Mountain Bike Mania (8 page)

“By disrupting the school recess and vandalizing the school?” she asked, looking dismayed. “Will, I
thought you had better sense than to get involved in this kind of thing!”

“But Mom, all we did was make noise and chant slogans and sort of ride around the basketball courts so kids couldn’t just
play and ignore us.”

“And spray graffiti on the school walls?” his mother added pointedly.

“What? We did not! That’s a lie!”

“Well, someone did,” she shot back. “Someone sprayed ‘Mountain Bike Mania,’ in big red letters. It’s going to cost the school
quite a bit to get it cleaned, too. Mr. Rivera warned me that if you were found to have done it, or even knew about it, you’d
be suspended. So I want the truth, and I want it now.”

She sat there across from him, her arms crossed. Will found himself fuming. “I didn’t do it, Mom, and neither did any of the
others!” he said hotly. Almost as soon as the words were out of his mouth, though, the image of the object Ace had tossed
into the garbage can came back to him. Could it have been a can of spray paint? Will wouldn’t have put it past Ace to have
snuck outside during lunch period to spray the message.

“All right,” his mother said. “But I don’t want you going off on your mountain bike until this whole thing has been settled.”

“What?!”

“Look, I can see that you’ve been out biking this afternoon. And don’t try to tell me you haven’t. I can tell by the dirt
on your shoes.”

“Okay, so I did. I didn’t feel like going to the library today.”

“Oh, you didn’t feel like it? What about your agreement with us? Doesn’t that mean anything to you?”

Will gave a shrug.

“I suppose you’ve already heard that your biking club is under temporary suspension.”

“No, duh,” Will said, rolling his eyes.

“Will Matthews! Are you mocking me?” his mother asked incredulously. “What’s gotten into you, young man?”

“Nothing,” Will said, getting up off the stool to get away from her. He felt like she could see right through him, and he
didn’t want her to. “I’m just sticking up for myself, that’s all. Just like you and Dad always do.”

“What do you mean by that?” his mom asked. “And please turn around and look at me when we talk.”

Will turned around, sighing deeply. “I mean, you wanted to make more money, even though we’re not poor, so you went and got
a job, even though we have to eat Chinese food every single night now. But that’s okay, because it made you happy. Well, what
about me? I finally found something that makes me happy, and now you won’t let me do it!”

“Will, of course I want you to be happy!” she protested. “But I also expect you to act like a responsible person. If you expect
to be allowed to go off mountain biking, you’ve got to abide by your agreements and stay out of trouble!” Her lower lip began
to tremble. “And I’m sorry if I’ve been selfish, but having a career happens to mean a lot to me.”

Will was torn between his anger and the shame he felt at upsetting his mother. He stormed out of the room, ran up the stairs,
and slammed his bedroom door behind him. Collapsing onto the bed, he felt hot tears sting his cheeks.

His life was a total wreck! His best friend hated him, the principal thought he was a juvenile
delinquent, he’d driven his own mother to near tears, and worst of all, his parents were never going to let him go mountain
biking again!

Will and his parents didn’t talk much for the next couple of days. A few times, Will was about to apologize, but just as he
was about to say he was sorry, his dad or his mom would say something to get him all angry again. The family barely managed
to have meals together, and the tension was so thick you could cut it with a knife.

The worst time was Friday after school. With no biking club, there was nothing to do except read and watch TV. Will didn’t
feel like reading today — it was something his parents would have approved of — so he just watched TV nonstop, before dinner
and after, until he fell asleep in front of the tube around midnight.

The next morning, he had just eaten breakfast and was about to go flip on the TV again, when he saw Ace Diamond outside the
kitchen window, signaling for Will to meet him outside.

Will’s dad’s face was hidden behind his newspaper. His mom was flipping through a magazine, eating
her cereal. Neither one of them made any move to talk to him. What were they doing? he wondered. Waiting for him to make the
first move? And they accused
him
of being immature!

Well, if he was angry, that was his business. He nodded through the window at Ace, then signaled for him to come around to
the front of the house.

Will went into the living room and quietly opened the front door. “Hi,” he said.

“Hey, I’m going riding,” Ace said. “Wanna come?”

“Can’t. I’m grounded, at least on my bike. Want to come in for a while?”

