Will You Be There for Me?

I was really young when I first took up skateboarding, around seven or eight. All of my friends had taken it up at that age so and I thought it was really cool.

At that time, when everyone was worrying about cooties, I was hanging out with the boys, I have always been a tomboy and I think I always will. I never wanted to play dress up, never wanted to play with mommy’s makeup or play with Barbies. I wanted to hang out with the guys, play in the mud, eat dirt, collect bugs, skateboard and start chaos. It was more fun in my opinion.

So when all of my friends took up skateboarding I joined along. Sure I thought it was really cool, but I was also afraid that if I didn’t, my friends and I would grow apart, and I didn’t want that; they were like my brothers and whatever they did, I wanted to do.

After a year of boarding is when I started doing tricks. I was hesitant at first but it was fun after I nailed my first one and my family knew I had an amazing talent for it. I was fearless and always up for a challenge.

That was when my parent’s saw the opportunity for me to get sponsored. Kids my age were getting sponsored all the time, so they put me into a competition, and I came in first.

Element then contacted us asking to sponsor me. We were ecstatic, they said I had serious skill, but didn’t want to sponsor, sponsor me until I was 12 and could start entering more serious competitions, but would provide me with equipment and other things so I could still train. My parent’s said yes, no question’s asked. But over those three short years, I also took up snowboarding and surfing.

I was meant to be on a board every season of every year. I had gotten really good at all three sports. Element found out and wanted to sponsor me in all three sports, but again I had to wait until I was 12. In the end though, I asked only to go pro for skating and snowboarding, I wanted to leave surfing as a hobby, something to do with my friends where they would still feel like they had a chance to beat me.

But alas, once I had hit 12 years old me parents were hesitant, they still wanted me to live a normal life, and so they waited until I was 15 to enter competitions and to be officially sponsored.

And only two years later here I am. Snowboarding and skateboarding professionally; winning gold in both thee winter and Summer X Games; I had gotten sponsored by Volcom, Vans and Red Bull within the last year and I was getting huge.

Eventually I had to pull out of normal schooling and had to do correspondence through my high school. I didn’t mind, I got more time to do what I love and be able to understand what I was doing in school instead of rushing through it.

My friends and I still hang out as often as possible. And yes, they are the same friends from the second grade. They are always cheering me on at every competition, waiting for me at both the end of the end of the finish line and beside the half pipe. They were my rock and I didn’t need anyone else, or so I thought.

I had started dating a guy named Gavin. Let’s just say my friends obviously do not like him. They don’t think he’s good enough for me and that he’s huge asshole. I don’t see it though, he’s always a sweet heart around me, but then again I’m not at school with him like they are. They say he’s sleazy and constantly cheating but I still don’t believe it, I refuse to.

That’s a lie. He USED to be a sweetheart, but he’s changed. He’s never been to my competitions and he’s not super supportive of what I do. He says I spend too much time on my board and not enough time with him. But I don’t think he’d cheat on me, that’s one thing I’m certain of…. I think.

But I’m not giving up boarding for him; no one could make me. It’s the one thing I’m most passionate about and that I couldn’t imagine not doing. When I’m stressed, angry, excited, super happy, I pull out my board, turn up my iPod and start skating.