Adventures in the 6ix

Chapter 21: Back on The Board

XAVIER POV

HOME

"And when can we meet?"

"Maybe around noon – twelve is good."

"Alright, thanks, see you later."

Having confirmed a meetup event for my laptop trade and inquired with Dr. Nancy, I set my phone down on the table. The moment I entered the house last night, I explained to Joyce my plan of selling and trading some items, and she agreed. We then had a long talk about skateboarding, and I explained how things went wrong early on and how I'd prevent them from occurring again this time round. Eventually, she relented, on the single condition that I share with her all the details on who I hung out with at the skatepark besides Zack.

"And that's why, officially today, I return to the creative, expressive sport I left too soon," I declared to all my friends, chowing down on the rest of my breakfast.

"Yay!" Fluttershy cheered, albeit a little softly.

"I'll explain to you all about it later," I added, adding empty bowls to the sink. "For now, I need to get some practice." I winked at Tempest. "Maybe I could even teach you, too."

In my room, I pulled a large plastic storage box out of my closet. Inside were stacks of Independent trucks, bearings, wheels of slightly different sizes and hardness ratings, rolls of grip tape, and some nuts and bolts. Skystar noticed a stack of boards wrapped in plastic, packed far in the back, and pulled them out too.

"So these are all the components that make up a skateboard. I love how you organized it all so neatly with proper labelling," Twilight noted, a little excitedly.

"That's how you're able to find things quickly and efficiently," I replied with a smile. "Now, I also have one longboard and a cruiser here."

I pulled them off a rack in the opposite corner of the room and held the longboard across my lap. "This one my mom bought, back when she wanted to give me some moral support by joining in the fun of skating, shortly after my dad left. I myself didn't need it, but kept it anyways as a reminder of the times."

I then brought over the cruiser board. "This one is shorter, and she also bought it sometime afterwards when the longboard became too big and heavy for her. As I became bolder and more independent with my skating, she quit skating herself, and thus they've sat here."

"If she doesn't need 'em, and yah don't need 'em, then yah should get rid of 'em," Applejack suggested. "They're just taking up space."

I nodded sadly. "All the other boards and parts here are mine, though. I broke several, obviously. So let's set up two new ones with this remaining stash, which is a collection of the last of my sponsorship rewards. Watch, listen, and learn."

I grabbed a craft knife from my closet shelf, and cut off the plastic wrap on one of the boards. Laying it flat on my lap, I unrolled a strip of grip tape, peeled off the backing, and stuck it onto the board, taking care not to form any ridges, and smoothening out any bubbles. Using the knife, I cut around the edges and smoothened them down with a scrap of the excess.

"Note how the graphic reads? That tells you where the front and rear are," I explained, holding up the board so the bottom faced them. "The nose is to the right, and the tail to the left. Now let's add our trucks."

I used the sharp point of the knife to poke holes in the grip tape where the board's holes were, and pushed the bolts through. Twilight nodded eagerly, picking up on where I was going with this.

"Next come the trucks, bushings – these here" – I pointed to the white rubber disks – "and align them neatly and precisely parallel to the board. Then I tighten them really well with some basic tools."