Chapter 28 Saylor
Saylor
Heaven and I stay in this new little love bubble for the next two days.
We’re young, but I think I have to marry her.
I eventually go back home to sleep and change and pretend my parents are the most important thing in my life, but then Heaven is back to pick me up at the next possible chance.
We are nowhere near a bingo because we are jumping around and taking our sweet time, but we decide to knock out some more squares to keep our parents from getting suspicious.
We pick “listen to a full jazz album” and “go someplace in LA you’ve never been.
” I’ve never been to Long Beach and there’s a skate park down there Heaven wants to check out, so we choose that for the square.
On the way, we’re gonna listen to a jazz album her dad recommended by some really famous guy I’ve never heard of, Miles Davis.
I’m going to take notes on our initial impressions while Heaven drives.
And then hopefully after we’ll make out a bunch.
I try not to rush my mom through her “text me when you get down there and don’t talk to strangers” speech, but I’m basically walking backward toward the front door as she gets the words out. I rush outside and practically dive into Heaven’s car.
“Go!” I say. “Before my mom invites you in and asks you to do a hair tutorial.”
Heaven snorts but waits for me to buckle my seat belt before she safely drives us toward the 405. I find the jazz album on Heaven’s phone then press play, then I pull up the notes app on my phone.
“Okay, it’s only five songs, but they’re all like nine minutes long. If I know basic math, we should finish the album right when we get to the park,” I tell her.
“Perfect,” Heaven replies. “Oh, I forgot to tell you. I heard from the cookie lady.”
“Oh yeah?”
“Yeah, she said we can come by and interview her in two weeks. She’s going out of town for some event, but she wants to meet us when she gets back.”
“Perfect. I’ll come up with some interview questions,” I suggest.
“Actually,” Heaven says, “can I do it? I kinda want to prove to myself that I can talk to an adult and a stranger without trembling or crying.”
“Sure. I’ll be your assistant,” I say, feeling a little proud.
When we get out of the car, I’m definitely going to kiss her.
For now, though, I focus on other important things.
“I think your dad needs to quit being a scientist and do hair full time. You look so good.” It’s up in two braid buns on the top of her head—out of her face so she can skate, but still a little fashion for the people.
She glances over at me with this little smile. “Thanks. I like your pants and your sneakers.”
I look down at my khakis and my Vans. I have a white crop tank top on that shows off my belly button. It’s a cute outfit. “I figured we’re going to a skate park and I should dress like it.”
“You’ll fit right in.”
“Okay, I’ll stop talking so we can enjoy the jazz.”
“Hmmm.”
It takes us forty-seven minutes to get down there, and we both decide that we like every song on the album.
I write down all the vibes—chill, mellow, and little romantic—in our notes for Dr. Campbell’s sake, though I pick “Blue in Green” as my favorite.
Heaven likes “Freddie Freeloader” because of the title.
She says it’s metal in a certain way. I have to agree.
It’s warm in Long Beach, but as soon as we get out of the car, I can feel the breeze coming off the ocean.
I tuck my phone into my pocket and look around the park as Heaven grabs her skateboard out of the back of her car.
There’s a decent-sized skate park covered with cool graffiti, a small playground, and a fenced-off area for dogs.
There are two basketball courts. I have a mini flashback to face-planting into the fence and the sick pop of my arm, but I guess I can’t turn back time.
And I can’t go play a pickup game now. I came to see Heaven skate, anyway.
She comes around the car where I’m standing, basking in the fresh sea air.
I smile back at her and hold out my hand, palm up.
“Hi. Hold my hand, please.”
“I probably should, huh? I don’t want you to get lost.”
She kisses me real quick and then laces her fingers with mine.
The most pathetic thrill rushes over my whole body.
I feel my cheeks heat, and there’s no way she doesn’t notice.
I like Heaven so much. Being around her feels right.
Being able to hold hands with another girl, kissing another girl, feels right.
I can’t imagine how miserable I would have been if I’d spent another minute pretending I was into Rhys or any other boy.
“Come on, Say-Say.”
“Is that what you’re calling me now?” I say, cheesing so hard.
“Yup.” She leads the way across the parking lot, and we enter the gate to the skate park.
There’s a handful of people there. Three older guys who just seem to be messing around, two kids around our age on one of the ramps.
There’s a girl on roller skates who looks like she’s trying to explain a trick to her friend.
And over on the flat area, there’s a guy with a little girl on a scooter.
She looks adorable in her helmet and kneepads.
I look around and realize just how little I know about skating, even after hanging out with Jake and Axel almost all year.
“Okay, so what do you do first? Do you have to stretch? Are there skate monitors you have to sign in with? I’ve never been to a skate park before.”
“I think you just made that clear. Jake ever let you hop on his board?” she asks.
“Nope. It was for the best. Is it bad luck to let someone you’re not madly in love with on your prized possession?”
“I hope not. I let Bethany on my skateboard like five times.”
I gasp and pull my hand free. “The betrayal!”
Heaven rolls her eyes then flips her board around with its wheels up like she’s going to present it to me.
I look at the illustration on the back. I remember Jake’s had a screaming skull with roses on the back and white wheels.
Heaven’s has this really cool painting of the sand and waves, and her wheels are neon green.
“I will never let you skate on this alone.”
“Why not?”
“Because you’re gonna skate on it with me,” she says, and I almost die from the romance of it all. “Come on. It’s skating time.”
“Yay!” I yell with this big smile I know is annoying the heck out of her. “Okay, so what do we do first?”
Heaven drops her board to the ground, controlling it in a smooth motion with the toe of her sneaker, then she moves so the skateboard is right between us.
