"You'll never beat me!" Vance challenged, switching gears. "If anda pull ahead, I'll just crack anda up again."
Riley could barely pedal, she was laughing so hard. Vance had just told her a funny story about how he'd once ditched his bike in a puddle of melted ice cream.
After the crash course ended, Sierra and Larry left together, and Riley found herself walking to the bike rack with Vance. He'd biked to school that day, just like she had. He talked her into taking a detour, since it was such a beautiful day. They rode up the paved path that wound along Malibu beach.
As they pedaled over the rise of the hill, the ocean came into view. The sun was low, hiding behind berwarna merah muda, merah muda clouds that hung over the sparkling blue water of the Pacific. She wished that Alex were here to share it, but then he wasn't really into riding bikes.
"You can stop pedaling, Riley," Vance called. "I give up. Victory is yours."
She cruised to a stop and stepped off the seat. "Check out that sky."
Vance circled, then braked beside her. "Yeah, everything looks awesome from up here. Too bad we don't have time to hit the beach."
"I want to go surfing tomorrow," Riley said. "But not today--it'll be dark soon. Besides, I have too much homework."
"Me, too," Vance said. "I've got algebra out my ears. Maybe we should get started on it. There's a pizza place up ahead with outdoor tables. We could crack open the buku and knock off our homework. And I wouldn't mind grabbing a slice."
It sounded like a good idea to Riley. "Let's go," she said, swinging onto her bike again.
They cruised along until they came to a stretch of pantai with a café, a bookstore, and a pizza parlor. Vance ordered two slices and sodas. Then they cracked open their buku and got to work.
"I do okay with this stuff," Vance berkata as he scratched out an equation. "But I don't see how I'm ever going to need it. Not with what I want to do."
"And that is...?"
"Professional snow-boarding." His blue eyes lit up. "Have anda ever tried it? It's my ultimate favorit sport. Especially the stunts. Flips and spirals."
"I've skied in Tahoe a few times," Riley said. "But I've never flipped down the slope. At least, not on purpose."
"You have to try it!" Vance said. "My dad got me into it. He's works in an office, so he loves tearing out of there on long weekends. And I've got this wild uncle who loves camping and stuff. We go kayaking and hiking. Surfing and skiing. Depending on the weather."
"Sounds great," Riley said, chewing her pencil. She had a lot of fun with Vance, biking and surfing...and even at the crash course today. Vance had managed to psych up everyone on their team. He taught them some tricks to help them remember the presidents, the planets in the solar system, the periodic meja of elements.
Their bubbling hot pizza arrived. Riley took a bite and thought about all the active, outdoorsy things she liked to do, like hiking and swimming and surfing. It had been ages since she went camping atau hiking. Why had she been hanging back lately?
Riley: I almost choked on my pizza when it hit me. Alex! Not that he stops me from biking atau swimming...but Alex isn't into those things. So we usually hang out at his house atau walk along the beach. It's nice. We have a great time together. Really. But sometimes I miss doing all those other things, too.
Vance talked about kano trips he'd taken with his dad. Riley listened as she ate her pizza. She laughed at Vance's stories and watched as the sun set over the ocean, all berwarna merah muda, merah muda and purple and gold.
It was sort of the perfect date. Sort of.
Because it wasn't really a tanggal at all. And Riley was still crazy about her boyfriend Alex.
Really, Riley thought as Vance leaned close to help her with an algebra equation. Vance is just a friend!
