One Last Time

Chapter 23:

Summer came quickly and I was happy to for once be out of school. Now I had all the time in the world to be with Bam and the guys and not worry about school. Since summer had started Bam had practically made me stay at his house every night. Not that I minded but think my mother was starting to.
'Bam.' Jess said coming into Bam's room early one morning. 'Dude, Ken's on the phone.'
'Who the fuck is Ken?' Bam asked rolling over.
'Element's Junior Team Manager.' Jess said.
Bam shot up and grabbed the phone.
'Hello?' He said anxiously pushing his brown excuse for hair back. 'Hi. How are you?'
Fifteen minutes later he hung up the phone. 'Yeah!' He screamed.
'What?' I asked.
He jumped up and ran to the kitchen. 'APE!'
'What?' She asked. 'What'd you break?'
'Nothing.' He said as I ran in behind him. 'We have to go to New York tomorrow. I have an audition.'
'Audition?' Ape asked.
'For Element. Remember, Rick said he was gonna send in some of my footage, well I guess I was good enough to land an audition with them.' Bam said this all rather fast.
'There gonna let you on a team with adults?' April asked clearly worried.
'No. It's for the junior team. But if I'm good enough on that team, I get a spot on the adult one later. I'll have to drop a sponser though...and I was thinking of dropping Cheap Skate, I mean, I never really have demos with them anyways, nor do they give me alot...' Bam trailed off deep in thought. 'I'm not dropping Fairman's. No way. I wouldn't be where I am if it weren't for them.'
'Bam. Go call Rick. I need to talk to him and make plans for tomorrow.' April said turning back to the stove.
'I'm going?' He asked.
'Of course.' She said turning to him.
He ran and hugged her as tight as he could.
'Aw, thanks, Mom, you're the best!' He cried.
'I love you too, Bam.' She said rolling her eyes.
'Can Rian come?' He asked.
'Bam...' I shook my head trying to think of an excuse. 'I don't want to get in the way...'
'You won't. Besides I need support. If my best friends not there, then what's the point in going?' He asked.
I giggled as he ran to get the phone.
'You know...' April said stirring the meal she was cooking. 'On his sixth birthday he told me he was going to be a professional skateboarder. I didn't think he was serious until he saved up money for a year, went to Fairman's and bought his first board. Now he's getting signed.'
I laughed as Bam ran in on the phone with his manager.
'Yeah. Ape wants to talk to you. Here, Ape.' He handed her the phone and stood watching her conversation.
The next day I found myself smooshed between Bam and Jess in the back of Phil's van. Bam stared straight ahead the entire ride mumbling to himself on which were his best tricks and which would be the best to use. Jess sat next to me listening to his Walkman with drumsticks drumming along on his knees and bobbing his head. I was thankful I had brought a book.
Four hours later we arrived at the hotel. Phil checked us in and we went up to our rooms. Ape and Phil were across from Bam, Jess, and I. There was one king bed in our room so I squeezed between Jess and Bam while we all laid there laughing.
At 11 Bam's audition started so we went to find the local skate park. He checked in with a lady behind the desk, before saying goodbye to his parents and Jess. They went to sit in the bleachers not too far away.
'Bye.' He said leaning in to kiss me.
'Yo Margera!' Some one screamed making him pull away and turn.
'Yo, wait up!' He called.
'Good luck.' I said.
He kissed me again, this time a little bit longer, before running off after a boy with dirty blonde hair.
I turned and walked over to the bleachers and plopped myself down next to Jess.
'So,' He asked.
'What?' I said.
'Are you two together?'
'What?' I asked again.
'Did he ask you out yet?' Jess said again.
'No. And he's not going to. I'm his best friend.' I explained.
'Rian, how many people kiss their best friend?' He asked.
I knew he had a point.
'Look, Jess, I don't know what the hell we are. I like him a lot but, he always says we're best friends...' I trailed off.
'Well, then, I"m gonna have to talk to him.' Jess shrugged as he turned his attention to the half pipe in front of us.
I watched intently. I knew nothing about skating, but these kids were good. I just hoped Bam would be better. I saw him come up to the top of the ramp with the dirty blonde boy. I watched him scan the crowd before waving to me. I waved back and so did Jess.
Bam flipped him off before pointing me out to his friend.
