Shatterproof (2 page)

Our plan is to check out the mall’s game and skate stores. Then we’ll eat burgers and fries at the food court. Then we’ll go to a movie. And then I’ll catch another bus and the five o’clock ferry home.

Before we go inside, Lug stops for a cigarette. This is new.

“When did you start smoking?” I ask him.

“Over the summer. Want one?” He offers me the pack.

“No, thanks. I’m training for cross-country.”

“So?” He huddles under the entrance overhang. Right beside the
No Smoking Within 10 Meters
sign.

“So it’s kind of bad for your lungs.” I don’t like standing there in the rain with him. “I’ll be in the game store.”

“Up to you.”

I leave him with all the other smokers.

In a few minutes Lug comes to find me. We spend an hour looking at the new games. I can’t afford anything. I have just enough money for the bus, ferry and food. It took awhile to save that up.

Lug buys a couple of games he wants. Then we head for the skate shop.

On our way we pass a kiosk full of sunglasses. The upscale ones are locked in glass cases. But the cheaper ones are arranged on spinning racks. Some girls
are there, trying them on, giggling and taking selfies.

“Let’s check those out,” Lug says. I’m not sure if he means the sunglasses or the girls. But whatever, I can look at both.

We circle the kiosk, studying the different styles and sneaking looks at the girls. They sneak looks at us too. Strange. Girls usually ignore us.

“It would be so easy,” Lug says.

I pick up a pair of fake designer sunglasses. “What would?” I hope he’s not thinking we should try to pick up a couple of those girls.

Lug glances at the sales guy in the booth, who is also watching the girls. Does he think they’re hot or that they’re going to shoplift? Probably both.

“He’s not paying any attention to us,” Lug says. “Just grab the ones you want.” He starts to slide a pair of sunglasses under his hoodie.

I have to stop him. We can’t get into trouble. “Hey, over here?” I call to the sales guy. “How much are these?” I hold up a random pair of sunglasses.

The sales guy comes out of the kiosk to take a closer look.

Lug puts the sunglasses he was going to steal back on the rack.

“Twenty bucks,” the sales guy says, keeping one eye on the girls. “It says right here on the tag.”

“Too much,” I say.

He shrugs. “Two for thirty-five.”

“Still too much. But thanks anyway.”

We hurry away. When we’re out of the sales guy’s hearing, Lug says, “Thanks a lot, man. You almost got me busted.”

“Exactly. You can afford those. You don’t have to steal them.”

“I know. But it’s the challenge.”

“Well, guess what? I don’t need the challenge of my mom getting a call from security at West Pacific Mall.”

“Does she even know you’re here?”

“No, and she can’t find out.” We walk on in silence. I’d forgotten how Lug is always up to something. And how that something usually gets him in trouble. Gets
us
in trouble.

“Excuse me?” a soft voice says. We both turn to see the group of girls from the kiosk following us.

Lug’s eyes light up. “Well, hello there. How can we help you lovely ladies?”

I cringe. Doesn’t he know how fake he sounds? How pathetic?

The girls eye me like I’m a superhero or something. “This might sound crazy,” one of them says to me, “but we were just wondering.”

“You were?” I ask. She looks perfect. Tight jeans, funky boots, long shiny black hair. “Wondering what?”

She blushes and can’t speak. Her friends urge her on. “Okay,” she finally says.
“Here goes. Are you, um, are you Bo Blaketon?”

“What?”

“Are you Bo Blaketon? You know, from
Shatterproof
?”

Whoa. How I wish I was.

I glance over at Lug. His eyebrows have shot way up, and his mouth hangs wide-open. He’s probably thinking what I am. This is too weird. Dakota said the same thing in the car.

“Yeah, I know that show,” I say. “But no, sorry, I’m not him.”

The girl tilts her head and squints at me. “Are you sure?”

I snort. “Last time I checked.”

“Oh, come on,” she says. “You’re him. But don’t worry—we won’t invade your privacy.”

“No, really, I’m not.”

She gives me a flirty smile and fluffs her hair. “I heard that
Shatterproof
is filming in North Van next week.”

“So?”

“So that’s why you’re in town. And you’re from here, so it all makes perfect sense.”

“Well, it would if I was Bo Blaketon. But I’m not.”

