Snowboard Maverick by Matt Christopher

Author:Matt Christopher [CHRISTOPHER, MATTHEW F]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780316095310
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Published: 2009-12-19T05:00:00+00:00

10

He found out the next moment.

“Hey, Dennis, how about a race?” Tasha suddenly challenged him.

“Huh? I can’t race you — you’re the fastest kid around!” he replied.

“Not really. Rick and Pat and a whole lot of other kids are much faster than me.”

“Well, you’re sure faster than I am!” Dennis said.

“So far,” she agreed. “But you’re getting better really quickly. I’ll bet you could give me a good race. Wanna find out?”

“Sure, I guess so,” Dennis said.

“What’s going on?” Robbie asked, sliding up to them and skidding to a halt.

“Dennis is going to race me down the hill!” Tasha told him.

“All right!” Robbie shouted. “Let’s go!” They all trudged over to the top of Schoolhouse Hill, which by now was crowded with kids, dodging each other as they made their way down.

“Hey, everybody, it’s a race — make way!” Robbie shouted. Kids at the bottom scrambled out of their path as Dennis and Tasha took positions side by side. “Ready,” Robbie called out, “set — go!”

Dennis shoved off with all his might and went into a glide, not turning at all until he absolutely had to. He didn’t see Tasha shove off, nor did he see her challenging him, but he could tell from the yelling all the kids were doing that she must be right behind him. She must have gotten off to a slow start, he realized.

Just before he got to the bottom, he saw her shoot past him to win the race. He couldn’t dwell on it, though. He was going too fast. He had to make sure he stopped without doing a face plant.

“Great race, Dennis!” Tasha said, unstrapping her board and coming over to him. “You almost beat me!”

“What happened up there?” he asked. “You didn’t start on time.”

“Yes, I did,” she insisted, but something about her eyes and her tone of voice made him not believe her. “You just gave me a great race — that’s all.”

“Well, thanks,” he said. “But you still beat me, remember. I’ve got a ways to go to be as good as you.”

“Not that far,” she assured him.

But Dennis knew she hadn’t raced her fastest. She’d done it to build up his confidence so he’d keep boarding. What a great friend Tasha was, he thought. But she didn’t need to do anything to make him love snowboarding — he loved it already, even more than skateboarding!

“Dennis!” Dennis looked up and toward the street, where his mother’s voice was coming from. There she was, with his dad, next to their van. They were both waving to him and smiling. Dennis ran over there through the deep snow.

“My, my,” his mom said. “You sure were going fast! Was it a race?”

“Yeah,” he said. “And Tasha won.”

“Doesn’t matter who won,” his dad said. “You sure looked good going down that hill, son.”

“Thanks,” Dennis said, feeling himself blushing. “I’m starting to get used to it.”

“Now, don’t go getting overconfident, Dennis,” his mother said. “I don’t want you doing anything foolish, like jumping off tables or stuff like that.

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