Freestyle with Avery (13 page)

Kazie shrugged. “That? Piece of cake. You know, Avery,” Kazie said, flipping one of her famous ribbon braids over her shoulder. “The Snurfer might not be a sanctioned event—I mean, it’s only a benefit—but still, it’s not a clown competition. You actually have to
try
, Avery. And if you’re not going to take it seriously, maybe you shouldn’t bother entering. Or, you know, take some lessons for the rest of the day.”

“Look, I was just having fun,” I started to explain, but before I could get another word out, Siobhan called, “Hey, guys, there’s live music at the Air Garden Yurt! Let’s go!”

“Sweeeeet!” Kazie answered. She did an ollie and looked back at me with a really proud smile on her face. I didn’t like it one bit.

“You coming, Avery?” asked Tessa. At least the rest of the kids thought I was funny. I wouldn’t mind checking out the Air Garden Yurt, which was a big tent where a lot of the most rockin’ bands played in Telluride. In fact, it would probably be really funny to get a picture of the tent to bring back to Henry Yurt. Henry, aka “the Yurtmeister,” was class president back home in Boston and a total goofball. He’d probably
love
to see his name immortalized in a Telluride landmark … but today I had work to do. “Nah, go ahead. I’ll see you guys later.”

“See ya!” Kazie called and rode off immediately without looking back.

I grumbled and fumed walking back up to the top of the pipe. Nothing would give me more satisfaction than beating Kazie in the Snurfer. Of course, now I knew that was impossible … but hey … a girl could dream, right?

I closed my eyes and tried to visualize the jump—like my brothers told me to do when I was first learning how to board. I breathed in, zipped down the pipe, and sailed up the other side. With a
whoosh
, I was airborne. “It’s a bird, it’s a plane …” I shouted out loud and reached to grab the front of my board. “It’s Snurf—OUCH!” I plummeted … and this time it wasn’t on purpose … at all. What was going on?

Now I was more determined than ever to get it right. I set my sights on another jump and went at it, full steam ahead. “Ready, aim, BLAST OFF!” I shouted and flew like a speeding bullet. I was getting primo-air and ready to try an alley-oop. But just when I was mid-twist, I felt myself losing it. I started
rolling down the windows
—flailing my
arms to save the jump, but it was pointless. This fall was even worse, and I
faceplanted
in the snow.
Garage sale
.
Again
.

Just then I heard the scrape-scrape sound of a board stopping behind me. “You’re getting some super-sweet air, Snurfette,” said a familiar voice. “Want a few tips?”

I turned and looked at the dude standing there in a red jacket and bright yellow hat. “DK!”

He put one finger over his mouth and looked from side to side. “Shh … I’m incognito!”

I nodded. Boy, was I embarrassed! The Egg had totally seen my very un-graceful fall. “Been here long?” I asked in a shaky voice.

Donnie Keeler smiled. “Long enough to see that you know what you’re doing out here. And long enough to see that you probably just lost your confidence for some reason. But my guess is it’ll only take a few
gnarly
jumps to get it all back.”

I felt a wave of relief pass over me. “Really?” I asked. “You think I just lost my confidence?”

DK nodded. “Totally. Your form is right-on. But when you’re mid-air, it’s like something in here”—DK patted his head with his glove—“stops you from doing what’s in here.” He made a fist and tapped his coat above his heart. “So what’s the deal?”

One word flashed in my head … and it began with a big fat
K
.

“I think your noggin needs to take a chill pill,” DK told me. I knew he was right. I had a gazillion thoughts in my head when I was flying through the air. I wasn’t tearing
it up the way I was yesterday … before the Crazie Kazie dinner, and Jason, and the Snurfer worries and everything else. Too much stuff was clogging my brain!

DK nodded. “Okay, Snurfette, so clear your head. Instead of focusing on the jump, think of something funny. Like what about the waffle mountain? That thing was insane!”

It was big, sure. But funny? Well, not as funny as Marty and Crud putting on a show for everyone outside the diner. Wait a minute.