The girl touches my arm gently. It feels like an electric shock. “It’s okay,” she says. “We won’t announce it to the whole world. But can you get me on your show?”

“No way!”

“So you are him!”

“No, I meant I can’t get you on that show. Because I’m not Bo Blaketon.”

“Oh, please?” She actually flutters her eyelashes and pouts her lips. “Just as an extra?”

Lug butts in. “Hey, he might be able to make that happen.”

I frown and shake my head at him. “What are you doing?”

“He-he,” Lug says. “Can’t blame these pretty things for trying.”

“But I’m not Bo Blaketon!”

They all stare at me like I’m lying.

Even Lug.

“Let’s go.” I stride away. “This is ridiculous.”

The girl follows, her friends behind her. “Look, I’m sorry,” she says. “I should have respected your privacy. But can you please just sign my arm?” She pulls a purple marker out of her purse. “Then I promise I’ll leave you alone.”

She’s wearing a flowery shirt, open over a tank top. She slips one sleeve off. Thrusts her shoulder at me. Points at her bicep. “Here,” she says. “Please?” She hands me the marker.

I can’t not take it. And then I’m scrawling on her smooth skin
Bo B
. It kind of looks like
BoB
, which makes me laugh. It’s a nervous laugh though. What was I thinking?

“Omigod!” She actually starts to cry. “Thank you so much!”

Her friends gather close to take pictures. Lug steps in and shields my face with his hand. “Ladies, please! Privacy!”

The girl wipes her tears and grabs her marker back. “If you change your mind about me being an extra, here’s my number.” She writes it on my hand.

“Sorry, but we have to go.” I pull Lug away with me.

The other girls call after us, “Hey, Bo, come back! Sign us too!”

I break into a run.

When Lug catches up with me he says, “What the what, dude? That was brilliant!”

“That was wrong!” I can’t believe I did that. I think I might throw up. I should go back and find that girl. Tell her the truth.

But then we enter RadRide, and I’m totally distracted. It’s the best store on
the planet. You used to have to go to the States to shop at one. But they’ve finally opened a store here in Vancouver. I hope they open one on the Island soon.

They’ve got longboards, cruisers—every kind of skateboard. They even have kits and parts to custom-build your own. Plus they carry all the coolest brands of clothes, shoes and accessories.

I want everything!

For a while I’m overwhelmed with looking at the stock. So is Lug. We don’t talk. We just sigh and drool.

And then I see it.

A Globe Bantam Galaxy Cruiser. Black with an orange-and-green-and-blue-universe print. Gradual kickboard. Simple but sweet!

Lug notices me admiring it. “You like?”

“Oh yeah.”

“Better than that chick whose arm you just signed?” He points to my hand,
where she wrote her number. I stick my hand in my pocket. I need to go scrub that off as soon as we’re done in here.

“Yup. She was just some girl. But this is my dream board.”

“So buy it.”

“I wish! It’s ninety-five bucks. Can’t afford it.”

“That sucks.” Lug studies sets of wheels. “Hey, why don’t you ask your old man? He’s loaded, right?”

“You’ve got to be kidding.” Lug knows what happened with my parents. He knows how pissed off I am at my dad.

“So he’s a jerk. You can still spend his money.”

I think about that for a minute. It might be satisfying. I could pretend I want to see him, then change my mind once he buys me the board. “Nah. I’d have to actually speak to him.”

“Okay, I get it,” Lug says. “How about this? That girl wanting to be an extra on
Shatterproof
gave me an idea.” Uh-oh. Lug’s ideas always end badly. “I don’t like the sound of this.”

“Just listen, okay? You pretend to be that Bo Blaketon guy, and we sign girls up to be extras for the
Shatterproof
shoot next week. They pay us twenty bucks each up front. For their application, like a registration fee.”

The way Lug’s mind works kills me. “And we’d get their phone numbers too?”

“No, we’d just ask for an email address. So it wouldn’t sound like we’re hitting on them or anything. It has to seem legit.” He smirks. “But if they want to give us their numbers, we’d be okay with that.”

“And why would they believe us?”

“Because all girls want to be on
TV
.” Lug runs his hand over the Globe Bantam
Galaxy Cruiser’s deck. “Nice,” he says. “Can’t you just see yourself on this?”

“No, because I can’t afford it.”

