Mountain Bike Mania (9 page)

“Oh, that’s okay,” Will said quickly. “I deserve it. I mean —”

“No, it wasn’t your fault what that jerk Ace Diamond said to me,” Danny pointed out.

“I should have said something,” Will insisted. “He was being an idiot, and I feel bad that I didn’t stick up for you.”

Danny looked down at the table. “That would have been nice, but I understand,” he said softly. “It’s hard for me to realize
sometimes how important it is for some people to be popular.”

“But that isn’t it!” Will protested.

“It isn’t?”

“Not really, no. I don’t care about being popular. Not that much anyway. Not if it means you won’t
want to be my friend. It’s just that, well, I joined the mountain biking club, right?”

“Don’t remind me.”

“And all the kids there happen to be really popular, it’s true,” Will admitted. “But I just want to have mountain biking buddies,
you know? I mean, if you went biking with me —”

“Forget it,” Danny cut in, frowning.

“So what was I supposed to do?” Will asked. “If I stuck up for you, Ace would think I was a dork —”

“Oh, thank you very much,” Danny commented dryly.

“C’mon, you know what I mean, Danny,” Will said. “If I crossed Ace, I’d be, like, out with the club, and I was afraid for
that to happen. The rest of the gang is really nice. You’d like them. Especially Gail.”

“Uh-huh.” Danny didn’t sound convinced, but at least he was listening.

“Anyway,” Will went on, “it turns out that Ace is a complete jerk.”

“I could have told you that,” Danny said, smirking. “Go on.”

“He rides like a maniac, litters everywhere he goes, messes up the bike paths. He also does some
dangerous stuff — yells and screams and scares hikers and horseback riders. In fact, he might even have been one of the kids
who nearly ran over us that time. I don’t know for sure, but I would bet money on it.”

Danny nodded slowly but didn’t say anything.

“And I have a feeling that he’s the one who sprayed the graffiti, too. So what I’m trying to say is, I’m not going to go riding
alone with Ace anymore, even if it means I don’t ride on weekends.”

“That’s all you’re trying to say?” Danny prodded him.

“And, well, I’d really like it if —if you would try mountain biking once. And before you say no, just listen for one minute.
This is me talking, Danny. Me. Will. And I’m telling you, mountain biking is the most fun thing I’ve ever done in my entire
life! I know you’ll like it if you let yourself try it.”

“Well,” Danny said, making a face but clearly softening, “maybe I’ll give it one try. But not with the club. I’m not going
anywhere near that maniac.”

“Like I said, there are other people in the club, and they’re pretty nice — for popular kids, that is.”
They both laughed, real friends again for the first time in weeks.

“I could go with you on Saturday,” Danny said, giving in. “But I’m not going anywhere dangerous, and if you take me anyplace
like that or bring any of your new buddies with you, I’m turning right around.”

“Deal!” Will said, grinning from ear to ear. “You won’t regret this, Danny. I promise you!”

“I regret it already,” Danny said, shooting him a wry look before opening his book again. “Now sit down and do your homework.”

Just as Danny had foretold, Mr. Rivera revoked the suspension of the mountain biking club on Thursday morning. They were free
to meet on Friday afternoon for the first time in a week.

This posed a minor problem for Will. He didn’t want to let Ace know his new intentions. But what if Ace asked him to go riding
on Saturday? Will knew that if that happened, he’d have to make up some excuse. But then he would have to disguise the fact
that he was going biking with Danny instead.

To make things even more complicated, he
needed to borrow a mountain bike for Danny, since his friend didn’t have anything close to suitable. How was Will going to
do that?

The only person he could think to ask was Gail Chen, who wasn’t very fond of Ace and was ultra-generous. Will felt sure Gail
could keep his secret. But she was at least a foot taller than Danny, and her bike would never fit him. Will remembered what
Julian down at the bike shop had said about bikes fitting their riders. The last thing Will wanted to do was endanger his
best friend.

The bike club met after school, and all the club members were totally psyched to ride after a week of suspension. Only Ace
still seemed to have a chip on his shoulder. “Can you believe we’re still on probation?” he said, shaking his head in disgust.
“One more little tiny incident and the club gets disbanded!”

“You know, Ace,” Juliette said, “that’s totally in our control. We don’t have to provoke any little tiny incidents.” The tone
of her voice showed in no uncertain terms that she blamed Ace for the club’s getting suspended in the first place.

