Snowboard Maverick Read online

  “It wouldn’t be cheating!” Robbie protested.

  “Yes it would, kind of,” Tasha disagreed. “Dennis is right on this one.” She smiled. “But I am going to invite every person I know just the same. I’m mad proud of you, Dennis.”

  “Me, too!” Robbie said. “And you know that slob thing you do? I can do that now! Wait till you see!”

  With that, the three of them went off to their afternoon classes, chattering about freestyle stunts all the way.

  All Presidents’ Week, it snowed and snowed. Not just ordinary snow, either — major blizzard snow. It was impossible to get out to Ford’s Mountain to practice. This made Dennis miserable. Not that he really thought he could beat Dale, even if he practiced every day for the rest of the winter. But he wanted to do his very best, especially since there would be so many people watching. And without any practice beforehand, he was scared he would be rusty.

  But the snow did not let up — not until the very morning of the contest. That day, it dawned bright and sunny — even warm, for February. Dennis got out of bed and stretched. He knew he wasn’t ready for the contest, but he was determined to go out there anyway and give it his best shot.

  After a quick breakfast, the whole family, except for Felix, piled into the van and headed out to Ford’s Mountain.

  “Excited, son?” his dad asked as he drove.

  “What a silly question, Russell,” his mom answered with a laugh and a roll of her eyes. “Of course he is. Even baby Elizabeth is excited, aren’t you, baby? Yes!”

  Baby Elizabeth was always excited about everything. She was excited when you gave her strained peas. But at this moment, she did look kind of extra-excited, Dennis thought.

  As for Dennis, he didn’t say much. He was trying to focus, visualizing the stunts he had practiced over and over again.

  When they got to the lodge, his parents went to buy Dennis a ticket. Dennis sat down and checked over his equipment. Then they all headed out to the half-pipe.

  There had to be at least thirty kids there, waiting to watch the big event! Dennis was flabbergasted. He’d never expected a turnout like this! There were Robbie and Tasha, and there was Dale Morgan, too. Dale was talking to some older kids who must have been friends of his, but he broke off his conversation to come over and greet Dennis.

  “How’re you doing?” he asked, slapping Dennis a ski-gloved high five. “Ready for action?”

  “Ready as I’ll ever be,” Dennis responded. “Just let me say hi to my friends.”

  “Five minutes?” Dale asked.

  “Five minutes.” Dennis went over to greet Robbie and Tasha, who proceeded to give him a first-class pep talk. It was about the last thing Dennis needed, but he let them do it anyway. They had been a big part of his success up to this point, and he wasn’t about to deny them their chance to contribute now.

  Finally, they each gave him a big hug and a pat on the back, and Dennis moved off toward the starting point.

  That was when he saw them, standing a little way off— Rick Hogan and Pat Kunkel. They were staring at him silently, but Dennis couldn’t read the look they were giving him. He wondered why they had come. Had it been to see him lose? To see him get humiliated, the way he had humiliated Rick? Probably, Dennis figured. Well, he was determined not to give them the chance to gloat. He was going to give a good accounting of himself, no matter what!

  “I’m ready,” he told Dale Morgan. “Let’s do it!”

  17

  Okay,” Dale said. Turning to the assembled crowd, he announced, “Dennis and I are each going to do ten stunts. On the first five, we’ll both do the same thing. The last five will be stunts of our choice. You can all be the judges. Give us anywhere from one to five points per stunt. Consider the difficulty and how well we execute. Tasha here will write down your scores after each stunt, so be sure she gets them from you, okay? That’s everything, I think. Want to go first, Dennis?”

  “Sure,” Dennis said. He didn’t want to stand there watching while Dale set an impossible standard. It was better, he thought, to get the first stunt out of the way — and the butterflies in his stomach along with it.

  The first stunt was a simple series of aerials. Dennis performed them without a hitch, although he knew in his heart he could have gone higher. The applause from the crowd was polite afterward, with the exception of Robbie and Tasha, who hooted and hollered as if he’d just nailed a gold medal at the Olympics.

  Dale Morgan’s aerials were much higher than his, and the applause was louder and longer. Oh, boy, thought Dennis. Well, at least he hadn’t messed up.

  The next stunt consisted of aerials with grabs. This time, Dennis put more flair into it, and the results were better. By the time the first five stunts were over, the crowd was really into it, and while Dale still had to be ahead on points, Dennis figured that at least it wasn’t a blowout.

  Then came the free-choice stunts. Dennis had decided to go with the stuff he was surest of. He wanted to nail every move perfectly. He knew Dale’s moves would be more difficult and daring, and for that reason more impressive. But since he couldn’t match Dale’s degree of difficulty, he wanted at least to match his level of execution.

  His slob was extra-special. Dennis boned out his rear leg while grabbing the toe edge of his board, twisting the tail of the board around so it was at a right angle to the direction of the half-pipe. That got a rousing cheer.

  As for Dale, he wowed the crowd with his stale fish and roast beef. Then he must have been feeling pretty confident, because he tried a 360° somersault off the highest section of the wall. It was an amazing stunt, and Dennis had seen Dale do it to perfection several times during their practice sessions.

  Today, however, Dale’s timing was slightly off, and he wound up falling pretty badly. He wasn’t hurt, but he got up slowly, clearly dizzy. His next stunt suffered, probably because his confidence had been momentarily shaken.

  But Dale didn’t back off. He didn’t scale back his stunts to make them easier. In fact, his last stunt was a handstand off the lip of the wall. He held it for an incredibly long time, and the crowd roared.

