Skater Boy

He was a Skater Boi

Mike woke with what he could only describe as a shark gnawing on his  ankle. He opened one eye to stare at the plaster walls next to the bed  he was occupying at the moment. He had to give it to Tony, this visitor  bed room he was in was WAY nicer than the one he had at his house.  That's to say, the visitor room at his house housed all his extra boards  and sponsor gear. After he moved to Seattle his mom had used his room  as a kind of holding area for all of mikes trophy's and first edition  boards. She called the "Mike Shrine room" while holly called it a fire  hazard.

Mike went to move his ankles in hopes of cracking them,  only to remember that he had mildly sprained one and couldn't really  feel the other. Sprained ankles to a skater were like papercuts to a  logger. Didn't really matter.  Mike groaned in pain and slowly sat up,  feeling the heat from the bedroom window on his back and gave him a  sense of calm.

The last couple of days, his anxiety level had been  growing with the thought of the coming travel. It never got easier  going home, but once he made it there, he was fine. All he needed was  his hug from his mom, the type of hug with so many unsaid words and  sincere apologies and love, that you could inject into Mikes veins and  he'd tell you that you'd live forever.  Karen had been the one to push  Mike to follow his dreams, the type of mom you hear about on the news as  their kid becomes the nation's greatest graffiti artist or something.

She'd  bought Mike his first board and even drove him to the skate park out of  town a couple of times. Since the streets of Hawkins where never that  great, cheese grater road work would be a better description if you  asked Mike. He honed his skills in his parent's basement, much to Ted's  dismay and disappointment. Ted had this idea of what he wanted from Mike   From Kick flips to 360 Flips to Laser Flips, Mike learned them all in  the comfort of his basement floor. When he took them to the streets, it  seemed like Mike had been doing it all his life. His willingness to  learn and his love and knowledge of science (Something he was still  teased about to the day. Most skaters hadn't been accepted into Cal  Tech, hell....any College for that matter). Mike loved skating. The  freedom he felt, how lost he got in the mindset of skating. He would  tell people that when he was really happy, truly happy, he always found  himself on his board.

Riding to Mike was like breathing. He'd grab  his board and head out into the sea that was down town Seattle. He  surfed the streets and found solace in its concrete waves. He'd made a  living off of tricks, but he only needed his board and the fresh air to  really be wealthy. 

"Mike if you don't get your ass up and get down here I'm feeding these pancakes to the dog.....don't make me do this man"

Mike  smiled and sighed as he slid out of the bed and onto his tender ankle.  Beet red and looking like stretched twizzler, his ankles had defiantly  seen better days.  You would think that being 6'3 would have its  advantages in skating but you'd be dead wrong. Being 5'8 has its  advantages, being 6'3 is like being a walking stick who decided to ride  around on another stick that never learned to walk in the first place.  He's lost count how many times he's bailed on a trick he had done a  thousand times before, only to have his foot get caught in the fence  next to the rail. Those falls usually end his night of skating, much to  the chagrin of his photogs and camera guy.

Mike went Pro at 18 and  never looked back, that also included never going back to Hawkins. He  didn't mean to stay away for so long but his career was taking off and  he was finally doing what he had always dreamed of, getting paid to  skate every day. That was always the dream and he was finally. FINALLY.  Living it.

"Hey Tony, you wouldn't happen to know where my shoes went would you?"

"You check by the pool?'

"Wait.....Which pool?"

Tony gave a Mike a smile

"You know I sometimes forget I do have two of them"

Mike rubbed his face as remnants of the past nights events slowly made their way back into his cobwebbed brain.

"You know you would think that bailing on a Tre flip down a 15 about 20 times would keep me from coming back here and skating"

"Love  what you do and you'll never have to work a day in your life" Tony  laughed into his coffee as he joined Mike at the window.

"Did you,  Did you just quote an inspirational wall poster? Who are you Dr. Phil?"  Mike chuckled as he pulled the sliding door open and relished in the  soft Cali mountain air.

Mike loved California and he loved Seattle  but nothing ever beat being back home in his old house. He didn't go  back home for the skating. No, Mike went home for family and friends.  See Hawkins was a small place with small town values and Mike's career  and fame didn't mean anything to that old town.  When Mike went back  home, he was just Mike Wheeler again. Not "Mike Wheeler, 4 time X Game  Skateboarding street gold medalist" or "Mike Wheeler; Skating's great  hope". He was just "Karen Wheelers son who lives out of state and needs a  haircut"

"Excited to see your mom?" Tony asked as he followed Mike to the one pool currently dry as a bone.

"Oh  yeah, been a long while since I saw her, holly too. Don't think my  older sister will make it but Nancy will somehow be there in spirit"

"You  sure you don't need any security at the airport? I know how bad your  little fan club are these days." Mike laughed at the question because  Tony always made fun of the group he called his "Fan Club". They were  just really big fans of Mike and some had taken to making fan pages on  Instagram of him and some even updated daily on where he was and what he  had done that day.

"Look just because you didn't have the  internet when you were coming up doesn't mean you get to talk about  Mona, Cara, MP, Eb, Laura or Graci like that man, they are nice people  and actually really cool" Tony held up his hands as if to say "Whatever  you say man". Mike grabbed his shoes and headed back to grab his clothes  and his bag from his room. Mike knew what the coming time at home would  bring and he was ready for it. He'd been thinking about this day for  the last year. Of course he wanted to see his mom and hug his sister.  Those were givens, but what mike knew he wasn't ready for. What he  deeply wished he could avoid but didn't want to at the same time. He  knew it was coming, seeing her and having to relive everything through  her eyes. Those eyes. The kind of eyes that tell you everything you need  to know and tell you how much you are loved. Big brown eyes that seem  to go on and on like the midnight wind. Mike took a deep breath,  steading himself against memories he relived everyday. Would she be  happy to see him? Hell would she even still be around? Mike knew the  only way he would get the answers he needed. Mike chuckled " You gotta  see El you dumbass"