Crystal Covell's Story

In 2005, Emily created her own female skater on Tony Hawk's Underground, naming her Crystal Covell. Emily played the game a lot during 2011 and decided to create a story for her. On December 12, 2011, Emily began handwriting the story. The story revolves around a year in the life of fictional Crystal. The first five chapters revolve around Crystal trying to find her parents, as she has been living alone since she was 6. The rest of the book revolves around her new life in Hawaii, and the new friends and enemies she made there. Crystal and these ideas were her basic inspiration to create a story out of it.

It is told in the first person narrative. (Crystal is narrating the story)

This book takes place from June 2012 to June 2013.

Chapter 1: New Jersey
Crystal opens up with a monologue of who she is, and later goes on to tell about her New Jersey life. We learn that she is poor, with divorced parents who left her on her own for the past 10 years. She tells about her school, and her habit of sneaking out every day. She thinks she might have a better life if she finds her parents, so that's what she sets out to do.

Chapter 2: Manhattan
She decides to stay with her cousins Sam, Bailey, and Justin while on the search for her parents. She bonds with cousin Sam, and they often went skating together. Crystal thinks Sam sort of idolizes her, as it is stated that Sam wants to be as good as Crystal one day. They escape some boys who wanna date Crystal. Later in the chapter, Sam shows Crystal her dad's office, making Crystal wonder where her dad works. After they get home, it turns out Justin and Bailey found Crystal's father.

Chapter 3: Tampa
Crystal heads down to Tampa, Florida, and finds out her dad owns and lives in a strip club. Crystal is shown her "room" which is a dance floor with a pole in the middle. Crystal goes to a skate bowl down the street, and makes some new guy friends there. When she is later told to pick up some Chinese for dinner, her dad tells her that the Tampa AM is coming up, and asks if she wants to sign up. Crystal goes into a state of extreme excitement and tells dad to sign her up now.

Chapter 4: Tampa AM
The chapter starts with Crystal signing up for the Tampa AM. The judges are ecstatic to see her and tell her it will be an honor to watch her compete. She later goes down to the skate bowl and tells the guys to come watch her compete, to which most of them seem excited to go. But one, Eric Sparrow, has signed up too, and wants to beat her. Crystal brushes it off, saying he has no chance against her. On competition day, they end up being the final two contestants. Crystal ends up winning. Her dad then tells her he found her mom.

Chapter 5: San Diego
Crystal meets her mom in San Diego, and she says how much she missed her and her dad. Crystal goes out to skate for a few hours, and when she returns, her parents tell her they are remarrying and moving to Hawaii. But when Crystal gets excited to go, they tell her that they can't take her with them. Crystal asks why mom sold her apartment, but mom said they needed as much money as possible. Crystal then illegally lives in an amphitheater and goes to a public high school, where she meets Melissa. Melissa tells everyone she is rich, and lives in a mansion. She shows Crystal her actual house months later, a run-down apartment. She said not to tell anyone at school, because she would lose her popularity. Crystal snaps and tells her off, and Melissa is quick to apologize. Crystal's parents then send her a plane ticket to Hawaii, and call her to tell her that she can live with them. She packs up and leaves.

Chapter 6: Arriving in Hawaii
Crystal arrives in Hawaii, and immediately knows she's going to love it there. She finds her apartment in the International Trinket Place, and decides to find some possible new friends. She eventually finds Michael, who later becomes her best male friend. Michael shows her around, and then her parents tell her they'll live in Hawaii together for a while, so Crystal doesn't have to keep moving. She is then told she would have tryout days at the two nearby schools, and she would attend the one she likes better.

Chapter 7: Tryout Days
Crystal trys out the two schools, Big Surf and Pink Palace. On her Big Surf tryout day, she sees that they have class on the roof (which she doesn't seem to mind that much), and no lunches, due to the booth selling tours and a fat cop eating all the snacks in the machine. The next day, Michael walks with her to Pink Palace for her tryout day there. She likes it a lot better. Classes are outside, but they're on the ground. They have real lunches, and a teachers-only bar in the smaller pool. She chooses to attend Pink Palace. But she sees three mean-looking girls whispering bad things about her...

Chapter 8: Malibu and Her Gang
The reader is then introduced to Malibu, Jasmine, and Tanisha. Crystal basically tells the reader things about them. Crystal tells how Malibu is the mean dictator of the group, how Jasmine is the "little puppy" and how Tanisha is more strong-headed and independent. Crystal then shows a flashback of a fight between Malibu and Tanisha from earlier that day. Tanisha apologizes after the fight, and Crystal states that "If I were her, I would have quit her clique right there.". Crystal goes on to explain what their houses look like (she followed them home one day after school). But Crystal ends up befriending one of their sisters without knowing.

Chapter 9: Tina
Crystal is walking around town one Saturday, and notices a girl about two years younger than her. She chats with her, and finds out her name is Tina, and she lives in Wallows. Crystal shows Tina her apartment, and Tina says she will show Crystal her house tomorrow, since it's getting late. The next day, Tina takes Crystal to Tanisha's house, and when Crystal asks why they're here, Tina says it's her house. Crystal realizes that this could only mean that Tina is Tanisha's sister! Tanisha yells at Tina, asking why she was friends with Crystal, and Tina takes Crystal to her room, and unaware of their rivalry, decides to have Crystal talk to her. Crystal protests, but it's too late. Tanisha yells at her, and Tina starts becoming overly clingy, making Crystal want to end her friendship with her.

