The sunny sky and cool breeze the kids feet after the last day of school makes it really feel like summer. Joyce, Sophie, Bethany, and John all walk away from their lockers and out the doors.

“Hey guys, do you want to go to the park a little later?” questions Joyce.

“Sure Sophie that sounds cool.We can all meet at your house in an hour.” replies John.   Sophie and Bethany nod in agreement. The kids disperse and walk home in all different directions. Joyce’s short walk is filled with excitement thinking about her plans.She gets home in about fifteen minutes and runs into the house dropping her bookbag and throwing off her shoes at the same time. She leaps up the stairs to talk to her Pop.
“Hey kid, how was your last day?” Pop questions Joyce.

“It was good. We got to play in the gym all day. Anyway, I am going to the park with my friends soon.” Joyce responds as she grabs a water bottle from the refrigerator.  The kids should arrive in about ten minutes so she waits out front.
The kids ride up joyfully on bicycles as they shout Joyce’s name. Joyce is confused;she thought they were all walking there. She doesn’t know how to ride a bike- heck she doesn’t even have one.

“Hey Joyce, we all thought it would be more fun if we bring our bikes and ride them around  the park!” shouts Bethany. Joyce doesn’t want to tell them she doesn’t  know how to ride one. Her face gets red and her hands get clammy.

“Um.. I don’t have a bike. Can we just walk there?” Joyce says in a mellow tone.

“I have an extra one you can borrow, walking will take longer,” exclaims Sophie. Joyce doesn’t know what to say now.

“You know what, I kinda don’t feel good. I have a headache. You guys can just go and I think I am gonna stay home. We can do something tomorrow though,” Joyce offers. She covers her feelings with a smile and happy tone. She waves goodbye and walks back into her house.

“I thought you were going to the park,” Pop says curiously. Joyce just starts crying and explains everything to her father about how she doesn’t have a bike or know how to ride one and all her friends do. Pop comforts her and says he is going to the store to get her ice cream to cheer her up.

He comes into the house and calls Joyce’s name. Joyce strolls down the stairs unenthusiastically.  He takes her hand and leads her out front. Her eyes widen with excitement as she stares at the brand new pink cruiser bike that looks so perfect on their front lawn.

“It’s my very own bike? Thank you!”Joyce cries as she jumps into Pop’s arms.

“Yes. It is all yours, and this week you are going to learn how to ride one,” Pop says proudly. All weekend that is all they did. They start on the grass in the backyard in case she falls.

Monday comes around and Joyce still hasn’t mastered riding a bike. She can barely make it one yard without falling or crashing into something. At around one o’clock, Pop hears a knock on the door. He opens it to see all of Joyce’s friends with their bikes.

“Joyce, people are here for you!” Pop shouts up the stairs. Joyce runs down to the door. She is shocked to see them now and they brought their bikes.

“Hey, we figured you feel a better and wanted to see if you wanted to go on a bike ride now. We saw the new bike your Pop bought you,” says John.

“Uhhh.. I would go but, I have to clean my room,” Joyce says sheepishly. She still doesn’t know how to ride a bike and doesn’t want to make herself look stupid in front of all of them.

“Okay Joyce. If you finish early come meet us at the park,” suggests Bethany with a smile. Joyce gives a quick nod and shuts the door as fast as she could. She goes to the table and sits next to Pop starting to explain what happened. He asks if she wants to go outside and practice some more. She sighs in acceptance of the offer, but it is obvious all she wants to do is be with her friends.

After falling three times and crashing once, Joyce gets the hang of it. She makes it around the corner and back without messing up. She cheers with excitement and Pop congratulates her with a hug. She rides around for hours with a smile from ear to ear. She can’t wait to finally ride bikes with her friends. She decides to go to the park and find her friends. On the way there she run into a tree, flies off her bike and slides on the sidewalk. She has a tiny little cut on her elbow and hurts her knee. She isn’t sure whether she should just turn back or continue riding to the park. Joyce really wants to just be able to ride her bike with her friends, but she doesn’t want to fall in front of them.

Joyce thinks about what Pop would say and she decides to not give up. She brushes the dirt off of her swollen knee and gets back on the bike. She enters the park and see her friends in a group by the parking lot.

“Hey guys, I finished cleaning so I wanted to catch up with you guys,” exclaims Joyce.

“Wow Joyce you caught us in just the right time, we were just about to leave the park and ride bikes around town,” says Sophie.

Off they go, the four kids ride around town for about an hour. Joyce doesn’t mess up once. Then they all get hungry. They stop for pizza at the shop in the town over. When they are done eating and talking, they say their goodbyes and head home. Joyce comes home content with how her day was and goes to bed happy.

The next day Joyce is waiting for her friends to stop by to invite her to play again. She springs up from the table to answer the door when she hears someone knock. To her surprise, the kids are all there but riding skateboards not bikes.

“Joyce, do you wanna go to the skate park with us? They opened a new one and it is supposed to be really cool,” says Bethany.

“I thought we were going to be bike riding,” expresses Joyce.

“ Well, we all got pretty tired of doing that,’ explains John.

“Oh well, I would but, I am supposed to go to the movies with my Pop,” replies Joyce.

“Alright. I guess we will talk to you later,” says Sophie.

Joyce walks back inside sulking. She finally learns how to ride her bike and they move on from that. She just about give ups. Maybe she should just tell them her conflict.