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geebsJust another night at work. Finally saw Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. It was interesting. I think the original was better. Its definitely a different take on things. Though Veruca and Augustus got off easy, being only covered in garbage and chocolate, respectively. At least that'll wash off! Violent's permanently blue! (I also didn't know it was being played by the Winn Dixie girl!) Sure she's all cool about being flexible, but she's blue! And how the hell did squeezing all the juice out of her to make her normal again translate to being extremely flexible? And Mike Teevee is like really tall and thin! He got turned in a freak! And they're all rich! (Well, this version of Mike Teevee doesn't actually seem rich, he's just a video game geek) Isn't Willy Wonka afraid they'll use their resources to get some high priced lawyer to sue him for all that happened? (Or was there some fine print on the ticket saying he's not responsible for anything bad that happens to them during the factory tour?)
Anyhoo, since when was the Taco Bell on Howell Mill torn down? I was going to grab dinner there on my way to work, only to find out it no longer exists! Owel, the arby's next door was opened. Did the 4 for $5 thing, of course getting 4 arby's melts and tons of horsey sauce. Seems like a clever thing though- arby's combos have always been overpriced, so its good way to get some variety while still being reasonably priced.
Owel, now just sitting here listening to old love songs like Player's "Baby Come Back", Little River Band's "Lady", and Journey's "Open Arms" because Valentine's Day is coming up and its got me thinking of lost loves. Lately, I've been thinking back to HS and Sara. I've said here before that Sara stopped talking to me the year after I went to engineering camp. I said it was because she thought it was incredibly dorky, and she didn't want to hang out with a dork like me anymore, but that wasn't the entire truth. (Oh, BTW, I've changed all the names in the story to disguise the identities of those involved!)
I first met Sara junior year of high school. She was a flirty girl who had no problem flaunting her sexuality. Sara had a reputation for being a party girl, and there was no shortage of rumors of her numerous immoral liaisons. Inexplicably, we started hanging out, and even more surprisingly, not in a "neutral guy friend she can talk to about the douchebags she normally goes for" kinda way or a "helping her with her schoolwork" kinda way. Sara was pretty cool, and funny even, and not at all the ditz I first thought she as. Thinking about it, mebbe the reason she liked hanging out with me was because I didn't treat her or look at her the way the other guys did.
She was cute too, but I didn't really think about her in that way. I mean, I did have the occasional naughty thought, because after all, I am a guy. But since I didn't think she'd ever go for someone like me, I never bothered entertaining thoughts otherwise. Not that that stopped my friends from making lecherous comments and asking if I had tapped that yet. I tried playing it off at first, but they would just not let up! And it pissed me off, because I felt their remarks were just furthering the ridiculous rumors about her sexual reputation. Or at least I thought they were rumors.
After one particularly heated argument in the library with some guys I was working a class project with, Sara asked me what the argument was about. She happened to be in the library working off detentions, and actually started said argument by coming over and being her usual flirty self with me. After she left, I got some back patting and "aw, yeahs" from the guys, and then they started going over stuff they heard she had done until I couldn't stand it anymore and stormed off before I ended up trying to punch one of them.
So after I left the library, she was all, "What was that all about?" and I hemmed and hawed at first, but decided to spill the beans on some of the stories I heard, including one about her and a couple of guys on the football team. She confirmed she had slept with those guys, but not at the same time, of course! I came off a little too judgmental when I asked how she could sleep with those idiots.
I think she was a little incensed by my tone and started telling me I was being a prude and that sex could be fun, and I'd know that if I wasn't a virgin. I countered by apologizing for not having effed around as much as she had. So we ended up not talking for a couple of days, until we both swallowed our pride and apologized for our remarks. I told her I didn't mean to sound so judgmental, and I only said what I did because I didn't think those guys cared for her.
"Like you do?" she asked. I smiled and told that of course I cared for her, she was a really great friend. She giggled at that but didn't press the issue further, though it seemed like she wanted to say something more. Anyhoo, a few days later, she asks me over to her house that weekend to study for a big chemistry exam. I didn't find out until I got there that her parents were gone for the weekend and we had the whole place to ourselves.