'Up next...' The announcer called. 'From West Chester, Pennslyvannia, 15 year old, Bam Margera.'
Jess, April, and I screamed as he dropped in.
He ran for about three minutes before exiting and his friend dropped in. He left the ramp and ran down to get some water.
'Alright. All of our hopeful's did wonderful. We will be evaluating the footage you have sent us and the entire audition over the next week and if you are chosen we will call you in two weeks. Thank you and have a wonderful rest of the day.' The annoncer said.
Bam skated towards us with a man following behind him.
'How was it?' He asked as his shin hit the bottom bleacher. He pulled up his pant leg revealing a scrape.
'Bam!' Ape said coming down.
'I'm fine Mom.' He sighed as she fussed over him.
'Did you have to skate into the bleachers?' She asked. 'Hi Rick, how are you?'
'I'm good.' The man said. He looked to be in his late thirties with deep brown eyes and equally dark hair.
'Rick, this is Rian. Ri, this is my manager, Rick.' Bam said introducing me to the man.
'Hi, nice to meet you.' He said holding out his hand.
'You too.' I said shaking it.
'How was Bam's run?' Phil asked.
Bam played around with his board while squirting water into his mouth.
'It was good, really good. I think we have a good chance with this thing.' Rick said turning Phil and April towards the car.
Jess and I walked down the bleachers.
'Good run little brother.' Jess said patting Bam on the back who was skating next to us.
'Thanks.' Bam said. 'Rian come here.' Bam said as Jess kept walking.
'What?' I asked. I leaned in and gave him a kiss.
'What was that for?' He asked smiling.
'For skating good.' I said.
'Well, then, I guess I should skate good more often.' He smirked. 'Come here. Stand on my board.'
'No. I'm not making a fool of myself.' I said.
'No, you're not skating. I want to try something. Just trust me.' He said.
I went and stood on his board.
'Move up.' He said as he stepped onto the board behind me. He wrapped his arms around my waist and pushed off with his foot.
'Bam!' I screamed. He laughed as he skated us along. 'We're gonna fall.'
'No we're not.' He said laughing.
We stopped at the car.
'Bam!' April shrieked when she saw what he had roped me into. 'You're not serious!'
'Dude!' The dirty blonde boy. 'That's fucking awesome. I'll catch you back at the hotel!'
'Alright, Colton!' Bam said as I stepped off his board and got into the van.
We piled in and Phil drove us back to the hotel.
'Ape!' Bam called as we got in the lobby.
'What Bam?' She asked.
'Do you think that Novak could stay the summer?' He asked.
'I don't know, Bam...' She said.
'And can Ri and I go to the pool?' He asked as we all got in the elevator.
'I wanna come!' Jess whined.
'You can all go, just don't drown.' She said.
We ran down the hall to the room as soon as the elevator doors opened. Jess opened the door with the key and we ran to our suitcases to grab our bathing suits. I beat them to the bathroom and quickly changed into my string bikini. I realized Bam had never seen me in a bathing suit, nor had I seen him.
This is going to be interesting... I thought to myself as I slipped one of Bam's tee shirts over my head and grabbed a towel. Bam and Jess were already changed so we shut the door and headed down to the pool.
'Where'd you find my shit?' Bam asked as we stepped into the elevator.
'On the bathroom floor.' I smirked as the elevator desended. We reached the pool room and found it empty.
'Just the way we like it.' Jess said with an evil smile. We walked in and set our towels on a chair. Bam and Jess took their shirts off. I found myself starring at Bam's naked torso.
'What?' He asked.
'I have to go the bathroom.' I said walking out of the room and down the hall. I went quickly and came back to find Bam and Jess jumping in and splashing everywhere.
'Come on in, Ri!' Bam said swimming towards the edge closest to me.
'I'm coming...' I said. I grabbed the hem of Bam's shirt and pulled it up over my head. I threw it on the chair and walked towards Bam who was starring open mouthed at me.
'What, never seen a bikini before?' I asked.
'Not in person!' Jess yelled making Bam tear his eyes away from me and swim towards his brother dunking his head under the water. I stepped into the pool and it was freezing.
'It's cold!' I shrieked.
'No it's not.' Bam said swimming over to me.
'Yes it is.' I said dipping my feet into the water.
Bam climbed out of the pool and went over to the chair with our things on it. Jess continued coaxing me into the water.
