Sometimes in life, you get second chances. Other times, you aren’t so lucky. Yes, I’ve made mistakes, but that doesn’t mean the world shouldn’t hear my side of the story. Here’s why I now regret saying, “see you later, boi” to my sk8er boi so many years ago.

To paint the scene, at the time of my grievous error, I was a girl. He was a boy, and there was undeniably some mutual attraction between us, however there were some clear obstacles ahead due to his affinity for skateboarding. See, like all ballet dancers, I was paradigmatically opposed to dating a skater. The cultures are just too different. Specifically, my friends took issue with his baggy clothes (ballet dancers notoriously wear tight garb, etc. I feel I’m making it exceedingly obvious.)

So due to social pressures, I threw up my hands and just said, “See you later, boi!” It was a concentrated statement, communicating all I could (and could never) say. Naturally, I was a little sad to see him go, but I resolved to focus on other things such as ballet and practicing ballet.

Did I think as I watched him ollie away from me that I would one day see him slammin’ his guitar on MTV? Of course not! I didn’t even know he liked music.

Did I think that in the five years between I would go from dedicated ballet dancer to single mother? Not really, but in fairness, I do love my child, so it’s not, like, a horrible thing.

What more is there to say, really? When I saw him up there on stage with his new girlfriend whom I’ve heard really rocks his world, I felt some regret. Like, it couldn’t be any more obvious that it would be cool to have a rock star boyfriend. The touring schedule would probably be hard, but he’s definitely rich, and of course the fame itself holds some appeal. How could I have known?

Ultimately, I rejected numerous guys in high school, and the majority of them did not become hugely successful musicians, so I can’t really say there’s a big life lesson here. However, I do regret rejecting the one who did become successful. I guess now, I can see what he’s worth.

It definitely doesn’t help that there was an egregiously mean song written about my choice, but right now I’m just focused on my own stuff, like raising my daughter. And honestly, I would never let her date a skater.