The Ace

"Yeah, most of these guys just come here to unwind, so this is pretty normal." , Ace nodded, he understood, he would not make any false claims without first knowing the circ.u.mstances, that would not be fair.

"Well, so, what do we do first?"

"Ok, so, we get a drink, then we go find CJ and Ray, they should be here somewhere, they told me it was their turn to set up this time.", Ace nodded, and they began to skate around the compound, dodging and weaving through people. They got drinks, a beer for John and a con of c.o.ke for Ace, and then began to look for them.

"CJ usually DJs whenever he has the time, since he gets a decent sum of money for it, but I don"t think he did today."

"Ah cool, so how does that work?", Ace asked, curious about how the funding for the parties was done.

"Well, most of the people here are just middle cla.s.s, so they can afford to bring alcohol once in a while and stuff, but the ones who have more money, usually front the costs for the DJ, lights, the cleanup crew, and the more expensive stuff.", John explained, clearly proud of the system

"Ah yeah, seems fair. So, there are other people, of our… standing?", Ace did not like the word, but John understood what he meant.

"Nah, it"s us two, there are a few others that have money as well, but nothing compared."

"Good, I can get away from the atmosphere there."

John gave a grin, understanding his feelings exactly, "I know, this is why I began coming here in the first place."

They skated around for a few more minutes, and then found CJ talking to a few other people, he saw them as well, so he walked up to them. "Hey guys", he said, while fist-b.u.mping both of them, "How you doing?"

"Not bad, this party"s not bad.", John said

"I know right? The DJ is one of my friends, so he is doing me a solid for coming, trust me when I tell you that he is fully booked. He got his big break not too long ago, so…", Ace noticed the jealousy in the stare, but also noticed the pa.s.sion and ambition. That was good. It meant that he would not let envy overtake him, but he would use it for fuel to improve, Ace would first have to hear him play, but if he was good, then maybe he could give him a boost…

"You seen Ray?", John asked

"Yeah, she was doing a few runs through some of the ramps, so she is probably around here somewhere. Wanna go find her?"

"Ok let"s go.", they then went towards the ramps and bowls, where some people were gathered looking around.

"Hey, Rob. What"s going on?", CJ asked someone he seemed to know

"Hey! CJ! Crazy party right? We all owe you a big one, the DJ"s great!", Rob seemed content, but CJ was getting anxious

"What"s happening?"

"Oh, a few of them got into it, so they are trying to see who can do the fastest dip, and then a flip."

"s.h.i.t.", both CJ and John said so in conjunction

"What is going on?"

"Well, knowing Ray, the chances that she is part of that… compet.i.tion, is not low. And when she does these things, she usually, no, always, goes overboard.", Ace nodded, he understood their worry, there was someone like that as well when he was at Elene"s for the week. Someone who always got riled up when someone did something crazy, usually with alcohol. He had ended up at the hospital, but it did not seem to be the first time the way people and the person themselves reacted.

"Ok, so can we get her out?", Ace asked, trying to get information before they acted

"Well, the only way to do so is to make her give up, and the chances of that happening are low. But first, we have to see who she is up against, depending on who it is, we might not have to get involved. For all her brashness, she is an expert, so it should hopefully be ok."

They walked forward, boards in hand, squeezing through the crowd. They finally got to the front row, and Ace could see what was going on, there was a ma.s.sive, steep bowl, and Ace could notice a figure on a skateboard going down it, and as they came up, flexing their legs, before pushing up and doing a motion with the feet, before grabbing the board, and going back down. The crowd cheered, and another figure prepared to go down. Ace noticed that it was pretty dark, but there were some strips of neon tape on the top of the decks and the wheels, which were probably used to differentiate between the different partic.i.p.ants.

"Ok, so she is there, do we know who she is going against?"

"No, it"s too hard to see from here, we got to ask someone who was here before.", after this, both CJ and John began to pivot around, trying to find someone that knew who it was.

"Ok! Found it! But it"s not good.", CJ said,

"Who is she against?", John asked

CJ let out a sigh, "Stella."