“Look, Mr. Rivera was prejudiced against biking
from the beginning!” Ace protested. “How come he didn’t suspend those other kids for their petition?”

“Petitioning is legal,” Gail commented. “Graffiti is not.”

“Are you saying something?” Ace asked. “If you are, just say it, okay?”

“Never mind,” Gail said. But the happy mood of the club members had been shaken. Their spirits didn’t improve until they were
out on the ski trails at Slide Mountain, where they all got caught up in the thrill of riding.

It was a long, wonderful late October afternoon — cool enough so they didn’t get too tired. Will wondered if Danny would like
it better here or if he should take him somewhere else — like to the ramps, or the South Fork Reservation. There were so many
great trails around Montwood that it was hard to choose!

Just then, Ace came up to him. “Hey, kid,” he said. “Wanna go back to the state forest tomorrow?”

“No, thanks,” Will said. “Umm… my parents don’t want me biking anymore outside of the club. They got really mad last weekend
when they found out I went riding without their permission.”

“Man,” Ace said, frowning and shaking his head. “Parents can be so unfair! That is just plain mean.”

“I know,” Will agreed, feeling guilty already about dragging his parents into this little lie of his. “It bites.”

“Sure you can’t sneak out?” Ace asked hopefully.

“Nah, I’d better not,” Will said. “Sorry.”

“S’okay,” Ace said. “I’ll find somebody else to go with.”

Will didn’t doubt that. Ace always managed to find people to do things with. That was why Will had been so flattered when
Ace called for him all those times. He realized, with a start, that Ace’s popularity had mattered to him after all. Well,
that was over now, whether Danny took up mountain biking or not.

On the way back to town, Will rode his bike up beside Gail’s. “Hi!” he said, giving her a little wave.

“How’s it goin’?” Gail asked, showing her infectious, braces-covered smile.

“Okay, I guess,” Will said. “Actually, there’s this friend of mine I’d like to get into mountain biking.”

“Cool!” Gail said. “I’m getting tired of the same old faces around here, know what I mean?”

“Yeah.” Will nodded in agreement. “Anyway, this friend of mine needs to borrow a bike for Saturday.”

“Want to use mine?” Gail asked.

“Thanks, but yours is too big for him.”

“Why don’t you ask Mitch?” she suggested. “He’s not too big. And he and Candy always go away weekends.”

“I know,” Will said. “But I don’t want to let any of the others know about this. See, this kid, he sort of hates Ace’s guts.”

“Oh.” Gail nodded sagely. “Well, hey, I’ve got an idea! Go borrow a bike from Julian.”

“Julian?” Why hadn’t he thought of it? Sure! Hadn’t Julian said to come see him if he ever needed any help?

On the other hand, Julian worked at Diamond Cycle. Ace Diamond was in there all the time and might show up when he was there.
Should he risk going down there this evening?

The way Will looked at it, he had no other choice. It was either get a bike for Danny to ride or lose this golden opportunity,
maybe forever. “Thanks, Gail,” he said. “You’re the best!”

“I know it,” Gail said. “What are you all going to do without me when I graduate in January?”

“You’re going to graduate in January?”

“Unless I fail something, and I don’t think that’s going to happen.”

“But who’ll be club president?”

“I don’t know,” Gail said. “I guess you guys will have an election. But if you want me to guess, I’d say Ace looks like a
shoo-in.”

Will frowned. He knew she was right. And if Ace was the club president, forget about Danny ever joining.

Oh, well. He’d just have to cross that bridge when he came to it. For the moment, he had more important things to do, like
borrowing a bike from Diamond Cycle without Ace Diamond finding out!

“Hey, dude!” Julian greeted him when Will walked into Diamond Cycle that evening. His mom had kindly dropped him off. She
seemed happy for him — glad both that the club had been reinstated and that Will was getting together with Danny again. Apparently,
it was a relief to her.

“Hi,” Will greeted the older boy, matching his gap-toothed grin with a smile of his own. “Is Ace around?”

“Ace? No. Why, are you looking for him?”

“No! Just the opposite,” Will corrected him. “It’s… I don’t want him to see me here tonight.”

“Whoa. Cloak and dagger,” Julian joked, chuckling. “What’s the big secret, if you don’t mind my asking?”