We actually didn't get too much studying done, instead mostly watching TV and horsing around. A few hours into our study session, Sara started complaining of neck and shoulder cramps and asked me to give her a massage, pretty please. I, of course, oblige, and after a minute of that, she turned around and started kissing me. Anyways, it started getting hot and heavy, and for some reason I tried to slow things down and talk it out, asking her why she was doing this. So she tells me I'm a sweet guy, and she thought this was a good way to show her appreciation for me.
This freaked me out for some reason. I mean, here I was, a teenage boy about to have sex, but instead of just hitting it, I couldn't stop thinking of how I didn't want her sleeping with me because she thought she owed it to me or something for being nice to her. So, I immediately put a stop to things. At first, she was all "Don't you find me attractive?" and I was all of course I did. But I told her she didn't need to sleep with me just because I was nice to her.
In that moment, I finally realized, I liked her a lot, and if we were gonna sleep together, it was because she liked me in the same way. Sara told me she did, but after talking some more and sharing our feelings, we felt it would best if we held off on the sex and tried dating like a normal couple first. And we did, much to the chagrin of the guys she used to party with.
Of course, once we started dating for a while, and the topic of sex came around, Sara was actually a little reluctant now. I could understand her reasoning, she was afraid if we slept too soon, it would ruin things, and I would leave her having finally "tasted the goods". I assured her I wasn't going to do that, but I was willing to be patient and wait until she was ready. Not that it wasn't starting to drive me a little crazy. Before we started dating, I could take the no sex thing, because the chances of me getting some were nil. But now that I had a girlfriend, and sex was now an actual possibility? I hate to sound like a dick, but I was definitely getting a little antsy.
So anyhoo, summer rolls around and I head off to engineering camp in Hoboken. Sara told me it was pretty nerdy to go to even more school now that the school year was over, but she kissed me goodbye outside of school after our Trig final right as my pops came to pick me up. Little did I know that would be the last time we would ever kiss. At engineering camp, my lab partner Shawn would start a chain of events that would lead to Sara and I's eventual breakup.
You see, at camp, Shawn hit it off with this cute blonde, Julie, and they became an item. I'd hang out with them after class, or in the dining hall. Julie was actually impressed with my TV knowledge, I having first demonstrated it when we were for some reason talking about the Brady Bunch. I think it was because this one really geeky kid, Ambrose, had never watched TV somehow, and people were totally skeptical and asking if he had ever seen the Brady Bunch. Somehow the subject got onto the Brady's dog, which no one could remember the name of except for me. (The answer is of course, Tiger, obviously) That of course made me the go to guy in all matters of TV trivia.
But I digress. Anyways. there was this hottie, Nicole, who had set her sights on Shawn. Now seriously, even if Shawn wasn't a dog, he'd be hard pressed to resist Nicole, because she was definitely frickin' hot. So one day, Shawn and I had just left physics lab, and there was Nicole waiting outside. All she had to do was flash that come hither stare and Shawn came running. Well, there was a little more to it then that, but they went off together and I went to dinner. Julie found me in the dining hall, and asked me if I had seen Shawn. Now the guy code precluded me from outright saying he had gone off with another girl, so I told her he had split off from me after lab and said he had things to do.
Turns out I didn't have to say anything, as her roomie Kristy told her that she had seen Shawn sneaking around the girls' dorm with Nicole. She looked to me for answers and by the way I was trying to avoid making eye contact, she knew the truth. I don't know what Julie was expecting though. It was camp, and she had only known Shawn for less than a week. Its not like he could be expected to maintain the utmost fidelity.
Still, after it came out that Shawn and Nicole did indeed screw around, Kristy and I tried cheering Julie up. (No easy task since Kristy didn't like me very much and we didn't get along at all). Kristy thought going to this party we heard about would be the best thing to pick up Julie's spirits. Ironically, the guys throwing it had let us engineering kids know because one of them had been flirting with Nicole and they were hoping they could get her to show up. I was a little skeptical of going, as I thought we could get in big trouble for this. But Kristy was adamant that she and Julie go, so I tagged along (much to Kristy's chagrin) to watch out for them.
