Learning to Skateboard
Adapted from Kyria Abrahams
1 The sound of the skateboard up and down the hallway is driving Ella insane. She sits at her desk, trying to read a book. All she hears is scraaaape, scraaaape, thud!
2 She pokes her head out of her bedroom door. "Mom said not to skateboard in the house!" she yells at her brother.
3 "It's Saturday afternoon, Nerd! Take a break!"
4 Ella slams her bedroom door. How dare he! Then, she slightly opens the bedroom door again and watches quietly. It
does seem like fun, actually. “Hey," she calls after him. "Let me try."
5 "No way, Nerd! Not after you just yelled at me to stop."
6 Ugh! Ella slams the door and goes back to her desk. She hears Joseph pick up the board and hurriedly runs down the stairs. Outside, his friends are waiting for him. They are laughing and snickering as they get on their skateboards.
7 Maybe I spend too much time indoors, Ella sulks. Closing the book on her desk, she puts on a jacket and goes outside to find her brother. He's skating up and down the block showing off for all his friends. She jogs up behind him, waving her hands. He sees her, but pretends he doesn’t.
10 "Can I skate with you?” Ella was begging now.
11 "What? I said get lost," he says. "Girls can't skate."
12 All his friends start giggling. "Yeah, girls can't skate," they repeat, sneering.
13 Ella feels tears well up in her eyes, but she would not dare let the boys see her cry. Um…girls can't skate? Well…maybe that's because you won't even let me try! She's about halfway up the block when she hears a voice call out after her.
14 "Hey Ella! Wait up!" It's one of Joseph's friends. He looks sheepish and a bit nervous.
15 She spins around angrily. "What do you want from me?"
16 "I...I... just thought..."
17 "You just thought that girls can't skate, so you wanted to come and make fun of me?"
18 The boy looks at the ground. "No, that’s not it at all. I just thought maybe you'd like to try out my board. I can show you
19 “Whoa…is this a trick?” Ella wondered. But…the boy seems so sincere.
20 Jake hands his board to her. "My name is Jake," he says. "Let me show you how to ride."
21 "What about my brother?" she asks.
22 They both turn to look for Joseph. At the end of the street, Joseph grabs one end of his board and flips around in the air.
23 "Come on," Jake says, “He’s busy impressing his friends. He can't notice anyone but himself right now." Jake takes her by the hand and leads her to a small patch of concrete next to the lawn. "This way if you fall, you'll fall on the grass," he explained.
24 "I'm afraid to fall," Ella admits.
25 "You can't learn if you're afraid to fall," Jake says.
26 "But what if I hurt myself?"
27 Jake hands her his helmet, covered with stickers from skater bands. “Here, put this on. If you do fall, you won't end up in the hospital with a concussion." He shows her how to stand on the board, how to place her feet in a comfortable position, and how to shove off with one foot.
28 Ella stands on the board and feels herself wobble back and forth. It looks so easy when Jake does it. She isn't sure what to do with her hands and waves them around wildly in the air. Suddenly, she feels the earth move from her feet to her head. WOAAAH! Her head hits the grass with a big clunk.
29 "Good thing you had that helmet on," Jake says. Ella is lying flat on the ground. She looks at her arm and gasps when she notices her elbow is bleeding. "Hey, we'd better stop now. You're hurt!" Jake remarks seeing the blood on her arm.
30 "I can take it," Ella tells him. "I can't learn if I'm afraid to fall, right?"
31 They keep practicing until it starts to get dark. They completely lose track of time. "Oh no! I missed dinner!" Jake declares in a panic, finally noticing the time.
32 "Oh no is right," Ella replied quietly. "Well, I guess you'd better take your board and go home." She is trying to disguise the hurt in her voice, but she cannot.
33 "You were better at hiding your pain when you fell on your elbow, Ella."
34 Ella laughs. "Yeah," she says, looking down at her feet. "I guess I'm kind of sad about skateboarding ending."
35 "Tell you what, Ella. Why don't you keep the board for a week?"
36 "Really? I promise to give it back in good condition!" Ella squealed with great delight.
37 The next day, Ella wakes up early and takes the board outside. She practices everything Jake has taught her and only falls a few times. The scrape on her elbow is healing, and she doesn’t fear falling at all.
38 When Saturday comes around again, she wakes up extra early. She wants to have as much time as possible with the board. She's even taught herself a new trick, one she learned herself by watching a video online. It's called an Ollie. After trying and falling many tries, she is finally successful.
39 When Jake comes around the corner, she's jumping in the air, the board flying right along with her. Then she sees Jake smiling at her and clapping his hands. Then before she knows it, she’s down in the grass again. THUD!
40 "That was amazing!" Jake says.
41 "Yeah, well, you didn't see me fall about 50 times before I actually did it!" she says.
42 In the distance, they hear someone calling Jake's name. It's her brother Joseph. He glides around the corner on his skateboard along with the rest of his friends. "Jake, we've been looking for you everywhere!" he pipes as he twirls around. Then he sees his sister lying in the grass, flat on her back with the skateboard sitting beside her.
43 “I told you!" he says, holding his sides and doubling over. "I told you girls can't skate!"
44 "I can!" Ella yells. "I'll prove it to you!"
45 Ella jumps up and starts to do the trick, but Jake runs over and stops her. "You don't owe anybody an explanation," he says.
46 "Are you crazy?" Ella screamed. “Joseph and his friends are speeding away right now, and they are still laughing at me and saying I can't skate.”
47 "You and I both know you can do it, and we know how hard you've been working. No matter what you do, they'll find a way to make fun of you."
48 "I guess you're right," Ella says. She puts the board down and executes a perfect Ollie.
