Head to Head (2 page)

“Everything okay, Mark?”

“Everything’s fine,” he said.

His teacher started to leave the room, then turned back. “By the way, I’m having an open house here next month. You know,
to show people in the community what our kung-fu school is all about. I need
two students from each level to demonstrate different moves. Would you be interested in helping out?”

“Sure!” Mark said.

“Great. Have your parents stop in before you leave to sign the permission form. Then I’ll call to let you know when practices
are.”

As Mark put the broom away and turned off the lights to the party room, his heart felt light again.
Well, what do you know!
he thought.
(If he wants me in the demonstration, I must have some sort of knack for kung fu, after all!

Monday afternoon, Mark and Jonas got to the
kwoon
at the same time. Class began when all the other beginner students arrived.

Sifu Hale had them stretch out and do some jumping jacks to warm up. Then he broke them into two groups, one made up of new
students, the other of advanced beginners. Jonas was in the first; Mark, in the second. Sifu Hale went through basic moves
with Jonas’s group. Another instructor ran Mark and his bunch through more complicated combinations.

Mark watched Jonas out of the corner of his eye. Sifu Hale corrected Jonas’s position a few times, but after that Jonas seemed
to do everything just right.
Mark tried not to remember how long it had taken him to learn those same moves. Even now he sometimes faltered.

At the end of class, Mark found a place to sit on the mats. This was his favorite part, the time when students were asked
to close their eyes and quiet their minds. Usually he had no trouble doing that. But today, it took him longer because the
person behind him kept fidgeting. He had finally managed to block out the noises when Sifu Hale announced that class was over.

Mark glanced behind him to identify the squirmer, but whoever it was had already gone.

Over the next few weeks, Mark was busy with homework and kung-fu lessons. His spare time was spent preparing for the demonstration.
He was so wrapped up in those preparations that he didn’t even have time to spend with his friends — except Jonas, of course,
whom he saw at the
kwoon
regularly. Jonas was making great progress. In fact, his moves were
better than those of a few students who had been taking lessons for months. That included Mark.

Other than Jonas, though, Mark didn’t see much of anyone. On the Friday a week before the demonstration, X pulled Mark aside.

“Dude, you have been missed at the skatepark. Two weekends and no show! Come tomorrow morning, okay?”

“I will,” Mark promised.

True to his word, Mark met up with his friends when the park opened at ten the next morning. Alison Lee, the teenager who
supervised the park, bumped fists with him as he entered.

“My uncle Eric tells me you’re in the demonstration at the school,” she said. Sifu Hale was Alison’s uncle. She had introduced
him — and kung fu — to Mark back in September.

“You are?” Jonas was right behind Mark. “Flow come you didn’t tell me?”

Mark just shrugged.

“Well, maybe later you can show me what you’ll be doing for it.”

Mark stepped onto his skateboard and kicked off. “Maybe,” he said as he rolled away.
But don’t plan on it
, he added silently. He knew Jonas would want to try the moves. And knowing Jonas, he’d be better at them.

The skatepark wasn’t busy yet, which was fine with Mark. He wasn’t the best boarder. And since he hadn’t ridden for a few
weeks, he was pretty sure he’d be worse than usual. So while most of his friends moved toward the ramps and rails, he decided
to warm up on a flat surface first.

Helmet, wrist pads, and knee pads securely in place, Mark practiced boarding in one direction, spinning around on his back
wheels, and then boarding back to his starting spot. Once that was going smoothly, he tried adding an ollie midway through
the run. He landed the first few jumps easily. Feeling more confident, he attempted a kick flip. His board

popped up nice and high, but when he tried to spin it with his toe he caught the board wrong and fell.

As he picked himself up and dusted off his pants, he heard a
whoop
from the rails. He looked over to see Jonas ride a rail on his skateboard, land cleanly — and do a perfect kick flip.

“Figures,” Mark muttered.

Just then, Mark heard X call his name. He reluctantly boarded over to the rails.

“Savannah is about to do her first fifty-fifty grind!” X cried. He turned to Savannah and yelled, “Go for it, girl!”

Savannah stepped onto her skateboard and rode hard at a low rail. When she got close to the rail’s end, she popped an ollie.
The board’s trucks landed squarely on the rail. Arms outstretched, Savannah slid down the rail’s length. At the end she stuck
a clean landing and boarded a few feet, then turned and stopped.

“Yes!” shouted Bizz.

“All right!” cheered Jonas.

“You did it!” cried Mark.

Savannah was grinning from ear to ear. “Bizz has been helping me all week. You should see the bumps and bruises I’ve got!”

“They can’t be any worse than my paper cuts,” Bizz said.

“Paper cuts? Why do you have paper cuts?” Mark asked.

“We’re studying Japan in school and the teacher assigned us an origami project.”

“What’s origami?” X wanted to know.

“It’s the ancient Japanese art of paper folding,” Savannah explained. “You can make all kinds of cool things just by folding
special paper the right way. It’s easy.”