Anyways, the party wasn't really helping Julie out, as she spent most of the time mediating arguments between me and Kristy. Eventually, it came time for Julie to choose between Kristy and I, and she chose me. Why? Kristy kept wanting to meet all these cute guys, whereas Julie just wanted to sit off in a corner and sulk, and I wasn't wanting to leave her alone. So Kristy was all "Fine!" and left us to talk to some college sophomore.
I spent the next hour or so just listening to Julie vent about Shawn, camp, and other things. Of course, what I should've done was not only not let her drink, but not let her convince me to join her in getting drunk. Julie had gotten drunk before, but I'd never touched alcohol until this point. So we both ended up pretty much out of it. Somehow, we managed to make it back to my room without getting caught by any of the counselors. It got a little fuzzy after that, but the next thing I remember was waking up in bed together in various states of undress, Julie asking if I had a good sleep. We searched through the fog of our memories and were pretty sure we had done it, and my roommate Naresh confirmed that he had walked in on us and quickly left without us noticing.
Needless to say, I was freaking. How was I going to explain this to Sara? I mean, I didn't even know how it happened, so its not like I could give her a reason. Even worse, I quickly remembered that Sara was visting me that day. If there was a silver lining, it was that our counselors were pretty cool and they weren't gonna report us as long as we didn't 1) drink, 2) go to a college party, and 3) screw around again.
I tried calling Sara, but she had already left to come see me. I thought of what I could say. Julie thought I should just not say anything at all. It was all a one time drunken mistake, and Julie didn't want Sara and I to break up when all I was trying to do was help her with her own problems. Naresh said he would keep mum, but I didn't realize there was one more person who knew, Kristi.
I decided to follow Julie's advice and not say anything. It was an accident- I loved Sara, and there was no reason to jeopardize our relationship over something like this. So when Sara showed up, I put it all behind me and pretended my night with Julie was just a drunken hallucination that never happened. Coincidentally enough, Sara told me she was finally ready to have sex again. I was all, "Here!?" She didn't mean right then and there, of course. She told me we could do it when I came back from camp, as her parents would be gone that weekend afterward.
I invited her to lunch at the dining hall. Julie was there, and she waved. Sara asked about her, and I said she was a friend. Julie was still looking pretty morose, so I asked if we could join her. Things were going real well, until Kristy, peeved about the previous night and Julie choosing to hang out with me instead of her, showed up. Pretending as though Sara wasn't there, she played the concerned friend, asking Julie if she got back from the party okay, and saying she had heard that she spent the night in my room.
Julie and I both looked at her, our expressions shocked at the revelation. Julie quickly tried to cover, telling Sara that nothing happened. But Sara could tell from the guilty look in my eyes that something had happened. Kristy quickly got out of there, a smug smile on her face at the havoc she just wrought.
Sara looked at me teary eyed, asking me how I could do this to her. I apologized for not only cheating on her, but for lying about it. Sara asked me if I did it because she wouldn't sleep with me. I told her she was being ridiculous and that wasn't the reason at all. Julie and I told her about her situation with Shawn and the drinking and not even remembering how it happened. That did little to assuage Sara's pain and she stormed off.
I ran off after her, while Julie went to bitch Kristy out. I tried talking it out with her, but Sara was absolutely distraught. I was the one person she thought would never hurt like that, but I did. I followed her all the way back to the PATH train, begging and pleading with her how I could make it right. We sat there at the station, me babbling on while she just sat and cried silently, not responding to anything I said until the train back to NY came. I tried following her onto the train, but she just screamed at me to leave her alone and go away. So I respected her wishes and did, watching as the train went off, Sara sitting there with her feet up on the seat and her face buried in her knees.
I tried calling her a bunch over the next few days, but she wouldn't answer or return my calls. Finally, her parents told me to stop calling. Julie apologized to me, but I of course told her it totally wasn't her fault. After camp ended, I tried several times unsuccessfully to see Sara. I didn't see her again until school started back up. No longer was she her cheery self though- she had turned all gothy and pretended not to know me.
