Meet Ryan Sheckler, a 17-year-old professional skateboarder who’s just trying to be a normal kid. The demands of a pro skater’s life are extreme, especially when he’s just a teen. So Ryan truly values the precious time he has back at home in San Clemente, Calif., where he can escape from the pressures of skating, hang out with his friends and have some fun. Home used to be where Ryan could take an emotional load off and unwind but his life has been rife with tension since his parents’ divorce. This is the Life of Ryan.

While enjoying some time off at home, Ryan hits the beach to commiserate with his best pal, Casey, whose parents are also newly divorced. Ryan admits that he feels like he has to be a parent to his two younger brothers, Shane and Kane. Shane is 14 and doing his best to handle the new family situation. But eight-year-old Kane is having a harder time understanding what’s going on. So when Kane falls and hurts himself, Ryan is the one who has to pick him up, dust him off and tell him he’s going to be OK.

With Christmas coming up, the Sheckler boys have to figure out how to split their time between mom and dad for the first time ever. It’s going to be really hard, especially since Ryan can tell the situation is breaking his mother’s heart. Obviously, Christmas is not something Ryan is looking forward to.

Meanwhile, while all this family drama is unfolding, Ryan’s also got some normal teenage problems on his plate. Dating never seems to go smoothly for Ryan, and the Winter Formal is coming up. He wants to take his ex, Cambria, but she just broke up with her latest boyfriend, Mitch, and wants to go to the dance alone. But Ryan plans to hustle and win her heart back. Ryan knows it’s risky because Cambria hates the fact that Ryan travels so much for his skateboarding career, but he’s willing to put himself out there anyway.

Things get off to a rocky start when Mitch shows up while Ryan and his buddies are getting ready for formal. But Ryan pushes through with his plan and approaches Cambria while on a double-decker party bus on the way to the formal. He puts his fears aside and tells Cambria that he still has feelings for her, but Cambria doesn’t really respond. What should Ryan make of that?

The next day, Ryan musters the guts to meet Cambria for lunch and ask her directly just how she really feels. Once he puts himself on the line, Cambria tells him she’s not that into having a boyfriend who travels all the time. And then she drops a bombshell — she’s getting back together with Mitch.

Ryan barely has time to sort through the dating drama, though, because once again work pulls him away from the most important people in his life and takes him out on the road. Next stop? Dubai. As he steps on the plane, Ryan’s ready to focus on his career, but he worries who will be there for his brothers while he’s on the road and his father’s no longer living at home.

Make sure you meet the cast of MTV’s Life of Ryan:
Ryan Sheckler
Shane Sheckler
Kane Sheckler
Gretchen Sheckler
Randy Sheckler
Taylor
Casey Feitler
Tony Panici