One Smooth Move Read online

  Copyright

  Text Copyright © 2004 by Matt Christopher Royalties, Inc.

  Illustrations Copyright © 2004 by Michael Koelsch

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review.

  Little, Brown and Company

  Hachette Book Group

  237 Park Avenue

  New York, NY 10017

  Visit our website at www.HachetteBookGroup.com

  www.twitter.com/littlebrown

  The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious.

  Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental

  and not intended by the author.

  Matt Christopher® is a registered trademark

  of Catherine M. Christopher.

  First eBook Edition: December 2009

  ISBN: 978-0-316-09441-2

  Contents

  Copyright

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Learn the Move! The Ollie

  The Extreme Team

  CHAPTER ONE

  Charlie Abbott put one foot on his skateboard and pushed off with the other. He gained some speed, then put both feet on and coasted. It was one smooth ride on a beautiful end-of-summer day. But Charlie wasn’t enjoying it.

  Another new neighborhood! he thought dismally.

  Charlie was ten years old. He and his parents had moved seven times. He’d lived in seven new houses, been to seven new schools, gotten to know seven new neighborhoods. And seven times, he’d tried to fit in and make friends.

  Now they’d moved for the eighth time. And did he believe his mom when she said this was the last house he’d live in? No, he did not!

  Immediately, he felt guilty. The new house was special to his mother. It had belonged to her mother, Charlie’s grandmother. Grandma Beth had died a few months ago.

  “I’m not selling it,” his mother had said to his father. “It’s the houseI grew up in. I want Charlie to grow up in it, too.” And just like that, they sold their old house, packed up their belongings, and moved —again.

  Charlie zigzagged down the sidewalk. His mom was so sad when her mother died. Charlie was sad, too. He had always been able to tell Grandma Beth anything. Sometimes, she seemed to understand Charlie better than his parents did.

  Take sports, for example. Charlie liked to play catch with his dad and shoot hoops with his mom. Whenever they moved, his parents encouraged him to join one of the teams. “It’s a great way to make friends!” his dad would say.

  But Charlie never had fun on teams. He was always the new kid, the one who had to prove he could catch, throw, dribble, kick, shoot baskets — whatever the sport demanded. Plus, most of his teammates already knew each other. Sometimes they’d let him into their circle. Sometimes they wouldn’t.

  And in the end, it never mattered how well Charlie played or how many friends he made. His family usually moved before the end of the season. After this happened a few times, Charlie just stopped joining teams.

  That didn’t mean Charlie stopped liking sports. He still enjoyed them, but the kind he liked best were the extreme sports — skateboarding, inline skating, snowboarding. His parents didn’t understand why he wanted to do those kinds of sports instead of team sports. But his grandmother did. She knew Charlie liked them because he could do them by himself.

  Grandma Beth gave Charlie his first skateboard. The top of the board was like most skateboards, covered with tough black grip tape. The underside was shiny black with red designs and his initials in bright yellow. It was the coolest board Charlie had ever seen.

  “This is what he wants to do,” his grandmother said to his parents. She handed them a second package containing a helmet and safety pads. “Teach him how to use this stuff safely and responsibly, and he’ll be fine. Trust me.”

  So his mother and father signed Charlie up for skateboard lessons and made sure he wore his safety gear at all times. They also gave him a cell phone to use in case of emergencies. And it was all thanks to his grandmother. Yeah, Charlie was going to miss her.

  He kickturned, spinning on his rear wheels until he was facing the opposite direction. The board slammed down flat. He kicked off and headed back to his new home.

  CHAPTER TWO

  Charlie coasted to a stop in front of his house. With a stomp of his foot, he popped his board up into his hands.

  “Cool move.”

  Charlie swung around.

  There stood a boy about his own age. He had one foot on a skateboard. A mop of black hair stuck out from under his helmet.

  “You been surfing the pavement long?” the boy asked.

  Charlie shrugged. “I’ve been skateboarding for about two years, I guess,” he answered.

  “So how come I’ve never seen you at the skate-park?”

  Charlie’s ears pricked up. “There’s a skatepark around here?”

  The boy didn’t answer. He was too busy staring at Charlie’s board. “Whoa. That board is awesome! Can I hold it?”

  Charlie hesitated. After all, he didn’t even know this kid’s name.

  But what’s he gonna do, jump on and ride off? Charlie thought. He handed the board to the boy.

  The boy spun the red wheels, then traced the red designs with his finger. He pointed to the “C.A.”

  “What’s that stand for?” he asked.

  “My name, Charlie Abbott.”

  “I’m X,” the boy said. When Charlie looked confused, he laughed and added, “It’s short for Xavier. Xavier McSweeney.” He handed the board back to Charlie. “So, are you here to check out the new family? My mom sent me to get the four-one-one on them.”

  “The what?”

  “The four-one-one,” X repeated, eyebrows raised. “Don’t you know what that means?”

  Charlie shook his head.

  “Four-one-one is the phone number you dial for information, right? So getting the four-one-one means getting information. Sheesh, I thought everyone knew that.”

  Charlie reddened.

