(no subject)
i hate punctuation. actually, i'm a terrible bitch about it. i use punctuation and proper grammar even in instant messages. but you know what? too much to write, no time to press "shift."
let's talk about what i haven't. starting with Warped Tour.
Friday, July 30th
the day we'd been anticipating all summer, the day i'd planned my summer around - it had arrived. we rose early, showered, all congregated at my house around 9:30. Paul, Tyler, Gio, Timmy, and my brother excitedly gathered in the foyer, waiting for our last member of the trip, Marisa, to arrive. She called, had to drop someone off at the mall, and then called again later to say she couldn't make it. I wasn't quite sure of the story, but ran downstairs, decorated my car with car chalk, picked up ERIC! and headed off - Timmy, Eric and Andre in my car, and Tyler, Gio, and Paul in Paul's car. Stopped at MLK Discount on the way out, where, because of their going-out-of-buisiness sale, everything was 50% off, purchased cheap energy-drinks and cameras. Headed off, cars flying down i275 - mooning, flicking off, passing - getting lost on the way in, but finally making in. Parked our vehicles, headed in, Andre was greeted by some cute chicks from school (ooo!). Amazingness occured. The concert was beyond hot, the system to purchase the overpriced (three fucking bucks) water and food ridiculous, but it was amazing. We saw the Planet Smashers first, skanked liked mad, then saw the Casualties - played my favorite Casualties songs ("punk rock love" and "punx unite"), much to my happiness - then walked around, bumrushed a few, saw some people we knew and examined the area. We realized after our first two shows that water was crucial, and waiting in line wasn't going to kill you - it needed to be done. Rested, spoke of masterbation and ridiculous things (Gio likened women to ovens and men to microwaves) - then headed to Anti-Flag around 3:30. They, of course, were fucking amazing. Paul, who wasn't as into punk as the rest of it (I believe he'd heard a few songs and of course, things I had him listen to pre-show), enjoyed it a lot more than I anticipated - Eric and I beamed with pride when we saw him up in the crowd during Anti-Flag's set, screaming along to the lyrics. It was my second time seeing them, and I must admit, I was not let down a bit - played great songs, I got up in the crowd a few times, the pit was mad crazy fun, Justin Sane managed to move the crowd per-usual with his insightfulness and honest want to get the kids together. After Anti-Flag, more running around insued - I saw Liz, a dear friend of mine, chatted with her, Gio, Tyler, Anthony, Paul and I sat by the water, chilling and horsing around, got some food, hung out some more, caught a few shows - listened on the outskirts to some bands (we were saving our pit energy for later!), then...
So right before Flogging Molly, we all split up, and Paul and I headed towards the Casualties booth, as I wanted to get a shirt (which, I'm wearing now!!). As we approached the booth, we noticed one of the guys from the band was signing stuff, so I pulled out my phone (which has a Casualties sticker on the back), and asked him to sign it. He was obviously amused by this, and while he was examining the phone, noticed the "RSH" sticker on the back - "RSH," he asked, "What is that? I saw some kid with an RSH shirt a little bit ago." We explained to him that that was our neighborhood crew, and he was like "alright!" So of course, when we reuinited with RSH, I told them of this madness, and we all ran back and introduced ourselves as RSH Crew to the Casualties dude, and took a picture, woohoo!
Then saw Flogging Molly - all screamed excitedley to REBELS OF THE SACRED HEART, 'cuz that's our SONG, NOFX came next - the first punk band I got into, so it was quite a moment for my brother and I - they were awesome - then Bad Religion, who rocked as well.
Then we headed out, with three new members to bring home - Yaz and Cynthia, and Anthony, who had gotten a ride in with his mom (all the previous days talks about him were dismissed when we realized he was stranded). my car was barracaded in and the "RIVERSIDE" thing was scratched out. that was kinda fucked. but we got in, blared some awesome music, got lost and ended up somewhere with lots of COP CARS and of course, that made me nervous, got on the interstate, went to Waffle House, then my mom called and bitched me out and we all had to come home - it was ridiculous - I called my parents right as we left St. Pete and told them of our plans, and they were fine - but I guess they decided we would be out too alte, and demanded we all return - Paul was nice enough to take Yaz and Cynthia home, and then Eric and went and got taco bell... and end of cool day.
