Snowboard Maverick by Matt Christopher Read Free Book Online Page B

spurt.”
    She took off down the hill, and Robbie followed her. Then it was Dennis’s turn. Fighting off the urge to unstrap himself and
     walk back down, he turned his board to the fall line and felt it begin to slide.
    He coasted downward, carving out the turns carefully, not taking any chances, going slowly, slowly down the big hill. He made
     it without even the slightest wobble!
    Dennis felt a surge of triumph shoot through him. Only five minutes ago, he’d been on the verge of quitting for good. Now
     he didn’t want to stop!
    He looked around for Tasha and Robbie. Now that he was over his fears, he wanted to thank them again for pushing him to learn
     to snowboard. There they were, over by the road, loading their boards into Mrs. Mclntrye’s minivan.
    Suddenly a snowboarder raced gracefully down the hill toward him, calling his name. As the boarder approached, Dennis recognized
     him. It was Dale Morgan, the best athlete in Moorsville. Dale was fifteen, and he could snowboard like a pro. He got tothe bottom of the hill and did a tight circle around Dennis before coming to a halt.
    “Hi, Dale!” Dennis said, smiling. As good an athlete as he was, Dale Morgan never got a swelled head about it. He never made
     fun of anybody else, no matter how bad an athlete they were. He was a truly nice kid.
    “Hi, Dennis. This your first time out?”
    “You figured that out, huh? I must have looked pretty bad.”
    “Not at all,” Dale assured him, sounding sincere. “The couple times I saw you, you were doing okay. I heard Hogan and Kunkel
     making fun of you, though.”
    “You heard that, huh?” Dennis asked miserably.
    “Yeah. Don’t worry — they’re just being jerks, as usual. You were doing great on that run until they distracted you. Then
     they go and make fun of you, on top of it.” He shook his head disapprovingly.
    “Don’t get discouraged, Dennis,” he said, before taking off for another run. “You’re going to be fine. Better than Rick and
     Pat, for sure!”
    “Thanks, Dale!” Dennis shouted after him. Wow. If Dale Morgan thought he was okay, then it reallymust be true! Dennis decided he was going to keep at this sport until he got really good at it. No way was he going to give
     up now.
    I just need more time to practice, he told himself. After all, I didn’t learn to skateboard in a day, either.
    The car horn brought him back to reality, and he trudged over to the van, smiling all the way.

9
    T he next day, Saturday, Dennis, Tasha, and Robbie were back out at the Breakers again — except that this time, Dennis’s parents
     did the chauffeuring. After that, the three sets of parents agreed to share the driving over the holiday week. It was clear
     to all of them that their children would be out snowboarding every single day.
    By the end of the second day, Dennis had gotten to the point where he could do more than just keep his balance. He could actually
     control the board a little, to make himself go faster or slower. His turns became more graceful, and he fell only occasionally.
    By the middle of Christmas week, it was hard for Dennis to remember that he’d once felt afraid to go down these slopes. He
     was having so much fun and getting better so quickly that it didn’t even matterwhen Rick and Pat would speed by him, uttering some stupid comment or other.
    At the end of Thursday’s session, Dennis turned to Tasha and said, “Let’s go to Schoolhouse Hill tomorrow.”
    “Okay, but why, Dennis?” she wanted to know. “There are fewer people here, and the hills are higher, too. I like it better
     here.”
    “Yeah,” Dennis agreed, “but our parents have been driving us out here every day, and I think we ought to give them a break.
     Besides,” he added, grinning, “I want the other kids to see me on Gizmo. I’m ready for them now.”
    “So that’s it!” Tasha said, returning his smile. “Well, okay. Let’s do it.”
    “And there are picnic tables and rails there!” Robbie