  “So, you know what I heard?” X said. “I heard the old lady who used to live there died in that house! When they carried her out, she looked like this.” He crossed his eyes, stuck his tongue out of the side of his mouth, and turned his hands into claws. “Man,” he said, going back to normal, “there’s no way I’d live in a house where someone died. What if her ghost came through the bathroom door when you were, you know, doing your business?” He shuddered. “No way!”

  Charlie frowned. He didn’t like X calling Grandma Beth an “old lady” or making fun of her death. Besides, he knew for a fact that Grandma Beth had died in a hospital. He decided to set X straight — to give him the 4-1-1.

  “Listen —”

  X interrupted, “So you wanna go rip it up over at the skatepark?” Without waiting for Charlie to answer, he kicked off on his skateboard.

  Charlie was torn. He wanted to see the skatepark. Then again, he was still burning from Xs little death performance.

  But he didn’t know she was your grandmother, he reminded himself. And what else are you going to do now? Watch moving men unload furniture? Snoresville!

  He put his board to the pavement and shoved off.

  CHAPTER THREE

  Minutes later, Charlie stood open-mouthed at the skatepark gate. In front of him was a slice of ext
reme-sports heaven. The park was chock full of equipment. Ramps, pyramids, and boxes took up one part. In another were grinding rails of different heights. And in the center, not one but two half pipes, complete with decks. There was even an obstacle course.

  “Are you going in or what?” X shoved past Charlie. Charlie was about to put his board down and follow him when a hand pulled him back.

  “Hold on just one second.”

  The hand belonged to a teenage girl with a spiky hairstyle and almond-shaped eyes. “You’re new here, aren’t you?”

  “His name’s Charlie and he’s with me, Alison,” X said.

  Alison relaxed her grip and grinned. “Sorry to hear that, Charlie,” she said. “Ever been to a skate-park before?”

  “Yeah. My old town had one. But it wasn’t anywhere near as good as this one.”

  Alison nodded. “Yeah, this is decent. Top of the line and brand new. We almost didn’t get half this stuff, either.”

  Suddenly, her eyes narrowed. “’Scuse me.” She stuck her fingers in her mouth and let out a piercing whistle. “Hey, you, on the half pipe!” she bellowed. Her voice was so loud Charlie couldn’t believe it came out of her small body. “Wait your turn or you’re out of here!”

  The girl on the half pipe quickly sat down.

  “So anyway,” Alison resumed in a normal voice, “the community center gets permission to build the park, right? But there’s not a whole lot of money for equipment. We’re thinking, great, the park is going to be lame. Then, out of the blue, someone donates a whole big wad of cash to the project. So instead of a dinky little park we got this beauty.” She gazed out at the park with pride.

  “Who gave the money?” Charlie asked.

  “The donor was anonymous.” She gave a sly grin. “But I’m working on finding out. One of these days, I’ll have the answer.”

  She turned to Charlie and gave him the once-over. “Okay, before I let you in, you’ve gotta pass my little test. Ready?”

  Charlie nodded.

  “First, board down to that fence and back.”

  Charlie shoved off, gained some speed, then zigzagged to the fence. Without stopping, he swung around and boarded back to Alison.

  “Not bad,” she said. “Can you do an ollie?”

  Charlie put his right foot near the tail of the board and his left near the center. Then he stomped his right foot down hard. At the same time, he slid his left foot forward and jumped into the air. His board came up with him as if it was attached to his feet. He landed cleanly, both feet still on the board.

  “You catch some good air, kid,” Alison said. “Can you do street and vert skating?”

  “I’m better at the rails than the ramps,” Charlie admitted. “I can grind and slide, but I’m still working on doing spins and grabs off the ramps.”

  “Okay, you’re in,” Alison said. She held up a warning finger. “But I’ll be keeping my eye on you. If I see you trying something you can’t handle, I’ll throw you out faster than you can say Tony Hawk. Got it?”

  “Got it!”

  CHAPTER FOUR

  Charlie headed straight for his favorite piece of equipment, the rails. Remembering Alison’s warning, he decided to do his first grind on a low one.

  He pushed off and skated toward the rail. When he was close enough, he popped an ollie. He and his skateboard jumped into the air. Both the skateboard’s trucks landed cleanly on the higher end of the rail. Holding his arms out for balance, he slid from one end of the rail to the other. Then the rail ended, and Charlie and the board dropped safely to the ground.

  “Nice fifty-fifty grind!” Charlie looked up to see X grinning at him. “Wanna trade boards for a while?”

  Charlie eyed X’s board. Compared to his own gleaming black-and-red one, X’s looked shabby. The grip tape on top was worn and there was a small nick on the nose.

  “It’s got a couple of battle wounds,” X admitted, “but it still works. C’mon, let’s trade!”

  “Okay,” Charlie said reluctantly. He took the board from X and flipped it over to examine it more closely. The blue-and-orange paint on the bottom deck was scratched in places. He put it on the ground and took a few practice rides. His own board felt smoother.

  Meanwhile, X was testing Charlie’s board. “This is so totally rad,” he said. “Can I try jumping over a rail with it?” X looked so hopeful, Charlie didn’t have the heart to say no.

