|
Written by
Hishaan
P- Brampton Library Writing Contest
"That move was sweet. Hawk looked like he was flying!" yelled Grant Duffel to his best friend Tyler Runner. They both were at a skateboard competition in the Hershey Centre watching the awesome moves done by pros on a vert ramp and a street course. Above all, school had ended ( June 26, 2002 ) and they were enjoying this on an evening one day before the summer break.
"I knew you would like the competition!" shouted Tyler to Grant over the cheers by other viewers.
"Thanks for bringing me here. It's really amazing to see what you can do with a skateboard," Grant said in awe. "From seeing this, I think I want to start skateboarding," he muttered to himself.
"What did you say?" choked Tyler while drinking his ginger ale.
"Let's go. We know Ryan Schtler is going to win the street competition, and Tony Hawk's going to win the vert," Grant responded.
"Why go so early?" he snapped.
"Because I want to see you skate," replied Grant anxiously.
"Okay," he quickly replied.
At this point, they left the competition and took the bus home. Afterwards, Tyler took his board and did really cool tricks and grinds.
Grant stared amazed and pictured himself doing the same. He thought if he could challenge himself by doing a cool sport, students at school would not tease or criticize him about his intelligence anymore. After a few hours, they both went home and were ready for the next day.
Grant Duffel was a light brown, very intelligent guy with straight jet-black hair. He was born in Canada , and his background was Brazilian. Also, he got straight As in all his subjects at school, and loved reading books.
Grant stood 5'6" and was always calm, with a respectful voice. Furthermore, basketball, football, and street and floor hockey were sports he did exceptionally well at because he was very active. His favorite video game on PlayStation ® was Tony Hawk Pro Skater 2, because he was very advanced at it and knew all the moves. He met his best friend Tyler Runner on the first day of school outside when they were playing football together along with other students.
Tyler Runner on the other hand was a white, average guy in school. He mostly got Bs, but As were seldom on his report card. Moreover, he had blonde hair with two earrings in one ear, and a diamond in the other.
He was also good at street and floor hockey, football, baseball, basketball and snowboarding. On top of that, he stood 5'3" and was a phenomenal skateboarder. He, too, was born in Canada , and had a background from Brazil . Tyler was also active and calm with an unpredictable voice. On top of that, he lived just a block down the street from where Grant's house was.
The next day, Grant met Tyler outside his house with something imperative on his mind. Tyler could see that Grant was muttering to himself.
"Hey, what's up?" shouted Tyler to Grant.
"I need help," he replied.
"Help for what? You were the smartest kid during school," Tyler mentioned calmly.
"I know. Can you help me become a known skateboarder like Ryan Schtler and others?" he asked with great interest. "I want to be exceptional at street and vert!"
"I could help you with street, but you are going to have to learn vert on you own because I know really little," offered Tyler .
"Okay, what type of board and shoes would be right for me?" asked Grant curiously. "I want to start off with shoes that are less than fifty-five dollars, and the board less than one hundred."
"Well, there's a sale at West 49 on DC shoes, and they are pretty good," suggested Tyler . "They are around fifty dollars including tax. And instead of buying a board, I will give you a pro blank I've got."
"Thanks, I greatly appreciate it! I'm going to go home and ask my dad to take me to West 49," Grant remarked.
"Do you have enough money for shoes?" Tyler called as Grant was struggling to skate up the street.
"Yeah, I got fifty bucks," he yelled back.
"Hey Dad, look what Tyler gave me!" Grant shouted. "You're not doing anything, can you take me to West 49 where they are having a fifty to eighty percent off sale?" he asked breathlessly.
"That's very nice of him. What do you need at West 49?" His dad asked curiously.
"A pair of DC skate shoes; they're on sale for fifty percent off!" he roared.
"In that case, let's go and get you those shoes. But remember, you have to use your own money," said Grant's dad.
"Got it covered," he hurriedly replied.
After going to the store, he came back around ten at night with his shoes. His intention was to start skateboarding tomorrow, the second day of summer. He stood up watching the X Games on channel three and went to sleep at twelve.
A shrill alarm went off on Grant's watch at exactly eight. He woke up, brushed his teeth and took a bath. Moreover, he put on black long shorts on top of his boxers, and wore a loose T-shirt with "Skateboarding is NOT a crime" on it. Then he ate toast with a glass of milk for breakfast and left for Tyler 's house after letting his mom know.
He reached Tyler 's house exhausted after struggling to pedal down the street, and regained balance when he was very close to hitting the road. Grant was very astounded when he saw Tyler doing grinds, stalls and flip tricks. Tyler had waxed his curb and built a foot-high fun box where he did most of his tough tricks.
