Cat Boy

18 | kickflip and trip

"So, let me get this straight," Vernon says, a small frown plastered between his eyebrows. "You brought me all the way to the park so I could show you what you've dubbed as incredible skateboarding skills?"

Daehyun has a stubborn look on her face, one she uses to get out of doing Friday night dishes after her roommate's house parties and demanding the remote on Sunday mornings. Well, Sunday mornings BV (Before Vernon). Now she has her Sunday mornings cut out for physics, as crazy as the idea seems.

"Once upon a time, a long time ago, you told me you could skate in passing like it's the most natural thing in the world," she says. Vernon looks uncertain, leaning her old sticker-covered skateboard against his leg as she looks up at him with an unmoving adamance. It's like talking to a brick wall, except if the brick wall had personality. "But you never showed me your moves."

He cringes at her casual use of the word 'moves', having heard Joshua use the word in a much different context multiple times, many of which were part of conversations revolving around her. "It's been a long time since I skated."

"You never really forget," she says promisingly, with the air of a wise old white man. Gandalf, perhaps. "And you know all the air dynamic science crap. You should know how to work it just as well."

He sighs heavily, awkwardly picking at the hem of the singlet top under his bomber jacket. Well, her bomber jacket, because apparently, he had looked cold when she'd picked him up from the flat. "I don't know," he says dubiously, sliding his thumb over the glossy surface of a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles sticker on the board. "I could trip and fall, maybe even sprain myself."

"Eh, like it matters," Daehyun says airily, spreading her arms along the top of the stone bench's back. It's the first time she's let her hair down in a long time (mainly owing to the fact that she broke the rubber band trying to stretch it too much) and there's a nice, cool breeze going in the park. She grins up at him, and his confidence in his ability to say no falters. "Even if you do sprain yourself, big deal. It's not like you're going anywhere."

"I'm touched to see you care so much about me," he speaks with a small pout, looking away as if afraid to be blinded by the glory of the grin she's directed at him. It feels like an attack—like she knows exactly what effect she has on him, and is not afraid to use it. But that couldn't be, could it? "Why are you so intent on this anyway?"

She shrugs exaggeratedly. "The sun is out, we're young, you're wearing something other than those flannel shirts for once," she says. "You don't go out often enough. Your skin needs that vitamin D, or whatever that is."

His eyebrow twitches. "You weren't too happy about me wearing 'something other than those flannel shirts'," he says, narrowing his eyes. On second thought, he doesn't look like he's cold. The bomber jacket seems excessive, and it's barely October. "Something about gentlemen shouldn't show too much skin?"

She throws a piece of lint at him. "That was a joke and you know it."

"Do I?"

Daehyun scowls. Another piece of lint appears in her hand, and she catapults it towards him. "You're so annoying."

That makes him smile. He shakes his head, dropping the board to the ground, and puts his foot on it, sliding it experimentally. It feels natural enough, but it's been years since he stepped on a skateboard with the intention to skate. And besides, he's the one who fixed this particular one. The knowledge doesn't work to reassure him.

Vernon glances up, looking around him cautiously for any bystanders who could see his future embarrassing fails. There don't seem to be many people except for a few joggers, who probably care about more than a kid with a skateboard being peer-pressured into doing a kickflip. Other than that, the field seems clear.