Saturday, July 31st
A bland day. Paul called mid-afternoon, as he was being forced by his mother to do some school-shopping (Saturday was the last day of the tax-free deal). We went to the mall, vouged to actually shop, but bought about three things before heading off to Brandon, where we freaked out Emily in Borders with out megaphone and after a chat in the fiction aisle, departed for Sound Idea. Eric called, followed by Silver (and I happened to be minutes down the road from her house...), lots of talking occured, I got upset about lots of stupid stuff, nearly walked to Silver's in the pouring rain. It was cleansing, though, trudging through the puddles, rain pelting in my face and bright car headlines blinding me. A little girl in a dangerous world, yet I felt free. Decided walking to Silver's wasn't such a hot idea, returned, saw Big Fist - an unexpected (at least for me), end, but I was really impressed - a lot of times during performances, you tend to zone out the words and focus on the beat, or the kids, or whatever you're doing - but ehse guys, I was focused on their every word.
Got icecream afterward, drove Emily home, then returned to Tampa... Paul and I sat on my porch in the dark for the longest time, not wanting to call it a night. We ended up practically falling alseep on my front porch, the cold marble floor and dirty entrance rug meaning nothing to us. I could have fallen asleep, waking up in his arms with the sun, but of course, around 12:30, we decided I'd broken curfew long enough, I retreated inside....
Sunday, August 1st
Was pulled out of bed by the mother in the morning and assigned a bunch of household chores. As she holds the "car" over me at the moment, I cannot afford to argue such things. Eric came over,
Monday, August 2nd
Awesome day. Woke up, drove out to Tampa Palms and picked up Yaz, then headed off in the pouring rain to Westchase, where we saw Devin standing outside the Westchase town area, waiting for her mother. Afraid our plans for the day were ruined, we were delighted when her mother allowed Devin to hang out with us for a few hours. Paul came, and we all headed to Starbucks, got some coffee and chatted about everything, then headed to the mall, blaring rap music. Walked around civilization with Devin, and got STICKY PICTURES - then decided the mall was a bit to much, and headed off to Burger King - got some food, then headed towards Carrollwood, where we had to pick up my brother from his friends house. Pulled in, horn down, blaring obnoxious mainstream rap music from JULIO'S MIX. My brother is embarassed quite easily, and bolted out of Joesph's house, flustered and pissed off. Shortly after he got in the car, he noticed the picture of him from Warped Tour that we had hung in the car (him looking quite constipated!) and threw it out the window - we rescued it, though! Drove home with him bitching at us, calling us "gay" and demanded we cease the "nigger rap." Of course, the four of us found this amusing to no end, and declared ourselves "gay niggas," pre-empting every sentence with "as a gay nigga, I...." Now, generally, I despise this term, but with my brother's constant usage os it, it was really funny. Got some groceries for my mother, dropped them off, then took Devin home - then headed to Tampa Palms, where we visited Tremont and dropped Yaz off. I'M SO UPSET SHE'S NOT COMING TO TP THIS YEAR! Yaz was seriously one of my favorite people to chill with, and efinitely one of the most fun girls I've ever met, and we're G-N UNIT FOR LIFE, DAMMIT!! I miss Yaz :(.
Paul and returned to RSH, hung out with Gio, Tyler, and Eric for awhile - I had to eat dinner, Paul took them to farm store, then home, then the two of us went and chilled for awhile. Woohoooo.
Tuesday, August 3rd, 2004
Dragged out of bed and assigned multiple chores by the madre, but thankfully was accompanied by Eric. Seeing as we share a car and she pays for gas, I'm in no position to argue. We hung out for a bit, spoke to Tiff on the phone, then eric went to tyler's and i took a shower - then remembered I had to bring silver's shoes to her dad's store, so went to tyler's hung out with him for a bit, then we went to hyde park and dropped off the shoes. In no mood to head to Hillsborough, where we had to go and get Tyler's schedule, we started walking around Hyde Park and ran into Paul and Andrew (hooray!). Paul came with us, and we picked up Gio and headed to HHS, where we got lost, viewed all the sketchy people and picked up everyone's schedule. HHS has tons of character - but being there, I was delighted that I was at TP. This has been the summer of appreciation, I guess - I like Tampa, like TP, it's all good. Gio yelled obnoxious things with the megaphone, we met a bunch of RSH's friends, saw Eric, Ant, Bry, and President... Tyler went nuts when he saw the Young Republicans CLub table (he's the vice-president of the Young Democrats' Club), we dragged him out, all got into the car (eric included), and blared Anti-Flag (screaming "DIE FOR YOUR GOVERNMENT" loudly, windows down, five rowdy kids? YES!), got Paul's car, then headed back to RSH. Paul had plans to visit THE RILEY, so Tyler and Gio left and Eric, Paul and I drove to Odessa, listening to funk music and plotting our evil. We picked up Lindsey, whose mother had picked up the phone when we called her on our way and was upset that the boy driving Lindsey would do something as irresponsible as talking and driving. She jumped into the car, directions to Riley's house in hand, and we drove to Brandon. After getting lost with a vague direction (Mapquest failed us for once), we found his house, in a typical smaller suburban neighborhood. As much as Paul and I have been eagerly plotting a visit to Riley's all summer, I found my knees a bit weak when we got out the car, megaphone in hand. Visions of the police, getting in trouble again, the end of the summer - ran through my ehad. Lindsey was feeling the same way, but we mustered up the courage to follow Eric and Paul to his front door. Of course, he wasn't home, so after questioning his neighbors, who obviously found us strange, we left him an anonymous note in four color pen and left. HEaded to Silver's - megaphoned her, chatted, then went to Waffle House - sourly dissapointed at the service in Brandon's Waffle House - terrible. They had a ton of employees, little customers, yet they didn't take our order until the end (the cook did it for us), and offered little help. Whatev. We left, drove to my house, dropped Eric off, and then Lindsey, Paul and I chilled out on the driveway... finally spotted our STARS, but Lindsey was there :p. They left.