"Hey, I didn't know you were that amazing; all your tricks look really cool," Grant said picturing himself landing the moves. "I wish I could do them. What's the first move I should learn?" he asked with great inquisitiveness.
"The first important trick you must learn before learning any other trick is an ollie. To successfully land an ollie, first step on your board making your toes face the side of the board and not the nose. Then you must press the end of your board towards the ground; slide your foot pointing to the nose upwards to the side and push down firmly.
"While you're doing this, you must lean a bit forward, bend your knees slightly, and spread your arms when you're in the air to get balance," he explained, using his Bird House board.
"Oh, I get it!" exclaimed Grant, attempting the easy looking but difficult trick.
"Yeah, you almost did it. Try to press a bit harder, and remember to stay above your board. Try to do it until you get it right," Tyler said calmly.
Afterwards, Grant eventually managed to land the move. He fell a couple of times, but managed to land it even moving really fast. Furthermore, he wanted to learn more tricks. So he hung out and learned from Tyler everyday for nine hours and was able to do half of them fearless.
Later, on August 29, Grant was able to land a numerous amount of basic and difficult tricks. He was very proud of himself and was on the verge of becoming a pro skater at the time.
"Hey Tyler , I finally learned enough tricks to take on those kids at school," Grant said excitedly.
"Awesome. Try to get sponsored sometime."
"How about we shoot each others video next week at Iceland ?" Grant asked in awe.
"Cool," Tyler said after landing a heel flip.
The next week, they were at Iceland shooting each other's video. It took about five minutes for Grant and six for Tyler . They included every one of their best tricks; from grinds down sets, to flip tricks off sets and combos here and there. After the video, they decided to stick around for a few hours perfecting their new tricks and then called it a day.
Grant put the video in an envelope and mailed it to West 49, hoping for a positive reply. Since the video, he would continually practice in his neighborhood and nearby skate parks. Grant prayed everyday that he would get sponsored. He decided to bring his board to school and show the others that he was not a nerd.
Grant got off the school bus at Homestead Public School , looking for a better year. As he was walking with the board at his side, he saw a group of five or six kids with skateboards. He decided to ignore them and walk away because they had always teased him in the previous year. The group noticed him and offensively started yelling, "POSER!" (This means a person who tries to act and skate to show off but really cannot skate at all.)
"Just wait until you see me on television when I get sponsored. By then you will still be on the street trying too hard," Grant ferociously scowled, walking away with Tyler by his side.
"Dream on," the group recited disbelievingly.
"I'll show them one day," muttered Grant to himself.
It was recess and Grant was challenged by a tall, talented male who was perhaps the best skateboarder in the group, and one of the best in school. He accepted and decided to go first.
His first trick was a fakie hard flip, which he landed perfectly. Then the challenger tried it but did not make a perfect landing; therefore, he got a P. Next, Grant decided to do four more difficult tricks, which his opponent did not land, and he won the challenge. The challenger got five letters (POSER) that made him lose, and Grant got none.
After what the gang of skateboarders saw him do, they showed more respect towards him and asked if he would join their crew. Grant refused and decided to hang out with his real friends.
After almost eight months of being diligent in his school, it was finally May. His tests were going well, and so were his grades. Grant was really overwhelmed about his sponsoring results sometime this week.
"Good news son, here's a package for you. It's from DC and West 49. I think it is your results," his dad announced, loud as a microphone.
Grant excitedly opened the package and nervously read the letter. "Woooooo yeah, I knew I would get sponsored," he trumpeted. It even came with a free West 49 board, a DC cap and DC shoes.
He told his parents the brilliant news and immediately boarded to Tyler 's to share the good news. Osiris and Bird House sponsored Tyler . After the news, Grant decided to forget about vert and concentrate on street. They would go on a tour in July, participating in a variety of competitions. Both Tyler and Grant were in different tours, and different competitions.
School went by quickly and they both dominated their competitions and had the support of the fans. They both were officially pro while on the tour, and very excited.
When they returned the next year, all the skaters had heard the news and gave their congratulations and wished them luck in their future career. Also, they both did very well in all their subjects ( Tyler did very well with the aid of Grant), and the skaters apologized to Grant for teasing him in the past and promised to never trouble him again.
Tyler and Grant continued to electrify the fans with greater heights and style in their new tricks. They were now recognized anywhere by fans and skateboarders when outside. The best friends decided to continue their exciting career of skateboarding.
* * * *
Click Here to Return to Student Articles |
