When Flying Feels Like Falling

"Okay, now just go vereh slowleh and watch out for that pole ovah there," Tom thoroughly instructed.

He was teaching me the basics of skateboarding, and to be honest, I knew I would suck even before I started. Watching other people skateboard made the sport seem so easy but once I actually stepped on one of those things, I had to hang on to Tom to make sure I wouldn’t fall flat on my ass. He was a pretty good teacher.

"Oh, man. I don’t think I can do it." I laughed nervously.

"Sure yeh can! Just stay focused," Tom said, holding my arm. I breathed out steadily.

"Oi, Loreh! Stay calm! It’ll be alright! Just try not to crash!" Eric shouted from where he was skateboarding with Liam on the other side of the park.

"Thanks! That’s very helpful!" I shouted back in sarcasm.

Tom laughed. "Okay, readeh?"

I breathed out again. "I think so."

"Great." He took my waist, which instantly sent a few shivers up my spine, and slowly began walking, pulling me along while I was on the skateboard. He then let go of me and I began doing what he had taught me. It was going quite well and I could hear Tom cheering me on as I skateboarded along the park.

I turned my head and looked back at Tom. "I'M DOING IT! I'M ACTUALLY DOING IT!"

"YEAH YEH ARE!" Tom called, clapping excitedly. Then suddenly, I saw a look of worry flash across his face and he stopped clapping.

I frowned, not understanding, and turned back around. And that’s when it happened. I began losing my balance. I slammed directly into the pole Tom had warned me about earlier, resulting in me falling flat on my back, while the skateboard flew in mid air and landed on the grass with a loud thud.

Oh. My. God.

"OWWWWW!" I yelped, feeling the immediate pain shooting up and down my back. "SHIT!"

"BLIMEY! ARE YEH ALRIGHT?!" Tom shouted, running towards me in total panic. He knelt down beside me, placing his hands under my head. "Loreh? Loreh?"

I groaned, blinking a few times. All I could hear from across the park was Liam’s obnoxiously loud laughter.

"Shit, that was a nasteh fall!" Tom shook his head. Next thing I knew, Eric and Liam were knelt down on my other side.

"Loreh, yeh okay?!" Eric asked worriedly, taking my face in his hands. "Did yeh break anything?!"

I moaned. "I-I don't know. I can’t really feel anything from the waist down."

"WHAT?!" All three of them yelled in absolute horror.

I let out a pained laugh. "Kidding."

Liam rolled his eyes.

"I think I scraped my elbow, though." I stretched my left arm out for the boys to see.

"Yeah, yeh did," Eric confirmed.

"Crap. Is it bad?"

"Nah. It’s not bleeding or anything," Liam said, calming me down some.

"Here, let me help yeh, Loreh," Tom said, gently picking me up from the concrete. I swung my arm over his shoulders as he carried me over to a bench, delicately setting me down.

"Yeh sure yeh didn’t break anything?" He questioned.

I nodded slowly. "I’m sure."

He sighed in relief. "Oh God. This is my fault."

"Your fault? I’m pretty sure I was the one who had the brilliant idea of wanting to learn how to skateboard. Damn major fail."

He laughed a little, pushing my hair away from my face. "Do yeh want me to take yeh home?"

"No, that’s okay. The pain’s going away." I began sitting up slowly on the bench and Tom held his arms out in case I needed the help.

I breathed in and out deeply. "I’m good."

"What about yeh elbow?"

"It doesn’t hurt that much." I checked it, noticing it didn't look so bad. Just a few thin red lines.

"Everything’s good ‘ere, then?" Eric asked, coming over to us with Liam at his side.

"Wanna go home?" Liam questioned.

I shook my head. "Nah, I’m feeling better. Don’t worry about me."

"Sure?" Eric asked doubtfully.

"Yeah. I’ll just stay here while you guys go off and skate. I obviously lack the skills."

Liam snorted. "I knew this would end bad."

I rolled my eyes. "Go skate and leave me alone."

He laughed. "Fine. Come on, Eric."

"’Kay."

They both got on their boards and skated off.

Tom laughed. "Yeh and Liam seem to get along well."

I snorted. "Sometimes."

"'Ere, put this on your elbow." He removed his black wristband and held it out. "May I?"

I nodded. He gently took my arm and slowly slid the wristband over my scraped elbow.

I smiled. "Thanks."

"No prob. I've delt with a lot of scraped elbows in my life."

