Skateboard Renegade by Matt Christopher

Author:Matt Christopher [CHRISTOPHER, MATT]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780316094283
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Published: 2009-12-19T05:00:00+00:00

9

B've been meaning to ask you,” Benny Santangelo said as they sat together over lunch. “Is that your real hair?”

Zach laughed so hard that the milk he was drinking squirted out of his nose. “Quit it! You're gonna make me ruin my clothes!” he told Benny, wiping himself off with a paper napkin as he tried to stop laughing.

“Seriously, is it?”

“Stop!”

“Okay, okay. But … well, what were you thinking when you decided to get that done to yourself?”

“I don't know what I was thinking,” Zach confided, sighing miserably. “To tell you the truth, I'm about ready to shave it off and start from scratch again.”

Benny nodded, then said in a deadpan voice, “I'd suggest using one of those hair-removal products. It'll hurt less than a razor, and it'll grow back slower.”

Zach blinked. It took him a second to realize Benny was joking around with him. Then he cracked up again. “You're a sick man, dude,” he said, giving Benny a high five and a smile. “Seriously, though, I'm not gonna shave my head, one way or the other.”

“No, that wouldn't be good,” Benny agreed. “You'd look just as weird.”

“Weirder.”

“And all that trouble for nothing.” Benny thought for a minute. “I guess you're stuck with it until it grows out a little. Then you can get a buzz cut and start fresh…. Or …”

“Or what?”

“Or you could go to the store, buy a rinse, and color your hair so it looks like normal.”

Zach considered this for a moment. “What about the spikes?” he asked.

“You'd want to try cutting them off, I guess,” Benny said with a shrug.

“I don't know how good a job I could do of it,” Zach said. “I might make a real mess of my hair, and then I'd have to shave my head.”

“If you ask me,” Benny said, “it's worth the risk. Look, you said none of your friends had the guts to bleach their hair. So you're the only one who wound up looking like a space alien.”

“There's one kid, Brian, he was the first to do it. But I don't know … it looks good on him, somehow. It fits him.”

“He's a space alien?”

Zach laughed. “Kind of. Anyway, you're right. If they didn't have the guts to do it, why should I keep my hair like this? I guess I'll try the rinse-and-hack method.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Benny said. “Er, what about the earring?”

“What about it?” Zach asked. “I like the earring.”

“Oh. Okay,” Benny backed off. “That's cool, I guess. It would be better if it wasn't a clip-on.”

“Dang! Is it that obvious?” Zach moaned.

“Only close up,” Benny replied from across the table. “From a distance, it's very convincing. And I'm sure it's less obvious under a skateboarding helmet.”

“It is,” Zach assured him. “Definitely.”

“Now … ahem,” Benny said, clearing his throat. “The, er, pants … ?” He pointed discreetly at Zach's wide-leg jeans and shook his head disapprovingly. “Lose 'em.”

“Yeah, right,” Zach said with a grin. “I should walk around here in my underwear.”

“You know what I mean,” Benny insisted.

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