Read Online Skater Boy by Mari Mancusi - Free Book Online Page A

old Dawn wouldn’t be able to enjoy herself here. She’d be too worried that The Evil Ones found out where she was and were on their way down to bust her. But the new Dawn is determined not to worry about things that are out of her control.
    â€œSo,” Sean says, finishing his smoothie and setting it on the floor. “Tell me about yourself.”
    I shrug. “There’s not much to tell. I’m fifteen. I go to Sacred Mary’s and—”
    â€œWait, I’m not talking your standard four-one-one,” he interrupts. “I mean like the real you. What are your goals? Your dreams?”
    â€œOh.” Okay, I know my face is beet red now. I grab a pillow and hug it in my lap. “I don’t know.”
    â€œOh, come on,” Sean chides. “Everyone has goals and dreams.”
    â€œI know, but …”
    â€œI just want to get to know you better, that’s all.”
    Ooh, he wants to get to know me. That’s a good thing, right? In fact, a very good thing, I should think. All of a sudden I have this undying urge to start spewing verbal vomit like Lindsay Lohan in Mean Girls and tell him everything.
    At the same time, I’m frightened. I’ve never told anyone my secret life dream of being a poet/writer. What if he thinks I’m totally dumb and naive? I mean, who makes it as a poet in this day and age? No one even reads poetry anymore. It’s not like the old days of Shakespeare. Even Jim Morrison of the Doors had to set his poetry to music before it became commercially successful.
    â€œI’ll tell you,” I say at last. “But it’s kind of stupid. So you have to promise not to laugh.”
    â€œDreams aren’t stupid,” Sean replies, taking my hand in his. Wow, how can one simple move like that turn me into complete mush? “Though, of course, there are tons of people out there who try to make you believe that. But that’s only ‘cause they’re blind sheep, running around with no imaginations.”
    Wow. He’s so right. I mean, who gives a care what anyone else thinks of the achievability of my dream? It’s mine, after all, not theirs. And if I believe it, if I think I can find a way to make it true, then that’s all that really matters, right?
    â€œOkay,” I relent. “But you first.”
    He grins and pokes me in the ribs with his free hand. “Coward,” he teases. “Okay, fine. I have two, actually. My first dream is to become a professional skateboarder. To compete in national competitions and get sponsored by a skateboarding company.” He smiles. “You know, like Tony Hawk, only most likely on a much smaller scale.”
    Â â€œThat’d be awesome,” I say, genuinely impressed. Wow. I can totally picture myself as a pro skater’s girlfriend—standing on the sidelines during competitions, cheering on her man. Fielding the jealous stares from all the other girls who wished Sean was with them….
    Oops, sorry. This is supposed to be about Sean’s dream.
    â€œI mean, I have no idea if I’m even that good,” he’s saying. “But there’s a regional skateboarder competition coming up and I’m gonna enter. The winner gets sponsored by a local skateboard design company and an actual college scholarship.” He pauses, his eyes shining. “Which would put me one step closer to achieving my second dream. To be the first in my family to go to college.”
    â€œNo one in your family’s gone to college?” I ask, before I can stop myself.
    His eyes fall to the ground, his enthusiasm deflated by my callous question. Nice one, Dawn. “Nope,” he says. “Not that we’re stupid or anything. But do you know how much college costs these days?”
    I have no idea how much colleges cost, namely because cost is not a factor in my household. The most expensive college in the country could not put the merest