Knock You Off Your Feet

“So. How was your date with Shaun?” Dominique had insisted on coming with me to watch Shaun’s practice today, and for the entire time, she had been pestering me about the previous day’s events.

“Oh my God, for the last time, it wasn’t a date! It was what I won in a little friendly competition!” I threw my hands in the air in exasperation.

There was a moment’s silence.

“So. How was your date with Shaun?” she asked, pressing on despite my protests.

“It wasn’t a date, but it was nice. He’s a cool guy.”

“Ooh, somebody likes him!” she squealed.

“No, I don’t.”

“Ooh, somebody wants him!”

“No, I don’t.” I rolled my eyes, losing all passion for the argument I had kept up for the last hour or two.

“Come on, Case. Don’t deny it.”

“Okay, be real here. What girl wouldn’t want that?” I motioned with my right hand to the guy at the top of the halfpipe who was preparing for his run. “I mean, he’s fucking gorgeous as hell, and to top it all off, he’s funny and sweet. Seriously.” I sighed. “It still wasn’t a date.”

“Did you just admit that you want him?” She poked my upper arm.

“Like I said, what girl wouldn’t want that?”

Shaun dropped in and began, building up speed as he went along. He started with a straight air, moving onto a couple other simple tricks, surprising me. He had told me his run was going to be great, and this was too, too simple for Shaun to call “great.”

As he went up to do his last trick, I noticed a change. He seemed more determined and more confident.

His double McTwist 1260 was absolutely perfect, and I watched in awe as he landed it, pumping his fists in the air. I cheered at the top of my lungs and smiled as he stepped off his board and walked over to me.

“Well, that was great, right?” He was breathless from the adrenaline, cheeks almost as red as his hair.

“Fucking epic! Spaz, whoa, that was…”

“Yeah, yeah, I know.” His smile was tilted a little to the side, and it was adorable. “I feel like celebrating.”

“Listen, Moose, I’ll be right back,” Dominique said in my ear.

“Moose?” Shaun looked at me, a huge smile on his face.

“Yeah, that’s what normal people call me.” I stuck my tongue out at him, loving how I didn’t have to act my age around him. “Anyways, you were saying?’

“I feel like celebrating.”

“But that was just practice.”

“So? I landed the double McTwist 1260 flawlessly, without killing myself. That’s worth it.”

“I’ll meet you at your room in forty minutes?” I glanced over to find Dominique about a hundred feet away, talking to Alexandre. I was glad she didn’t hear that last comment.

“Sure.”