Free Into the Danger Zone by Matt Christopher, Stephanie Peters Page B

would be. Otherwise, he wasn’t sure what he was going to do with Pat for two whole days. They had been good friends a couple of years earlier. But Charlie had moved twice since then, and they’d lost touch. He didn’t want to admit it, but he was a little nervous about seeing Pat again. What if they didn’t have anything in common anymore? He figured snowboarding together would help them get reacquainted.
    Luckily, the snow didn’t melt. In fact, every day after school that week Charlie met his friends at the top of the slope. The conditions were mint.
    “Ya-HOO!” Bizz shouted as she started her first run on Thursday afternoon. She crisscrossed the hill smoothly, leaving winding lines in the snow behind her. Leaning over the nose of his board to make himself go faster, Jonas followed her.
    “I’m looking forward to meeting your friend,” Savannah said as she waited her turn. When Jonas was halfway down, she took off. Savannah moved more slowly and cautiously than either Jonas or Bizz. She was still learning to snowboard, and even though she’d improved a lot since the beginning of the winter, she wasn’t one hundred percent confident yet. Still, she enjoyed boarding and wasn’t afraid to try new things. Charlie admired her for that.
    Then it was his turn. After adjusting his goggles and hat, he stepped into his bindings and snapped them on tight. Then he gave a little hop and started down the slope. The hill wasn’t that long but it was plenty steep. Charlie picked up speed, zigzagging in quick turns, making sure to keep an eye out for any other boarders or sledders. The last thing he wanted was a collision!
    He made it to the end and stopped himself with a sharp twist that sent a spray of snow into the air. Then he unsnapped his bindings, picked up his board, and joined other kids making their way up the side of the hill. He caught up with Savannah.

    “So, what’s your friend like?” she asked.
    “When I last saw him he was kind of short and skinny,” Charlie answered.
    “Like me, you mean?” Jonas joined them. “I like the guy already.”
    Charlie grinned. “Yeah, and I remember he was fearless, too, but he knew how to keep it real, you know?”
    “Again, like me!”
    Savannah rolled her eyes. “Just what we
don’t
need — two Jonases!”
    Laughing, the three friends made their way to the top of the hill. One after another, they took off again. Charlie was feeling great. The snowboarding was awesome, and his friends were talking about Pat as if he were one of them. If things kept going this well, the weekend visit was going to be a breeze.
    Unfortunately, the next afternoon, it felt more like a tornado.

CHAPTER FOUR
    Charlie stood next to his parents in the driveway. Patrick and his mother and stepfather had just driven up. Pat was the first one out of the car.
    “Yo, dude, how’s it going?”
    Charlie couldn’t answer at first. He was too busy staring at his friend.
    “My goodness,” he heard his mother murmur, “Patrick certainly has sprouted!”
    “Sprouted” wasn’t exactly how Charlie would have described the change in his friend. “Doubled in size” was more like it.
    When Charlie had last seen him, the top of Pat’s head had barely reached Charlie’s shoulder. Now he stood a full half-head taller than Charlie! He’d gained weight, too. Next to him, Charlie felt like a Chihuahua in the presence of a Saint Bernard.

    “H-hey there, bro,” he finally stammered. “Long time no see.”
    Pat socked him in the shoulder so hard that Charlie’s eyes watered. As Charlie rubbed the sore spot, Pat’s mother called over to them.
    “Rick, why don’t you and Charlie bring your things into the house?”
    “Rick”?
Charlie thought.
Since when is he called “Rick”?
    “C’mon, man,” Pat — Rick — said. “Help me get my stuff.”
    Happy to be doing something, Charlie hurried to the car. Rick’s mother popped the trunk and Rick pulled out a duffel bag. Underneath it was a