“Then let’s try my plan.”

“No, thanks.” I can’t do that. “Sure, girls might give us money,” I say. “But it would be a crime. We’d be committing fraud.”

“Don’t be such a wimp.”

“But what if we get caught? Like I said earlier, I don’t want my mom getting a call from security.”

“We won’t get caught,” Lug says. “If you can fool Dakota, you can fool anyone.”

“But I didn’t fool Dakota. She just said I kind of looked like Bo Blaketon. Not that she thought I was him.”

“Still,” Lug says. “Those girls thought you were.”

I check around the store to make sure those girls aren’t in here. Then I take another look at the wall of shoes.
There’s a pair of Vans I’d love. “That’s because they wanted to believe they were meeting a celebrity.”

“So we let them have their wish. We let them enjoy a fantasy that they’re going to be discovered. We’d be doing them a favor.”

“I don’t care. I’m so not doing this.”

“C’mon,
Bo
,” Lug says. “You could make enough in an hour to buy that board.”

“I don’t want it that bad.”

“You know you do.”

He’s right. I do. But I’m not scamming girls. Mom would go nuts. “Forget it,” I say. “I’ll ask my dad for the money.”

I take out my phone to call him. I’m hoping he’ll be so happy to hear from me that he’ll say yes. He might even ask what else I need from RadRide.

My dad answers right away. “Nate!” he says. “Good to hear from you! What’s up?”

The sound of his voice almost makes me cry.

I hate him so much.

But I miss him too. It’s confusing.

“Um, hey, Dad,” I say. “How’s it going?”

“Great. I’d really like to see you. Would you consider coming down for a weekend? Even a day? Jewel would like that too. She’s eager to meet you.”

Someday I might agree to see my dad. But I want nothing to do with Jewel, the hot young
TV
weather girl he’s dating. “Maybe,” I say. “So anyway, I’m in this skate store? And there’s this board I really want. And since you missed my birthday and all, I was wondering if you could call the store and give them your credit-card number?”

Silence. Then my dad says, “I’d be happy to work out a financial arrangement for you, Nate. But I have to run it by your mom first.”

“Why?”

“Because I don’t want her to accuse me of trying to buy your affection.”

He’s right. That’s exactly what she’d think. “Oh, I’m sure she wouldn’t mind.”

“And I’m sure she would. Where are you anyway?”

I name a mall in Victoria, just in case he tells Mom I called.

“Really? Let’s meet for lunch. I could be there in twenty minutes.”

“Sorry, but I’m with the cross-country team. We have a meet this afternoon. We just stopped in here for some snacks.”

“Where’s your meet? I’ll come see you there.”

“Bye, Dad.”

I feel like crap after I end the call. It hurts so much that he left us. I take another look at that board. “Okay,” I tell Lug. “We’ll ask one girl to sign up and see how it goes.”

“You won’t regret it,” Lug says as we leave RadRide. “It’s gonna be easy money.”

Something tells me that I
will
regret it. Big-time. “Yeah, but it’s still a scam.”

“Too right. It’s a
Shatterproof
scam!”

I groan. “Maybe we shouldn’t do this,” I say.

“Hey, if girls are stupid enough to believe us, that’s their problem. Not ours.”

“I guess.” I’m so conflicted. I want the money. But I know it’s wrong. “What if we take money some girl really needs?”

“Needs for what?”

“I don’t know.” I think of all the stuff I need money for. “Like maybe bus fare, school lunches and trips?”

Lug veers right to avoid a mom pushing a double stroller. “Girls who shop here are rich. What’s twenty bucks to them? A pair of earrings or new nail polish? A couple fancy lattes and some cupcakes? Big deal.”

We make our way along the crowded mall. When we reach the food court, I say, “Let’s get lunch first.” The aroma of burgers and fries and pizza is hard to resist. And maybe food will distract Lug from his plan.

“Nah, let’s eat later.” Lug steers me past the fast-food places.

I could refuse. I could say I’m starving and I’ll catch up with him after I eat.

But part of me wants to see if we can actually do it. Signing that girl’s arm was a rush. I need a little adventure in my life. “So how’s it going to work?” I ask. “Shouldn’t we have
ID
or clipboards or something?”

“Definitely.” He stops and takes his iPad from his backpack. “Check this out.”