Bizz snorted. “Maybe for you. For me, it’s torture! If it weren’t for your help, I’d still be trying to figure it out.”

“Learning to do that grind was torture, too,” Savannah admitted. “Well, now that I’ve done it, I’m ready for a drink break.
Come on.”

Mark joined them on the soft grass. He took off his pads and helmet, then grabbed a juice box from his backpack, stuck in
the straw, and took a long drink.

“Hey, Mark and Jonas,” X said suddenly, “show us what you’ve been doing in kung fu!”

Mark almost choked on his juice, but Jonas scrambled to his feet.

“Watch this!” he said. He got into the horse-riding stance. Then, with a blur of movement, he threw a series of punches, blocks,
and kicks. Each move looked perfect.

X and the others applauded.

“Thank you, thank you,” Jonas said, bowing theatrically. “Now, for my next trick, I need a volunteer from the audience.” He
held his hand out to Mark. “How about you, little boy?”

“Uh, I don’t think so. Choose someone else,” Mark mumbled.

Jonas shook his head. “No one else here knows kung fu,” he said. “I wanted to show them how we spar with partners. C’mon!”

“Yeah, c’mon, Mark!” the others urged.

Even though he really didn’t want to, Mark got to his feet. “You know, you’ve only been doing kung fu for a few weeks,” he
said. “I’m not sure you’re ready to spar.”

“What, are you chicken, or something?” Jonas said with a grin.

Mark glared at Jonas. “No. I’m just saying it might not be smart. But if you really want to …”

Jonas and Mark stood face to face and bowed. They both got into a fighting stance called the snake. Their feet pointed sideways,
but their upper bodies were turned toward one another. They raised their arms chest high with their hands flat.

“Ready?” Jonas asked. Mark nodded.

Jonas came at Mark with a right-hand punch. Mark blocked it cleanly, but before he knew what was happening Jonas tapped him
in the ribs with his left hand. “Gotcha!” Jonas cried.

Mark turned crimson. He wanted to quit right then, but instead he got back into the snake stance. This time he attacked Jonas
with three punches. But Jonas was too quick for him. He blocked every punch and danced out of range. “Can’t get me!” he taunted.

Mark felt his frustration grow. To get himself under control, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath — just as Jonas lunged
forward.

“Oof!”

Mark staggered back a step, clutching his middle.

“Oh, man, Mark, I am so sorry!” Jonas’s eyes were wide. “I thought you were ready!”

“Guess I wasn’t,” Mark gasped. He turned and started putting on his skateboard gear.

“Is everything okay?” Jonas asked anxiously. “You’re not really hurt, right?”

“I’m fine,” Mark said. “I just remembered that I have to get going.” He could feel his friends staring at him as he stepped
onto his board and shoved off, but he didn’t look back. He was afraid that if he did, they might notice the tears brimming
in his eyes.

When Mark got home, he crept up to his room, closed the door, and flopped down on his bed. He was still in that position when
his mother knocked on his door half an hour later.

“So you are here!” she said. “I didn’t hear you come home. Sifu Hale called earlier to ask you to stop by the school for some
demo practice. Can you be ready to go in fifteen minutes?”

“Sure, Mom,” he replied. But he didn’t move.

“Is everything okay, honey?” his mother asked. She sounded worried.

Mark sighed and rolled off the bed. “Yeah, everything’s fine.”

Twenty minutes later, his mother dropped him off at the school. “I’ll pick you up in half an hour,” she said. She looked at
him closely. “Unless you want me to come sooner?”

“A half hour’s fine,” Mark said reassuringly.

Inside, the other students taking part in the demonstration were doing their warm-ups. As Mark waved to some and bumped fists
with others, his bad mood
started to melt away. By the time he was through with his stretches he felt calm.

After warm-ups, Sifu Hale reviewed the sequence of events that would happen on the day of the demonstration. Students would
take turns showing the audience what they were learning. Mark and his partner, Jenna, would first do a series of basic moves.
Then they would demonstrate simple throws where one person pretended to attack the other but got tossed to the mat instead.
Older, more experienced students would spar, and the most advanced would demonstrate how to use swords and spears. Mark looked
forward to a time when he could use such weapons, but he knew he had much to learn before he was ready for that.

Jenna and Mark stood side by side and began to run through their set. Sifu Hale had asked that they do their moves slowly
so that the audience could see each one clearly. Mark was so focused that he paid no attention to Jenna — until his teacher
asked her a question.

“Jenna,” Sifu Hale said, “are you limping?”

Mark stopped short and stared at his partner.

“Yes,” Jenna mumbled. “I twisted my ankle this morning. But I’m fine!”

“I’ll be the judge of that,” Sifu Hale said. “Sit, please.” He examined her ankle. It was swollen and black and blue, and
it looked very painful.

“Jenna, this is badly sprained.” Sifu Hale helped Jenna to a bench. “I’m sorry, but I’m afraid you’re out of the demonstration.”