Freestyle with Avery (18 page)

Jason tossed the lure out one more time for Ollie, who
repeated his catch-the-flying-rabbit trick. As for me … well … I was beginning to wish this trip didn’t have to end. I could’ve watched Jason fly Ollie all night, but it was getting colder and colder outside. Besides, Dad was coming at ten.

Jason and I headed back to the shed and put Ollie back where he belonged. I would’ve been way more nervous that Bonnie or Fred would find out, but Jason was as cool as a cucumber about keeping his hawk a secret.

As we walked back to the house, I thought about how to ask Jason the question that I’d been thinking about, well, pretty much all day. “Hey, the Snurfer is the day after tomorrow…” I began. “And I know you just started boarding, but … it would make me feel a lot better if—”

Jason suddenly looked crushed. “You don’t want me to come? Would it make you nervous?”

Had Jason totally lost it? “No! Just the opposite! I want you to come. You’re my only real friend here.”

Jason grinned. “Phew. You didn’t need to ask me, you know. I was going to come anyway. Your dad and I already talked about it today.”

Dad
! That explained his funny smile when we got back from the mountain.

I picked up the pace as I felt my cheeks get hot. Dad must have thought I had a crush on Jason—and I bet Tessa and Kazie did too! Well, they had it completely wrong. Jason and I were just friends … right?

Oh no
, I thought, as an even more embarrassing idea slowly came together in my brain. I sneaked a glance over at Jason. Did he think I liked him … like
that
? And more importantly… did I?

The next day I hit the slopes practically at sunrise—after a hearty breakfast, of course. As I raced down the Superpipe over and over again, willing myself to concentrate on my ollies and handplants, other thoughts somehow kept creeping in. Like while I was headed up the side of the pipe, all set to catch some air, my brain would be thinking “eggplant-eggplant-eggplant-Kazie-thinks-I-like-Jason-ahhhhh!”
Splat
. Total garage sale. It was soooo frustrating!

Finally, around three o’clock, I gave up on the practicing and headed back to the house. I’d gotten a few good runs in, and Dad always says too much practice the day before a big game—or competition—isn’t good, anyway.

As I walked down the sidewalk carrying my board, I was totally missing the BSG. If I could have just spilled to Katani, or Maeve, or any of them, I knew I would feel one hundred percent better. My hand automatically went to my pocket, reaching for the little key ring Charlotte had
given me. But the only thing there was a piece of candy. I checked the other pocket to be sure. My mouth felt dry. The pen and key ring were gone.

I tried not to panic and to think clearly. What if it had fallen out of my pocket on the pipe? In that case, it was totally and completely gone. But did I have it in my pocket before I headed out this morning? Think, think, think—where was the last place I remembered seeing the key ring? Then I remembered—the museum! I immediately changed course and headed for the big building with the green door, swallowing hard as I half ran/half speed-walked my way there. That was the last place I’d had the key ring—I was sure of it. My heart was aching! How had I managed to lose
two
of my special BSG gifts in only three days?

When I got to the museum I burst through the heavy door and stopped, panting. I must have looked pretty crazy, all out of breath and dragging a snowboard into a museum lobby.

“Is something wrong?” the woman behind the front desk asked, concerned.

“I lost my lucky key ring! My best friends in Boston gave it to me, and I have to have it in my pocket tomorrow for the Snurfer Competition. I was here last night, and I think maybe I left it here somewhere.” The words spilled out. It was way more than the woman needed to know, but I wanted her to understand that this was urgent.

She smiled. “Let’s look around. Do you think you lost it in the room where Cowboy Jack was speaking?”

“It has to be there. I know I had it then.” I leaned my
board against the closest wall and leaped up the stairs, with the woman following.

She turned on lights, and I searched the storytelling room and the entire hall. No key ring. I felt like the whole world was caving in around me. The woman was very nice and promised to call if anything turned up, but how was that supposed to make me feel better? I was devastated. Totally, one hundred percent devastated. The Snurfer was tomorrow, after all.

As I dragged myself and my board back home I got more and more upset just thinking about everything. When I got home I ran into the house where Marty met me, bouncing and barking. “Oh, Marty. It’s good to see
you
.” I tried to grab him into a hug, but Marty would have none of that. He barked and wiggled free.

I felt like a balloon that had just been popped. Even Marty had deserted me!