He’s made a document that looks official. The “Extras Needed” page even has the
Shatterproof
logo. “Jeez, Lug! When did you do that?”

“While you were talking to your dad.”

“You’re evil, you know that?”

“Know it and proud of it.”

We walk on until we get to a store called Marlena’s. It’s full of all kinds
of girly accessories. Everything in the window is pastel and sparkly.

Two girls come out with bulging shopping bags, checking their phones. One is blond, the other a redhead. They’re both hot.

“Hey, there,” Lug says. They ignore him and keep walking.

“Want to be on
TV
?”

They stop, turn and give him their full attention. “Omigod! Yes!” the blonde squeals. “When? How?”

“This is Bo Blaketon,” Lug says, pointing to me. “And I’m Laurence, his personal assistant. We’re here today to find extras for an episode of Bo’s show
Shatterproof
. We’re filming in North Van next week.”

I nod at the girls and try to smile like a star. But inside I’m shaking. What if they realize I’m not Bo Blaketon?

“Omigod! Omigod! Omigod!” the redhead shrieks. “I love that show!”

“Me too! How do we sign up?” the blonde asks.

Lug holds out his iPad. “I just need your email addresses,” he says, “so we can send you the times and locations.”

“Seriously?” The girls hesitate. The redhead says, “Don’t we have to like, audition or something?”

“No, no. Not to be extras.” Lug taps on his screen, like he’s searching for information. “It’s a two-part episode, and some of it takes place at a concert.”

He shows them the screen. I peer over his shoulder and see that he’s opened the official website for the show. There’s a notice about the shooting in North Van next weekend, but nothing about extras. Or about us scouting at the mall. But the girls don’t even bother to look.

“So that’s it?” the blonde says. “We just give you our contact info?”

“That’s it.” Lug brings the “Extras” page he made back up. “Oh, and I should
tell you that there’s a twenty-dollar processing fee for your application. But don’t worry, you’ll make that back in your first hour. And we’ll need you on set for several hours. So you stand to make good money. Paid in cash at the end of the day.”

“What about school?” the redhead says.

“Not a problem,” Lug says. “We’re filming on the weekend. And if you know anybody else who might be interested, please let them know. We need lots of different looks. Lots of diversity.”

The blonde is already getting her money out. She hands Lug a twenty.

“Thanks,” he says. “I’ll email you a receipt tonight. And the rest of the info will come in a few days.” He holds out the iPad for her to enter her details. “There’ll also be a permission form and liability waiver for your parent or guardian to sign, scan and return.”
He eyes them up and down. “Unless, of course, you’re both eighteen?”

The redhead giggles and shakes her head. “Thirteen,” she says.

“We should call Tenshi and Carlotta and Violet,” the blonde says. “They’d love this.” She pulls out her phone. “How long are you going to be here, Laurence?”

“Only for another hour, so your friends better hurry.”

“And what about guys? Can they be extras too?”

Lug pulls a sad look. “No, sorry. Bo has a lot of friends from when he went to school here. He wants to use them.”

The redhead pays him and enters her details on his iPad. Then she turns to me. “Can I take a selfie with you?” she asks. “And can I have your autograph?”

Lug steps between us fast, like he’s my bodyguard. “Sorry,” he says. “Not now. We don’t want everybody
in the mall to figure out Bo’s here and mob him. We’re trying to keep things low-key while we find our extras. But there will be chances for photos and autographs on set.”

“Oh,” she says. “Well, okay then. See you guys next weekend!”

We stand there in shock as the girls stroll away.

“Wow!” Lug says. “That was awesome! Even easier than I thought.”

I have no words. I feel terrible.

But I also feel excited. That was an even bigger rush than the girl writing her number on my hand. They actually paid us twenty bucks each!

When I can finally speak, I say, “Good thing you stopped her from taking my picture.”

“Yeah, we’ll have to be careful there’s no evidence.”

Yikes! Why didn’t I think of that sooner? My face could be all over
social media if some girl gets a photo. “That’s for sure. I don’t want the real Bo Blaketon to see me online, pretending to be him.”

“Told you I had it all figured out. We’ll stick to no photos until the shoot. And oh, look at that.” Lug points toward the door of Marlena’s. “There’s our next forty bucks.”