Okay, not really! Its just quiet around here right now, so I thought it be fun to come up with a little story. I actually have no idea why Sara stopped talking to me after engineering camp or why she turned all goth and depresso. And while Julie was the first girl I ever "slept" with, those weren't the circumstances. Anyways, I was just curious how many people would look under the cut and actually read all that! Oh, and I'm not actually sitting around here all mopey, because how lame would that be?
Also saw World Trade Center on GTCN tonight as well. I think the only thing left showing on GTCN this month that I haven't seen is the Lake House. Forming a romance with a person living 2 years in the past/future. How is that even possible!?
Anyhoo, since when was the Taco Bell on Howell Mill torn down? I was going to grab dinner there on my way to work, only to find out it no longer exists! Owel, the arby's next door was opened. Did the 4 for $5 thing, of course getting 4 arby's melts and tons of horsey sauce. Seems like a clever thing though- arby's combos have always been overpriced, so its good way to get some variety while still being reasonably priced.
Owel, now just sitting here listening to old love songs like Player's "Baby Come Back", Little River Band's "Lady", and Journey's "Open Arms" because Valentine's Day is coming up and its got me thinking of lost loves. Lately, I've been thinking back to HS and Sara. I've said here before that Sara stopped talking to me the year after I went to engineering camp. I said it was because she thought it was incredibly dorky, and she didn't want to hang out with a dork like me anymore, but that wasn't the entire truth. (Oh, BTW, I've changed all the names in the story to disguise the identities of those involved!)
I first met Sara junior year of high school. She was a flirty girl who had no problem flaunting her sexuality. Sara had a reputation for being a party girl, and there was no shortage of rumors of her numerous immoral liaisons. Inexplicably, we started hanging out, and even more surprisingly, not in a "neutral guy friend she can talk to about the douchebags she normally goes for" kinda way or a "helping her with her schoolwork" kinda way. Sara was pretty cool, and funny even, and not at all the ditz I first thought she as. Thinking about it, mebbe the reason she liked hanging out with me was because I didn't treat her or look at her the way the other guys did.
She was cute too, but I didn't really think about her in that way. I mean, I did have the occasional naughty thought, because after all, I am a guy. But since I didn't think she'd ever go for someone like me, I never bothered entertaining thoughts otherwise. Not that that stopped my friends from making lecherous comments and asking if I had tapped that yet. I tried playing it off at first, but they would just not let up! And it pissed me off, because I felt their remarks were just furthering the ridiculous rumors about her sexual reputation. Or at least I thought they were rumors.
After one particularly heated argument in the library with some guys I was working a class project with, Sara asked me what the argument was about. She happened to be in the library working off detentions, and actually started said argument by coming over and being her usual flirty self with me. After she left, I got some back patting and "aw, yeahs" from the guys, and then they started going over stuff they heard she had done until I couldn't stand it anymore and stormed off before I ended up trying to punch one of them.
So after I left the library, she was all, "What was that all about?" and I hemmed and hawed at first, but decided to spill the beans on some of the stories I heard, including one about her and a couple of guys on the football team. She confirmed she had slept with those guys, but not at the same time, of course! I came off a little too judgmental when I asked how she could sleep with those idiots.
I think she was a little incensed by my tone and started telling me I was being a prude and that sex could be fun, and I'd know that if I wasn't a virgin. I countered by apologizing for not having effed around as much as she had. So we ended up not talking for a couple of days, until we both swallowed our pride and apologized for our remarks. I told her I didn't mean to sound so judgmental, and I only said what I did because I didn't think those guys cared for her.
"Like you do?" she asked. I smiled and told that of course I cared for her, she was a really great friend. She giggled at that but didn't press the issue further, though it seemed like she wanted to say something more. Anyhoo, a few days later, she asks me over to her house that weekend to study for a big chemistry exam. I didn't find out until I got there that her parents were gone for the weekend and we had the whole place to ourselves.
We actually didn't get too much studying done, instead mostly watching TV and horsing around. A few hours into our study session, Sara started complaining of neck and shoulder cramps and asked me to give her a massage, pretty please. I, of course, oblige, and after a minute of that, she turned around and started kissing me. Anyways, it started getting hot and heavy, and for some reason I tried to slow things down and talk it out, asking her why she was doing this. So she tells me I'm a sweet guy, and she thought this was a good way to show her appreciation for me.