"F*ck"

"Wait, why do I…", then, Ace remembered in the skatepark, the girl in the concrete block, and how it had sounded when the group called for her: "Ela!", he could be wrong, but it could be a nickname, or he had just not heard it right, since he was not particularly focused, and it was from afar.

"Ok, so I a.s.sume she is good?"

"Yeah", CJ breathed out, "She and Ray are neck to neck in terms of skills, both of them have pretty cool tempers, but when they go against each other, they know exactly how to make the other angry. They end up at each other"s necks pretty much always."

"Ok, so Ray is not gonna give up?", Ace asked, and both John and CJ winced, "h.e.l.l no. And Stella won"t either. They hate each other too much."

"Anyone know why?"

Both looked distraught at that, "Well, we"ve known her for years, especially me.", CJ said, "but all we have managed to piece together is that they go to the same school, and are compet.i.tive with everything, sports, grades, you name it. There were a few rumours that they had been best friends before and all sort of c.r.a.p, but I don"t think I can believe that. Honestly, Ray is not one to hold grudges, and if they were friends and then either one of them did something to make the other not want to be friends again… Well, I would rather not know."

"You have to understand something Ace.", John said, "The two are pretty much the same, they have the same personalities, and clash whenever they meet, because of it, it would be possible for them to have known each other from before, but being friends? No. I don"t think so."

Ace nodded, getting a clearer picture, "Ok, but back to the problem, what exactly do we do about it?"

"Nothing. Honestly, this was one of the best outcomes, they will end up tying sooner or later, and they both know that if one tries something crazy, so will the other, so unless they make a breakthrough in a move when training, their challenges end in a draw.", John seemed worried, yet relieved at the situation, while CJ looked calmer now, and just seemed to be enjoying the show.

And what a show it was. The boards were the only thing you could see, and as they sped past the bowl and went into the trick, the board created a mirage of lights, that dazzled the spectators, by now, most people had caught on to what was happening, and so had the DJ, so he now added sound effects to the jumps, which only made them appear more spectacular.

They went through the motions for a few rounds, getting more serious each time, before they convened at the middle of the bowl, and talked for a while, they then parted ways, and like a swarm, people left and went back to their own things.

"Was that normal?", Ace asked, unsure of how it usually ended

"No, they still have a few moves they can pull, but the only reason why they would not want to, would be so they would not get injured. They usually do this when one is close to a move, so the fact that they both agreed to it means that they must both be close to nailing another one, and an injury would slow their practice down by a lot."

"Yep, chances are that they both did this as a way to find out if the other is getting close to learning a new trick, which they both seem to be.", Cj finished and then looked at the approaching figure of Ray, who Ace had learnt had blue tape on her board.

By the time she was within talking distance, she had already torn off the tape, and Ace could see that she had sweat on her forehead, which she quickly wiped with the sleeve of her hoodie.

The lights were now bacon, so everyone could see more clearly, and Ray saw them waiting for her and gave them a smile, "You guys enjoy the show?"

CJ replied, "Yeah, but you are a bit too weak on your landing, you have to work on that.", he was clearly mocking her, and as John laughed and Ace grinned, Ray threw the ball of tape at him, which hit him square on the face.

Ray sn.i.g.g.e.red, "Still as slow as always.", John laughed out loud again, and CJ looked at her in mock sadness.

"Well, it finished quickly, but I a.s.sume you are both close to a new move.", Ray nodded, and Ace looked past her, he had kept an eye on her, but noticed that the other figure had disappeared by the other side of the bowl.

"Whatcha looking at?", Ray asked, Ace looked back at her and made eye contact, "Trying to see your opponent, I am trying to figure out if I have met her before or not. What school do you go to?"

"The Thorn Inst.i.tute.", she looked at him to see his reaction, but Ace showed nothing. Inside, however, he was surprised, the Thorn Inst.i.tute was the other top school in the city, and one of their rivals in the Inter-Academy Knowledge Tournament. Ace a.s.sumed from what they said before, that both Stella and Ray got good grades, so they would probably end up meeting. They were older than him, since Ray was 16, but they would most likely see each other around the compound, since they would be there for a week.