“It’s just that I told Ace I couldn’t go biking with him tomorrow, because I’m actually planning to go biking with someone
else. So if he sees me here…”

“What exactly are you doing here?” Julian asked. “You didn’t ride your bike over to have it retuned, I notice. Are you shopping
for something newer and fancier already?”

“It’s not for me,” Will said. “My friend Danny needs a bike for tomorrow. Not to buy. Like, to borrow.”

“Aaaaah,” Julian said, nodding knowingly with a sly smile. “And you come to me for help? No prob, dude. I’m sure we can find
a bike his size and let him test-ride it for a day or two.”

“Fantastic!” Will said, high-fiving Julian. “Are you sure it’s okay? What if Mr. Diamond finds out?”

“Hey, it’s better than Ace test-riding one,” Julian said. “Your friend can’t smash them up any faster than him, whatever he
does.”

“I don’t know,” Will said. “He’s never been mountain biking before.”

“Hey, neither had you when you started out,” Julian pointed out. “And that wasn’t so long ago.”

“I just wish Danny and Ace didn’t hate each other’s guts so much,” Will said with a sigh.

“Ah, I see trouble ahead,” Julian said. “Gotta work that one out in your mind beforehand.”

“I know,” Will said. “I’m trying. But nothing’s coming to me.”

“Something will,” Julian assured him. “Just give it time. Meanwhile, let’s go pick your friend out a bike!”

T
his thing looks dangerous,” Danny commented as he surveyed the bike Will had borrowed for him. It was resting on its kickstand
in the center of Will’s driveway, and Danny was walking slow circles around it, bending now and then to inspect different
parts of it that were evidently mysteries to him.

“Bikes aren’t dangerous,” Will corrected him. “Riders are. So don’t worry. I’m sure you’re not going to throw all caution
to the wind your first time out.”

“Yeah, that’s me,” Danny grinned. “A real daredevil on wheels. Do I get a helmet and pads, too?”

These Will had borrowed from Gail on Friday after their ride. With minor adjustments to the helmet straps, they fit Danny
fine. He always did have a big head for his body, Will reflected.

Danny looked kind of awkward on the bike at first. He never rode anymore, as he told Will. He had never gotten into regular
biking as a little kid. “I could never understand why these things don’t fall over,” he told Will as they rode around the
block once or twice for practice. “I mean, a table with only two legs crashes pretty fast.”

“You’re in motion, duh!” Will shot back, laughing. He knew Danny was making jokes at his own expense. Probably he was doing
it so nobody else would be the first to make fun of him. But Will would never have done that, to Danny or anyone else. He
knew, of course, that there were plenty of kids who made fun of other kids. It made Will mad that he never had the guts to
tell them to shut up.

“So where are you taking me?” Danny said when it was finally time to strap on their day packs and go. The packs were filled
with their lunch, and a few tools and spare parts just in case. During his weeks in the club, Will had learned how to prepare
for a day-long ride.

“South Fork Reservation,” Will told him. He’d thought about taking Danny to the ramps, where they wouldn’t meet any hikers
or horseback riders.
But the ramps were pretty challenging, and after watching Danny struggle his way around the block, Will decided against taking
him there.

Besides, there were bound to be lots of mountain bikers at the ramps. He didn’t want to run into Ace or any of the club members
who would tell Ace he’d been out biking. Not after he’d lied about it.

“The reservation? I’ve been there a couple of times for class picnics,” Danny said.

“Yeah, but that’s only a little corner of it,” Will told him. “That’s the great thing about mountain biking — you can go everywhere
and cover a lot more ground than if you were on foot.”

“We’ll see,” Danny said. But Will could see that his friend was already looking more confident on the bike.

“That bike looks good on you!” Will told him, grinning.

“Aw, be quiet,” Danny said, shaking his head but smiling.

It was a perfect biking day, sunny but not too hot, with a slight breeze whistling in the treetops. Will was feeling on top
of the world as he turned off the
road and into the reservation, leading Danny onto the wide dirt road.

“Uh-oh, here we go!” Danny said, suddenly wobbly as he hit a pothole. “Whoa!” He went over with the bike, hopping away just
before it hit the ground.

“You okay?” Will asked.

“No problem,” Danny assured him. “I just got spoiled by riding on paved roads all the way here.”