Chapter 73:

"Ok, I am curious, but please don't tell me I have to dress in gold or anything like that."

"Of course not, that would be ridiculous, it will be a black and white theme. That means you have to get a tuxedo."

"Just please order it, don't make me go there in person."

"I will order it, but you will be required to go there for the final adjustments, but it should be quick, since they already have your measures from not too long ago."

"Ok then, tell me when it is that I need to go. Have a nice day."

Ace then put on his Vans, it was a custom pair John had bought for him, so it was only fair that he wore them. He also put on some of the new clothes Strike had delivered only yesterday. They were going to meet at a skate shop, which had a skatepark near it. John wanted Ace to get his first board, and then get the wheels fitted and all. They would also show him how to do so himself.

The plan was to then meet some friends of John's, and then Ace would hopefully learn something. It should be fun, and Ace was looking forward to it. He got in the car, putting his earbuds on, heavy electronic music blasting through them. They were a sleek black pair that Alex had recommended, they were good for running, and the adaptable foam was great for melding into the ear, and ensuring the earbuds did not move once in place.

He relaxed, it was a fifteen-minute drive, so he went over some Chinese on the app on his phone.

When they got there, he put the phone in his pocket and slung his black backpack on his shoulder. He stepped out of the car and checked his phone, he was a few minutes early, but John should already be there, and effectively, he was. He was waiting with two other people, a girl and a guy, that both looked 16 to 17. John saw him coming and motioned with his hands, Ace walked there, and took off his earbuds.

"Hey! Ok guys, this is Ace, it's his first time today, so please do be nice."

They both smiled and nodded, the guy stepping forward first and offering his fist for a fist bump, "Cool man, I'm CJ, trust me, the first time is always the best. Are we getting his outfitted and everything?", John nodded, and the smiles only widened.

"Awesome. This will be fun, you'll see. I'm Ray.", she offered the fist and Ace bumped it.

"Ok, so we first go to the shop, get you the stuff. Now, in our group, it is customary to get the person's first board. We will choose it and buy it, then, we will show you how to do the weels and all the various things you need to maintain the board."

Ace nodded, he thought he was going to pick the board, but it was fine this way as well. He just hoped that whatever they picked looked pretty cool. They headed into the shop, and a man in his late forties came to greet them, he looked to be fit, and had a wide smile on his face.

"Hey Steve, we brought a first-timer, you have some time now?"

"For sure, let me arrange the tools and I'll come to meet you at the back, begin choosing a board for him.", then, he looked at his get up, "First time? Really?"

As a response, John said: "Parkour", and shrugged.

The man nodded as if he understood, and went into a room where Ace assumed the tools were.

Meanwhile, the others led him to the back of the shop, where a massive warehouse was. It was extremely big, but it was amazing. The walls were all covered by different boards, all of them had a number and letter next to them, and the binoculars they got from a container at the front, seemed to be the norm so that you could see all the boards.

"Steve gets drops from all over the world, anything you find online, if you contact him, he can probably get it to you. From wheels to boards, he's got everything. He lives for skating, and has done so for all of his life, he has enough contacts that he can get it all. He is also the owner of the park we are going to next. It's private property, so we cannot get kicked out, so many consider it a safe haven. I'll warn you, there are also some pretty wild parties thrown there. Steve is ok with it, as long as we lean up afterwards, and we all like Steve too much not to listen to him.

Ace nodded, noticing the admiration the three had for the man. He looked around, and all the people running around and pointing at boards, looking through binoculars.

"Ok, so you sit there, and then once we are done, we will get to you. It should not take too long since we already have an idea of what to get. Sit tight, we'll get to you soon.

Ace went to sit, around the warehouse there were cinder blocks where people were sitting and looking at different boards, or just talking. There seemed to be a great atmosphere, and Ace was enjoying every single second of it.

He sat down in a cinder block with another person already, a girl by the looks of it. He pulled out his phone and was about to put in his earbuds, when she turned and asked: "First time?"

Ace smiled at her and nodded, "Yeah. You?"

She sighed, a nostalgic smile on her face, "I wish… Nothing beats the first board, trust me."

Then, someone called what Ace assumed was her name and she sighed, "Well, I better get going, I hope you have fun." She smiled, and walked towards a group of people.

Ace pulled out his earbuds, put them on, and got to work on his Chinese.

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"Ok, we got the board, you come with us now, and we get the tools from Steve, then, we'll show you how to maintain it and change and all of that stuff. Then, we get to skating."

They went into the room, where there were some things laid out. It was not much, just what seemed to be a cutting tool and a multipurpose wrench/screwdriver.

They then showed him what he had to do. He never saw the board, a piece of white plastic was covering it, and his excitement was growing. Once they finished all of the preparation, they smiled, "You ready for the big reveal?", Ace smiled and nodded.

Then, they pulled back the plastic, and Ace widened his eyes, "Dammm, that looks… Sick."

They grinned, and CJ said: "I know right? I was planning on getting it myself, but this is even better. The black wheels will look good with it.", he seemed the most excited out of all of them.

Ace grinned, his finger sliding over the deck of the board, it was a weird design. It honestly looked a bit like the black ice skin in Rainbow, but that was in the middle. In the middle, it began as some light blue crystal, but then spread outwards, ending as some sort of black, inky thing. The whole gradient looked amazing. And from the crystals to the ink, the tones were super cool. Ace really liked the board, it looked perfect.

"Ok, so now, we teach you the basics.", all three grinned, but it was a different grin, it was the grin of a monster that is looking forward to a new meal, and Ace just sighed, giving up on putting any sort of resistance.

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"So, how was your day?", Ace almost dropped his new board in surprise, his grandmother's voice coming from the living room.

"Uhmmm, Hello? It was a good day, I had fun."

"Come, sit, tell me all about it"

'What in the actual…'

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"Ok, Albert, I need you to do a check on my grandmother's past schedule these few days, something is not right."

"Ok sir, due to my algorithms, I am able to predict that sir's grandmother is behaving in a non-familiar way."

"No shit. Well, dig as much as you can without getting found out, this place is probably bugged to hell anyway, but better be safe anyways."

Ace laid on his bed, thinking on all the various things that could have potentially produced this sort of behaviour. In as long as Ace could remember, this was the first time they had had a normal conversation, like a grandmother and her grandchild should. She teased him about girls, prodding on what he did every day and so on. Of course, it was done in her own way, attempting to manipulate the conversation non-stop, but for Ace, it was the thought that counted.

Of course, Ace understood that his grandmother loved him, but also understood that he had a lot of things to catch up to, so Samantha had no time for pleasure, only business. Could it be that she finally thought he had caught up? No, that could not be it, even if she thought he had, she would push him even harder, she was like that.

As thoughts raced through his mind, Ace sighed. He was not going to figure this out without more information, he just closed his eyes, and willed himself to sleep.