“I got it!” I exclaimed.

DK gave me a thumbs-up. “Radical! Don’t tell me … just jump.”

I nodded and pulled my goggles snugly over my eyes. The snow blasted from the snowmakers around me, stinging my face with icy flakes. But at that moment, it was just what I needed—a frosty wake-up call, as cold and refreshing as a fruit smoothie. I popped from side-stance to front like a slinky and started weaving toward the giant wall of the pipe.

“Get ’er done, Snurfette!” DK cheered. “You should try an
eggplant
.”

Eggplant
. I thought of last night’s delicious lasagna and pumped my fist into the air. I’d never tried an eggplant before, but I’d seen them done plenty of times. I knew I had the skill to do it … I just needed to take a chance. I slid my hand over the little lump in my pocket, and instantly recharged, knowing the BSG charm key ring was safe inside. Then I cleared my mind like DK said and filled it with something funny. That was where the idea came in handy. I pictured Marty on a snowboard cruising down the slopes with his tiny paws out and ears flying. Of course, he wore tiny goggles and a tiny jester hat like Dad’s with a big pom-pom, along with his blue Snurfer sweater. With this image of Snowboard Marty locked in my head, I went for it.

“You got it, Avery!” DK’s voice was a faint echo behind me. I was gathering speed as I slid down again and jumped into a perfect
backside
air.

I rode down to where Donnie was waiting and high-fived him as I slid past. He whistled. “That was star quality, Snurfette. For real!” I couldn’t believe it—a real,
live Olympic boarder was complimenting my skills.

“Okay, now try a
frontside handplant
,” Donnie directed.

“You got it!” I went for it, not hesitating for a second. Wouldn’t you know, my frontside handplant was perfect too! DK hollered and whooped. I was flying now and I refused to stop. I shot into the air, snapped my heel edge up, and grabbed it with my front hand—a
melon
. Then I did a sweet
indy
, clutching the toe edge with my back hand. I swished up and down the walls, nailing
roast beefs, stalefishes, mutes
, and
methods
, executing every trick almost as shred-tastically as Kazie.

After about two hours, my legs were burning but I still wished the fun didn’t have to end. Donnie and I weaved our way to the bottom, having a shout-out all the way down. “Whooo-hooo!” I cried.

“Ow-ow-ow!” Donnie hollered.

“Ollie ollie oxen free!” I sang.

Then Donnie flashed by like lightning with a “GERONIMO!”

When we reached the bottom of the pipe, I did some
butterflies
, lifting the front of my board and spinning around in a circle. I felt a little dizzy after, but I could tell DK was impressed. He gave me two thumbs-up as we unclipped and stepped out of our bindings.

“Thanks for everything,” I told him.

He waved his hand. “Are you kidding me? A good time was had by all. I’m tired of always competing, you know? It’s supposed to be about fun! My dad says that’s the number-one rule of sports.”

I grinned. “Mine too … actually.”

DK held out his puffy-gloved fist to tap with mine. “Snurfette, you keep this up, and you’ll have nothing to worry about in the Snurfer. You’ve got it under control.”

I nodded but felt a pang of disappointment. I knew what he meant—I’d
have fun
in the Snurfer. Not that I would win. But if I let go of my worries the way I had today, at least I’d leave the Snurfer with a huge smile—the most important thing.

DK looked at his watch and groaned. “Yikes! Now I gotta go meet my coach. Thanks, Snurfette.” He gave me a classic DK wink. I was so stunned that he was thanking me that my mouth hung opened as he jogged away. He turned, quickly saluted, and added, “Tell Marty that Crud says hello!” Then he disappeared into the crowd.

Just then I spotted Jason and Dad by the gondola and ran over to meet them. Dad had something in his hand that was covered in wax paper.

“Veggie burger?” Dad offered, holding it up in front of me.

My stomach grumbled before I could even answer, “Yumzer! I could eat four!”