“Nah.” Ace glanced around. “I can’t believe this. Nobody’s parents are letting them bike! It’s all because Mr. Rivera called
people’s houses.” Ace made a bitter face. “I hate that guy.”

“Hey, Ace,” Will asked, coming outside and closing the door behind him. “Do you know anything about some graffiti that got
sprayed on the school walls?”

“Huh? Oh, that. No. What about it?”

Something in Ace’s reaction told Will he knew more than he was telling, but Will let it pass. He figured it was pointless
to argue with Ace Diamond.
Ace wasn’t the kind of person you could convince of anything, and if you didn’t watch yourself, before you knew it, he’d have
convinced you of
his
point of view.

“Come on,” Ace said. “My folks don’t know I’m out either. I’m supposed to show up at the shop at ten.”

“Won’t they notice you’re not there?” Will wondered.

“You think they care?” Ace retorted. “You think your parents care? You think they’ll even notice you’re gone?”

Will thought about it. His mom and dad would probably think he was up in his room on the computer. “Maybe not,” he admitted.

“There, what did I tell you? Nobody really cares what we do. Come on, let’s go. I’ve saved my favorite ride for today. We’re
gonna go for the gold, kid!”

Will nodded and opened the door a bit to see if his parents had noticed him go out. Nothing had changed. He shut the door
again. “How far is this place?” he asked.

“In Morton State Forest,” Ace told him. “The
canyon trail. It’s da bomb, I’m telling you. Better than the best roller coaster!”

“Okay!” Will said in a whisper. The thrill of sneaking off and doing something forbidden crept over him. This would show his
parents he couldn’t be locked up in the house like some six-year-old!

The garage door was open. He got his bike and gear and backed out into the driveway. There, he straddled his bike while he
put on his pads, gloves, and helmet. “I sure hope I don’t get in trouble for this,” he couldn’t help saying as he gave his
house one last backward glance.

“You’re already in trouble,” Ace shot back with a grin. “What’s a little more gonna matter?”

All the way there — and it must have been a good seventeen miles — Ace talked to Will and Will listened. All about trails
he’d ridden, and dares he’d taken, and bikes he’d tried, and maneuvers he’d perfected.

It seemed to Will that Ace knew everything there was to know about mountain biking. And hadn’t Julian at the bike shop said
so? Will soaked in the information, storing it away for future use.

At last, they arrived at the trail into the forest. Will checked his watch. They’d been gone just about an hour. With the
ride, and the trip back, his parents were sure to notice that he was missing. What would they think? And what would they say
when they learned the truth?

Will tried to put the thought out of his mind. The state forest was a fantastic place, with giant old trees soaring hundreds
of feet into the air. There was very little undergrowth — just the carpet of needles and a few shrubs — and as they climbed
higher into the hills, Ace led Will off the trail and into the heart of the woods!

“Wow!” Will gasped as they took air to leapfrog a small ravine that stood in their way. “This is unbelievable! But are you
sure we’re not damaging the forest floor?”

Ace turned to him in disbelief. His bike wobbled under him as he waited for Will to catch up. “Damaging the forest floor?”
he repeated mockingly. “Is that what you said?” He laughed derisively. “Give me a break! You’re not one of those tree-hugging
enviro-fanatics, are you?”

“Well, no, I’ve, never actually hugged any trees, but —”

“Whatever’s growing on the forest floor will grow back, or it won’t,” Ace said with a shrug, and pushed on ahead. “Plants
don’t have feelings, so who cares?”

They crested a hill, and before them, the slope took a steep dive down into a dark ravine. “Ya-hoooo!” Ace yelled. Will opened
his mouth to yell, too. But nothing came out.

The steep grade and the lack of rocks or ruts made this a perfect place to practice downhill riding. Ahead of him, Will saw
Ace deliberately spin out, creating a terrible scar in the soft earth at the bottom of the slope.

“Man, you’re going to ruin the run!” Will complained.

“Shut up! You don’t know what you’re talking about!” Ace retorted. “I’ve been doing this a lot longer than you, and I know
a lot more about it. So don’t tell me what to do, okay? Not ever!”

Will was shocked into silence. Ace turned around and shoved off down the wide path that bordered the stream at the bottom
of the canyon.