  When it was all over, Dale and Dennis shook hands and put their arms around each other’s shoulders to accept the cheers of the crowd. Then it was time to total up the scores. Tasha took charge of the counting. She was an A+ math student and could do huge numbers of figures in an instant.

  “Okay,” she said, when she was done totaling up the scores. “Guess what, gang? We have a tie! Congratulations, both of you — what an amazing performance!”

  A roar went up from the assembled crowd. Dennis stood there stunned as Dale clapped him on the back, smiling. How was it possible? Could Dale’s fall and his one shaky stunt really have allowed Dennis to tie him?

  “Congratulations, Dennis,” Dale said. Then he turned to the crowd. “Listen, everyone,” he called out. They all fell silent. “I know what the score says, but you know what? Dennis is the winner. For a guy who just started to snowboard this year, to tie me in a contest, he deserves to be the winner!” He held Dennis’s arm aloft as the crowd went wild.

  Dennis was speechless. As everyone came up to congratulate him, one after the other, he just stood there, nodding and smiling and letting his hand be shaken. It was like a dream — a big, snowy, beautiful dream!

  Suddenly Rick and Pat were standing in front of him. “I owe you an apology,” Rick said, his jaw tense from the unaccustomed words that were coming from his mouth. “I was wrong about you, O’Malley. You’re okay.”

  “Thanks, Rick,” Dennis managed to say. “I really appreciate that, coming from you.”

  “No, I mean it,” Rick went on. “You could have rubbed it in when you beat me, but you didn’t. And to tell you the truth, I came here today hoping to see you get your rear end kicked. But you were really good. In fact, I had you as the winner on my scorecard.”

  “Me, too,” Pat ventured, as always echoing Rick.

  “No hard feelings?” Rick said,
offering his hand.

  “No hard feelings,” Dennis said, smiling and shaking it.

  “Me, too,” Pat said, sticking out his hand for Dennis to shake.

  “Great,” Dennis said. “Thanks, guys.”

  There were big hugs from Tasha and Robbie, who made Dennis promise to teach him every stunt he’d done. And hugs, too, from his parents, who told him they were prouder of him than they could ever say.

  Sandwiched between them, Dennis realized once again how important it was in life to stick to whatever you love to do, no matter how frustrated you get along the way or how close to failure you come.

  “Hey, everyone!” his dad shouted to the crowd, which was beginning to break up. “You’re all invited back to our house, for hot chocolate and toasted marshmallows! Let’s all celebrate!”

  The crowd roared one final time, and Robbie even threw his ski mask into the air.

  Dennis felt like he was floating on top of the world. He’d conquered his fear of the slopes. He’d learned to snowboard in record time — and gotten to be really good at it. Everyone was cheering him, he’d made a new friend in Dale Morgan, and even Rick and Pat had apologized for the way they’d treated him.

  He no longer had to spend his winters skateboarding by himself on the rare occasions when the sidewalks were clear. Now he could snowboard with all the other kids!

  It was only February 20. There would be snow on the ground at least till mid-April.

  “It’s going to be a great winter,” Dennis said as they all headed back toward the lodge. “Man, I hope it snows till June!”

  Matt Christopher®

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  Dale Earnhardt Sr. Jackie Robinson

  Jeff Gordon Alex Rodriguez

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  Baseball Flyhawk Dirt Bike Runaway

  Baseball Pals Dive Right In

  Baseball Turnaround Double Play at Short

  The Basket Counts Face-Off

  Body Check Fairway Phenom

  Catch That Pass! Football Fugitive

  Catcher with a Glass Arm Football Nightmare

  Catching Waves The Fox Steals Home

  Center Court Sting Goalkeeper in Charge

  Centerfield Ballhawk The Great Quarterback Switch

  Challenge at Second Base Halfback Attack *

  The Comeback Challenge The Hockey Machine

  Comeback of the Home Run Kid Ice Magic

  Cool as Ice Johnny Long Legs

  The Diamond Champs The Kid Who Only Hit Homers

  Dirt Bike Racer Lacrosse Face-Off

  Line Drive to Short ** Snowboard Champ

  Long-Arm Quarterback Snowboard Maverick

  Long Shot for Paul Snowboard Showdown

  Look Who’s Playing First Base Soccer Duel

  Miracle at the Plate Soccer Halfback

  Mountain Bike Mania Soccer Scoop

  Nothin’ But Net Stealing Home

  Penalty Shot The Submarine Pitch

  The Reluctant Pitcher The Team That Couldn’t Lose

  Return of the Home Run Kid Tennis Ace

  Run For It Tight End

  Shoot for the Hoop Top Wing

  Shortstop from Tokyo Touchdown for Tommy

  Skateboard Renegade Tough to Tackle

  Skateboard Tough Wingman on Ice

  Slam Dunk The Year Mom Won the Pennant

  All available in paperback from Little, Brown and Company

  SNOWBOARD MAVERIC

  Can a skateboard pro conquer the slopes?

  Dennis O’Malley is the best skateboarder in town. Unfortunately, he has to shelve his board for more than half the year, when the streets are covered with snow. Then a new sport emerges on the scene, one that Dennis’s friends think he’d be a natural at: snowboarding. Since snowboarding and skateboarding use such similar moves and techniques, making the jump from the streets to the slopes should be a breeze for Dennis. Only Dennis knows it won’t be….

  Matt Christopher is the name young readers turn to when they’re looking for fast-paced, action-packed sports novels. For more exciting snowboarding novels, check out:

  For a complete list of all Matt Christopher titles, please turn to the last pages of this book.

  * Previously published as Crackerjack Halfback

  ** Previously published as Pressure Play