“That’s m’girl,” Dad said. He looked so proud … either of me for my healthy appetite, or of himself for remembering my favorite mountain snack, or maybe both.

“How’d it go, Avery?” Jason asked while I peeled the wrapper off the burger.

“Armmahrgarg,” I said. Apparently mouth full of
veggie burger equals impossible to talk, and from the look on Dad’s face, it also equals disgusting. I swallowed and tried again. “Amazing!”

I told them all about DK and his awesome advice. Jason and Dad chuckled at the idea of Marty flying through the air on a tiny doggy snowboard.

Later, when we got to Jason’s, I hopped out to help him unload his stuff while Dad waited in the car. “Are you glad you tried snowboarding?” I asked him.

“Totally,” he said and coughed. “Um, actually I was wondering if—”

“We could go again after the Snurfer?” I finished for him. “Well, duh. Of course! Practice makes perfect, don’t you know?”

Jason coughed again. “No, um, I was wondering if you wanted to meet at the Telluride Historical Museum tonight … at eight.”

I laughed out loud. “Why do you want to go to a boring old museum? Don’t you think it’d be more fun to visit Ollie? Ooh, or go
night tubing
!”

“Well, actually,” Jason started as he shifted uncomfortably. Oops … I hoped I hadn’t hurt his feelings! He went on, “The museum is doing their annual storytelling tonight, ‘Legends and Lore of Old Colorado.’ It’s supposed to be pretty cool …”

“Oh!” Yikes … me and my big mouth! “Yeah, that’d be a lot of fun! I have to ask my dad, but I don’t know why he wouldn’t go for it.” My parents told me to always ask them about plans in private. It was just one of the parent rule thingies. “I’ll call you if he says
no, but otherwise I’ll just see you there, okay?”

Jason gave me the details and then turned to open the door. I bounded out onto the porch, but he called after me. “Hey, Avery?”

“Yeah?” I stopped and spun around to face him.

“I really had a good time today,” Jason said slowly, like it was a strange thing for him to be saying, even though it sounded polite enough to me.

“Today rocked,” I agreed. “Check you later, gator!” I waved again and ran back to the car.

“So, what do you think, Dad?” I asked after I told him about the storytelling.

“Well, we’re going to have dinner at Andie’s, but you should be able to make it to the museum at eight. You’ll need to invite Kazie, of course.”

“Def,” I mumbled.

“Def?”

“Definitely,” I said in a louder voice, even though
definitely
NOT was what I was thinking. Too bad I didn’t really have a choice. I remembered last night’s Kazie performance at The Sweet Life.
I’m really not in the mood for a rerun
. …

What?” I asked. I laughed a little nervously. My dad was totally weirding me out with his funny smile. “Nothing,” Dad answered, but he was still smiling. “Did you have a good day?”

“Yup! I’m tired though. But it was worth it. Seriously, Dad, I had a snowboarding lesson with Donnie Keeler. I mean, THE Golden Egg! And”—I stopped so he’d know this part was big—“and, I taught Jason how to snowboard for his first time ever. How cool is
that
?”

Dad nodded. “Very cool. I’m proud of you, Ave.”

“Tell me about it!” I said, laughing. I got out of the car and slung my bags over my shoulder. I took some of Dad’s stuff too, just to show him that I was growing up and being responsible. I liked Dad knowing I was independent—that I wasn’t just the baby of the family anymore. Every step I took I could feel my legs aching, just like they did after an intense soccer game. It was clear—I’d pushed it to the max today.

“Marty! We’re hoooome!” I called when we got inside. It was so snug and warm in Dad’s house—the best kind of place to come home to after a frosty day on the slopes. In a second Marty scurried into the hallway and leaped up to give me a kiss right on my cheek. “Ha, ha, hey there lil’ dude! You miss me today? Aw, I missed you too, M-Dawg!”

Seeing Marty was great, but I couldn’t help feeling like something was missing. Of course! I ran upstairs and turned on my computer. I really hoped that at least one of the BSG would be online.