Skateboard Renegade Read Online Free Page A

found himself staring at the rings.
Man,
he thought,
it must have hurt to get pierced all those times!
The idea of doing it even once was already giving him the shivers.
    “You like 'em?” she asked, guessing what he was looking at.
    “Um, yeah,” he said, embarrassed that he'd been caught. “Did it … I mean, did it —”
    “Did it hurt? You
bet
it did,” she said with a smile. “Thinking of getting pierced yourself?”
    “Uh-huh.”
    “I recommend Hot-Cha, down at the other end of the mall. They give you a free earring with each piercing.”
    Hey, that was probably how Brian Jeffers had got his diamond stud earring. It was probably fake and came with the piercing.
     That had to be it—nobody would have bought Brian a diamond, and he sure didn't have the money to buy one himself.
    “Cool,” Zach said, fighting down the feeling of panic that was slowly rising inside him. “Urn, how much is it?”
    She quoted him a price.
    “Thanks,” Zach said. He did some quick mental arithmetic. He figured he had just enough money for everything, even including
     sales tax.
    Zach felt his knees go weak. Was he really going to go through with this? He needed time to think.
    Where are the guys?
he wondered. Maybe he'd wait till they arrived, and they'd all do it together. Jerry hadn't said what time they were coming.
     Zach sure hoped they hadn't already been and gone.
    “You wanna get bleached or not?” the girl asked as he turned to go.
    “In a while.”
    “I've got an opening now. Later, you might have to wait.”
    “Oh.” Zach hesitated. “I'm kind of waiting forsome friends of mine. We're all gonna get it done together,” he explained to the stylist.
    “Oh, honey, I've already done three or four of these cuts today. Some boys were in here earlier —it's a very popular style
     right now.”
    “Oh. That must have been them.” Zach said, recovering some of his courage. “In that case, let's do it.”
    Forty-five minutes later he looked at himself in the mirror and nearly screamed out loud. He looked
awful!
    No, wait a minute,
he told himself.
It's just the shock of seeing myself like this. It really looks okay. I mean, it's not that bad
—
I think.
    “How do you like it?” the girl asked.
    “Awesome,” he lied. He
hated
it.
    “Okay, then, that'll be thirty-eight, including tax,” she said, taking the towel off him and shaking it out.
    Zach fished for the bills he'd stuffed in his pockets. He wondered if there was any way to put his hair back the way it had
     been before. But of course, even if there was a way, he couldn't afford it anymore.
    “Here you go,” he said, giving the stylist a two-dollartip, just to show her he was pleased with the haircut.
    “Gee, thanks!” she chirped happily. “Enjoy!”
    Zach gave her a little wave as he turned in the direction of Hot-Cha. As he walked through the mall, he suddenly felt sick
     to his stomach.
    “You're my twenty-fourth piercing today, so don't worry about a thing,” the bearded man at Hot-Cha told Zach. “It only hurts
     for a year or so. Ha-ha! Just kidding.” He laughed long and hard as he sterilized his instrument.
    The blood was pounding in Zach's ears. He wondered if it would come spurting out when the guy stuck him.
Hey, what if they can't stop the bleeding?
he wondered.
    “Did a bunch of kids with hair like mine come in here before?” he asked, his voice quivering a little.
    “Not that I can remember,” the guy said with a crooked-tooth smile. “There were a bunch of guys in here before, but I don't
     remember them having hair like yours.”
    Zach shrugged. Okay, maybe they'd come in here first, and
then
gotten their hair done. He'd probably just missed them.
    “I can't remember much anymore,” the bearded man was saying. “Not since my second breakdown. Ha-ha!” When Zach didn't laugh
     along with him, the man said, “Don't get nervous, kid—I'm just tryin' to loosen you up, get you laughing a little.”
    “Oh. Ha! Yeah,”