For Teddy Kim, being home for the summer after his first year in college absolutely sucked. He had gone from complete freedom back to living under the constant gaze of his mother and the rules of his father. Compared to his life in college, living at home felt like being in prison.
On top of all that, he lived in a quiet suburb on the outskirts of Los Angeles, and there was absolutely nothing to do. Especially without a car. Even though his break had just started, he couldn't wait for it to be over. It was turning out to be the worst summer ever.
He was feeling so trapped, he needed to get out and there was only one thing he could do. He got out his old skateboard and rode it a few blocks to the basketball court of a local park. It wasn't much but at least, he wasn't in his prison cell at home.
The last time he skated was during his senior year in high school. It had been a while, so he started off slow with a few old tricks, but no matter how hard he tried, he kept messing up. Then he tried doing a kickflip, but still, he couldn't even land that. After a few more failed attempts, his frustrations got the best of him, and he finally gave up. With nothing else to do, he ended up sitting on his skateboard throwing pebbles at a can. This sucks, he thought. This fucking sucks.
Just about then, Cathy Cho showed up. They had grown up together. She was a year younger, so he treated her like a kid sister, but more than anything, he treated her like one of the guys because she was a total tomboy.
She wore baggy basketball shorts, tube socks pulled up to her knees, skater shoes, and a big baggy, bright yellow hoodie. He stared at the hoodie for a second because it looked familiar, and as she got closer, he realized that it was his.
On the front, there were a bunch of black chess pieces flying out of the way of a white queen that was about to be slammed down on the center of the board. Across the top were the words, Kennedy High Chess Club. On the back, there was the profile of a king with his first name written above it and his last name below it. He had gotten it his senior year for being the captain of the chess club. It was his favorite hoodie, and he had totally forgotten that he had loaned it to her.
When she made it up to him, he continued to look at her. It had been a while since they had last seen each other, and Teddy noticed all these little things that were different. She had gotten a little taller. She was still shorter than Teddy but by not as much. Her body seemed to fill out as well. She looked more athletic and not so skinny. Her jet black hair was longer than before and was tied off in a single ponytail that fell down to the middle of her back. There was something else different about her, but he couldn't quite figure out what it was.
One thing that had stayed the same was her personality.
"Sup, dork."
"Sup, skater girl. What are you up to?"
"Nothing. Bored. You?"
"Same."
"So, how was your first year?"
"It was actually pretty fucking dope."
"What did you do? Jack off in your dorm room?"
"All the time," he said. "No, but seriously, it was pretty cool."
Then he gave her a quick rundown of some of the more epic parties he had gone to, the new friends he had made, but most of all, he talked about how great it felt to be free.
"You'll find out soon enough. Heard you're going to Boulder in the fall. Why there?"
"Hiking and rock climbing in the summer and snowboarding during the winter."
"Of course."
"And plus, training at high altitude will give me an edge."
"That's smart."
"I know."
Cathy was more of a jock than Teddy. At one point in her life, she tried almost every sport that she could. Everything from soccer to volleyball to softball. She even tried her hand at gymnastics, golf, tennis, and even Tae Kwon Do. She was physically gifted and was a highly competitive person, so she excelled at everything she tried, but tennis was by far her best sport. She got on the varsity team early in her sophomore year and was one of the top players on her team.
Teddy thought of himself as half jock and half nerd. While he had been the captain of his chess club and was always at the top of his class academically, he had also been the backup point guard on his high school basketball team. He even had a red belt in Tae Kwon Do, one belt below a black belt, and was a decent golf and tennis player as well. Jocks underestimated him because he was a nerd, and nerds underestimated him because he was a jock. It was something that he took advantage of every opportunity that he got. Because just like Cathy, Teddy was extremely competitive.
"What about you? How was your senior year?"
"It was all right."
"Did you do all the senior shit? Like ditch day and homecoming and... Hey, who did you go to the prom with?"
"I didn't go."
"Why not?"
"Didn't want to wear a stupid dress," she said in a tone that he recognized. He knew better than to push the subject. She was a tomboy and everyone treated her like a dude. There was a good chance that nobody asked her out. He didn't feel like prying, so he changed the subject.
"Hey, is that my hoodie?"
"Maybe."
"Maybe? Bullshit. It has my name on it. Give it back!"
"Later."
"I didn't know you had it. I thought I lost it."
"I'll wash it and give it back tomorrow. I swear," she said and then quickly changed the subject. "Hey, guess what I can do?"
"What?"
"A kickflip."
"You can't do a kickflip."
"I so can."
"Let me see."
She tried and failed several times.
"Wait," she said and set up for another attempt and again she failed. "Fuck. I had it down last time."
"Whatever, liar. I knew you couldn't do it."
"Bet you I can."
"Fine. First one to do a kickflip wins."
"Wins what?"
"Loser buys lunch."
"Deal," she said extending out her pinky finger. He grabbed her pinky with his.
They went in turns. Three tries each. She went first. Got close once but fell off on the landing. He went next but kept messing up too. She went again but this time, she landed it.
"Yeah!" she said pumping her fist in his face. "Suck it bitch!"
"Damn it!"
"Good game," she said and raised her hand to him.
"Good game," he said as he gave her a high five.
"I want a hamburger. No, a cheeseburger. I want a hot dog. I want a milkshake. I want potato chips," she whined out like a little brat. It was a quote from Caddyshack. One of their favorite movies.
"You'll get nothing and like it," he replied like in the movie but his response was unenthusiastic.
"Aw, you okay? Did you break your pussy or something?"
Teddy was already in a shitty mood and losing to her didn't help him feel any better. He hated losing more than anything. He hated it more than he liked winning. And what made things worse was that Cathy was good at taunting him. They had been friends for so long that she knew exactly how to get under his skin.
He tried doing another kickflip but stumbled again. The more he tried, the worse it got until he finally gave up.
Cathy laughed at him. He turned to her and watched her as she wiped her sweat from her face with the forearm of his hoodie.