"Good to know." I laughed quietly.

Tom stayed with me on that bench for a while and we talked about the most random things. I really enjoyed his company. He was different from most guys I had met previously in my life. He wasn’t the show-off type. He was genuinely sweet. And very charming.

"’Ey, look. The guys." Tom pointed to a group of boys walking across the park, chatting among themselves. I eyed the group of three guys, instantly remembering them from the party.

"’Ey! Ovah ‘ere!" Tom shouted, waving his arms.

I watched as one of the guys noticed Tom and motioned for the other two to follow him toward us.

"’Ey Tom," The short guy with shoulder length hair greeted. He then looked at me and smiled. "Lorelai, right? Eric’s cousin?"

I nodded, totally shocked that he remembered my name and I didn’t remember his.

The guy laughed a little at my expression. "I’m Lee, remembah?"

"Oh! Um, yeah, of course." Lie.

"Oh, I had no idea yeh alreadeh met the guys," Tom stated, with a laugh.

"Yeah, we met at the party," I said. Then I looked at the other two guys. "You’re….Matt? And…Matt too, right?" I laughed a little. I'd only remembered there were two with the same name. They grinned, which meant I was right.

"I’m Matt N." The guy with black flesh plugs held his hand out and I shook it.

"I’m Matt K. It’s quite confusing, I know. If it helps, yeh can call him Matteh and me just Matt."

I laughed. "Ok, I’ll remember that."

Lee, Matty and Matt sat with Tom and I on the bench. We began talking. They were really nice guys. Maybe if I hadn’t been in such a rush to leave the party I would’ve known that.

"Oh, that must’ve hurt, mate!" Matty gasped after I'd told him about my little skateboarding incident.

"Yeah, it did. But I’m better now." I laughed. "My brother’s right. I am accident-prone."
The guys laughed.

"Do yeh plan on trying again?" Matt K. asked.

"Ha. No way."

"Aww…but it’s actually quite fun. Everyone’s first try is shit, but once they get the hang of it, it ain’t so bad. I can tell yeh that from experience, mate." He laughed. "I’ve had quite a lot of nasteh spills in my life. Got the scars to prove it."

"Yeah, to this day he still manages to fall on his arse. He’s just not that good." Tom laughed.

"’Ey!" Matt slapped his shoulder. "I've gotten bettah!"

"Yeah, yeh just keep telling yo'self that, mate." Tom patted him on the back.

I laughed. "So you guys are in a band, huh? What’s it like to be famous?"

They grinned. "It’s pretteh fucking awesome," Lee answered. "We’re realleh lucky."

"Tours can be kind of a pain sometimes. I mean, traveling around in a bus with four othah guys can be annoying, but we always work it out," Matty said, laughing.

"That’s so cool." I smiled.

"Oi, guys! Come ovah ‘ere!" Eric called suddenly, waving them over.

"We’re comin!" Lee called back, standing up, while Matty and Matt mimicked his actions.

"Shit, Eric’s gonna make me skate, isn’t he? I’m still recovering from that last fall," Matt whimpered, rubbing his arm.

I laughed. "You can’t be worse than me."

"Oh, he probably is," Lee teased.

"See ya lateh, Lorelai," Matty said and they all waved at me before going to where Liam and Eric were, near the skate ramps.

"See ya!" I called, waving back. Then I turned to Tom. "They’re fun."

Tom laughed. "Yeah. I think Matteh likes yeh."

"What?" My eyes went wide.

This made him laugh louder. "Don’t worreh. He likes evereh girl he first meets. Especialleh ones that can skateboard."

"But I can’t skateboard."

"But yeh tried. Most girls don’t even go near a skateboard in fear of breaking a nail or something." He waved his hand.

I laughed. "Well, I doubt he’d like me if he’d seen me falling like a moron earlier."

Tom grinned. "I think he still would."

I merely shrugged.

"Anybody would like yeh just by looking at yeh."

I felt my cheeks grow hot and I instantly looked down at my hands. While I appreciated compliments, I couldn't handle them like normal people could. I'd get way too embarrassed and look down at my hands to hide my tomato red face.

Tom laughed. "Sorreh. I made yeh uncomfortable, didn’t I?"

"’Course not, whatever gave you that idea?" I laughed awkwardly.

"Right." Tom rolled his big beautiful blue eyes at me. "Yo' totalleh embarrassed."

I didn’t say anything. After all, the kid was right. I just wished I wasn't so see-through.