"Ah ok. Good moves, by the way, your body control is good, and you have amazing flexibility in your ankles, although you are a bit stiff when picking up the board, did you hurt your finger or hand?", Ace was curious, her execution was nearly perfect, but ruined by the motions she did with her hand, which led him to believe she must have had an injury.

All three looked at him surprised, John said, "How the h.e.l.l did you…"

"You know how, I notice stuff, and plus, she was so good that it jumped at the eyes.

Ray nodded, "Yes, I hurt my wrist not too long ago, it is totally healed and fine, but still a bit sore, so my motions are not as smooth. Of course, it is barely noticeable, and we were in near darkness, so how the h.e.l.l did you spot it?"

"Well, I did not actually look at your hand, I noticed the board, the movement of the board was smooth and consistent all the way through, except when you picked it up. I knew it was your board, so you were comfortable with it, so it was not that. The only solution was that you must have hurt yourself.", Ace explained things calmly and rationally, and by the end, all three understood.

"Makes sense, good eye for spotting that though.", "Thanks"

"Ok! So, what do you guys feel like doing?"

"Hmmm. Let"s go teach Ace a few tricks.", Ray grinned and so did the other two, it was going to be fun.

*************************

It had been a h.e.l.lish two hours, almost as worse as when they first taught him, he had learnt a lot, but their teaching methods were crazy. They practically pushed him down a ramp, and forced him to execute the trick after only seeing it a few times. He mostly got it, but a few of them he failed at, particularly when they required him to reach for the board without looking at it, he was not yet used to it, and it would take a while still.

They went to get drinks, and CJ and John noticed some friends, so it was only Ray and Ace. This was a great time to explain some things.

"So, Thorn Inst.i.tute?"

"Yeah, it"s not very known…", she began

"Nah, it"s cool, I know where it is, I go to Gold.", she looked at him, her eyes attempting to find his, but he was focused on looking at the stars, he would not make eye contact yet.

"Ahhh, so you probably have a few questions…"

"Nah, I don"t, it"s fine, keep your secret, I just want you to know that I was aware, and John is as well."

"Yeah, I knew about John, but who are you?", she seemed curious, but Ace winced

"Please, don"t try to look into me, trust me when I say this, regardless of who you are, or who your family is, just don"t look into me, it won"t be worth it. Plus, I a.s.sure you you will find out in a few months anyway. Your grades are good right?"

"Yeah, top of my year."

"Ok, so you are going to the Inter-Academy Knowledge Tournament?"

She looked at him again, but he kept his face stone still, "Yes. Why?"

"Just to put you in context, you know I am fourteen?"

"Yeah, even if you sure as h.e.l.l don"t look like it."

"Ok, so I am going to tell you this as a show of trust, and hopefully you will reciprocate that trust and not look into me. I am going to take part in the Global section of the Tournament, and I am my School"s highest chance of winning it.", Ace spoke slowly and clearly, and Ray then looked at him, but this time, Ace looked back, meeting her eyes.

She knew the level in the Gold Inst.i.tute had not dropped, she had been part of last year"s Tournament as well. This meant that if he was not lying, and he probably was not, he was not a normal person. He was a genius within geniuses. "You are not lying to me, I presume, which means that you are not normal. I understand, as a way to say thanks, I will not look into you, but I have a duty to tell my school…"

"It"s ok, they already knew about me, and you know the funny bit? They did not even make me and offer.", Ace grinned at her, and she realised that he was on another level.

When someone like this popped up in a school, it was normal for others to try and poach him, offering better terms and so on. However, the fact that they had not even tried, showed that not only was he powerful, but he must be intricately connected to the school, maybe one of his parents was a teacher… This only hardened her resolve to not look into him, she would accept his trust, and respond in kind. After all, no one knew what could happen in the future.