Dad came out of the kitchen to see what Marty was making so much noise about. “Hey,” he said, sounding concerned. “What are all these tears for?”

That’s when I realized I was crying. Ugh. I never cried. Not really, anyway. Suddenly everything came spilling out.

“Okay, yesterday morning I couldn’t find my Kgirl original ear warmer …”

“You mean that headband?”

“Headband, ear warmer, whatever. And then today, I realized my key ring from Charlotte is gone too! What else can go wrong? I’m probably going to make a total fool of myself in the Snurfer tomorrow. Dad, this
stinks
.”

Dad gave me a big Dad hug. “Maybe this will cheer you up.” He handed me a package. “I wrapped it myself.”

“I can see that.” The present was all bumpy and wadded up in a Snurfer poster. It made me laugh, even through my sniffles.

I slipped off the string and unrolled the poster. Inside was a light blue T-shirt. Best of all was the picture on the front. Dad had gotten the photo he took of me and him before we went boarding silk-screened on the front of the shirt. Beneath the picture, in big block letters, it read:
THE SNURFS
. This shirt said that Dad and I were best buds, as well as super snowboarders. I could hardly wait to wear it to school to show everyone how awesome my dad was.

I gave Dad a hug. “I love it! I’m going to put it on right now. If this doesn’t help me win the Snurfer, I don’t know what will!”

“Hey, but remember, Ave, it’s not what you wear, it’s how you—”

“Yeah, yeah, I know … it’s how you snurf. Doesn’t matter, Dad. This T-shirt is the coolest!” I was going to sleep in it for good luck.

Dad gave me another hug. “Try not to worry about the contest, Avery. Just do your best. You’re going up against the top snowboarders in the state, you know.”

I had a feeling he was talking about Kazie. Did that mean Dad thought I wasn’t good enough? I felt a pinch in my stomach.

Dad went back to the kitchen to finish working on dinner. I snatched up Marty, ran upstairs, and flopped
onto my bed. Maybe I would e-mail the BSG. I didn’t have to mention the lost key ring or the ear warmer, right?

To: Katani, Maeve, Isabel, Charlotte

From: Avery

Subject: Snurfers Unite!

Hey guys! I’ve had the craaaziest vacation ever! 2morrow is the Snurfer and I gotta admit … I’m kinda nervous. Kazie (the gf’s daughter) is wicked good. Oh well. Wish me luck! Miss you!

Avery.

PS—Marty met an evil cat named Farkle—more later.

Once, when I was in fifth grade, we had to try out for the A team and the B team for soccer. Soccer’s always been my super sports specialty. But that day in fifth grade, I was so nervous I put on two pairs of socks. Seriously. I’m talking two socks on each foot. (Don’t worry—I still made the A team.) Now just to give you an idea, that nervousness doesn’t even come close to the butterflies in my stomach on the morning of the Snurfer.

I ate a huge bowl of oatmeal with banana slices for breakfast. I needed my power fuel more than ever. Then I got dressed—with only one sock on each foot, I swear! As I got into the car and buckled up, everything seemed okay. So far, so good. I knew I was kind of fidgety, but I didn’t realize how much till Dad said, “Avery, tell me honestly. Did you have Mexican jumping beans for breakfast this morning?”

“I’m just excited!” I said. “Check out this pow-pow.”

It was true. The snow all around us was thick and
sparkly. I was going to tear it up today on the pipe! I looked around for wood to knock on so I wouldn’t jinx myself, but there wasn’t any so I knocked on Dad’s head.

He laughed and rubbed the spot where I knocked. “Well, if you’re so excited already, then maybe I shouldn’t tell you this …” he trailed off with a mysterious smile.

“What?” I replied immediately. “What is it? Come on, you can’t just start to spill and then stop like that!”

Dad’s grin got even bigger. “Well, if you must know … it just so happens that we have another ‘surprise’ celebrity judge. I wasn’t sure if she was going to be able to make it, so I didn’t want to announce it to everyone …”

When I heard “she,” I got the chills. I knew exactly who it had to be. Only the most famous female snowboarder of all time. Only the 2006 silver medal winner in Snowboard Cross at the Olympics. Only—

“Lindsey Jacobellis!” I squealed. Dad laughed again as he pulled the car into the ski resort parking lot.

“Yep, that’s the one,” he informed me. “But don’t let it make you nervous, okay, Ave? Just do your best.”

Right
, I thought. Just do my best in front of my IDOL.

