Coach's Number One

Chapter 21

"Um, no."

"Um, yes."

"There is no way, I am getting on that thing."

"You are such a wuss."

"I value my life, thank you very much."

"Ugh!" I groaned, throwing my hands up in exasperation. "It's a skate board... It's seriously not that scary."

"I have no balance!" Harvey argued, folding his arms across his chest, a pout forming on his lips.

"I'll teach you how to ride it."

"No!"

"Harvey!" I exclaim in annoyance, gritting my teeth. "Can you take a risk once in your life?"

"The last risk I took almost cost us our friendship," he muttered and I stiffened.

He isn't letting what happened at my house, go easily. I understand, but it makes things that much more tense and awkward between us. We are Harvey and Grace. Best friends. There is meant to be no awkwardness.

The shops at Byron are a popular tourist destination, meaning it's near impossible to get a car park in close distance, on the weekends. Therefore, I suggested we skate to shops, to save walking.

"That's not fair," I pointed out with a frown. "Very different situation."

He let out a sigh. "Fine. What do I do?"

I grinned, rolling the skate board towards him.

"Place whatever foot you feel comfortable onto the board." I instructed.

He did as so and began to wobble. I press my lips together to stop myself laughing at his dis-coordination. I gently place my hand on his arm, in case he fell.

"Once you feel ready, put your weight onto your foot and push off the ground with the other. When you've picked up momentum, rest this foot," I said, slapping his leg slightly, "Behind the other. Keep using that leg to push on the ground when you need more speed."

"This is complicated," he mumbled.

"It's really easy once you get the hang of it," I assured him. "Ready?"

He let out another sigh. He pushed off the ground and I began to walk fast beside him, my hand resting on his bicep. He is wobbly and skating extremely slow, but he seemed to get the gist of it.

"Try not to look down so much," I said to him, slightly breathless as I change pace into a jog.

"Easier said than done!"

"Just try!"

Once I felt confident he is standing upright and isn't going to tip over, I let go off his arm. He continued to skate and I jog back to my own skate board, before jumping onto it and catching up to him.

"This is awesome!" he breathed as we began to skate down town together.

"Told you! Just take it slow, okay? Don't get over-confident."

He hit a rock, causing the board to shutter slightly. I reached out and gripped him, as he righted his balance. He gave me a grateful glance with me as we continue to get further into town.

We reach the first line of shops and I dismount my board, placing it against the wall of the shop. I smooth over my hair and wait for Harvey to get organised. His hair is wind-blown and his cheeks flushed from the exertion.

"So?" I pressed, a small smirk on my face. "You loved it, didn't you?"

He ducked his head, avoiding eye contact with me. "It was okay."

I rolled my eyes.

We walk into the surf shop and I instantly stroll over to the wall where denim shorts are lined up. I am planning to get Harvey a pair of blue, maroon and two different shades of brown denim shorts.

"This is ridiculous!" he exclaimed, staring down at the price tag. "I could get two video games for this price."

"Yeah, if they were second hand or on the discount list," I said sarcastically. "This is the price you have to pay for brand clothes. They're good quality. Quit your whining!"

"Ah, taking your boyfriend shopping day, is it?" the lady asked with a small laugh as she strolled over to us.

"More like my hopeless best friend who has never shopped a day in his life," I explained to her, trying to diffuse the awkward "boyfriend" remark. "He needs help."

"Oh," she said, giving me a knowing look. "That's what I'm here for. What can I do?"

"I'm not a charity case," Harvey huffed. "I have style."

The ladies' eyes dipped over him, her face wrinkling slightly. She glanced at me and I gave her a hopeless look.

"See what I have to deal with?"

She let out a soft laugh. "Okay, let's see what we can do."

I explain to her my idea of what I want him to wear and she basically dragged him around the shop, shoving clothes up to him, to see if the colour worked and whatnot. I laugh at the overwhelmed look on Harvey's face as she dragged him around the shop, as if he was her personal rag doll.

I lean on the counter as Harvey took to the change rooms, to try on some outfits. I glance down at my watch. We are doing well with time.

"Excuse me, are you in line?"

I glance up, to see a familiar looking red-head girl standing in front of me. She has smooth, pale skin. Her cheeks are tinged a hue of pink and she ducked her head, clearly a little embarrassed addressing me. She must be shy.

It is like looking at a female version of Harvey. Their mannerisms are very similar.

"Oh no, I'm waiting for a friend," I explained to her, moving to the side.

She gave me a small smile, before moving to the counter. As the lady is still busy working with Harvey, she hadn't noticed the girl lined up.

"Hey," I suddenly said. "Do I know you? You look really familiar."

"I go to Byron Elite," she answered quietly.

"Ah, that must be where I've seen you," I nodded.

She opened her mouth, before abruptly shutting it and turning from me.

"What?" I asked her.

"I-er, hung out with your friend once. At a party."

"Oh! Yes!" I exclaimed with sudden excitement. "You're the Game of Thrones girl, aren't you?"

"Y-yeah," she stuttered, ducking her head.

"Harvey wouldn't shut up about you," I said to her, offering her a friendly smile. "He was really beating himself up for not having asked for your number. It's not that he didn't want to ask for it, he's just shy and never walked a girl home from a party before. I'm sure he would love to hang out again, if you're interested."

The words flowed fast from my mouth as I got a little too excited about the prospect of setting Harvey up. Subconsciously, I know I am doing it out of guilt from not returning Harvey's feelings.

"Really?" she asked quietly. "I would... I would be interested, yeah."

"Awesome! I'll get him to give you his number when he comes out."

Her cheeks turned beetroot colour as she stared pointedly down at the violet-coloured singlet that was on the counter.

"Thanks."

"No problem," I smiled.

