My Big Scooter Crash

The music was loud in the background. But my mind wasn’t on the party. The school was throwing their annual mentor-mentee bash. There were bounce houses, face paint, dunk tank, and much more. It was the most exciting event for those in the junior high.

But I was more focused on what came after the bash. It was the cross-country post-season party. It was to be the final party for the one sport I had ever been a part of. Well, other than ballet. But that wasn’t through the school.

I was enjoying the bash with my high school mentor, McKenna. She was much more involved than my last mentor. In 7th grade, my mentor, Paige, was very uninvolved. That’s what happens when I get paired with one of the most popular girls in school. They don’t wanna waste their time on a stupid seventh grader. But McKenna actually took the time to get to know her little 8th grade mentee. She was very kind. And also, not very popular. Just the right person to me my mentor.

We were in line for the dunk tank. Our theater teacher, Mr. Simmonds, was soon to enter the tank. He had been both of our teacher since 3rd and 7th grade. So, we were eager to dunk him. My aim sucked. But hopefully, McKenna would redeem us. And she did. The moment he stepped into the tank, she dunked him on the first shot. I got to try before her. But I failed miserably.

It was close to the end of the party. And I had to head to the post-season party for Cross Country. I wasn’t having my mom take me though. I was riding my scooter. It was a little, purple scooter. It looked like a mini motorcycle. But it was obviously meant for kids. Or at least much smaller humans. I had ridden to school with my mom. But left the scooter here. I was going to ride my scooter to Settlers Park. That’s where the party was to be held.

I had ridden my scooter to school before. But only in the morning. Now, I was going to ride my scooter in the afternoon. Everyone was going to see me. I was a little nervous. But I figured I’d look all cool and stuff. I pull my scooter out and sit on it for a minute to gather my stuff. Maybe draw some attention.

But it wasn’t the attention I wanted.

Right away, people in my grade were already making fun of me. They were saying I looked dumb and that I could never ride that thing. They were the kids who had made fun of me for various things for many years.

I just tried to roll my eyes and ignore it. But it still got to me.

I finally turned the scooter on. I revved the engine for a couple of minutes. Drew some more attention in. And then finally, I started the scooter.

I had noticed one boy had started filming me. But I didn’t think much of it. Until I had already started going. I was soon at a dilemma. There was a dude on the sidewalk where I was supposed to go. I didn’t have enough time to react. So, I ran into a pole. On camera. In front of everyone.

Laughter. Lots and lots of laughter. It filled my ears. It wasn’t even close to what I had wanted to happen. I thankfully just brushed it off an went on my merry way. But I had no idea of the repercussions of that moment.

The next morning, that boy had posted that video to Instagram and YouTube. It is no longer there. He deleted it the next day. But hundreds of people saw that.

I definitely learned to not try to show off in the middle of a huge event. Especially where I would most likely be humiliated.

I am in college now. I mostly just laugh at the memory now. While thinking of this, I even tried to find it. But it thankfully wasn’t there. And now, I just remember that cute, purple scooter I used to ride everywhere.