Free Snowboard Maverick by Matt Christopher

and Tasha. “I keep freezing up. It’s like a twitch or something. I can’t
     get through a run.”
    He sat in the snow, exhausted and miserable. Somehow, he had to find a way out of this nightmare. He had to find an excuse
     for not showing up on Saturday.
    “Come on, Dennis!” Robbie urged him. “Get up and try again. It’s the only way to get over it!”
    “He’s right,” Tasha agreed.
    “I’m exhausted,” Dennis told them, not moving. “Snowboarding really takes it out of you.”
    “It does,” Tasha said, nodding, “but you never let that stop you till now.”
    “I’m just not having any fun at it,” Dennis confessed. “I really didn’t want to come out here today and practice.”
    “You’ll get over that as soon as you beat Rick Hogan,” Robbie assured him.
    “And if I don’t beat him? If I wipe out and hurt myself or if he makes a fool of me? I’ll be lucky to make it halfway down
     the intermediate slope!”
    “What?” Tasha gasped. “You’re not racing on the beginners’ slope?” Her jaw hung open. Robbie, too, was speechless.
    “He cornered me into it,” Dennis explained lamely.
    “Dennis, I don’t think you understand what you got yourself into,” Tasha said. “The intermediate slope is steep and narrow,
     and it’s got moguls all over the place, and trees, and lots of people in the way. You could hurt yourself unless you’re really
     ready for it!”
    “Tell me about it,” Dennis agreed.
    “What are you going to tell your parents?” Tasha asked. She knew how concerned Dennis’s mom and dad were about his safety
     — and that his historywith Ford’s Mountain would only add to their concern.
    “I’ll tell them the truth,” Dennis said. “Afterward.”
    “But that’s lying!” she blurted out.
    Dennis just looked at her. Robbie broke the silence.
    “Listen, Tasha, he’s got to do it. If anyone can show up that loudmouth bully Rick, it’s Dennis. Right, Dennis?”
    Dennis was quiet for a moment. “I — I don’t know, Robbie. Maybe Tasha’s right. I’m probably not ready for the intermediate
     slope, and even if I was, racing and not telling my parents would be wrong. I think maybe I just better tell Rick the race
     is off.”
    “You can’t do that!” Robbie insisted. “You could win this race! If you cop out now, Rick will tell everyone that you’re too
     scared to face him because you’re a lousy snowboarder. You’ll never be able to show your face at the Breakers or Schoolhouse
     Hill again after that. So you’ll have to quit snowboarding just like you quit skiing.”
    “Robbie,” Tasha cautioned, “that’s not fair and you know it.” She turned to Dennis. “Listen, Dennis, if you don’t want to
     race, you don’t have to. But if youwant my opinion, you could beat that guy if you put your mind to it. It’s only when you hesitate that you freeze up and fall.”
    Dennis sighed. “I know,” he said. “Trouble is, I don’t know if I can stop hesitating.” He undid his straps and stood up. “That’s
     it for me today, guys. I’m heading home.”
    Robbie called out after him, “But what about the race? Are you going through with it?”
    Dennis didn’t turn around. He just kept walking with Gizmo under one arm.
    At school the next day, Dennis avoided Robbie and Tasha as best he could. He steered clear of Rick Hogan and Pat Kunkel, too.
     He still hadn’t made up his mind whether or not to call off the race.
    Between classes, he stopped at his locker to drop off one book and collect another. When he pulled the door open, a sheet
     of paper with a single word written on it fluttered out.
Chicken!
it said in a simple, scrawled handwriting.
    Dennis glanced around to see if there was anyone suspicious lurking near his locker. But the hall was practically empty. Not
     that it mattered; he was prettysure he knew who had put the note there. It had to have been Rick or Pat. They were trying to rattle him. But how had they
     gotten the