Dark Night

Skateboard

Class had been reshuffled in earth science so that we could sit by our partners and work on our project. John took one look at me and smiled wryly. "Figured it out, I see," he said.

"I'm embarrassed to admit it took the rest of the day before the light bulb went on," I confessed.

"I'd appreciate it if you didn't let it out," he said very quietly, and I nodded. "I figure you're here for the same reason I am, to avoid recognition. When I'm done skating, I'm going to go to college, and this was the better school--although Metro isn't bad--and a chance to put some distance between the weirdness that is figure skating and real life."

"How'd you come up with the last name Park?" I asked, curious.

"It's my mom's maiden name and my middle name. I'm still registered at the district as John Tang, but here at the school they use Park." He looked at me curiously. "I kind of forgot that Starry had a sister, to be honest. There's never a mention of you in the articles, but I remember that I saw you at the rink for family day. Your hair is memorable."

I was sidetracked. "The articles?"

"Yeah, there have been a few reporters up at the rink interviewing him the past few months. One was for Ice International. There's going to be an interview with both of us for US Figure Skating next week, they're calling us the future of men's figure skating. I guess you didn't know."

"All I said was that I didn't want to be just Starry Knight's sister," I said softly. Then Mr Tiller clapped his hands and gave us more information about how we needed to format our presentations; we'd be doing PowerPoint presentations for the class, but he also wanted hard copies from each of us so he could comment and attach our grading rubric.

"The geology is actually pretty interesting," I said to John. He nodded and said that he'd found that there was almost no free oxygen in the atmosphere during our assigned era, but nevertheless it looked like there was some life at the beginning. We started talking about a supercontinent during the Neoarchaean called Kenoeland and what was currently thought about the single-celled organisms existing during this time, identifying new paths of inquiry. "I can search for sources, and when I get to work, I can request them if they're academic journals."

"Where do you work?" John asked.

"The library. I'm a page there."

"Ah. You've probably seen my little brother there," he said. "He spends half his time at the skateboarding park and half at the library."

"How old is he?"

"He's thirteen, but if you see a skinny geek in the nonfiction in the cars and engineering sections, that's probably Paul," he said affectionately. "He wants to be a mechanical engineer, and he's got a thing for cars. He wants to get a classic car and restore it. My parents are thrilled." At my questioning look, he elaborated. "Our parents expect both of us to be high achievers. They're fully supportive of my skating, but the tradeoff is that when my career is over, I'll be going to college rather than really work in the sport, like coaching or commentating."

"What do you want to study?"

"I'm thinking actually about sports medicine or something along those lines. I like the idea of using the knowledge I've gained as an athlete. My parents are very happy with that kind of career path." He smiled. "What about you?"

"Oh, I'm going to college, I'm just not sure what I want to study. I took some tests at my old school in Michigan, but the results were all over the place. I have an appointment with the guidance office tomorrow for some different ones. I feel like I need to have a general idea of what I want to do so I can make some informed choices when I go to apply to colleges." He nodded and we talked a little about SAT prep until the bell rang.