THE SKEPTIC AND THE KICKSTAND KID

THE SKEPTIC AND THE KICKSTAND KID

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         Thirteen year-old Johnny was a big bragger. A boaster. He frequently walked around handing his friends autographed photos of himself in different fancy jackets, doing different fancy things, which they could only dream of. He'd been all over Europe; won so many karate tournaments; he claimed he was even up for a starring role on a hollywood soap. "I'm a great motorcyclist, too," he said to his friends, Mickey, Alex and Brian, whilst embellishing about his weekend and the bigtime dirt bike race he'd placed in. "How great I was; ninth place, outta a'hundred!"
         Alex and Brian loved his wild adventure stories; they looked up to him, and he noticed. He liked it.
         "Johnny's such a badass!" They'd say; except for clever Mickey, whom always doubted everything. They called Mickey "The Skeptic," for a reason. He was the neighborhood kid who had a million questions; a truther, to the fullest. "If you're so great, why haven't we ever seen you ride, Johnny?" He asked.

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         Johnny spewed a handful of excuses; "..My dad keeps my bike out of state!" And, "I usually only ride around other bikers; but I've got live-action proof!" He smiled wryly and reached into his pocket, then brandished a picture of himself hunched over the gas tank of a fancy dirt bike; the long and winding, dusty trail behind him was impressive. "I'm so good, I snapped this one while riding!" His friends gathered around to gaze upon the close up shot of Johnny's face, in helmet; the camera pointed down towards the ground and behind him. "Look at that powder!" Johnny stated with pride.
         "The dirt looks as soft as cotton!" Alex remarked.
         "I wish my parents would let me ride, too!" Brian cried. "You're like, the coolest kid, Johnny!"
         They ooed and ahed, and Johnny taunted, "Told you Mickey!"

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         Mickey grabbed the photo and looked it over for about five seconds; "You're actually riding this bike?" He asked, to which Johnny replied, "Of course I am! I said I was, didn't I?!"
         Mickey smiled wryly, too. "..This photo is from the big race, live-action, then?"
         Johnny again bragged, "It is! I came in ninth outta a'hundred kids! This was the final lap!"
         "..Very interesting," skeptic Mickey said.
         "Yes, it's awesome! But, why did you say it like that, Mickey?" Alex asked.
         Mickey put the photo down so all four could see it; he looked at boaster Johnny, then pointed at the undisturbed powder behind the bike's tire. "On it's kickstand, was it?"
         Johnny was mute; his face reddened. Brian said, "What do you mean, Mickey?!" And Alex asked, crushed, "Where are the tracks, Johnny?!"


Please note that this was just a fun exercise for me. Not my focus genre. This said I'd love any feedback on content/quality/layout/if you enjoyed or not/etc.

P.S. A fun alternate title for this is, Johnny was a big liar!