PROLOGUE
When you constantly live on the edge you don´t feel danger. You may say “wow, that´s cool”, but it´s not. Not feeling danger sometimes is OK; you do the stuff other people feel afraid to do, you feel cool, you begin to be known around because you do all kinds of things. But when you don´t know where the limit is, you cross it and the limit is like a string in the middle of your path; when you cross it you can do two things: you can jump over it or you can trip. I tripped.
ONE
I woke up one morning, just like any other morning. I got dressed and ready for school, had breakfast, kissed my mother goodbye and jumped on my skate. I got to my high school, and everything went on as normal. Until the last bell rang.
I ran out at last, free from classes for another weekend of doing nothing but what I felt like, looking forward to the party on Saturday at Mike´s house. I crossed the school courtyard on my skate and I was just getting to the door that would lead me to limited freedom when Rose Skim, my permanent enemy, got in my way. I nearly crashed into her, but my reflexes were good then, and I managed to stop a few inches from her “gorgeous” face. She had her skate with her too. I´d always wanted a skate like hers; her parents were rich so she could afford to get a great graffiti artist to decorate her skate, and big wheels, although not very effective. Normally, she didn´t even look at me (she had it in for me since nursery school, when she brought her new Barbie to class and I buried it in the sandbox and then broke its arms and legs. I hate Babies). But today she felt quite inclined to talk to me. This I knew because she had all her gang around me.
- Hey, Liss.
- Hi Rossie.
- Are you going to Mike´s party tomorrow?
- Yeah. I remind you he´s my best friend since he started here.
- He´s gay.
- Yeah. So what?
- Nothing, just making sure my information is correct.
There was a tense silence for a few moments, until I decided to break it:
- Are you going?
- Yes. I was wondering... you know the Barbie episode?
“So now it´s an episode, not an excuse to make me the most unpopular kid in the whole school” I thought.
- Yeah, I remember. Difficult to forget if you kind of remind me of it every day by trying to make my life miserable.
- I think we could get things settled.
- I thought they were- I said. She just ignored me.
- So if thought we could race on Saturday. Remember that hill Mike´s house is on.
- Yeah- I didn’t bother to indicate that I´d gone to Mike´s house a thousand times.
- Think we could race with our skates down the hill? - This is where my feeling of danger should have made a magnificent appearance on stage and convinced me to say no. But, as you have read, I don´t have that.
- OK. See you there.
I managed to get home and do nothing all evening without my mother yelling at me. After watching TV until 12 o´clock I went to bed, but I couldn´t sleep. I was too excited about the party: alcohol, music, boys... and a skate race.
TWO
Next day I got up and jogged around the park next to my house. Then I studied a while, without achieving much but an immense boredom. After lunch I had a shower and dressed a little bit better than normally, although I kept my loyalty to jeans and T-shirts. Then I went to the party on my skate.
When I got there, there were loads of people already partying. I tried to find Mike, but it was impossible so I stayed with Laura, Stacy and Marian. We talked, drunk, smoked and became more friends than what we already were, if that was possible.
I was having a great time, but it ended, in my opinion too soon: Rose came to start the race. After a small argument about where to start it, we lined up on the edge of the hill. I put my helmet on, while she laughed at me (I guess you´re asking yourself why I put my helmet on if I have no feeling of danger. My answer is I´m not that stupid; I listen to my parents and the police).
When I was done, Mike, who could barely stand straight after drinking half a bottle of vodka all by himself, shouted:
-Ready...? - We nodded- Really? - We nodded again and he looked like he was trying to remember how to smile- Then... GO!
I moved my left leg as fast as I could. My skate was going so fast that, instead of getting stuck, it jumped over the little sticks and stones in the way. Still, Rose was in front, so I tried to go faster; I guess her wheels were good, apart from big.
Suddenly I heard her scream and, moments later, she flew away from her skate and landed on her head. She didn´t move. I was so surprised and confused, I didn´t notice the great big log straight in front of me, where Rose´s skate was stuck, so when I found myself flying through the air I didn´t immediately know why.
I hit the floor with a great thump. I felt pain all over my body, but it went away pretty soon when my world became black.
***
This is the end of my story: I´m in a hospital, in coma. I can´t do anything but think and listen, accumulate knowledge but do nothing with it.
I have learnt about a lot of things since the skate race: I know that falling from a skate that hits a log at great speed hurts. I know Rose died as soon as she collided with the ground. I know my parents miss me and that my sister tried to wake me up all the ways she could think of. I know my friends come and visit me whenever they can, although they have to study and all. I know Mike isn´t gay and that he loves me, maybe as much as I love him.
There´s just one thing I don´t know: will I ever wake up?