Ｏｕｒ Ｌａｄｙ ｏｆ ｔｈｅ Ｕｎｄｅｒｇｒｏｕｎｄ (Sk8 the Infinity)

7: In Spite of Herself

This was not the first time you'd been in Reki's garage. It was a bit smaller than the one at Dope Sketch, and more personalized. It was more decorated, more posters. Some were sketches of old designs. You could pick out from the batch which ones worked and which ones didn't. That was because Reki tested them out. More photos were on the walls, your photos.

One of them was the very first photo you took of Reki. The blurry one of Reki doing his very first ollie. You weren't proud of that one. Yet, Reki was the one that wanted to keep it. He really didn't know what counted as a good photo and what should be thrown away. There was something sentimental about it too. You couldn't figure out the reason.

Other photos were on the wall too. Well, one of them was one you were particularly embarrassed by.

"Why did you have to pin the one of me smiling?" you muttered. It was from an incident where Reki took your camera, quickly snapping a photo while you laughed. The settings were just correct for you to actually see your face. Not to mention the angle he got so quickly was pretty good. The wind was practically a paid actor, tousling your hair like that. It was like you were put on display. The fact that the photo was the only thing Langa was looking at didn't help.

"What?" Reki said. "It's the only proof I have that you actually smile."

You huffed, heat rising up to your cheeks. You pulled Langa away from it so he wouldn't look at the photo anymore. That was another loss against the extrovert. You practically lost track of them two months after you became friends with the redhead.

"This one might work," Reki pulled out one of the wooden boards he had on a shelf. "They don't sell decks like the one you need. So I'll shave one off this board." He put on a set of goggles before getting to work. He switched on some kind of machine and pressed the wood against it. The sound it made as it shaved was shrill. You covered your ears, scrunching your face. All the while, Langa stared while Reki worked.

"Don't just admire it," Reki yelled over the sound. "Think about your wheels!"

"Wheels," Langa said. "You mean for the skateboard?"

Reki sighed, "Yeah. Bigger ones go faster, but they're heavy. Smaller ones do the opposite. Think about trucks that'll go along with them too."

"Trucks?"

Reki sighed again, turning the machine off. He turned the page of that same magazine, knowing full well that you couldn't do a good explanation. There, he gave Langa a small crash course on the different types of boards. Something you didn't bother to listen to. Your mom told you all of this already.

You were soon next to the two boys, watching videos of different skaters. Reki was in between you and Langa, and although you weren't that intent on watching it, you found the angles used to be aesthetically pleasing. There was one in particular. The skater was being lit by just a few spotlights. Yet, they were able to be seen perfectly as they did the trick. They were in a sea of night sky as they did so, not caring whether or not the trick would land. What mattered was the rush.

"Only a handful of people can do that one," Reki said.

"How can they even get that shot at that angle," you said.

"Huh?" Langa tilted his head.

"It's her artist eyes, don't pay attention to it," Reki waved him off. "Oh, look at this one too!"

There was a small group in broad daylight, going down actual rails, making their way through tunnels that led to a cemented creak. You always wondered what walking in one of those would be like. You could see the water's perspective as it flowed through any kind of weather, especially when it rained and a lot of it would trickle down.