Harvey wandered over and the lady quickly apologised to Game of Thrones girl for the wait. As she began to serve her, I hurried over to him.

"So, I'm buying-"

"Go ask for her number," I interjected. "That's the girl from the party that you walked home, remember? She goes to our school, apparently. She wants to hang out with you again!"

"What?" he whispered, his eyes widening. "What the hell did you do? I was gone for, like, five minutes!"

"Never mind all that," I said with a wave. "Quick, before she leaves!"

I notice that she didn't leave straight away. She began to browse again, despite having already purchased an item. I gave Harvey a shove and he shot me a panicked glance, before walking over to her.

I dump his stuff onto the counter and the lady began chatting away as she scanned and bagged his clothes. I only half paid attention, as I am too focused on trying to see Harvey in action.

He came over and didn't dare meet my eyes, as he paid. I couldn't wipe the smirk off my face.

His cheeks were tainted a dark red, his skin clammy. As we exited the shop, he picked up his skate board, not saying a word.

"So?" I asked. "How did you go?"

"Good," he mumbled.

"Define good?"

"I got her number, okay?"

"Yes!" I shouted, throwing my fist into the air. "I'm so proud of you!"

His lips twisted into a shy smile.

"Now, what I would do if I was you," I said to him as I threw my skate board onto the ground. "Text her when you get home from shopping and have casual chit chat and get to know each other. If that goes well, I would then ask her if she would like to hang out. Movies, bowling, something simple."

"You're a pro."

"I'm good at what I do," I stated seriously with a nod. "Come on, keep up!"

I propel myself forward and begin to weave through the other people on the path. I glance back a few times, seeing Harvey slowly skate behind.

We arrive at the next shop. As we enter, I glance over to Harvey.

"What's her name, by the way?"

"Caitlyn," he replied, his cheeks still bright red.

"Cute."

He stuck his tongue out at me.

I begin to look at sunglasses and watches, as Harvey looked through the shirts. The more we shopped, the easier it got. Harvey's mood had considerably lifted and he actually picked out some decent clothes himself, with no help from me. We ended up getting him a pair of designer sunglasses, a few more shirts and a pair of new Vans.

He is going to look hot by the time I am finished with him.

"Should we go get some lunch?" I suggested.

"Yeah, I'm starving."

"Mickey’s?"

"You read my mind."

I shot off, gaining speed quickly. Harvey is keeping up with me a little better now. As I skated towards the shack, I notice a large crack in the pavement. I quickly maneuver myself around the jagged edges. Before I had time to turn and warn Harvey, I heard a yell, a clatter and then a thud. I skid to a stop and rush over to Harvey. He landed on his head, straight on the cement. I quickly grab his board as it had shot off towards the road.

"Dude, you okay?" some guy asked as he walked past.

Harvey groaned, gripping his head. I drop to my knees, the cement feeling harsh against my exposed skin.

"Harvey!" I exclaimed. "Where does it hurt?"

He lifted his head and removed his hands. Blood rushed from the cut on his forehead. It looked pretty deep. He had grazes on his left cheek, the left side of his chin and both his knees were skinned.

"Oh shit," I breathed.

"It stings," he whined.

"Do you kids have a car?" the guy next to me asked. "He's going to need stitches."

"Only these," I replied gesturing to the boards.

"Come on, I'll drive you guys to the hospital," he offered. He helped Harvey to his feet.

"Thank you," I said earnestly.

As I slid into the back seat, beside a groaning Harvey, guilt pooled in my stomach. He wasn't comfortable skating and I pushed him to do it anyway. This is my fault. I focus on Harvey and ignore the feeling off unease that is creeping up on me.

"Sorry," I whispered to him. "This is all my fault."

"Kind of," he agreed with a moan.

Typical.

"You guys had a good day, anyway?" the guy asked, obviously attempting to make casual conversation.

"Yeah, we got some shopping done," I said to him, my tone a little too forced. "Yourself?"

"Not too bad. Bit warm out there today."

"Mmm," I agreed awkwardly.

It didn't take long for us to arrive at the hospital, thank God.

"Thank you very much," I said to him.

"No problem. Good luck!"

I place my arm around Harvey as we walked into the hospital. I hadn't got the chance to visit my mother's work place since we moved. In all honestly, until now, I forgot that my mother would be in the same building as us.

We walked inside, the intense air conditioning hitting us straight away. I breathe a relieved sigh as I feel my body cool down.

"Hi," I greeted as I went towards the reception. "My friend and I were skateboarding and he's had a fall. He's bleeding from his head wound and is going to need stitches."

I slipped into wannabe-doctor mode. My mother always told me to state the issues upfront and always make the issues out to be more problematic than it really is. Otherwise, we could end up in the waiting room for hours. In this case, Harvey is bleeding profusely from a head wound and he will need stitches.

"Oh dear!" she exclaimed, noticing the blood. "We will get someone to see you as soon as we can."

We waited about twenty minutes, before Harvey was called into a patient room. I was asked to wait outside, much to my annoyance. I decide to go get us some water, as it is hot outside and we haven't really eaten much today. Last thing I need is Harvey to pass out on me.

As I wander through the halls, in search for a vending machine, I turn a corner and recognise my mother's messy bun, piled on top of her head. She is leaning against the wall as a man stood in front of her, talking down to her. I cock my head to the side as I notice their proximity.

He is dressed in smart, casual clothes, clearly not a staff member of the hospital. His skin is dark and he has raven-coloured hair, that is cropped neatly.

He leaned down and tucked a loose tendril of her hair behind her ear, before pressing his lips briefly to hers. My mouth fell open. My mother just kissed someone, out in the open halls.

She is kissing other people?

Is she dating them, too?

I feel my face pale as I grip the railing beside me.

I was not prepared to see that. At all.