‘You? Shy?’ Ivy shook her head in disbelief as Brendan gave a soft laugh. ‘OK, I was just joking before, but now I’m a bit worried – something weird is definitely going on here.’
When Sophia didn’t answer, Ivy gave a frown. ‘Look, let’s just go, OK?’ She scooped up Sophia’s backpack. ‘We can . . . Oh. My. Darkness.’ Her jaw dropped open as she saw what was revealed underneath. ‘Did you . . .’ her voice spiralled upwards in shock ‘. . . actually buy a skateboard?’
Sophia hid her face in her hands.
Ivy looked at Brendan, who just looked back at her with wide, stunned eyes. Then she looked back down at the skateboard. It was bright orange, and even more fluorescent than their school bus! ‘Why?’ she asked faintly.
Sophia shrugged. ‘I just . . . wanted to give it a try, that’s all. It looked like fun.’
‘But why did you come here?’ Brendan’s eyes narrowed suspiciously. ‘Why not skate in Franklin Grove?’
Sophia crossed her arms. ‘This is where the skaters hang out. Where better to learn?’
Ivy frowned. There was something in her friend’s voice. Something defensive . . . ‘Are you sure that’s the only reason?’
‘Of course it is! It was safer for me to practise here.’ Sophia lifted her chin. ‘If I’d tried in Franklin Grove, and failed, everyone I know would have seen me. It would have been too embarrassing.’ She stared Ivy full in the face, though it was difficult to see exactly what her expression was, behind those sunglasses.
Ivy was about to respond, when a chorus of ‘Cool!’ behind her cut her off. She turned and saw the skater-girls applauding Finn, who had probably just done another fancy move with a silly name. Ivy shook her head. Only ‘cool’ this time? What happened to ‘bodacious’?
She snorted. Maybe Finn’s getting over-the-hill already. But when she turned back round, Sophia was watching Finn intently from behind her sunglasses . . . and her mouth had formed into the same admiring O-shape that Ivy could see on the gingham-ified girls who were applauding the older blond boy.
That’s it . . .
Ivy nodded to herself. It wasn’t going to do her best friend any good to sit off to the side, making ‘goo-goo’ eyes at an older boy who didn’t notice her. If they weren’t careful, this shyness – so un-Sophia – might become permanent. And Ivy had seen enough of High School this week to know that it would be even tougher to handle if Sophia kept herself to herself too much. A healthy serving of ‘tough love’ coming right up, she thought.
‘You know, Sophia,’ said Ivy. ‘If you want to learn to skate, you should go for it.’ She stepped aside, clearing Sophia a path to the skatepark. ‘Right now!’
Sophia scooted backwards, clutching her board to her chest. ‘What?’
‘Come on. That’s why you’re here, isn’t it?’ Ivy raised her eyebrows. ‘Hey, maybe one of the skater-boys will give you pointers if you need them.’
Brendan cleared his throat. ‘Um, Ivy, are you sure –’
But it was too late. Sophia was standing up. ‘Fine,’ she said, brushing off her jeans. ‘I will.’
Ivy gasped. Abort ‘Tough Love’, abort! ‘But . . . you could hurt yourself !’ And you weren’t supposed to call my bluff !
‘Don’t be ridiculous.’ Sophia stepped neatly out of reach and walked calmly over to the crowded skatepark. As skaters turned to stare, she set her board down and placed one foot on it. Then she pushed forward . . . and her vampire super-strength made the skateboard fly into the air in front of her, leaving her staggering so hard, she almost fell over.
I can’t watch this! Ivy thought, hiding her face in her hands. But she couldn’t help peeping through her fingers as the skateboard went soaring. The other skaters scrambled to get out of its way.
‘Hey!’ One of Finn’s friends glared at her. ‘We don’t need a clown. This isn’t a circus!’
The other guys all burst into laughter – all except Finn. He just looked away politely as Sophia hurried through the crowd, her shoulders hunched, to reclaim her skateboard from where it lay tipped on one side at the other end of the park.
Ivy cringed as Sophia stood back on the board. This time it didn’t go flying – but it wobbled so badly, she teetered from side to side, forced to wave her arms wildly to keep her balance. Within five seconds, she had fallen right off.
‘This is awful,’ Brendan whispered to Ivy.
Ivy groaned in agreement as she glanced around at the crowd that was gathering – bunnies and goths all coming to watch and enjoy the ‘comedy’. Her teeth ground together with frustration.
I can’t just physically drag her away. That would humiliate her even more!
It took everything she had, though, to hold herself back as she watched Sophia fall again and again. The crowd snorted with laughter every time. Sophia hadn’t wanted their old friends to see her embarrassing herself – but she was doing a good job of letting these new kids laugh at her expense.
Just give up, Ivy begged her friend silently.
At last, Sophia picked up her skateboard. Her face was flushed, but she held her chin high as she carried it by her side, walking away from the skatepark with as much dignity as she could muster.
Ivy let out a sigh of relief as she hurried to join her friend. ‘You did the smart thing,’ she whispered. She started to hold out her arms to give a comforting hug, but Sophia shook her head.
‘Not in front of them,’ she whispered back.
Ivy nodded and shoved her hands into her pockets. As Brendan scooped up Sophia’s backpack, she sought for a way to cheer up her friend. ‘You know,’ she said, ‘you could probably skateboard successfully if you just lost those shades.’
‘No way!’ Sophia’s free hand went protectively to her face. ‘They’re staying.’
Ivy shrugged, sighing. ‘If you say so.’
Vampires had natural super-strength and super-speed . . . but, apparently, they did not always have super-common sense!
Brendan handed Sophia her backpack, and they started walking away from the skatepark, ignoring the laughter of the skaters behind them. As they passed a group of goths lounging nearby, Ivy saw that Amelia Thompson was looking from Finn to Sophia and back . . . and then gave Sophia a hard glare.