“Can I learn to skateboard?”
Cat choked on her M&M’s.
“What?” She asked Carter, wide-eyed. Her son came over, showing her his phone.
“I wanna be able to do this.” Cat watched the short gif of a girl doing a skateboarding trick that had Cat’s heart beating hard and fast. “Please, mom?”
“I don’t know, Carter…” she was hesitant to reply. Cat didn’t want her son on a skateboard, and if she said so, he’d be sad, but he’d accept it and move on. But he hadn’t shown an interest in sports before, not with his father’s enthusiasm for all things active. Carter was special like that – he didn’t do well with people encouraging him to try, he had to decide himself, or he wouldn’t do it at all. “You could get hurt.”
“I know – but that’s why you wear a helmet, and knee-pads and elbow-pads,” he pointed to the girl, “Look! She’s still wearing them, and there are heaps of tricks with her in them. Please.”
“I’ll think about it,” Cat said, resolving to find out if there was someone who could teach him. A few days later, she hit the jackpot, discovering an instructor for kids Carter’s age and younger in one of the bigger skate-parks in National City with a free club dedicated to teaching new skaters how to board. The ad said to just show up with a board and a helmet – they would provide other protective gear. Not liking the idea of Carter using the instructor’s probably well-used, unwashed gear, Cat ignored the last part and bought Carter his own gear, which in hindsight was probably a mistake as she watched Carter look to the ground as some nearby skateboarders call out to him about all his padding.
She went to go forward, angry, when a blonde girl snapped at them. “Leave him alone, guys – he’s got the good brands, ones I distinctly remember you bragging about being totally worth the money you had to put forwards for them.” Cat eyed the girl as she turned to Carter, smiling. “Hey, just ignore them – they’re big bullies when they get jealous.” The girl was young, early twenties maybe, and wore white khaki shorts and a white tank-top over a bright blue bikini, neither of which left anything to imagine, sunglasses holding back her hair. Cat’s head tilted as her arms flexed slightly. She looks like a Cali girl. A very fit Cali girl.
“You part of the class?” She asked, causing Carter to nod slightly. “Well, what’s your name?”
“Carter, Carter Grant.”
She smiled at him, “Hello Carter Grant – I’m Kara, Kara Danvers. I’m your instructor today. Can I see your board?” Carter hesitated, glancing over at Cat. She nodded encouragingly, gaining a smile and a wave from the other woman. Carter handed over his board, which the girl checked over, wiggling the wheels and looking over the board edges.
“What are you doing?”
“Oh, nothing, it’s just something I do for every new member of the club. Just making sure everything’s stuck on right – I’ll teach you how check it over in the future. We don’t want your board coming apart under your feet, do we?” She winked, getting Carter to smile slightly. “C’mon, I’ll introduce you to the others.”
The next few hours, Cat watched them, occasionally checking her email on her cell phone, but mainly watching Carter learn the basics to boarding, alongside about a dozen other kids. Kara dealt with them all perfectly, spending time with each of them, making sure they were okay and keeping them from having too many accidents. Cat was worried the first time Carter fell, but he just got right back up after a short word from Kara, looking more determined than ever.
When the club finished for the day, Carter was beaming, and so Cat made the decision to let Carter return – but of course, she would have to accompany him, to make sure Kara didn’t completely break her son. It was nothing to do with how she looked after Kara, and how she practically glowed in the sunlight, coming to life every time she came out of the shadows.
No, never that.