'It's okay Jess!' Bam said as he walked towards me. 'I've got a better idea.'
Before I could put two and two together I felt him push me and my body hit the water.
'BAM!' I screamed when I came back to the surface. He and Jess were laughing hysterically. 'You're an ass!'
He jumped in the pool and appeared next to me.
'Are you mad?' He asked still smiling.
'Yes!' I said. 'Of course I'm fucking mad! You just never fucking think! You're always fucking something up!' I screamed at him.
'That's when I leave...' Jess said awkardly swimming to a ladder and pulling himself out. He grabbed a towel and left Bam and I in the small room.
'I'm sorry Rian, I thought you would laugh...' Bam replied sheepishly.
'You never take anything seriously.' I said shaking my head.
'Yes, I fucking do, don't tell me I don't!' Bam began to yell.
'Name one thing.' I said.
'Skating.' He shrugged.
'Of course you take skating seriously. That's the one thing you don't find a way to fuck up!'
'Us!' He screamed.
'Us?'
'Yes, us. Our relationship!'
'What relationship?' I asked back.
'This one!' He screamed and grabbed me by the back of the neck pulling me in for a kiss. I was shocked at first but slowly kissed him back. The kiss lasted for a full five minutes before I pulled away.
'Bam...' I whispered. 'I hate fighting.'
'Me too. But, it's what we do, Ri. You tell me when I'm being an arrogant asshole and I tell you when you're being a pain in the fucking ass.'
I laughed at this and pulled away from him in for another kiss. He licked my bottom lip deeping the kiss to a full make out.
'Way to go, Margera!' A voice shouted.
I pulled away from Bam to see some of his friends from the ramp earlier.
'Hey Colton.' Bam said obviously aggrivated that we had been interupted.
The other boys dove into the water splashing both Bam and I.
'Are you going to introduce me to your fine young friend.' The boy named Colton said swimming over to us.
'Uh, this is my friend Rian. Ri, this is Colton.' Bam said.
'It's a pleasure to meet you.' Colton said holding out his hand.
'You too.' I said holding mine out which he took and kissed.
'Dude...' Bam said giving him an odd look.
'Sorry, man.' He said eyeing me up and down.
'Are you two done fighting like an old married couple?' Jess said coming into the small room with a bag of chips.
'Shut the fuck up, Jess.' Bam said as Jess placed his stuff on a chair.
'We should play chicken.' Colton said not taking his eyes from my body.
'I don't think so.' Bam said grabbing my waist and pulling me towards him.
Bam introduced me to the other boys, Nick, Jack, and Max.
They didn't make me feel as uncomfortable as Colton.
'Bam...' I said turning him to face me. 'I don't like him...'
'He's cool. He's just acting weird.' Bam said.
'I don't like him looking at me.' I whispered.
'You're fine...' He whispered back.
'No, he's creeping me out.' I said back.
'What do you want me to do?' He asked.
'I don't know something. Tell him to stop.'
'That'll look good...' Bam said rolling his eyes.
'Just get him to stop.' I said.
'Fine.' Bam said looking over his shoulder. 'Play along.'
He leaned in and kissed me.
'Yo, Margera! Stop making out with your girl!' The boy named Max called.
Bam pulled away smirking.
'Oh yeah, that was real hard to play along with...' I mumbled making him laugh. He turned and climbed out of the pool grabbing Colton's board that he had brought down.
'Check this out.' He said walking to the deep end.
'Bam! Don't!' I said as he stood up against the wall.
The other guys started to laugh.
'I'm goin' skatin'!' He screamed dropping the board and jumping on it. I watched in horror as he fell right into the pool. He came to the surface laughing and clutching the board. 'Ow, fuck. I hit the surface too hard.'
Shaking my head I climed out of the pool towards my towel. I felt someones eyes on me and thinking it was Bam I didn't turn around until I had wrapped the towel around my body. I turned to see Colton starring at me while Jess dunked Bam under water. Colton winked as I slipped on my shoes and grabbed Bam's shirt.
'Where you goin'?' Bam asked swimming over to me.
'Up to bed.' I said.
'Well, wait.' He said climbing up the ladder. He leaned in and kissed me. 'I'll be up in a minute.' He said.
'Okay.' I kissed him one more time before going up to our room and changing into pj's. I climbed into the big bed and fell right asleep.