This freaked me out for some reason. I mean, here I was, a teenage boy about to have sex, but instead of just hitting it, I couldn't stop thinking of how I didn't want her sleeping with me because she thought she owed it to me or something for being nice to her. So, I immediately put a stop to things. At first, she was all "Don't you find me attractive?" and I was all of course I did. But I told her she didn't need to sleep with me just because I was nice to her.
In that moment, I finally realized, I liked her a lot, and if we were gonna sleep together, it was because she liked me in the same way. Sara told me she did, but after talking some more and sharing our feelings, we felt it would best if we held off on the sex and tried dating like a normal couple first. And we did, much to the chagrin of the guys she used to party with.
Of course, once we started dating for a while, and the topic of sex came around, Sara was actually a little reluctant now. I could understand her reasoning, she was afraid if we slept too soon, it would ruin things, and I would leave her having finally "tasted the goods". I assured her I wasn't going to do that, but I was willing to be patient and wait until she was ready. Not that it wasn't starting to drive me a little crazy. Before we started dating, I could take the no sex thing, because the chances of me getting some were nil. But now that I had a girlfriend, and sex was now an actual possibility? I hate to sound like a dick, but I was definitely getting a little antsy.
So anyhoo, summer rolls around and I head off to engineering camp in Hoboken. Sara told me it was pretty nerdy to go to even more school now that the school year was over, but she kissed me goodbye outside of school after our Trig final right as my pops came to pick me up. Little did I know that would be the last time we would ever kiss. At engineering camp, my lab partner Shawn would start a chain of events that would lead to Sara and I's eventual breakup.
You see, at camp, Shawn hit it off with this cute blonde, Julie, and they became an item. I'd hang out with them after class, or in the dining hall. Julie was actually impressed with my TV knowledge, I having first demonstrated it when we were for some reason talking about the Brady Bunch. I think it was because this one really geeky kid, Ambrose, had never watched TV somehow, and people were totally skeptical and asking if he had ever seen the Brady Bunch. Somehow the subject got onto the Brady's dog, which no one could remember the name of except for me. (The answer is of course, Tiger, obviously) That of course made me the go to guy in all matters of TV trivia.
But I digress. Anyways. there was this hottie, Nicole, who had set her sights on Shawn. Now seriously, even if Shawn wasn't a dog, he'd be hard pressed to resist Nicole, because she was definitely frickin' hot. So one day, Shawn and I had just left physics lab, and there was Nicole waiting outside. All she had to do was flash that come hither stare and Shawn came running. Well, there was a little more to it then that, but they went off together and I went to dinner. Julie found me in the dining hall, and asked me if I had seen Shawn. Now the guy code precluded me from outright saying he had gone off with another girl, so I told her he had split off from me after lab and said he had things to do.
Turns out I didn't have to say anything, as her roomie Kristy told her that she had seen Shawn sneaking around the girls' dorm with Nicole. She looked to me for answers and by the way I was trying to avoid making eye contact, she knew the truth. I don't know what Julie was expecting though. It was camp, and she had only known Shawn for less than a week. Its not like he could be expected to maintain the utmost fidelity.
Still, after it came out that Shawn and Nicole did indeed screw around, Kristy and I tried cheering Julie up. (No easy task since Kristy didn't like me very much and we didn't get along at all). Kristy thought going to this party we heard about would be the best thing to pick up Julie's spirits. Ironically, the guys throwing it had let us engineering kids know because one of them had been flirting with Nicole and they were hoping they could get her to show up. I was a little skeptical of going, as I thought we could get in big trouble for this. But Kristy was adamant that she and Julie go, so I tagged along (much to Kristy's chagrin) to watch out for them.
Anyways, the party wasn't really helping Julie out, as she spent most of the time mediating arguments between me and Kristy. Eventually, it came time for Julie to choose between Kristy and I, and she chose me. Why? Kristy kept wanting to meet all these cute guys, whereas Julie just wanted to sit off in a corner and sulk, and I wasn't wanting to leave her alone. So Kristy was all "Fine!" and left us to talk to some college sophomore.
