skater boy - sapnap

chapter 26- virus

"first show me how you think you're supposed to do it so i can tell you what you're doing wrong," sapnap says, his right hand to on his chin and his board by his feet.

"i'm gonna fall," i say, already regretting letting him help me. my pride is too strong to let sapnap of all people tell me what i'm doing wrong.

"i'll catch you."

"no you won't."

"no seriously, i'll spot you." he walks away from his board and stands at my side next to the curb. "arms out."

i put my arms slightly out and sapnap grabs both of my hands gently. i wrap my fingers tightly around his hand, not letting him get away with barely holding on to me.

"kick off," he coaches. my heart leaps into my throat as i put my right foot on the board and does as he says. he follows me with ease, never letting go of me. i half ollie onto the curb and immediately stumble. as sapnap promises, his left arm immediately makes a dive for my waist and pulls it next to him, not allowing me to fall as my board rolls away.

"you're okay," he says. "you're okay. it's okay."

"i'm okay," i repeat. sapnap pauses and puts his hands on his hips, staring at my board that's still rolling.

"you skate goofy," he observes as he turns back to me.

"i know, it's annoying. i'm assuming you don't?"

"no, but that's okay. this just might be a little bit of a trial and error while i figure out your foot placement and stuff. hope you're not scared of falling a couple more times."

"of course i'm not. i fall all the time."

"that's good. you're going to need guts of steel for this trick." he lets go of me. "i think your problem is where your weight is shifted. you're too far forward. tighten your abs and lean further back.

"that's scary."

"thought you weren't scared of falling?"

i groan as i walk to get my board.

"i'm not scared of falling," i answer when i get back to my place next to him. "but i am scared of adjusting myself and then having it go horribly wrong."

"that's what skating's about," he says. "trying, falling, trying again, falling again, scraping up your knees, then eventually getting it. the risk is worth the reward."

"i guess."

"now come on. try it again while tightening your abs and holding yourself slightly further back."

i walk to the starting point then look at sapnap, expecting him to spot me again.

"aren't you gonna..?"

"no," he answers, not letting me finish. "i spotted you for your practice run. try it this time."

a tense moment of silence passes. sapnap sighs.

"i'll catch you if you fall," he offers as he walks over and stands next to me. "but i'm not spotting you."

"thank you."

"mhm."

i kick off, sapnap staying by my side as my board starts rolling. i ollie, then attempt to lean back further than before. maybe i stay on the board a couple milliseconds longer than before, but my weight is now too far back. the board's tail drags on the floor and i fall backwards.

but of course i don't hit the ground, because of course sapnap keeps to his word. he wraps one arm around my back as my feet fly off my board and the board rolls away.