“It was cold and rainy the day I fell down Death Hill. I was young, a mere boy, and only 12 years old. I took on a dangerous proposal that could have cost me my life; I did not want to do this at first. Fortunately, I only broke my right leg and that is why I have a scar, Susie” I explained. “Daddy, who made you take on the dare and how did it all start.” Susie questioned. “It all started two weeks before Thanksgiving Break. The day I met Andrew, James, and Mathew in the Pennington Jr. High School parking lot.” Mr. Cornell clarified.

“Hey, there he is by the door!” Andrew shouted as he and his friends were waiting by the lamppost in the school parking lot.” “So what is the plan with Jake again?” James asked.” “Come on man! You have got to remember this stuff!” Mathew exclaimed. “We are going to befriend Jake for a little while; this should work since he is new to the school and all. Then we will get him to try to skate board down Death Hill, on the east side of town. We do this to new students every year!” Andrew explained. “Hey lets meet up with Jake.” James said.
The three friends walked up to me while I was waiting for my ride. Being new to the school I was rather excited that these boys were coming up to talk to me. “Hey, you are Jake, right?” Andrew asked. “Yes, that is me!” I proclaimed. “We just came over to welcome you to Pennington Jr. High and we wanted to know if you would like to hang out sometime.” Mathew stated. “That would be great! It is nice to have new friends who can help me fit in.” I answered. “Great, we can all sit together at lunch tomorrow and talk. We will see you then.” James responded.
I was pretty psyched when I came home, and I could not wait to tell my parents at dinner about my new friends. “So how was school today Jake?” My mom asked. “It was awesome! I have three new friends and tomorrow we are going to hang out at lunch!” I exclaimed. “Are you sure that you can trust them?” My dad questioned as I forked some mash potatoes in my mouth. “Yeah! They are really nice.” I explained.
The next few days were wonderful at school. My buddies and I would chat all the time and the boys would even do favors for me. I thought I had made friends for a life time, but soon I would find out that I was only part of a game. The week after the day I met my friends, I was sprinting to lunch to meet up with them. “Wait Andrew!” I yelled as I ran down the hall way to meet up with my friends in the cafeteria. My school was pretty large so there were plenty of seats for me to sit at with Andrew, James, and Mathew. “Hey Jake. We saw you coming down the hall way.” James said. We talked for a while and then Mathew told me about a party the most popular boy in school, Jason, was having. “I would give anything to be popular.” I stated.
“We know a way you can become the most popular boy in school.” Mathew answered as he glanced at his friends. “Yeah! All you have to do is skateboard down Death Hill and everyone would be talking about you for days!” Andrew chimed in. “It sounds dangerous. Would I really become popular?”I questioned. “There is no doubt about it!” James replied. I told the boys I would think about their proposal and that I really did not want to go skateboard down Death Hill. However, it seemed like such an easy way to become popular that the next day I replied that I would try it out. The boys told me to meet them the day after Thanksgiving break had ended so they could take me to Death Hill.
On Monday Morning, I rushed out of bed to get dressed and eat breakfast. This was the day I would become the most popular boy in school. I warped down a muffin and grabbed my skateboard as I headed out the door to my bus stop. I could hardly focus in school because of the excitement that overwhelmed me. After the final bell, I raced to the school parking lot and spotted James waiting up for me and the others. “Hey James, I am ready to become popular!” I exclaimed as I approached him. “Great, we just need to wait for the others to come.” He answered.
When the other boys finally showed up, my “friends” and I walked through Downtown Pennington to the east side of town. After about a block or two from the downtown area we approached a large, steep hill. “Are you sure this is safe?” I asked Mathew as we made our way to the summit of the hill. “Oh sure, you will be just fine.” Mathew responded in a sly tone. “Ok man, whenever you are ready you can go. We will take pictures to prove to everyone that you went down the hill.” Andrew urged. I hopped on my skateboard and began to slide. Unfortunately less than a minute after I had started I lost control of myself and tumbled the rest of the way down. When I reached the bottom all I could remember was looking up and seeing the boys tease me before I fell into a deep coma.
I woke up at the Pennington Hospital to my weeping mother. She reminded me of what had transpired and I received treatment from the doctors. My father was on his way from work and when he had finally arrived he told me to tell him how it all started. After explaining to him why I had skateboarded down Death Hill he gave me a lecture on choosing my friends wisely.
“Did you ever see those boys again?” Susie questioned. “I did see them, Susie, however we never talked again. I want you to always remember this story and to be careful when meeting someone. You will never know what someone has in mind.” I said. “I will never forget, Daddy.” She replied.