Page 4 of Tailwhip

I always tell Nick I think I enjoy park more than dirt, but deep-down dirt riding is exhilarating. Flying through the air, holding onto your bike, and hoping you don’t crash and seriously injure yourself–what more of an adrenaline rush could you ask for? Nick is up for the second street run, and he gives me a nod to the other side of the crowd where all the press is at.

Nick quickly tells me, “Hey, Neha is over there. You should go say hey. As far as I can tell, Ashlynn is not with her; at least, I haven’t seen her.”

All I can think about is yeah, she is most definitely here. I’ve already seen her. I tell him good luck and I will see him at the dirt jumps. As soon as I leave him to do the second run, I run over to the press area and run up behind Neha and grab her in a giant bear hug, saying, “Neha, how the hell are you?”

She looks at me with a big smile on her face, laughing, and says, “Oh my gosh! Anthony, what the hell? It’s so good to see you again. I was just getting ready to head over to the dirt section for your event.”

I tell her it is good to see her too and ask her if she has talked to Nick yet, and she instantly blushes just from his name.

“No, he is avoiding me for some reason, even though he knows I want to interview him!”

I have to laugh at this because he is not avoiding her–he is just hung up on her and doesn’t know what to say to her after four years of not seeing her. “I don’t think he is avoiding you; I think he is more nervous to see you, that’s all.”

We are both quiet for a minute before I look over at her and tell her what is on my mind. “Neha, I saw her. Ashlynn was at a whiskey tent close to my company’s tent.”

Neha looks shocked that I saw Ashlynn at the event. She starts talking about getting her here. “Honestly, Anthony, I forced her to come. I didn’t give her much of a choice. I told her chances of you two running into each other were pretty much nonexistent. However, you just seriously made me a giant liar!”

I laugh at her for this, telling her, “She didn’t see me. She had her back to me, but I knew it was her the moment my eyes landed on her. I could find her in any crowd.” Neha looks relieved that we didn’t see one another. I wonder if she will come watch me ride. She used to come with me to the skate parks in Colorado Springs and would watch me ride for hours without any complaints.

I hope she comes to watch me.

4

Ashlynn

Frankie Machine – Solea

I have officially lost Neha in the mix of things. I have looked everywhere for her, even stopping back at the Sports World tent, to no avail. I’ve even texted her a couple of times with no response. At least there is plenty for me to do.

I take advantage of being on my own for a while, going from tent to tent looking at all the merchandise. Who would have thought so many companies can make the same parts for skateboarding and BMX? I learn something new with each tent and I finally get to the Overbear tent, which is Anthony’s company. I may have googled that to see he achieved this part of his career. As I browse, I'm met with a sea of bike parts at first. Then, they start unboxing shirts, hoodies, and hats–among other things. I spot a ladies' t-shirt and decide to buy one to support his dream, even if it's just secretly. I swiftly tuck it into my backpack and make it over to the skatepark, hoping I didn’t miss any of the runs. As I make my way to the park, I finally spot Neha, who’s talking to someone, and I head over in her direction. As soon as she hugs said person, I notice it is Nick. As soon as he spots me over her shoulder, to say he is shocked to see me would be an understatement. When they move away from each other, he heads my way.

Giving me probably one of the worst hugs ever, he says, “Ashlynn, what the hell are you doing here? He doesn’t need to see you.” He instantly puts up a wall for his friend, which I admire. He and Anthony have protected each other since I first met them.

I give Nick a knowing look and say, “Hi Nick, how are you doing? I’m doing good, too, thanks for asking!”

Busting out laughing, he finally gives me a better hug this time and looks at me, saying, “I see you are still a smart ass; nothing has changed.”

I tell him, “I don’t ever see that changing!” I look back to him and let him know that I am not there to mess with Anthony–that I just came to support Neha.

Nick looks confused. “So, you aren’t here interviewing anyone for the magazine?”

I look at him, telling him, “I am not a writer at the magazine. I do freelance writing!”

Nodding his head, he looks at us both and asks if we want to go get some food and catch up before the dirt event.

I give him a confused look at his remark. “Didn’t you just say that Anthony doesn’t need to see me? If I go with you guys to the dirt jumps, there is a chance that could happen.”

Nick thinks for a minute about this and says, "The dirt jumps attract some of the biggest audiences, so he probably won't see you. Besides, he'll be focused on his runs, so I think it'll be safe." I give in and agree to go watch the dirt runs.

We make our way to a pretzel tent and place our orders. Then, we sit down and catch up with each other. Well, more so with Nick, since Neha and I are always around one another. He fills us in on how he has been able to travel to Europe to film skateboarding parts for videos and ride at amazing places in some of the biggest European cities. I can’t help but notice that he throws in that Anthony also went with him a few times over there to ride some spots as well. He also, so kindly, throws in that Anthony has a girlfriend named Mika. This gets my undivided attention. Why did he have to bring that up? It really isn’t any of my business.

Though, I can’t stop myself from asking, “So his girlfriend Mika–does she go on tour with him for everything?”

Nick has a smug grin on his face, knowing he has hit a nerve; he did this on purpose, whether to get a rise out of me or to see if my feelings are still there. He wins because they never left. I just tried ignoring them. Nick completely ignores what I ask, since our pretzels are ready. We finish eating and notice that we have been talking for longer than expected and realize we missed the start of the dirt runs. We hurry to get over there, so we don’t miss anymore, specifically Anthony. Even if I don’t talk to him, I want to see him ride again. It has been too long.

We make it over and start heading up the steps to the seats and I am greeted by a song I am all too familiar with: Frankie Machine by Solea is playing over the surrounding speakers. Smiling to myself at just how excited I am to see him again hits me, and I instantly know that Anthony is getting ready to drop in. Running up the steps, I stay put at the railing and watch him drop in and do his thing. He is mesmerizing. As I am watching him, the music slowly starts to fade away and all I can hear is my heartbeat in my ears and the clicks of his freewheel as the tires spin jump after jump. Every jump and landing is perfect and executed smoothly. He is a natural–no wonder he made it pro. He was born for this sport. Once he is done and back up on the deck, he is given his scores, which are perfect as well. I would expect nothing less!

Still in a daze, I feel someone nudge my shoulders and lean in and say, “Should I get you a room or do you want to stay here and gawk at him?”