  X chose a rail of medium height. He backed up until he was the right distance away. Then he rode at the rail. When he was close enough, he popped an ollie, sailed high over the rail, and landed hard with both feet still on the board. He let out a whoop and then called out, “Your turn!”

  Charlie copied X’s move. He didn’t catch as much air as X had, but he still cleared the rail with inches to spare.

  They took turns jumping, then switched to grinds. X wasn’t quite as good at these. He’d land on the rail okay, but he would wobble off halfway down. Each time his board clattered to the ground, Charlie hoped it wasn’t getting nicked.

  Finally, after an hour, the boys traded boards back. “I gotta get this thing in shape,” X said, taking his board from Charlie. “Yours is awesome. Totally awesome.”

  “Thanks,” said Charlie. Suddenly, his cell phone chirped. It was his mother calling, telling him to come home. “I gotta go.”

  “Yeah, me too,” said X. “So, see you here tomorrow?”

  Charlie knew his mother probably had “new house” stuff for him to do the next day, so he answered, “Yeah, maybe, maybe not.”

  X looked at him funny, then kicked off and coasted to the park entrance. He and Charlie parted at the gate.

  When Charlie got home, he stowed his skateboard in the garage. “Well, Charlie, you disappeared today!” his mother said when he came into the kitchen.

  Charlie told her about the skatepark and about meeting X.

  “Xavier McSweeney?” she asked. “His mother stopped by today with this pie. She told me about X. He’s your age. Maybe he’ll be in your class. Which reminds me, we’re visiting your new school tomorrow morning.”

  Charlie sighed. He’d hoped to go to the skatepark in the morning. Now it would have to wait.

  After dinner, his father asked him to help flatten and carry empty packing boxes to the garage. They worked for half an hour and built up a tall stack in one corner of the garage. When Charlie tried to toss his last boxes on top of the stack, the stack toppled over. Boxes landed everywhere.

  “I’ll take care of this mess,” his father said kindly. “You look done in. Go on inside and relax.”

  Charlie yawned. “I guess I am a little tired.” He dragged up to his bedroom, changed into his pajamas, and crawled into his bed. He read two pages in his book, then fell fast asleep.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  The next morning, Charlie put on a T-shirt and shorts. He wanted to take a quick ride down to the skate-park to see what time it opened. Maybe, if his appointment at school went fast enough, he’d be able to get in some boarding before lunch.

  But when he looked for his skateboard in the garage, he couldn’t find it. He searched high and low. It was nowhere to be found. Puzzled, Charlie returned to the kitchen to ask his mother if she or his dad had moved it. He didn’t get a chance.

  “We’re due at the school in ten minutes!” his mother said. “Hurry and get changed.”

  Charlie reappeared a minute later wearing his usual “school enrollment” outfit: a navy blue shirt with a collar tucked into khaki pants. His dark hair was neatly combed. On his feet were brown loafers instead of sneakers.

  “Oh, don’t you look nice!” his mother exclaimed. Charlie thought he looked like a dork, but he knew better than to say so.

  The rest of the morning was spent answering questions and filling out papers. Charlie saw his homeroom and met his new teacher, Mrs. Palmer. She and his mother got into a discussion. Charlie sat down and waited for them to finish.

  “Hi there!”

  A girl
with wavy brown-black hair and skin the color of peanuts plopped down next to him. “Are you new?” she asked.

  Charlie nodded. “You, too?”

  “Naw, the school lost my paperwork, so we had to come in to do it again.” She stuck out her hand. “My name’s Bizz. That’s short for Belicia.”

  Does everyone in this town have a nickname? Charlie wondered.

  “Only my abuela calls me that,” Bizz added. She narrowed her eyes at him. “You know what abuela means, right?”

  He nodded. “It’s Spanish for grandmother.” Bizz grinned. Apparently, Charlie had passed some test of hers.

  Charlie’s mom beckoned him. “See you later, uh, Bizz,” he said, standing up. She waved.

  As they left the building, his mother said, “There’s a restaurant downtown your grandmother used to like. Let’s eat there, okay?” Charlie didn’t argue.

  In the restaurant, they sat near a big picture window. “I better make sure I have enough cash to pay for this,” his mother said. She took out her wallet and opened it. Something fluttered out. She picked it up—and gasped.

  Charlie looked up to see what was wrong. His mom was gripping a picture of Grandma Beth.

  Her eyes filled with tears as she looked at the photo. “I—I forgot I still had this in my wallet,” she said. “Excuse me a sec, honey.” She stood up and disappeared into the ladies’ room.

  Charlie sat frowning at his placemat, trying to think of a way to cheer up his mother when she returned. A movement outside the window caught his attention. Still frowning, he turned to see what it was.

  X was walking by. Under his arm was a skateboard. But it wasn’t the same beat-up skateboard he’d ridden the day before. This skateboard was black with red designs!

  Charlie and X stared at each other. Then X blinked, turned away, and hurried quickly down the sidewalk. In a flash, he had disappeared around a corner.

  Charlie couldn’t believe it. X had stolen his skateboard!