Just Skating By To Say Hi

INT. SKATE SHOW – FLORIDA - OFF-CAMERA

The attendants in raptures, the high fives of the fellow skaters… There’s no doubt, he nailed it. His last trick, an Alley-Oop Backside 270 Noseslide if we want to be technical, put him ahead of the rest of the competition for this first round. Carrying the skate under his arm and turning his hat backwards, Coen Farrell heads toward the sponsor stand, where he grabs a Mountain Dew. Opening the can, he takes a long, refreshing sip. It’s a warm, sunny day in Tampa, FL. Ideal conditions for a skating contest at the historical Bro-Bowl, the first skatepark built in Florida, a Mekka of sort for all the lovers of this sport.
A place Coen knows oh so well. Here’s where his father used to take him in those long, carefree afternoons after school. Here’s where he spent hours watching those guys, much bigger than him, running lines ever so graciously. Here’s where he went the morning after Christmas, when he received his first board. Here’s where he learned his first trick, here’s where he perfected his technique, kissed a girl for the first time, smoked his first joint (a decision he immediately regretted), won his first competition… Home, in one word.

Passing by some fans calling his name and congratulating him, he thanks them with a gesture of his hand. Usually he’d stop and talk with them, sign some autographs although that always seems weird to him, He’s not a superstar or anything, not like his girlfriend…

Tiffany Rollins is not here today. She’s on the opposite side of the country, in California for the Underground Show. It doesn’t happen often that their sport commitments overlap, usually they manage to always be there for one another. Hell, he even passed up a few competitions in the past to stay with her. But not this time, not with the chance to win a trophy in his hometown in front of all his family, his friends, everyone who helped him become the young man and skater he is today.

Everyone but her. He sits on his board, back against the wall and closes his eyes for a moment, and his mind immediately races back to her. What is she doing? Knowing Tiffany, she’s already focused on the match. It’s always like that on show day. Even when they are together, she barely talks, and he takes good care not to bother her. And that’s just one of the many things they have in common. For him, these moments between one round and the next are sacred, nobody can disturb him...unless you are Millennium’s Star Of The Night. Luna Smith enters the area accompanied by the competitions tallest, broadests and strongest security guard she specifically requested to keep any skater fans from ambushing her. Luna wore a royal blue ruffle skirt with a white tank top with a pair of Envy Shoes’ newest collection of suede short heels she got early access too. Luna’s hair caught the sunlight to shine thanks to her fresh wash and blowdry.





He’s trying to hide how this surprise visit was making him feel. She always made him feel uncomfortable, ever since that awkward first meeting backstage.



As Luna takes a good look around at the whole environment she finds herself in. Her back to him as she goes on to explain how.




Even then, despite the tension of the ongoing competition and Luna’s presence, he’s still thinking about his girlfriend. And beaming in that.


He asks, trying to keep up a normal conversation, if anything for that common courtesy momma Farrell taught him.


Luna spins around as she delivers that ending sentence to lock eyes with him again. Hearing that puts a smile on his face.


Taking off the cap, he scratches his head.



Luna draws attention to his girlfriend since he’s brought her up and looks left and right to try and spot the blonde in question.


He says shaking his head. There’s a light note of sadness in his voice.



Luna gives him a little pout to show she sympathises with him.




He says with a smile, completely oblivious of the fact that it’s no accident that Luna is here today.




Luna asks with an extra emphasis on the flavour.


He heads to the small concession stand, coming back a minute later with the sparkling water for Luna and another Mountain Dew for himself. Same flavor as the one he dropped earlier.


He says triumphantly, handing her the bottle. Luna claps her hands together and beams a smile like he was a true hero. There’s a small bench not too far from there, and that’s where Coen and Luna heads. Better than sitting on the concrete...Luna tucks her skirt under as she sits and unscrews her bottle top.


“Accidentally” spilling a droplet on her upper chest after taking a sip.


As he hears this, he can’t help to turn around to see why she would need the napkin. And inevitably, his eyes fell on her chest. Immediately he feels his cheeks burning, as they assume a light shade of red.


He takes his eyes away from there, fumbling in his pocket looking for something to help her clean herself up.



She goes to her handbag for a packet of wipes and dabs herself there.


She does an extra two dabs to make sure she wasn’t going to deal with any sticky flavoured water attracting insects and the like.


He smiles at her nervously, trying not to stare while she was cleaning herself.


The competition is still going right before his eyes but none of what’s happening there is catching his attention. He’s simply staring at void, a situation only made heavier by the awkward silence between them.


Luna breaks the silence by drumming her nails on the bench.




He takes his seat on the bench, right next to her. A situation that instantly reminded him of what happened two weeks ago, when she reached him in the crowd during Tiffany’s match.


A slight and discreet smirk on Luna’s face, the side not facing Coen specifically emerges.


And she takes another sip without dropping a drip. Luna makes sure to slightly knock his arm and bounce off it to make him, his arms seem rigid and tough.


And, unlike Coen who averted his gaze, Luna looks down to see the arm she just “collided” with. He smiles at the compliment, looking down at his own arm as well.


He finally looks up at her. Out of the corner of his eye, he notices a fan taking a picture with his phone.


He immediately stands up, causing the young man to run away. Instinctively he chases him, but Luna grabs his arm and stops him.


She says exercising her strength a little bit she’d kept hidden up until now, mainly to let the fan get away with the picture.


He looks back at her, trying to pull his arm away and go on the chase anyway. Her strong grasp around his wrist prevents him to break free.


He sits back and shakes his head.




Luna’s ears prick up although she had a pretty good assumption as to why. She steers herself to face him on the bench. Coen looks down, shrugging his shoulders.


Luna tries to reassure him with a hand on the shoulder.


As she pulls out a compact mirror and her lip gloss.


Luna then reapplies a fresh coat to her lips, focusing on her reflection but could see Coen in her peripheral vision. The mere thought of that is enough to scare him. And surely Luna noticed it.


He instantly regrets saying those words. realizing he stuck himself in a dangerous corner.


He starts sweating, more now than he did during his performance.


Luna closes her mirror at that moment and tilts her head just slightly to try and get a better explanation.




He quickly replies, shaking his head.


He’s obviously in difficulty, struggling to find the words to get out of this intricated situation. Luna takes him by the hand and softly shushes him before patting him on the hand.


Luna says noticing him fall silent


She says with a smile, another pat and a wink before she grabs her bottle as she departs to allow the skater interviewer to get a quick word with Coen and the scene fades out.