Free Mountain Bike Mania by Matt Christopher Page A

Ace Diamond outside the
     kitchen window, signaling for Will to meet him outside.
    Will’s dad’s face was hidden behind his newspaper. His mom was flipping through a magazine, eatingher cereal. Neither one of them made any move to talk to him. What were they doing? he wondered. Waiting for him to make the
     first move? And they accused
him
of being immature!
    Well, if he was angry, that was his business. He nodded through the window at Ace, then signaled for him to come around to
     the front of the house.
    Will went into the living room and quietly opened the front door. “Hi,” he said.
    “Hey, I’m going riding,” Ace said. “Wanna come?”
    “Can’t. I’m grounded, at least on my bike. Want to come in for a while?”
    “Nah.” Ace glanced around. “I can’t believe this. Nobody’s parents are letting them bike! It’s all because Mr. Rivera called
     people’s houses.” Ace made a bitter face. “I hate that guy.”
    “Hey, Ace,” Will asked, coming outside and closing the door behind him. “Do you know anything about some graffiti that got
     sprayed on the school walls?”
    “Huh? Oh, that. No. What about it?”
    Something in Ace’s reaction told Will he knew more than he was telling, but Will let it pass. He figured it was pointless
     to argue with Ace Diamond.Ace wasn’t the kind of person you could convince of anything, and if you didn’t watch yourself, before you knew it, he’d have
     convinced you of
his
point of view.
    “Come on,” Ace said. “My folks don’t know I’m out either. I’m supposed to show up at the shop at ten.”
    “Won’t they notice you’re not there?” Will wondered.
    “You think they care?” Ace retorted. “You think your parents care? You think they’ll even notice you’re gone?”
    Will thought about it. His mom and dad would probably think he was up in his room on the computer. “Maybe not,” he admitted.
    “There, what did I tell you? Nobody really cares what we do. Come on, let’s go. I’ve saved my favorite ride for today. We’re
     gonna go for the gold, kid!”
    Will nodded and opened the door a bit to see if his parents had noticed him go out. Nothing had changed. He shut the door
     again. “How far is this place?” he asked.
    “In Morton State Forest,” Ace told him. “Thecanyon trail. It’s da bomb, I’m telling you. Better than the best roller coaster!”
    “Okay!” Will said in a whisper. The thrill of sneaking off and doing something forbidden crept over him. This would show his
     parents he couldn’t be locked up in the house like some six-year-old!
    The garage door was open. He got his bike and gear and backed out into the driveway. There, he straddled his bike while he
     put on his pads, gloves, and helmet. “I sure hope I don’t get in trouble for this,” he couldn’t help saying as he gave his
     house one last backward glance.
    “You’re already in trouble,” Ace shot back with a grin. “What’s a little more gonna matter?”
    All the way there — and it must have been a good seventeen miles — Ace talked to Will and Will listened. All about trails
     he’d ridden, and dares he’d taken, and bikes he’d tried, and maneuvers he’d perfected.
    It seemed to Will that Ace knew everything there was to know about mountain biking. And hadn’t Julian at the bike shop said
     so? Will soaked in the information, storing it away for future use.
    At last, they arrived at the trail into the forest. Will checked his watch. They’d been gone just about an hour. With the
     ride, and the trip back, his parents were sure to notice that he was missing. What would they think? And what would they say
     when they learned the truth?
    Will tried to put the thought out of his mind. The state forest was a fantastic place, with giant old trees soaring hundreds
     of feet into the air. There was very little undergrowth — just the carpet of needles and a few shrubs — and as they climbed
     higher into the hills, Ace led Will off the