𝙴𝚕𝚢𝚜𝚒𝚊𝚗 ~ 𝙴𝚕𝚖𝚊𝚡

《𝟷𝟺》

August 25, 1985
12:32 PM

When both girls finally came close to the skatepark, El began to feel nervous and kept looking around the place to see if Max's friends were there before them. To the brunette's relief, they weren't. Max noticed the confused expression in El's face and a little smile stretched across her face. She could see that El was afraid of meeting the twins, watching her anxious eyes scan everything around them.

~ "Don't worry Ellie. They're not here yet. We usually meet at 1pm, so they should be here in...maybe half an hour." Max said, looking at her yellow wrist watch and El's face immediately softened in relief. As much as she tried to not act so obvious, she was sure that Max noticed her discomfort now.

~ "Oh...okay. What are we gonna do until then?" She asked with curiosity, turning her head to look at the other. Max stuck out her bottom lip, scrunching up her nose and narrowing her eyes a bit to let El know she's thinking.

~ "I could try and teach you how to not fall off a skateboard, what do you say?" The redhead mocked the other, a hint of a smirk beginning to form on her face. She couldn't help but let an almost inaudible chuckle out when she remembered what El's last skateboarding lesson looked like. The image of the brunette's pout as she kept on falling off the board countless times still lingered in her mind. She remembered the excitement brought by the thought that maybe, there's a chance that her best friend might like the sport as much as she does and they could enjoy it together. But that excitement quickly vanished after El announced that the piece of wood she fell off more times than she could count was stupid and refused to step on it again. Max was hoping to change her mind this time. El glanced at the board the redhead was holding under her arm and shrugged.

~ "I'm not good at that." She shook her head a little, her demeanor suddenly changing. Max couldn't quite tell why was that though. The rest of the walk was silent, Max not really knowing what to say while the brunette had her mind occupied with her own thoughts. Once they came close to the spot Max and her friends usually met at, which was actually an old basketball court, the redhead dropped the board on the asphalt and stepped on it, pushing her way further and further. She felt the need to show what she could do. To show that there's something that she's good at and noone can take away from her. Other times, she would just sit on her board and wait until the twins come, but this time was different. This time, her best friend was there with her. And she would be lying if she denied that she wanted to somehow impress her. She could feel El's brown eyes watching her from afar as she transfered her weight to her left foot, making the front part of the skateboard lift up and turn to the side, now leisurely riding towards El again. The other was now walking towards her at a slow pace, until eventually stopping when they met. Max stepped off her board with a smile plastered across her features and El reciprocated it.

~ "That was good. You've got a talent." The brunette said, even though she knew that she can't really know if it was good, considering her lack of skill. It looked like Max really appreciated the compliment, judging by the beam that she gave El. It seemed awesome to her, and she didn't want to just stand there the whole time, so she eyed the skateboard again, tilting her head to the side a bit.

~ "Uhm...can I try?" El asked eventually, a bit embarassed to, because she refused when Max proposed to teach her before. To El's surprise, Max's will to show her how to skateboard didn't subside and she nodded with excitement playing in her eyes.

~ "Of course! Come on, I'll show you." Max gestured to El to come closer, which she did. The redhead was very enthusiastic when it came to her favourite sport. Especially with El by her side.

~ "So...first, you place your foot on the deck and try to push the skateboard forward with your other foot...like this. Try it. It's the easiest thing to do." Max explained, demonstrating what she said with a smile tugging at the corners of her lips, while El examined the movement. When Max sent the board her way, she looked at it, biting the inside of her cheek. She placed one foot on the deck as Max told her before, trying to push forward a little. But every tim she tried, the skateboard would quickly move in front of her, making her lose her balance and stay still for a while again. While this was painful for Max to watch, she was exhilarated that the brunette made an effort to at least try. And while El was struggling, she thought about what would it feel like to be able to just take her hand and help her with her balance. But from the day she realised that her feelings for the brunette were way more complicated than it may seem, she would feel guilty when she initiated any physical contact between them. Even a simple hug was making her feel like she's using the brunette somehow... knowing that El didn't feel the same way was making her hold back from doing most of the things she was doing without second thought before, and it was confusing her.