Wednesday, August 4th, 2004
With mega plans for an amazing day (RSH's last day of summer), Wednesday was supposed to to be insane. However, nothing went as planned - but it was cool. I was at the Gonzalezes when Paul came over, so we chilled out there for a bit, cracking jokes with Mrs. Gonzalez and wearing Julio's G-UNIT! shirt, then left for some adventure. Intending to eventually meet up with Eric, we drove to K-Mart in search of water ballons, but found none - so went to Best Buy, where we got some wire Paul needed for his DVD player and chilled in the parking lot, having APS wars and tickling fights. THe verdict? We're gonna live in the parking lot of best buy foreva!! I love it. Love it when you can do something as simple as sit in the car of the parking lot of some ridiculous chainstore on a busy street, laughing and joking and kissing and be so content, so happy. After Best Buy, we headed to my house for a bit, then to the airport where we picked up Paul's dad and went back to Lutz - hung out with his parents, who I rarely see (this was only my second time at Paul's house - he just always comes into Tampa). Seeing how often Paul sees and converses with my parents, I feel terrible that I never see his, so this was a nice oppurtunity to chill. Eventually headed back to Tampa, where we spent another night on my porch, falling asleeping in eachother's arms once more. Yet another night I never wanted to open my front door and trudge up the stairs, watching the lights of Paul's car move backwards down my driveway.
Thursday, August 5th
Paul's last day in town before he headed off to Hawaii, so of course, an important landmark in our amazing summer - the end. My brother had a hair appointment at 3, so I had to drive my mother and brother to new Tampa, drop them off, then take my brother's urine sample to Tampa Palms for testing (the strangest errand I've ever ran). I was shocked to find new Tampa clotted with traffic. I remember living there years ago, when all that existed past Tampa Palms was Hunter's Green and perhaps a few grocery stores - the place has blown up, changed from even two years ago, when I moved, and I though things were bad. Paul was amazing enough to meet me back at the hair place, where we eyed my brother's new hair cut - he did away with shaggy Beatles cut and opted for an extremely short, jocky look ("it'll get hot," he explained - but I knew it was for aesthetics rather than comfort - he wanted to make an impression at his new school). Paul and I agreed that it looked ridiculous, so we got him a sympathy card and a comb at Eckerd's, which we delivered to him a 4:30, when we met back up with my mother and brother for my dentist appointment (another thing destroying my last day with Paul... booo!). My brother, needless to say, did not appreciate our humour. GOt the teeth check out of the way, headed to Wal-Mart, then to Waffle House - an obligatory last dinner at our summer's hot spot - then decided to head to the beach.
We blindly took i275 with no particular beach in mind, and eventually came across the exit to Madeira - we missed it, took the next exit, and eventually found our way, parking in the public lot next to the motel we'd visited Tyler in weeks before. Hardly dressed for a day at the beach, Paul and I ran out, walking along the beach and eventually falling onto the sand, where we laid out for an insanely long time, in all our glory. Nothing, m'dears, is more amazing than kissing on the beach, under a sky full of stars, the waves crashing in the background. hahaha, i heart that boy to death. A perfect way to end our summer - finally finding our stars, no interuptions, no obligations - just the two of us. I remember staring out into the ocean, the unfathomable darkness that enveloped the water, so intrigued. I wanted to get into a boat, float out into the dark, just seeing where I'd end up. A new world, it seemed to call, laid out there in the amoungst the black.
