Read Online Snowboard Showdown by Matt Christopher - Free Book Online

best and you do your best, and let the best one win. You understand,
     Freddie?”
    He hadn't then, but now Freddie thought he was starting to get the bigger picture. He certainly felt that way today. “Good
     luck, Veronica, Paul, Les,” he said, slapping five with each of them. “Cheryl… Hey, Steve.” He gave Steve a big bear hug.
    “Dondi's a creep for not being here,” Steve said in Freddie's ear.
    “Yeah, well, what are you gonna do?” Freddie replied with a shrug. “Go out there and do like I showed you, man.”
    Steve gave him a thumbs-up. He was wearing the number 4 on his back, but that was only because Eric had been charitable. Steve
     hadn't wanted to go first—or to wear number 6, for that matter. It would have been embarrassing. None of the other contestants
     had complained, even if they whispered about it in private.
    Les Buckman went first. As he went through his first run—each contestant would get two runs—Eric called out each move as it
     was made. “Method… stalefish… lien air,” he announced as Les did a series of grabs. Les completed them all and landed okay,
     but there was nothing inspiring about the performance, Freddie noticed. The applause was polite, except for Les's family and
     best friends, who whooped it up as best they could.
    Next was Cheryl Abercrombie. She was pretty good, Freddie knew. She got a lot of air on herstunts, but she also fell a lot. That's what happened this time, on her fifth and final move—a full 360° turn. She spun out
     at the bottom and lay on the ground for a few moments before slowly getting up and unstrapping her board.
    After each run, Eric would announce the boarder's score. There were individual scores for each move and an overall score for
     the run on a scale of 0 to 10. Les had scored a 7.0 for his overall—Eric was obviously feeling generous today, Freddie thought—and
     Cheryl had scored a 6.5. She surely would have beaten Les if she hadn't fallen. Now she'd have to step it up and try harder
     stuff just to catch up.
    Steve was next. Freddie watched with his fingers crossed as Steve headed down the halfpipe. Steve looked nervous heading into
     his first move. But once he got into the air, he led with his waist, just as Freddie had taught him, and landed a 360° turn.
     It was the hardest move in Steve's bag of tricks, and he'd done it perfectly!
    Now he moved with more confidence, more relaxation. “Shifty,” Eric announced as Steve wiggled his board from side to side
     in midair. “Method… method… and a stalefish,” he said as Steve twistedright, reaching around with his left hand to grab the left rear side of the board. He landed with a wobble and then skidded
     into the fence that protected the spectators. “Let's give him a hand for that outstanding performance!” Eric said. “Steve
     Myers—that's an 8.5, a 7.0, and a 6.0, with an overall score of 7.25!”
    Steve pumped his arms in the air. For one brief shining moment, at least, he was in first place—the king of the world. Freddie
     grinned, feeling great for Steve. “That's my boy!” he shouted, applauding and whistling. “Go, Steve!”
    It was Veronica McBride's turn now. Veronica had always been an outstanding athlete. She was on Freddie's baseball team, and
     she was the best first baseman in the league. She was tied for third in home runs and first in stolen bases. All-star all
     the way. She was not a bad snowboarder either, and she'd been at it for only two years.
    “Nose grab… tail grab… lien air…” Eric's voice echoed up to Freddie. “And a full three-sixty!”
    “Man, she's good,” said Paul Pierog, the number-two ranked boarder whom they'd invited to join the contest when Dondi quit.
     Paul was an eighth-grader and had to be at least six feet tall. He played centerfor the basketball team and was also captain of the chess team. Sort of an athletic brainiac, Freddie mused. A nice kid, too,
     and he did some beautiful moves. A sky-high 360°, a