Page 4 (1/2)

Wipe Out

Tally fell off Again

The spill didn’t hurt so much, this time The moment her feet slipped off the hoverboard, she’d relaxed, the way Shay kept telling her to Spinning out wasn’tyou around by the wrists when you were little

If your dad happened to be a superhu to pull your arms out of their sockets

But the o somewhere, Shay had explained And around in circles was better than into a tree Here in Cleopatra Park there were plenty of those

After a few rotations, Tally found herself being lowered to the grass by her wrists, dizzy but in one piece

Shay cruised up, banking her hoverboard to an elegant stop as if she’d been born on one

"That looked a little better"

"It didn’tfeel any better" Tally pulled off one crash bracelet and rubbed her wrist It was turning red, and her fingers felt weak

The bracelet was heavy and solid in her hand Crash bracelets had to have nets, the way the boards did Whenever Tally’s feet slipped, the bracelets got all hovery and caught her fall, like so her to a halt

By her wrists Again

Tally pulled the other bracelet off and rubbed

"Don’t give up You almost made it!"

Tally’s board cruised back on its own, nuzzling at her ankles like an apologetic dog She crossed her arot snapped in two, you mean"

"Never happens I’ve spilled lass of milk on a roller coaster"

"On awhat ?"

"Never hed It wasn’t just her wrists Her knees ached froh turns so quickly that her body seeravity," which happened every tied direction

"Hoverboardinglooks so fun, like being a bird But actually doing it is hard work"

Shay shrugged "Being a bird’s probably hard work too Flapping your wings all day, you know?"

"Maybe Does it get any better?"

"For birds? I don’t know On a board? Definitely"

"I hope so" Tally pulled her bracelets on and stepped onto the hoverboard It bobbed a little as it adjusted to her weight, like the bounce of a diving board

"Check your belly sensor"

Tally touched her belly ring, where Shay had clipped the little sensor It told the board where Tally’s center of gravity was, and which way she was facing The sensor even read her stomach muscles, which, it turned out, hoverboarders always clenched in anticipation of turns The board was sradually learn how her body moved The more Tally rode, the more it would keep itself under her feet

Of course, Tally had to learn too Shay kept saying that if your feet weren’t in the right place, the smartest board in the world couldn’t keep you on The riding surface was all knobbly for traction, but it was a how easy it was to slip off

The board was oval-shaped, about half as long as Tally was tall, and black with the silver spots of a cheetah - the only animal in the world that could run faster than a hoverboard could fly It was Shay’s first board, and she’d never recycyled it Until today, it had hung on the wall above her bed

Tally snapped her fingers, bent her knees as she rose into the air, then leaned forward to pick up speed

Shay cruised along just above her, staying a little behind

The trees started to rush by, whipping Tally’s arreen needles The board wouldn’t let her crash into anything solid, but it didn’t get too concerned about twigs

"Extend your arms Keep your feet apart!" Shay yelled for the thousandth time Tally nervously scooted her left foot forward

At the end of the park, Tally leaned to her right, and the board pulled into a long, steep turn She bent her knees, growing heavy as she cut back tohere they’d started

Now Tally was rushing toward the slalo as she drew closer She could feel the wind drying her lips, lifting her ponytail up

"Oh, boy," she whispered

The board raced past the first flag, and she leaned hard right, her arms all the way out now for balance

"Switch!" cried Shay Tally twisted her body to bring the board under her and across, cutting around the next flag Once it was past, she twisted again

But her feet were too close together Not again! Her shoes slipped across the surface of the board

"No!" she cried, clenching her toes, cupping the air with her palht shoe slid toward the board’s edge until her toes were silhouetted against the trees

The trees! She was alround