Chapter 10: Getting Rid of Tina
Crystal tells Tina she wants to end their friendship, but Tina doesn't believe her. Crystal realizes that there's only one person who knows how to get rid of her: Tanisha. She goes to Tanisha's house, and Tanisha thinks she's here to see Tina, but Crystal tells Tanisha she's here to see ''her. ''The two devise a plan to get rid of Tina. At first, the plan backfires, so they end up doing "Plan B". Plan B ends up working, and Tina runs to her room bawling.

Chapter 11: An Unlikely Friend
Picking up where the last chapter left off, Tanisha pulls Crystal into her room, and admits that she never actually hated her. She explains that she used to sincerely like Malibu, but since Jasmine moved here, the two of them have been leaving her out. Tanisha ends by saying "I guess it took me some time to figure out who my real friends are." The next day at school, Tanisha sits with Crystal and Michael, and Malibu yells at her for it. The teacher eventually tells them to break it up and sit down. After school, the three hang out at International Trinket Place, where Crystal and Michael try to teach Tanisha some basic skating. After continuously falling off and getting slightly injured, Tanisha thinks she should just watch them skate. Crystal tells her that she still falls off sometimes, and that she shouldn't give up.

Chapter 12: Wait, I'm HOSTING?!
About a month later, Crystal gets a call from a mysterious company, who tells her that she will be hosting the 2012 Slam City Jam in Vancouver. Crystal asks why they nominated her without her permission, and they tell her she signed the contract. Crystal claims that she never remembered signing anything, and they tell her she did after winning the Tampa AM. Crystal reflects back and thought that the person was a fan who wanted an autograph. Crystal tells herself to start reading things before she signs them. They ask her if she wants the second-place winner to host, but Crystal realizes that this is something that only a few people get to do. She ultimately decides to host it, and they tell her they'll pay for a plane and hotel, and she can bring someone with her. She didn't want to bring her parents, and Tanisha was busy that week, so she decides to take Michael.

Chapter 13: Vancouver
Crystal and Michael arrive in Vancouver, and start checking it out. They find out that they are staying in a fancy hotel and immediately start exploring it. They tell the guy in the elevator to take them to the "coolest floor", so he takes them to the Nobson Underground Plaza. The Plaza contained a hockey rink, and a restaurant. Crystal and Michael play a hockey game (Crystal wins), and they are then called and told that tomorrow they will be meeting the contestants. They meet the contestants and Crystal notices Eric Sparrow is competing.

Chapter 14: Slam City Jam!
Crystal and Michael wake up on the morning of the Slam City Jam, but they are early in doing so, so they grab breakfast and play hockey. At 11 AM, they go to the building and go over the rules with the contestants. The contest starts, and contestants get eliminated until the final 3. Crystal is desperately hoping that anyone but Eric will win, but Eric ends up winning with a perfect score in the final round. Crystal is unsatisfied with this, but doesn't say anything. She and Michael enjoy one last day in Vancouver before leaving.

Chapter 15: Back where it all began
Crystal has been back from Vancouver for a while, and begins missing New Jersey. Her parents notice her homesickness, print her a plane ticket to New Jersey, and she goes during spring break. She is ecstatic to go back and packs immediately. When she arrives in New Jersey, Andrew immediately greets her. They find Jamie in their secret alley and she has dyed her hair back to blonde. They spend the week doing all the things they used to do. Crystal realizes that if she had never gone searching for her parents, she would be doing this every day. But she does not regret finding them. On her final day, she recieves a phone call asking her to compete in a skate contest in Moscow. She is hesitant at first, but her parents are okay with it and she goes.

Chapter 16: Moscow
Crystal gets off her flight and stretches out. A British tour guide greets her, and shows her around Moscow. She is shown the St. Basil's Cathedral, and definitely decides to skate on it. She finds her tour guide cute, but reminds herself to focus. He takes her to a nice hotel, and she thinks it isn't as nice as the Goodmount Vancouver, but still nice. She decides to skate on the Cathedral, but finds out it is prohibited. Eventually, she decides that Moscow is boring and too strict. She also discovers that this was an amateur contest and seems offended at the person who called her. She withdraws from the competition and leaves Moscow.

Chapter 17: Australia
Crystal explains to her parents why she withdrew from the Moscow competition. Later in the day, she gets a call from the managers of KISS, and asks her to jump over their concert in a go-kart. She is immediately excited and takes the job. They tell her she may bring two friends to get the VIP treatment. Obviously, she picks Michael and Tanisha. They love their suite in their hotel and no one sleeps due to their extreme excitement. The next morning they are all taken to a stage in the middle of nowhere. Crystal gets in her go-kart and practices before she goes soaring into the air, over the concert. She does this three times but they must immediately leave after the concert ends.

Chapter 18: A happy ending?
Crystal basically recaps the entire year, and talks about her plans for the future. She talks about how she and Melissa made up, she is also friends with Tina again. She talks about how she will be attending the University of Southern California in the fall. Partially because she truly wants to go to school there, partially because Melissa is going there as well. She comments that anything can happen, even to a small town girl like her.

Trivia

 * This is the only book that is narrated as if the events have already taken place and Crystal is telling us about them as she remembers them. All books after this one have Crystal narrating as if the event is happening to her at that very moment.
 * Emily admits that she is not very proud of this book, stating that the writing was amateur, the characters get little to no development, the chapters are too short and too rushed, and you don't really learn very much. She has said that she thinks the second book and what she has of the third are much better, and in those two, you can really see how much her writing has improved since the first book.
 * Her dad once asked her if she "edits" the books to change and fix things, to which she replied "If I did that, I would have completely rewritten the first book by now."