My life is skating. Sure I go to school but I am covered in bruises. I look so bad that the other kids don’t even want to pick on me. I think they feel sorry for me and just keep their distance or maybe see me as a fighter that is dangerous to them. It doesn’t matter I am having the time of my life I just wish I could skate at school. Rules and skirts, awful things…

Still every evening after my homework is done I get to practice in the courtyard, every weekend I get to spend it down at the skatepark and I feel I am learning so much from Ryan and Adrian, there are others hanging out there but I mostly am getting close to Adrian, he spends a lot of time watching others instead of skating but it is still impressive what he can manage.

As the weather warms even more it becomes busier at the park and sometimes I have to wait my turn, but even watching people is still fun. I get why Adrian does it. I mostly watch the technique, I want to learn so much more, I want to see how people handle the halfpipe and go into tricks but it is so blink and you miss it that it’s hard. Ryan seems like a mentor and explains some of it when we are both waiting but he is also the type to just skate on anything even a flat surface. I however, have come to love the halfpipe. Scarlet’s beauty might have been heavily scuffed but I think she is looking better than ever. The days pass peacefully and I don’t feel like an outcast when I am at the park.

Spring soon passes to summer and I am allowed to go to the skatepark alone with strict conditions on the time I return, protective gear and supplies I take, just things like plasters and a water bottle. I arrive early one morning to see a new kid. He sees me and laughs slightly.

“Girly, this isn’t a park with swing sets, go play with your dolls,” he shouts out. Is he an idiot? I am arrived here on my board, padded up. I am clearly not out of place.

“What was that?” I ask challenging him. I am not really angry just confused.

“You are not welcome here you poser,” Most people look at us and it gets quiet.

“Fiver says she is better than you,” Adrian calls out.

“I got twenty on her,” Ryan follows up with.

“Did you hit your head too hard? Look at her she is covered in pads,” the boy calls out.

“So what? She is also covered in bruises because she skates,” Ryan adds picking up his board and sitting down nearby.

“Fine let’s have a contest, if I win she never returns here,” the kid calls out.

“Can I see your board?” I ask getting a glance at it.

“What you never seen a new board?”

“Just want to check something,” He offers it hesitantly. I take a glance at it before carefully placing it down and testing it with my weight. I finally hand it back to him after a few moments.

“If I win, you shut the hell up and let me skate in peace,”

“Deal, and both of you better pay up,”

“Put your money where your mouth is then,” Ryan calls out putting a twenty under his water bottle, Adrian adds his five and the kid puts a few notes down into the pile.

“You first,” I say taking a seat next to my friends.

“Scared?” he asks taunting me but it is like a kitten, I have dealt with was worse, mum divorced a lot worse and I have grown stronger, with my friends and board in hand I feel safe and confident.

He stands on his board and barely manages an ollie seeming smug.

“Is that it?” I ask, I don’t mean to mock him, but we are in a skatepark, everyone here is a lot more advanced.

“I was just warming up!” he shouts at me. Still not scared. I pity him even. I knew he wasn’t much, I saw and felt it in his board, he is new to this and his board might be from the same shop but it isn’t really a good pick of wheels and trucks, and the board itself is like someone just threw it together without knowing what they are doing and how to balance it correctly.

He barely manages a backside pop shove-it before finally going “beat that”. Honestly this isn’t even a contest. I just get up and start skating towards the halfpipe, not even bothering to go to drop in and do a few basic flip tricks on the way as I build up momentum and warm up. It isn’t long until I do a few basic plants and stalls then leave the halfpipe. I slide to a halt in front of him smirking, it felt good to let loose without having to wait for my turn.

“Clear winner I will be taking my five thank you very much,” Adrian says grabbing two notes from under the bottle, “I owe you one Celia,” he gives a mock salute.

“What the hell? You are a girl, how can you skate?” the kid challenges me.

“What does being a girl have to do with it?” I challenge back. I am fed up of me being a girl always seeming to be a bad thing, an attack to say I can’t do something.

“I mean… well you know,” he seems a little lost.

“No I don’t know, sure I am a girl. I don’t mind being a girl but I am a skater first, you are a poser. Do you know how I know you had nothing?”

“How?”

I grab his board from nearby, “Look at this, there is nothing, hardly a scratch on it, and the balance is kind of off, the parts feel like they were thrown together without any thought put into it,” I hand his board back to him and pick up my own, “See this? This is the proof of my efforts, all these marks, all this mess is because this board is my partner. I have used her daily for months on end and I know exactly the kind of trucks I want to skate on. I might be a girl but you are a poser who instead of trying to just get better and find a place to fit in, decided to try and break us down. If you are serious about skating shut up and skate. I am going to the halfpipe,” That felt good, like all the negative emotion I was carrying from that man who tried to ruin skating for me were finally released even if that kid didn’t fully deserve my anger.

“Pretty rad Celia, you need anything let me know,” Ryan calls out and I hear him fiddle with his stuff before the board hits the ground. I give a wave backwards to acknowledge him but just focus on the halfpipe. It is where I feel most at home.