Eventually, we headed back - and that's it went sour. I placed my cell in Paul's front pocket of his shirt (mistake #1), and we walked along the beach, hand-in-hand. The cell was there for quite awhile, as I checked it a couple of time, but towards the end of our walk, we came across several sandcastles. The evilness inside us screaming, we destroyed every piece of sand architecture we encountered, and ran along the beach, professing our RULING to the world. Around this time, I imagine, the phone was lost.
We were about 10 minutes outside of Madeira when we realized it was missing, that scratched up phone with the peeling stickers on the back. Desperate, we returned to to site, where we spent quite a bit of time on the beach, calling it and hoping to hear the ring, see the blinking screen. The wind was blowing, and the waves were crashing, making it nearly impossible to hear anything, and the sandy beach was vast enough that finding a few inch long cellphone was nearly impossible. We returned home cellphoneless, ending the day once more in the drive for one last night on the porch... found out what a clutch on stick-shift was (jesus christ, i am an incomptent piece of shit when it comes to automobiles), said the final goodbyes, and watched the GTI pull out of the drive one last time.
Friday, August 6th
Bent on finding my cellphone, I begged my mother to let me return to Madeira to search for it. Though it was a shot in the dark, I knew I would feel better if I exhausted every option possible - even if it meant going to every hotel on the beach and checking their lost and found. She agreed, as long as I took company - and of course, as soon as HHS let out, I enlisted Tyler. My brother, too, opted to come along. We were about to leave when my mother decided there was too much traffic to head out there, and refused to let us go. I was crushed, and upset that my mother would use such stupid reasoning. Yes, rush hour isn't the best condition to drive in, but one must learn to deal with such stresses when driving, or you'll never improve. Our plans ruined, we took the car out on an adventure, hitting Papa Dan's for some Jones Soda, where we met some cool middle school kids ((not an oxymoron, I swear!) A particulary neat one lived near RSH - we gave him a ride to Hyde Park. Anyway. Went to Kash-N-Karry to visit Marcel, who was not working, then to Squaresville, where Tyler had never been (and anyone who knows the boy can understand how perfect that store is for him). Tyler got a DK shirt, then we went to Westshore, where we found out through the unhelpful employee at Cingular that the cheapest phone I could get without being bound in contract was a hundred bucks. Fuck.
After the mall, we went to Marisa's, where we surprised her and spent nearly two hours in her living room. Tyler and Marisa's mom, an HHS alumni, really hit it off, and engaged in a conversation about the wonders (and the 60s riot!) of HHS. Around 7:30, we left, and I then I was picked up at the house by Kristina, who was with her friend Greg and this chick from school, Ally. We cruised around, honking at drunks at the bars on Howard and stopping for icecream. Headed home, her dude friend left, and hung out and talked for awhile before falling asleep.
Saturday, August 7th
Woke up, headed to Panera, then Ally left - Kristina and I decided camp shopping was crucial, so we dropped by my house to get some money (and nearly had to drive Andre to Carrollwood) and ventured to Sports Authority, where we picked up some camping gear (sorta), and ran into Marisa's dad. Drove to International in the pouring rain, and, as all the parking places under the roofs were taken, were forced to sprint in the torential downpour into the entrance of the mall - hahahaha! Spent the next few hours shopping for good stuff - I got a cute shirt at Forever 21, and Kristina got lots of cute things - then we went to the amazing STARBUCKS DRIVE-IN and got the necessary caffiene, drove back to her house and chilled, then I was taken back to my house, as we had plans to go to a show at Sound Idea - but of course, as soon as I walked in and told my mom the plans, she refused to let me go.
All was better, though, when five minutes later I heard a knock on the door - Eric, Tyler and TIFFANY!! greeted me. Elated to see Tiff, who was visiting from flight attendent school, we excitedly entered my home and plotted. My mother refused to let us go even if Tiff drove, claiming it was too rainy, so after my parents left for a movie, we made some food then took my car to Davis Island, where we met Tyler's awesome friend Keir (sp?). Keir was a cool guy with an insane house, and he ventured with us to downtown Davis Island (if you can call it that), where we got some soda and chilled at the laundromat... lol. Went driving, visisted Kristina, then Tiff got a call from Eric's dad, who said my mom was looking for me, and I called my mom, who, in a rage of cursing and violent anger, demanded I return home.
Not wanting to hear mine (nor Eric, Tyler, or Tiff's) story, my parents bitched me out for taking the car and not telling them where I was going. I explained to them that they told me I could go out as long as I left a message with them, and I assumed I'd get in contact with them before they returned home vua cell-phone, but that didn't happen. The car, which apparently, I wasn't supposed to take, was because Tiff is fucking trying to support herself and didn't need to waste gas carting us around when she had to drive three hours back to Daytona the next day.
Whatever. So I'm in trouble... I think.
