Next Thursday, I will officially be back on ZSU’s campus. Summer 2024 has gone by so quickly. It almost feels as if it never even happened. It feels like I just left my dorm building; thinking about where I would work for the Summer along with all the time I had. Now my roommates, Alyssa and Molly, are talking about moving into our new apartment and what we are bringing along with us. The three of us are moving in a with a girl named Miriam. Miriam is a senior at ZSU who works at the dining courts on campus. She isn’t home often and is a huge Broadway fan. That’s it. That’s all we know about Miriam so far. But she seems nice, as she has been helpful with telling us what to buy for the apartment. Oh, and I should also mention that my date with the 6’5 engineer named Brendan fell through. I think it’s safe to say we both lost interest in each other. No hard feelings, truly.
Alyssa, Molly, and I are excited to create new adventures. Though we are not excited about the school part of ZSU, we will be back to living our own adult lives. Molly will spend more time with her new boyfriend, Carter (who is also my friend. I put them on. They’re so welcome btw). I’ll go back to see my great friend, Kaylee Brown. Oh, and deal with my ex-situationship, Juan Rivera. I am SO looking forward to that, you know? Did I mention that they are best friends and roommates? Well, there’s a refresher in case you forgot. Then Alyssa hasn’t had anything with a girl, yet. We made a deal we would walk out of sophomore year with at least one romantic experience, even if it’s not a relationship. The three of us are going to try and live sophomore year to the fullest. And I have a feeling we will.
On Sunday, I actually did not follow my ritual of visiting my dad. I did that on Saturday night because, to no one’s surprise, I had to work Sunday night. So, I made sure to find time to still visit him. My dad told me recently that he was going out of town to visit family in Georgia. He would be gone for a few weeks, and unable to help my mom and I move me back up to ZSU. That lowkey sucks since we’ll need his help, but I guess we’ll just have to figure it once we get up there. In the meantime, my mom and I are still gathering together everything I will need for my apartment this school year. Dishes, decorations, parking passes for my car. Little does she know; all I need are drugs and a fucking escape plan just in case everything goes to shit. Again.
On Monday, I went to the furniture/decoration store with Alyssa and Molly. According to Miriam, the apartment is pretty empty and doesn’t have a whole lot in it. Like only a toaster and no silverware…huh? Anyhow, the three of us went to the store to try and look for things. Instead, we ended up taking endless mirror selfies and walking out of the store with stuffed animals. I think it’s safe to say that we have our priorities straight. Afterward, we made a pitstop at IHOP for lunch. Alyssa invited us to go to a family event for her little sister. Unfortunately, I wouldn’t be able to make it.
That evening, my friend, Cassie, was celebrating her 18th-birthday. It was a small get together that I had been invited to. It would be Cassie, me, our friend Madeline, and some of Cassie’s high school friends. The night would consist of going to Texas Roadhouse, then going to the movie theater to watch “Trap” with Josh Hartnett. Madeline and I felt a little out of place as we were both sophomores in college and everyone else was still in high school. Not to mention, they were all a part of the same friend group. Meanwhile, Madeline and I were only in a trio with Cassie because we work at the movie theater. But we were there to celebrate her birthday and that was that. Besides, dinner was good, and the movie was also really good. By time 12AM came around, I was ready for bed.
On Tuesday, I worked 8.5-hours at the movie theater. For the entire time, I would be cleaning theaters and general areas. The good news is that my best friend, Brianna would be working with me along with some of my other favorite co-workers. Brianna’s boyfriend, Jacob, was also working that day so I couldn’t keep all of her attention. However, you do learn something new every day. I must ask a question about it.
What are you supposed to do when you find out one of your co-workers has a crush on you?
His name is Graham, and he’s always been really nice. He and I have a lot of fun when we work together. But I have never had any interest in him like that. Brianna and Jacob casually dropped it on me that Graham asked if he had a chance with me. They told him, but now what? Do I have to casually continue like everything is the same? Or should I back off a little? Ugh, I’m going to kms. Kidding, I can’t do that. You know what I can do though? Take an edible and a hot bath.
After work that night, I did in fact take an edible and a hot bubble bath. I was getting more and more relaxed. That was until my phone began to buzz. I looked over to find a text from Molly.
“Carter, Alyssa, and I want to go to Raising Cane’s. Wanna come?”
I replied: “Wish you had told me that before I took an edible, but yeah.”
“Good, I really don’t want you drowning in your tub. You are not pulling a celebrity death on us.”
