the weekend that went too fast
it was a long weekend. like, it started on thursday long. a frantic day turned into one that dragged on for hours and hours and sips and hours, made more enjoyable by the proximity of a friend and playful conversation about things i don’t remember anymore. but i remember it being fun.
both our classes get cancelled, so we decided to set up shop at my apartment early. after a stop at the liquor of course. i love getting ready at a friends house, but even more so i love getting ready at my own so i can agonize over outfit choices and accessories under a watchful eye and with hours to kill. we were going to see mickey avalon, per my request, so i was feeling inclined towards rock n roll chic. something i can dance or stand still in and still feel like a star. i hiked up a little sequins number, slapped on some smoky eyeshadow, and still had about an hour to kill before visiting a friend who would be working the volleyball game. no matter. we had plenty to talk about.
after making minor fools of ourselves at the volleyball game, two rockstars in a sea of campus casual, we scurried out after a quarter (our team in the lead) and ran into fellow girlfriends asking to take pictures outside the stadium. friendship is so beautiful.
i’ve recently been micro dosing on embarrassment. for example, the other week a friend and i attended an acrobatics class in our friday’s best: t-shirts that read “if i don’t make this jumpshot i’ll kill myself” and “i am a hardcore christian—bale fan” with a blood splattered christian bale a la american psycho on the back. we crept in 5 minutes late with a wine drunk stumble and carried on with our joyful selves having a blast. embarrassment is a state of mind. it creates a bubble around you that only you have the power to pop. everyone in the class was staring at us, but with a spark of humor and slight confusion. the bubble is a powerful place to be.
listen, i knew we were gonna be the stars of the show, that’s a given when you’re only friends with rays of sunshine and glitter dust. but it’s especially easy to be the stars in a bright yellow top and a crowd of maybe 15 people. and don’t get it twisted, that didn’t make it any less fun. i’ve been listening to him since high school so i was so excited, and i knew mickey wasn’t the most popular but wow was i stunned by the crowd’s lack of hype. but i learned my lesson. choose your bowling alley concerts wisely, and your bowling alley concert friends wiser. after the concert we caught up with our friends at the bar, it was ramband of course, and the rest was a typical night of running into friends, classmates, and foes.
party girls on the run. in hindsight not that embarrassing, just very out of place for a volleyball game. always slightly out of place as usual.
friday was typical until it wasn’t. wake up. fry some eggs. change into different sweatpants and go to class. I then found myself in a loop of corporate greed and technological failures while accompanying a friend and her on life support phone to the t-mobile store and best buy. after about an hour, leaving with more questions than answers, we pulled up to a friend’s house to see if she wanted to come with us to the pep rally in town. accidentally dragging her from her evening slumber, we set off on our own.
growing up in a college town must be so fun. so many little rugrats were running around and cheering on the band and the cheerleaders, even dancing with them. my friend and i stood in the crowd, soaking up their sweetness until we’d had enough and made our way towards one of my favorite bars. like it was a vortex calling me home. one pitcher and a deliberation over a $1 shot later and it was time to go home and get ready to accompany a friend to a party.
unshowered, unshaven, and with a heavy sweep of bronzer i called makeup, the party was your typical rage cage on a foldout table in my typical baggy jeans and sparkly black top. i made new friends alongside an old one, but like a couple of cinderellas we were out of there before midnight. she’s always so busy lately we never get to catch up, so these kinds of chill nights are delightful and very much welcomed.
saturday came with a maniacal laughter and a big old f*ck you plastered behind every corner. around noon my best friend and roommate asked me to accompany her to the store to help with her phone again. spoiler alert: we didn’t get out of there until about 4. another spoiler alert: apple is ruining our phones and shortening warranties. f*ck corporations and f*ck needlessly rising prices. i’m glad i was there for her or else i’m afraid she would have called it quits and run off into the woods. we were both starting to get a case of white-and-pink-store-fever, and i personally will remember the laughter balancing out the difficulty. at the end of it all we walked away knowing that at every point in this story it wasn’t the people that failed us but the systems they answered to. so that’s a nice thing.
after getting home, i took the fastest shower i’ve ever taken and got ready in record time. seriously it’s one of the things i’m most proud of from the past couple weeks. my roommate and i were being summoned with force to hurry the f up because it’s GAME DAYYY. so we rushed and we sipped and we chatted. we laughed and gossiped and danced. did a little karaoke. then it was game time.
the game was typical (we were losing) and fun, but i went home early. as soon as I would stop talking to someone thoughts kept creeping in that i couldn’t shake. so i went home, caught up with my roommates when they came home hours later and watched an episode of lost with them. had a sleepover with my roommate because i needed some comfort, even though i spent basically the entire weekend with her. we take turns with our trauma even when we’re being traumatized together. i’d give her the shirt off my back but she’d let me wipe my tears on the shirt. did i mention i started crying about the beauty of girlhood and competition and consumerism just tries to tear it down while watching a clip from josie & the pussycats on friday?
sunday comes with a groan. a discussion board and a disappointing quiz later and i was off to bed. i haven’t slept without a pile of clothes covering my bed in well over a week and it shows no signs of stopping. everyday’s a party if you make it one.
