“What, no board?” Emilio asked.
“No,” said Valeria. “I’m just setting up.”
“I’m sure Ana would sign it.” he said.
Valeria hadn’t thought of that. “I’ll be right back,” she said.
The whole road was blocked off for the event. There were probably a hundred people there. Some were throwing hay bales off a trailer. Others were hanging up banners or setting up vendor tents.
Ned already had Emilio’s friends hard at work. They were lining the road with hay bales.
“Thanks for finding people. We couldn’t do this without you.” Ned said. Then he held up a bag. “Just a little thank-you — T-shirts for you and your friends. They’re signed by all the Pro Tour boarders.”
“Chido! Thanks,” said Emilio, throwing Valeria a T-shirt. She put it on right away.
Ned turned to Valeria. “Ana said she needed help in the pro tent. She asked me to send you over when you got here. Are you cool with that?”
Valeria found Ana sitting in the tent. She had a stack of posters in front of her.
“Valeria!” she said. “I was hoping you’d come. I need help! They want me to sign all of these posters, then put one into each bag for tomorrow.”
“What are they for?” asked Valeria.
“Swag bags for competitors,” said Ana. “So far the bags have a water bottle and a sports bar. The featured pro at each comp has to sign the poster — and today, that’s me. I was thinking I could sign them, and you could put them in the bags. That way it will go a little faster.”
“Sure,” said Valeria. “No problem.”
About an hour later they were done.
“Cool,” said Ana. “Let’s go see if the course is ready. I want to take a look.”
Valeria nodded.
“How about you? Are you going to race?” Ana asked.
“I haven’t decided yet,” said Valeria.
“Let’s see how many people are signed up for your division,” said Ana.
Ana pulled out her phone. “Well, there are only four girls signed up for your division. Haley Bennett, Chloe Platter, Eva Mendoza, and Lucy Mendoza.”
“Chloe?” said Valeria.
“Do you know her?” asked Ana.
“Yeah,” said Valeria. “She’s pretty new. I guess she’ll just have to take it slow.”
Valeria knew the other girls too. They were serious local boarders from the next town over. They were always at the comps.
Haley and Eva worked hard, but Valeria had always beaten them in the past. Lucy was good, though. Really good. She had nearly taken first place from Valeria in last year’s race. Just hearing their names sent a burst of adrenalin through Valeria.
“How about we sign you up?” said Ana.
Valeria couldn’t believe it, but she was starting to feel excited.
Chapter Nine
COMP MORNING
“Valeria!” called Emilio. “You up?”
Valeria was up. In fact, she had been up for hours going over the course in her head. She always did that on comp day.
“Valeria!” Emilio shouted. “Llegamos!”
Valeria shoved everything she needed into her backpack and grabbed her board. On her way out the door, Coco handed her a canned protein smoothie.
“Good luck, mi gatita!” she said. “I wish I could be there to watch today, but Emily called in sick and I have to do her rooms.”
“It’s okay,” said Valeria as she stuffed the can into her backpack. “I understand.” She kissed her mom on the cheek, then followed Emilio to the car.
“Are you ready for today?” asked Valeria.
Emilio looked up at the cloudy sky. “Well,” he said, “I think so. I might have to change my wheels if it rains.”
Valeria followed Emilio’s gaze to the cloudy sky. She didn’t have rain wheels. If it rained, she would not be able to compete.
