When we arrived at the skate park, Don, Raph, and I stood out like sore thumbs. Everyone in that setting was a replica of Mike, which wasn't at all a bad thing. Everyone that crossed our paths treated us like we belonged; some even told us to come around again sometime. It was almost the exact opposite of when they had come to my game, where many believed they were unwelcome. This environment Mike surrounds himself by is clearly where he gets his positive attitude.

Mike introduced us to some of his skateboarding friends, who all shared Mike's core characteristics. His overexcited, fun loving, and overall compassionate personality flourished at the skate park. And I thought he was himself when we were at Don's, but it seems we had barely scraped the surface of all the complexity that goes into Mike's identity. After mingling had finished, Mike told us to take a seat over with the rest of the audience before he ran off to put on his gear and take his place among the competitors.

We watched each boarder respectfully, just trying to blend in with the people that attended these kinds of events regularly. There was no hostility like there is a football game, where you want one of two teams to win, and resent the other. Everybody cheered everybody on. Even Mike congratulated and encouraged the other riders before him. This event in its entirety was the definition of "It doesn't matter if you win or lose, as long as you're having fun." And everyone seemed to be having a lot of fun. Even Don was into it.

When Mike took his spot atop the half-pipe, Raph nudged me. "It's Mike's turn." He grinned. He was clearly enjoying himself more than any of us. It seemed that he had never actively been involved in something like this. I smiled back at him before refocusing my attention to Mike. He looked in our direction while he buckled his helmet, winking and giving us a thumb's up. Raph and I cheered him on as he rolled down the pipe. I looked over at Don, whose voice I couldn't hear cheering. His eyes were squinted as if he were concentrating very hard. His head turned as Mike went back and forth between the two top platforms. After seven or eight tricks, Mike attempted one he refused to show us while we were at his house. He claimed it was a surprise and that he's only landed it once before, but he was confident in his skills.

Don watched even more closely, and I watched Don closely. He appeared to be calculating in his head while he watched Mike skateboard. "He's not gonna make it." Don mumbled, "He's gonna wipe out." He said so without the slightest bit of doubt. He was, for whatever reason, certain of Mike's failure.

However, he was not wrong. Math probably had something to do with it. All the cheering stopped when both Mike and his board rolled down the half-pipe. He was motionless for a while, and everyone looked at him with worry. Even his competitors, who I thought would be thrilled he was now out of the running. Never during a football game would the crowd be this silent, this emotionally attached to a player. There really was no hostility at all here. It felt more like a party than a competition.

Mike started to move, slowly. He got on his hands and knees and taking his time, he got up to his feet. He grabbed his board and held it triumphantly above his head, smiling brightly. And the crowd cheered. He received a standing ovation from the crowd, from the judges, from his competitors. Everyone was just happy that he wasn't hurt. He then walked off the half-pipe, obviously trying not to limp. He took a seat with the rest of the competitors and was already laughing about his wipe-out.

Even with his wipe-out, Mike placed 6th out of the 11 skaters. He received a small trophy as an honorable mention and an award for his good sportsmanship. Both of which he said he would be given very special spots on his collection of skateboarding trophies. While we all started to leave the park, Mike was stopped by one his fellow skaters. "Mike! Great wipe-out man. You deserve that sportsmanship award."

"Thanks, dude." Mike went on to complete some kind of skateboarding secret handshake thing with the boy. "Congrats on 3rd place. Your routine was epic."

"Nah, if you would've landed that jump, you would've been first place for sure. What did you do wrong?" he asked.

Mike continued to explain how the trick should have been done, and exactly where he went wrong in the execution. It was a language that Don barely understood, probably only because of its close relationship to physics. It seemed to be so well thought out. Mike must have spent a lot of time planning this whole trick out.

"Man, that would have been so sweet!" He friend replied having listened to the technique. He finally turned his attention to Raph, Don, and I. "These friends of yours, dude. Never seen them around here before."

"Yeah. I figured I'd bring them along. Let them dig the experience." Mike explained. "Meet Leo, Don, and Raph." He pointed us out respectively.

"Sweet. Chance is the name." He high-fived us all, "Do you guys ride?" He asked.

We all simultaneously shook our heads no. Though I used to when I was younger, I was never very dedicated. Once my parent's got me a bike, I packed my skateboard away in the basement.

"Bummer." He pouted. He turned his head to look around at the skate park. Almost everybody was gone now. "I've got some extra boards and gear. Wanna give it a go?" He asked.

We all looked at Mike and Mike looked back at us. "If you guys want to," He said.

I looked down at my injured arm, clearly unable to ride. "I'll pass," I stepped back motioning to my broken arm; surely Chance wouldn't be offended that I didn't want to injure myself more. Had I not been injured, I would have loved the chance to get back on a skateboard.

While Raph and Donnie were still deciding, Chance looked down at my arm. "What happened?" He asked straightforwardly.

"Got into a fight. Pretty much got my ass kicked." I scoffed at the memory. I think Chance figured it was a long detailed story that I didn't want to talk about and he dropped the subject. He looked back at Raph and Don waiting for a response.

"Eh, why the hell not." Raph smirked answering for himself and Don.

"Epic!" Chance shouted excitedly, "Follow me. I'll get you guys all prepped." Mike, Don, and Raph followed Chance over to his bag. I took a seat back on the bleachers, watching as Mike and Chance taught Raph and Don to stand on the board and balance. It wasn't long until they were slowly propelling themselves along the blacktop.

Raph looked confident while Don looked very nervous. Almost uncomfortable, like he was going to puke from the motion. He quickly jumped off and hunched over, trying to regain a stillness in himself. Maybe he was going to puke. Mike comforted him and urged him to go sit beside me. But Chance encouraged him to give it another shot. Don looked over at the bleachers then back over to the board. He decided to try the board again. I smiled and cheered him on, hoping he could at least stay on it longer this time.

The sun set and we were still at the park. Raph and Don had managed to master the concept of basic riding. Raph tried a few times to do a simple trick, but fell each time. All in all, we all enjoyed ourselves today; and even made a few new friends. Chance practically begged us to come back soon and take another lesson before he himself skated home. Mike walked with us back to his house in the dark. We stayed at his house for a little, waiting for Don's mom to pick the rest of us up there. This location was a little risky to travel at night time. He showed us his collection of trophies and awards and set his new ones down with the rest.

"Thanks for coming today, guys. It was probably really boring for you." Mike thanked us as we sat down on his couch.

"It wasn't boring. It the most fun I've had in a while." Raph replied smiling.

"Yeah. Your skater friends are nice." Don added. "And I never thought I'd be able to skateboard." He admitted.

"We'll go anytime, Mike." I finished. He smiled at us. Not long after that, Don's mom arrived and honked the car horn. We said goodnight to Mike and went out the car.

When Raph and I got back home, it was almost 9:00. We hung out for a little before we went to bed. With Raph around, I had someone to play videogames with. I had someone to talk to. Raph is kinda like the brother I never had. And I never thought I'd ever say it, but I liked having him around now