Fifteen-minutes later, Molly pulled up to my house to pick me up. That was a really bad idea. Note to self: do not let a bad driver drive you around when you’re high. When we met up with Carter and Alyssa, they hopped into Molly’s car to eat their chicken with us. She was also driving us around to go get ice cream after we finished. And I love this woman, I do, but I was so fucking scared for my life. She was swerving, cut people off, all of the above. Alyssa was just as terrified as I was screaming my head off.
“Oh, my fucking God! We’re gonna fucking die!” I screamed.
Carter pointed at me. “I’ve never done edibles, but I cannot be this fucked up when I do them.”
“You won’t be. AC just took way too many.” Alyssa rolled her eyes.
“Carter, did you know I thought you were gay when we first met?” Molly dropped on him. Carter was quickly offended.
“What the fuck? Who told you that?” And then, we started talking about how everyone at my 19th-birthday party back in June started saying he was gay. It was funny, really, but it probably would’ve been funnier had I not been tripping. It was safe to say that I was really happy when I was finally able to go home and sleep it off.
On Wednesday, I met up with some old friends that night. Back in high school, I was friends with three girls named Sofia, Silvia, and Eva. Sofia was high school class of 2023, just like me. She is studying dentistry at QC. While Silvia and Eva are currently seniors in high school. We aren’t able to meet up often, but we found time to see each other at least once this Summer. There’s an amazing sushi restaurant at the mall right down the street from me, so that’s where we decided to meet up. You’d be surprised how much you miss not talking to someone for five-months. Eva apparently has a boyfriend, and Sofia is a crew lead at a local McDonalds. When they asked me what had been new with me, I went blank. I’m getting really tired of talking about Juan, but what else is there? I hang out with friends, work, and rot my brain with edibles and alcohol. I might actually be the most boring person on this planet. So, I told them all about the job that literally makes me consider gouging my own eyes out and the weird men I meet on “Hinge”, that’s it.
Once the dinner was over, I went over to my good friend, Trent’s house. Trent had prepared some drinks for the night, then built us a bonfire. I pulled up to his house with my Louis Vuitton bag that held my pajamas and a charger. But Trent took one look at it and glared at me.
“Lane, are you serious?” He scoffed.
“What?”
“A Gucci bag?”
“It’s Louis Vuitton, actually. If you’re going to make fun of me, at least get it right.”
“How am I supposed to make fun of rich people when I’m friends with you?”
I sneered. “You hate us cause you ain’t us.”
“Your bag could pay for one semester of tuition at XMU for me. Asshole. Come on, let’s have a drink.” By the way, XMU is ZSU’s rival. ZSU and XMU have been rivals forever now. Most people where I live either want to attend ZSU or XMU, that is if they want to go away to school.
Trent and I drank; however, I definitely drank more than he did. After estimating, we’re pretty sure I had around six-drinks. We started dropping random lore on one another that we never told. It was safe to say we were both pretty drunk. Once we were both ready for bed, I changed into my pajamas and crashed on his couch. The good news is that I was not hungover the next morning. After getting shitfaced two-days in a row, I was chilling! Yay!
On Thursday, I went home in the morning to shower and be productive. I focused on some college shit and unpacked some more stuff from when I moved to my new house last month (yes, I have been procrastinating). Carter, Alyssa, and Molly came over to my house that evening. Alyssa is the only one that hadn’t been over yet. She loved it. But she and Molly loved playing with my dog, Mr. Pooper, more. Yes, that is my dog’s real name. The four of us ordered Mexican takeout and made a picnic outside on my patio. It was a warm evening to talk about moving back to ZSU and drama. After we finished dinner, we did drive downtown to buy some ice cream. Then, we went back to my house to watch “Sausage Party”. I had watched it once when I was eleven, but I actually understand the movie now. The four of us were rolling. Unfortunately for Carter, his parents are strict af so he had to leave early. That left Molly, Alyssa, and I to gossip about relationships and men. Eventually, they had to leave too.
Yesterday, I went to work at the movie theater. “Deadpool and Wolverine” along with “It Ends With Us” has been crazy busy. However, nothing eventful happened yesterday that I can talk about. It had been a casual workday.
Today is my last day at the movie theater before I go on student leave. This morning, it really hit me. The Summer is over. I am moving 1.5-hours back to ZSU. I am leaving my parents, Brianna, Trent, everyone behind to go back to school. But I suppose this is just a part of life. As we grow, we are forced to leave people behind sometimes. And just because you go away, doesn’t mean you’re forgetting them. This is all a part of being an adult. It’s all about learning how to be independent while keeping the ones you love close, no matter the distance. Just because you’re lonely at times, it doesn’t mean you’re alone.