Tailwhip (Drop-In #1)

1

Ashlynn

Innocent Vigilant Ordinary – The Appleseed Cast

B ang! Bang! Bang! Wakes me up from another night of restless sleep. Following the loud sound is the annoying name only one person calls me. “Ashers, oh Ashers! Let me in. I’m freezing my ass off.” Only my friend Neha would say this at 2 AM, and she somehow is freezing in the July heat.

Rolling out of bed, annoyed and tired, I finally make it to the door. As soon as it opens, she pushes inside. "Took you long enough!" She looks at me as if she's genuinely surprised to see me in my PJ’s.

“Why are you looking at me like that and why are you yelling at 2 AM? You are lucky I don’t live in my apartment anymore.”

“I know, right!” she laughs.

“You are ridiculous, you know that! What are you doing here? Is everything ok?” I ask.

“Yes, everything is ok! I just have something to tell you! And it COULD NOT wait!” Neha says. This girl is crazy, I can’t with her sometimes! What is so important that this couldn’t wait?

“I finally got a good writing assignment with the magazine!” she says.

“Neha! That is amazing. I’m proud of you! So, what is the assignment, or is it an individual interview?” I ask. Now that I am fully awake, she might as well fill me in. Neha may be loud and show up at random times, but she is one of my favorite people. We have known each other since high school and always said we would be writers together. Although she became a writer with a big sports magazine, I do freelance writing.

Neha asks if I'm ready for this. "Yes, I'm on the edge of my seat," I tell her.

“Ugh, you are such a smart ass! Anyway, Sports World is paying me to travel and stay in Denver in a couple weeks to write about the sports tour that is coming through town.”

“Ok, what sports tour? Kind of being vague, don’t you think?” Thinking a bit more about it, not many sports actually tour. Teams travel from state to state for games, but a tour, not so much. Unless it’s a certain type of sport. Finally, the little light bulb flicks on in my head and with it comes a sinking feeling. Neha can tell the moment I figure out exactly what tour she is talking about. “So, the extreme tour is your assignment.”

“That would be the one,” she states with a lot of excitement. “The magazine asked me to interview a couple of top athletes along with some of the new kids on the circuit.” She continues by telling me her plans for her upcoming assignment. “So, I think I will start with skateboarding first; maybe I can get Nickolas to let me interview him. What was his last name again?”

“Greene is his last name, and shouldn’t you know that if you are planning on interviewing him?”

She looks a bit offended by my comment. “It’s been like four years since high school; I can’t remember everything.” Rolling my eyes, I remind her that they hooked up at a party one weekend. “Oh my gosh! Why would you bring that up?”

Smirking, I continue with, “I am just stating a point, that you should probably remember his last name. Also, if I’m not mistaken, didn’t he pop your cherry as well?”

“It’s 2 AM. I don’t want to talk about that.” That’s a first for Neha, not wanting to talk about something.

“You are something else, Neha girl!”

As I look over at her, I see that she has a huge smile on her face and says, “Yes, Ashers! I am going to talk to the BMX riders as well.” Thinking to myself, I would hope so–they make up a good chunk of the tours.

It is on the tip of my tongue to ask, but I know I have no right to. However, curiosity gets the best of me. “Is HE going to be there?”

Neha looks over and says, “He, who?”

“You know who I am talking about!”

“I’m not sure I do, but I’ll take a guess. Would his first name start with an A and last name start with a V?” I am shooting daggers with my eyes! This girl loves messing with me like this. “If we are talking about the same person–and I think that we are–didn’t he pop your cherry while you all dated in high school?” This bitch seriously just threw that back at me! Touché.

I ask so quietly that I am surprised I can even hear myself say, “Is Anthony going to be there?”

“I’m sorry,” she says, “I didn’t quite hear you; what did you say?”

Rolling my eyes, I almost yell it this time at her, “Is Anthony going to be there?”

With the smallest nod, Neha tells me that Anthony will be riding, and she proceeds to tell me some things I had no clue about. “From my understanding, this will be his first stop in Denver in four years. It was in his contract that he did not want to ride in Denver.” My mind is blown as she continues to fill me in on things. “Though, it is strange he wouldn’t want to ride in his hometown, don’t you think?”

I instantly jump to Anthony’s defense. “First off, Denver is not his hometown, or ours for that matter! We are all from Colorado Springs. Also, I am sure he has a good reason for it.”

“Does he have a good reason?” she says, challenging me.

“You cannot honestly think I am the reason he hasn’t toured Denver for the past four years?”

Shrugging her shoulders, she says, “I’m just saying, it kind of makes sense. You guys haven’t seen each other or talked since you broke up with him senior year and he left right after that to pursue his pro career, which, if I might add, worked out very much in his favor!” To say I am shocked by this would be an understatement. Neha comes closer to me and gently puts her hand on mine and tells me some raw truths that I was not ready to hear. “Ashlynn, you broke that boy’s heart. He called me after it happened, asking me if I knew why. I couldn’t tell him anything that would make him feel better. He told me your reason, and it was a shitty reason. That’s when he said he was leaving and asked me to take care of you. So, even though you broke his heart, he still cared enough about you to make sure I would look out for you.”

My mouth is suddenly so dry, but I somehow manage to get the words out. “So, it is because of me. I am such a horrible person.”

“You are not horrible. He just left for Greenville, NC, where he had a better chance at going pro, though you did help push him along!”

“Thanks for that, you jerk!”

“Just being honest,” she says, batting her eyes at me.

All I can do is shake my head at her and say, “At least he is doing well and doing what he loves. Have you ever been to an Extreme Tour?” I must ask her this, because I really don’t know if she has or not.

“Yes, I just never told you. At the ones I have gone to, I was never able to talk to the top guys, though. Sorry that I never told you.”

Looking at my best friend letting her know I am not upset, I say, “Neha, it is your job. I wouldn’t have been mad.”

“Oh, thank goodness. I was a bit worried!” she says sarcastically.

“Yes, I am so sure you were!” This has to be one of the strangest nights. Neha just dropped in on me this early in the morning, bringing up these kinds of memories at 2 AM. Only she can manage to do this sort of thing. “Anyway, when does the tour stop here?” I ask to get as much information as I can.

“First weekend in August. So, be ready, Ashers. You are coming with me!”

I really don’t think my eyes can get any wider. “I cannot go to that! What if he sees me?”

Neha looks very annoyed by my comment. “Seriously! There are hundreds of people at these tours; the chances of you two seeing each other are pretty much nonexistent. Anyway, I am going to go home now, and I will call you later!”

“Oh, thanks for leaving me after dropping these bombs on me!”

“No problem, babe! See ya later!”

After Neha shuts the door and leaves me with my thoughts, I lean my forehead on the door and say to myself, “I guess I am going to the Extreme Tour!”