“This is the canyon trail,” he shouted back over his shoulder. “It’s a horseback riding trail, so the trick is to avoid the
booby traps! Ha, ha!” He swerved crazily to avoid a pile of horse droppings. Another rut was dug deeply into the horse trail.

Will tried to avoid the droppings, too, but was careful not to do any damage to the trail.

Ace disappeared around a bend. Seconds later, Will heard the frightened whinny of a horse and a child’s scream. A man’s bellowing,
angry voice followed.

Will got off his bike and walked it forward, sensing what had happened and not wanting to have anyone’s anger at Ace directed
toward him.

“Did you see that?” the man was saying over and over again. He sat astride a big brown horse, and a little girl of about eight,
his daughter, Will guessed, sat on a white horse, crying. Her father held the reins of both horses in one hand and had his
other arm around the little girl. Next to them were three other riders, all sympathizing.

“They ought to ban mountain bikers from the trails,” one of the others said. “Little Michelle practically
got thrown! She could’ve been seriously hurt!”

Just then the man caught sight of Will. He turned on him angrily.

“I’m sorry about him,” Will said hurriedly before the man could speak. “But you know, not all mountain bikers act like that.
In fact, most of us don’t. So I hope you won’t hold what happened against all mountain bikers.”

“Hmm,” the father said, giving his daughter a comforting squeeze. “Well, I’m glad to see somebody’s got a little consideration.
Listen, do you know the name of that kid?” he asked.

“Um, no,” Will said. He balked at getting Ace in trouble. On the other hand, he was going to have to say something to him,
even if it meant Ace didn’t want to be his friend anymore.

In fact, now that Will thought of it, how good a friend had Ace turned out to be? With his wild behavior at school, he’d gotten
the whole club in trouble. And with his antics on the trails, he was giving all mountain bikers a bad reputation.

Will apologized again and rode off after Ace. On
his way, he passed a gum wrapper and two candy wrappers thrown along the trail. When he caught up to Ace, he was chewing gum,
and the side of his mouth was stained with chocolate.

“Want some gum?” Ace asked. “What took you? Hit some booby traps?” He laughed, but Will sensed it was a nervous laugh.

Will shook his head. “I’d better get home,” he said. “My folks will be wondering where I’ve gone.”

“This place is the best, isn’t it?” Ace asked as he strapped on his helmet. Then he shoved off down the trail.

“Yeah. It sure is,” Will said. He wondered how long it would stay that way if people like Ace Diamond kept ruining it for
everybody.

Will thought suddenly of Danny. Someone had ruined mountain biking for Danny before he’d even gotten started. And from all
he’d seen of Ace in the past weeks, he was pretty sure that someone had been him. But he’d never know positively.

One thing he did know, though. Danny was a true friend and a good human being. He always had been.

Will stared at Ace’s back as he pedaled down the
trail. If only it were Danny he was biking with, he thought. He wished he could show his pal all the places Ace had shown
him.

Then and there, Will made up his mind. He was going to apologize to Danny — for everything. And one last time, he was going
to try to talk him into going mountain biking.

A
fter school on Monday, Will found Danny at his usual seat in the library. Danny was scribbling away in one of his notebooks,
copying information out of a history book about ancient Babylon.

“Man,” Will said, grinning and shaking his head. “I wish I had you for a history teacher!”

Danny looked up and could not repress a sly grin. “I don’t know all that much,” he said modestly.

“More than Mr. Singer, for sure!” Will said, plopping his book bag down on the table and sitting across from his old friend.

“Well, that’s not hard,” Danny shrugged. He shut his book, first making sure he’d bookmarked the page. “What are you doing
here?” he asked. “I thought you had biking club on Monday afternoons.” Then he shifted uncomfortably in his seat.
“Oh, yeah, that’s right. I forgot. The club’s on suspension. I guess I’m responsible for that, right?”

“It wasn’t your fault,” Will offered. “It was whoever sprayed that graffiti. That was the last straw.”

Danny shrugged. “Well, it’s nice of you not to hold a grudge,” he said. “I hear Mr. Rivera’s going to lift the suspension
this week anyway.” Then he blew out a deep breath and said, “Listen, Will, I’m sorry if I haven’t been exactly friendly to
you.”