,” I said. “Nice crippler. That was
dice
.”