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to do a quick front side grab near the lip. It felt amazing. So amazing, I almost forgot I was competing.
    There was a lot of room in the pool, but every time we reached the bottom, Goat and I had to cross paths. I wouldn’t say he was trying to hit me, but he wasn’t working very hard to get out of the way either.
    â€œWatch yourself, Head Case,” Goat said. “You look wobbly.” He did a little tail tap on the edge of the pool, dropped back in and cruised around the side. I cut beneath him and launched off the other side to do a simple backside 180°.
    We had been in the pool for a minute or so, which doesn’t sound long, but when you’re pumping and bending and straining to stay on a board, it feels like an eternity.
    â€œMaybe we should liven this up a little,” Goat said as he shot past me.
    â€œHow so?”
    â€œTrue old-school death match.”
    â€œWhat?” I said as we passed each other again.
    â€œAnything goes. Cut the other guy off. Slam into him. Shove him. Whatever.”
    â€œNo, forget it,” I yelled back. I cut up to the shallow end of the pool and rolled around for a second to catch my breath.
    â€œWhy not? What are you afraid of?”
    I rolled over to the edge of the deep end and dropped in. “Nothing,” I shouted. “But it’s not what we agreed to.”
    â€œSo,” Goat said, cutting very close. “Rules can change.”
    Goat had a good fifteen pounds on me. Plus he was taller, which gave him a much longer reach. We both knew if it came to a death match, he would win. The only chance I had of winning was if we kept skating. He was getting tired, and I had seen him catch the edge of the pool a couple of times.
    â€œWe can’t stay in here forever,” Goat said as he swept into the shallow end and made the same half circle I had.
    â€œI got all night,” I said. He dropped back into the deep end and tucked straight toward me. I swerved at the last second and wobbled slightly going up the wall. “Goat, forget it. We agreed to—”
    Goat did a quick turn on the far wall and was coming straight at me again. “Forget whatever we agreed to,” he said. “I’m tired of this.”
    I managed to cut around him and back into the pool. I was going way too fast, and suddenly, I was high along the edge. Goat came in beneath me, making it impossible to drop back in. I did a power-slide, and Goat shot around to the other side of the pool. I dropped back in, tucked up the ramp to the shallow end, making sure I didn’t put a foot down. Goat came up behind me. As I turned to go back into the deep end, he reached out and tried to shove me. I ducked and rolled into the deep end.
    I was about to shoot up the wall, figuring I didn’t have any other option but to gun it straight for him, when a bright spotlight lit up the lawn and someone yelled, “What the hell is going on out here?”

chapter nine
    I skidded to a stop and drifted down to the bottom of the pool. A man stood near the edge of the shallow end with something in his hand. “What do you think you’re doing in there?” he said.
    Goat tucked down the incline toward the deep end, rocketed up the opposite wall, clambered out of the pool and beelined for the fence.
    â€œThere’s two of them in my pool,” I heard the man say. He had a cordless phone in his hand. “Hey, get back here, you!”
    Goat had made it over the fence and was on the other side.
    â€œCome on out of there,” the man said. “I’ve called the police. They’ll be here in a minute. You can tell them who your friend is that just took off.”
    I had to think fast. I couldn’t climb out of the deep end of the pool. There wasn’t a ladder, and the sides were slick and smooth. I started walking toward the shallow end, my head down and my hoodie pulled low over my face.
    â€œThis is private property,” he said.