When we got out of the car, Dad and I turned to each other and breathed at the same time, “Whoa.” It looked like the set of a Hollywood movie. Ajax Mountain was always crowded, but now it was a total zoo. People swarmed all around—cameras and trucks were everywhere. I counted at least six TV stations.

As we unloaded the Snurfmobile, people kept coming up to Dad and shaking his hand. “Great job, Jake. This is going to be a truly momentous event,” said a dude with a
long curly beard wearing a TV station baseball cap.

“Jake Madden! The man, the myth, the legend!” shouted a lady in huge black sunglasses.

Dad just waved a little. I’d never seen him look so embarrassed! I tried to pass him his Snurfer hat, but he shook his head at me. Dad usually loved any chance to look silly in public. But today his brown hair was parted to the side and combed neatly, and instead of wearing his usual bright blue one-piece jumpsuit, he had on a new jacket that he must have picked up at ATS yesterday. The Snurfer was obviously a big deal to Dad—such a big deal that he was changing his whole “it’s not about what you wear” rule! I really hoped I wasn’t going to let him down.

“I have to go sit with the judges, Avery.” Dad gave me a huge bear hug. “Good luck! And remember the most important thing …”

“Just have fun!” we shouted in unison.

Yeah
, I thought,
that’s easy for you to say
! I wanted to have fun, but that was before Crazie Kazie came into the picture. Everything was getting so confusing. Even though I didn’t really want to, I was sort of starting to like her. But when it came to boarding, I still knew that we were definitely NOT on the same team.

I couldn’t tell Dad, though. “I will,” I promised. I hugged Dad and watched him walk away toward the judges’ stand, where I thought I could make out two blond heads—the Golden Egg and Lindsey Jacobellis. The snowboarding star power at this event was way overwhelming!
Maeve would love all this celeb stuff
, I thought, suddenly missing that red-headed drama queen.

“Over here, Avery,” said a voice behind me. There she was. Kazie looked even more bright and cheerful than usual, and that said something for the Telluride magenta queen! She’d upgraded her ribbon ’do to TWO ribbons per braid—pink and orange. She’d even put on glittery makeup so her cheeks shimmered like the snow. Normally I’d say that was way too girly for shredding, but for some reason Kazie could totally pull it off. She took my arm and steered me toward an official who was giving out numbers for the contestants to wear. “Can you believe the crowds? I’m super psyched. Aren’t you?” she asked.

“Totally!” I answered. That was a big, whopping lie. Super nervous was more like it.

“I can’t wait to get going,” Kazie exclaimed.

“Me neither,” I said. There went another lie. I was definitely having second thoughts.

“Good luck,” Kazie told me with a pat on the back.

“Good luck to you too!” I told her. For once, that
wasn’t
a lie. I totally meant it!

Kazie stuck out her hand, grabbed mine, and squeezed it. “You’ll be great. I know you will. Your dad never stops talking about how great you are. I hope I can make him proud too.”

I wanted to say something equally as nice, but before I had the chance, Kazie leaned her board up against a fence and hurried off to find her friends. The fence was covered with boards of every size and color, so I figured mine would probably be safest right next to its bright red ATS twin. I leaned my board beside Kazie’s and smiled. If it weren’t for our opposite bindings, those boards would’ve
been practically identical. They looked awesome next to each other though … great advertising for the store.

“Hi, Avery.”

I turned around. “Jason! Frankie! Wow, guys, thanks for coming!”

Jason smiled back, but Frankie didn’t seem all that excited to be at the Snurfer. He held on tight to Jason’s hand … which was definitely a good thing. If they got separated in this crowd, finding him again would be a nightmare!

“I brought you something for good luck,” Jason said, reaching into his pocket. Luck! Could it be … did Jason have my ear warmer and my key ring after all? That would be too cool for words.

But instead, Jason handed me a piece of paper. The paper had a drawing of a ferret on a snowboard, doing a back flip. “It’s Radley,” he explained, as if I didn’t already know.

“This is perfect. I definitely feel like good luck is on the way!” I folded the paper and tucked it into my pocket. Jason smiled. Real good luck wasn’t in just one little object … it was just what made you feel lucky. The BSG would want me to feel happy because of their charms, not guilty because I misplaced them. I knew when I told them the story they would totally understand. And this picture from Jason meant tons of luck. “Thanks, Jason. This is exactly what I needed!”