I spent the next hour or so just listening to Julie vent about Shawn, camp, and other things. Of course, what I should've done was not only not let her drink, but not let her convince me to join her in getting drunk. Julie had gotten drunk before, but I'd never touched alcohol until this point. So we both ended up pretty much out of it. Somehow, we managed to make it back to my room without getting caught by any of the counselors. It got a little fuzzy after that, but the next thing I remember was waking up in bed together in various states of undress, Julie asking if I had a good sleep. We searched through the fog of our memories and were pretty sure we had done it, and my roommate Naresh confirmed that he had walked in on us and quickly left without us noticing.
Needless to say, I was freaking. How was I going to explain this to Sara? I mean, I didn't even know how it happened, so its not like I could give her a reason. Even worse, I quickly remembered that Sara was visting me that day. If there was a silver lining, it was that our counselors were pretty cool and they weren't gonna report us as long as we didn't 1) drink, 2) go to a college party, and 3) screw around again.
I tried calling Sara, but she had already left to come see me. I thought of what I could say. Julie thought I should just not say anything at all. It was all a one time drunken mistake, and Julie didn't want Sara and I to break up when all I was trying to do was help her with her own problems. Naresh said he would keep mum, but I didn't realize there was one more person who knew, Kristi.
I decided to follow Julie's advice and not say anything. It was an accident- I loved Sara, and there was no reason to jeopardize our relationship over something like this. So when Sara showed up, I put it all behind me and pretended my night with Julie was just a drunken hallucination that never happened. Coincidentally enough, Sara told me she was finally ready to have sex again. I was all, "Here!?" She didn't mean right then and there, of course. She told me we could do it when I came back from camp, as her parents would be gone that weekend afterward.
I invited her to lunch at the dining hall. Julie was there, and she waved. Sara asked about her, and I said she was a friend. Julie was still looking pretty morose, so I asked if we could join her. Things were going real well, until Kristy, peeved about the previous night and Julie choosing to hang out with me instead of her, showed up. Pretending as though Sara wasn't there, she played the concerned friend, asking Julie if she got back from the party okay, and saying she had heard that she spent the night in my room.
Julie and I both looked at her, our expressions shocked at the revelation. Julie quickly tried to cover, telling Sara that nothing happened. But Sara could tell from the guilty look in my eyes that something had happened. Kristy quickly got out of there, a smug smile on her face at the havoc she just wrought.
Sara looked at me teary eyed, asking me how I could do this to her. I apologized for not only cheating on her, but for lying about it. Sara asked me if I did it because she wouldn't sleep with me. I told her she was being ridiculous and that wasn't the reason at all. Julie and I told her about her situation with Shawn and the drinking and not even remembering how it happened. That did little to assuage Sara's pain and she stormed off.
I ran off after her, while Julie went to bitch Kristy out. I tried talking it out with her, but Sara was absolutely distraught. I was the one person she thought would never hurt like that, but I did. I followed her all the way back to the PATH train, begging and pleading with her how I could make it right. We sat there at the station, me babbling on while she just sat and cried silently, not responding to anything I said until the train back to NY came. I tried following her onto the train, but she just screamed at me to leave her alone and go away. So I respected her wishes and did, watching as the train went off, Sara sitting there with her feet up on the seat and her face buried in her knees.
I tried calling her a bunch over the next few days, but she wouldn't answer or return my calls. Finally, her parents told me to stop calling. Julie apologized to me, but I of course told her it totally wasn't her fault. After camp ended, I tried several times unsuccessfully to see Sara. I didn't see her again until school started back up. No longer was she her cheery self though- she had turned all gothy and pretended not to know me.
Okay, not really! Its just quiet around here right now, so I thought it be fun to come up with a little story. I actually have no idea why Sara stopped talking to me after engineering camp or why she turned all goth and depresso. And while Julie was the first girl I ever "slept" with, those weren't the circumstances. Anyways, I was just curious how many people would look under the cut and actually read all that! Oh, and I'm not actually sitting around here all mopey, because how lame would that be?
Also saw World Trade Center on GTCN tonight as well. I think the only thing left showing on GTCN this month that I haven't seen is the Lake House. Forming a romance with a person living 2 years in the past/future. How is that even possible!?
