𝐎𝐍 𝐂𝐋𝐎𝐔𝐃 9 | 𝐖𝐈𝐋𝐋 𝐂𝐋𝐎𝐔𝐃

𝐓𝐄𝐍

𝐊𝐀𝐌𝐑𝐘𝐍

"Give me details!" Kayla stares at me through our bathroom mirror as I fix my hair.

"Nothing really happened." I shrug. "We got Froyo and we walked back to my car."

"There is a lot you can do while walking. I've had a boyfriend, I would know." She says making me grimace. "Did he kiss you?" She asks.

"I think he wanted to but no he didn't." I stick a few bobby-pins in my hair so my bun will stay up. "He did kiss my forehead though."

"Ugh! Lame." She rolls her eyes. "He is such a weirdo." I follow her out of the bathroom.

"That weirdo is the reason you're as good as you are." I give her a challenging look.

"If you say so." She rolls her eyes.

"I spoke with Will Cloud's mom last night." Kayla and I pause as we head downstairs. Mom and Dad are sitting in the living room chatting. "She said Kayla's doing great at the dog spa, and I guess Will is coaching their team."

"Yeah, I heard that she's working really hard." Dad says.

"You say that like it's a bad thing." Mom gives him a questioning look.

"Well, I hate to see her try so hard only to fail. Her and Kammie both." I bite my lip hard to keep from reacting badly.

"Isn't there any chance that the two of them might win?" Mom seems to have hope.

"Against the Swift team?" Dad scoffs. "Honey, that's impossible."

Kayla whispers. "Nothing's impossible."

***

"This isn't going to work Kayla. I'm telling you!" I call after her as she storms into the kennel. Gosh this girl kills me. I swing the door open right as she's running up to Will.

"I want you to teach me the Cloud 9." She says hopefully.

Will looks her up and down and scoffs. "And I want world peace. Can you get me a leash?" He looks at me and gives a genuine smile. "Hey." He whispers.

I smile back. "Hey."

"Hey." Kayla says popping in between the two of us. "Come on Will. You said it yourself. I've made real progress."

Will rolls his eyes walking away. "You have."

"Okay. So then what's the problem?" She asks, following after him. "I mean, you're my coach, right? Coach me."

"It's not that simple." He assures her.

"You don't believe in me." Kayla frowns. "You're just like my dad. After all this, you still think I'm all style and no substance."

"You've got it all wrong." He huffs. "It's not about whether I believe in you, it's about whether you believe in yourself!" He gives me a look as if screaming "Help me!"

"What do you mean?" Kayla continues to bombard him with questions.

"Up on that mountain, when it's just you and your board, it doesn't matter what anyone else thinks. You cannot be afraid, not even for a second." I glance at Will's last snowboarding picture. "It takes no fear. And you're just not there yet."

"Do you think that's what happened to you? You wiped out because you were afraid?" Why Kayla? Why did you have to go there? "Will, I watched your video. I saw you out on the half-pipe with that big smile on your face. I mean, you belong there. I mean, the Cloud 9 could be a second chance for both of us."

"You're still not ready." He leashes Donald and heads for the door.

"I have done everything that you've shown me!" She yells.

"It's too dangerous!" Will retorts.

"For me or for you?" She yells back but Will is out the door before I know it.

"Seriously Kayla?" I shake my head. "You just had to go there didn't you?"

"Well he's being ridiculous!" She exclaims.

"He's being ridiculous? He almost died, Kayla!" I remind her. "At least he has a reason to act crazy."

"Oh you want crazy?" She scoffs. "I'll show you crazy."