“Gimme your hands.” I put my hands in her open palms, and my skin starts to tingle at the way she’s being so gentle with my fingers on my busted side.
“Okay, step up, one foot at a time. I got you. I did this with Bethany too. She loved it.”
“Are you trying to make me jealous?” I ask as I stand on the skateboard. It jerks and rolls not even a half an inch, but it’s enough to make me feel like I’m falling off a building. Heaven steadies me, though.
“Maybe.” She slowly starts walking, still gripping my hands. She tows me along with her.
“You’re a flirt, you know that? When did that happen?”
“I mean, it’s your fault. You keep calling me ‘Cutie’ and sending me sweet texts. I’m just trying to match your energy.”
“I mean, I’m crushing on you pretty hard. I just thought it would be rude not to.”
“Mm-hmm.”
We’re moving real slow. It feels like I could fall at any moment.
Every tiny groove in the cement pops under the wheels.
We go a few feet before Heaven pivots and starts moving me back the way we came.
We do this three times, back and forth. Every pass, Heaven moves a little faster.
Soon she speeds up to a little jog, and we zip back and forth across the hard top, and it’s the most amazing thing I’ve ever felt.
The air whips past my face. My hands grip Heaven’s a little bit harder.
I can’t stop myself from laughing as she speeds up even more.
Eventually, she brings me and the board to a gentle stop, but my heart is still racing.
I hold on to her shoulders as I step off and ignore the shiver that runs through me when she steadies me with a hand around my waist. She kicks the board up with one smooth motion of her toe and lifts it off the ground.
“You get it now?” she asks. She’s actually smiling. Like a huge smile. I’ve never seen her smile like this before.
“Ah yeah,” I reply, still breathless. “That was amazing. I don’t think I could do it on my own without breaking something. I mean breaking something else.”
“The chances of breaking something are like ninety-seven percent. Jake broke his ankle in eighth grade trying to show off down by the pier. Axel’s broken his arm twice,” Heaven replies as she steps a little closer to me. I put my hand on her waist and step even closer.
“Well, I guess people injure themselves playing basketball all the time. There’s nothing scarier than watching someone go left after a rebound and their whole kneecap cutting to the right. Or you know, tripping over their own feet and breaking their arm and face.”
“Nah, you’re tough now, though.” She lightly lifts up my cast. “Look at all this street cred.”
“Yeah. It’s pretty gnarly. So, you gonna show me your skills? Without breaking anything, I hope.”
“Are you sure you’re ready? You might fall completely in love with me.”
“I promise to control myself. I’m gonna laugh my ass off if you’re low-key terrible at skating.”
She glares back at me. “Look up directions to the closest emergency room just in case. Come on.”
I follow her over to this ramp thing that looks like an empty swimming pool.
There’s this cool LBC mural spray-painted on the inside.
Heaven walks over to the edge, tips her board up, and just drops in.
I’ve seen Jake skate a pool ramp like this on his BeeBop, but it’s completely different watching the object of your affection fling herself into a concrete ditch—it’s a lot to handle.
Luckily, Heaven doesn’t die. She coasts to the side of the pool and flips the board around in midair with a twist of her feet before dropping down again.
She comes back near me and lands on her feet, catching the board with her hand.
I’m stunned, I can’t lie, and thinking about asking her never to do that again.
I glance over at Heaven before I look down into the death trap she just escaped.
I look back at her as she casually wipes a bead of sweat off her forehead.
“That was the most stressful thirty seconds of my life,” I say.
“This is nothing. Watch people downhill skate through an intersection with no spotters.” I try to picture it and realize all the regular safety precautions I take in my everyday life.
“Have you ever done it?”
“Without spotters? Hell no. That’s a great way to get run over.
I skated down the hill from your house once, though.
It was pretty fun.” The hill my house is on is steep.
And suddenly this new confident, take-charge side I’m seeing is starting to make sense.
Maybe I did have some assumptions about her.
Now I’m scared and intrigued. “I know what I’m doing. I promise,” she says.
I’m about to say I believe her when she steps closer and kisses me again. Suddenly my heart’s beating a lot for reasons that have nothing to with her risk of bodily injury. She pulls back all cool and calm like and looks across the park like she’s scoping out where she’s gonna do her next trick.
“Joke’s on our parents. They wanted us to be educational bingo buddies, but now we’re just being gay together in Long Beach,” she says. “And we like jazz.”
I can’t help but laugh. “Joke is on them, jazz is amazing.”
She smiles, just a little bit but it’s enough. My heart’s definitely gonna burst. I can’t stop myself from kissing her this time, and she kisses me back until the women roller-skating across the park start hooting and hollering, telling us to get a room.
We stay at the park for a few hours. Heaven shows me just how good she is, and I stop worrying about her shattering her whole body every time she launches down a different ramp.
It’s kind of hot, actually. I know she’s a good artist, but it’s amazing watching how smoothly she kicks and pushes around, does different tricks like it’s nothing.
Later we go to a pizza place nearby, and she listens to my impassioned speech about how I think pizza is the perfect food, but my evil sister Stella doesn’t like it, so we don’t have it a lot. I tell her I envy her only child status, and she jokes that I’m right to be jealous. God, I love her.
Heaven suggests we head back to Culver City, so we don’t get stuck in rush hour traffic on the 405.
She doesn’t drop me off at my house, though.
We go back to her house and play with her dogs, watch more Love Island USA, and eat a ton of Starburst. When Dr. G gets home and asks if I want to stay for dinner, Heaven agrees and says I should.
So I do. I don’t know how many best days ever you’re allowed to have, but this one is going on the list.