Oh, and my cellphone is ringing again, and Tyler's voicemail no longer picks up. Which means someone has my phone. Which means I need to cancel the service - I couldn't earlier, since I didn't know the billing code (it's billed to my father's office), and when I got a hold of it, they, of course, just my luck, where fixing the automated system for "my convience."
My convienience, my ass. Now someone's out there running up my phone bill. AUGGGHHH.
Oh, well. I got to talk to Paul for a few mintues today <3. I MISS THAT BOY SO MUCH.
let's talk about what i haven't. starting with Warped Tour.
Friday, July 30th
the day we'd been anticipating all summer, the day i'd planned my summer around - it had arrived. we rose early, showered, all congregated at my house around 9:30. Paul, Tyler, Gio, Timmy, and my brother excitedly gathered in the foyer, waiting for our last member of the trip, Marisa, to arrive. She called, had to drop someone off at the mall, and then called again later to say she couldn't make it. I wasn't quite sure of the story, but ran downstairs, decorated my car with car chalk, picked up ERIC! and headed off - Timmy, Eric and Andre in my car, and Tyler, Gio, and Paul in Paul's car. Stopped at MLK Discount on the way out, where, because of their going-out-of-buisiness sale, everything was 50% off, purchased cheap energy-drinks and cameras. Headed off, cars flying down i275 - mooning, flicking off, passing - getting lost on the way in, but finally making in. Parked our vehicles, headed in, Andre was greeted by some cute chicks from school (ooo!). Amazingness occured. The concert was beyond hot, the system to purchase the overpriced (three fucking bucks) water and food ridiculous, but it was amazing. We saw the Planet Smashers first, skanked liked mad, then saw the Casualties - played my favorite Casualties songs ("punk rock love" and "punx unite"), much to my happiness - then walked around, bumrushed a few, saw some people we knew and examined the area. We realized after our first two shows that water was crucial, and waiting in line wasn't going to kill you - it needed to be done. Rested, spoke of masterbation and ridiculous things (Gio likened women to ovens and men to microwaves) - then headed to Anti-Flag around 3:30. They, of course, were fucking amazing. Paul, who wasn't as into punk as the rest of it (I believe he'd heard a few songs and of course, things I had him listen to pre-show), enjoyed it a lot more than I anticipated - Eric and I beamed with pride when we saw him up in the crowd during Anti-Flag's set, screaming along to the lyrics. It was my second time seeing them, and I must admit, I was not let down a bit - played great songs, I got up in the crowd a few times, the pit was mad crazy fun, Justin Sane managed to move the crowd per-usual with his insightfulness and honest want to get the kids together. After Anti-Flag, more running around insued - I saw Liz, a dear friend of mine, chatted with her, Gio, Tyler, Anthony, Paul and I sat by the water, chilling and horsing around, got some food, hung out some more, caught a few shows - listened on the outskirts to some bands (we were saving our pit energy for later!), then...
So right before Flogging Molly, we all split up, and Paul and I headed towards the Casualties booth, as I wanted to get a shirt (which, I'm wearing now!!). As we approached the booth, we noticed one of the guys from the band was signing stuff, so I pulled out my phone (which has a Casualties sticker on the back), and asked him to sign it. He was obviously amused by this, and while he was examining the phone, noticed the "RSH" sticker on the back - "RSH," he asked, "What is that? I saw some kid with an RSH shirt a little bit ago." We explained to him that that was our neighborhood crew, and he was like "alright!" So of course, when we reuinited with RSH, I told them of this madness, and we all ran back and introduced ourselves as RSH Crew to the Casualties dude, and took a picture, woohoo!
Then saw Flogging Molly - all screamed excitedley to REBELS OF THE SACRED HEART, 'cuz that's our SONG, NOFX came next - the first punk band I got into, so it was quite a moment for my brother and I - they were awesome - then Bad Religion, who rocked as well.
Then we headed out, with three new members to bring home - Yaz and Cynthia, and Anthony, who had gotten a ride in with his mom (all the previous days talks about him were dismissed when we realized he was stranded). my car was barracaded in and the "RIVERSIDE" thing was scratched out. that was kinda fucked. but we got in, blared some awesome music, got lost and ended up somewhere with lots of COP CARS and of course, that made me nervous, got on the interstate, went to Waffle House, then my mom called and bitched me out and we all had to come home - it was ridiculous - I called my parents right as we left St. Pete and told them of our plans, and they were fine - but I guess they decided we would be out too alte, and demanded we all return - Paul was nice enough to take Yaz and Cynthia home, and then Eric and went and got taco bell... and end of cool day.
Saturday, July 31st
A bland day. Paul called mid-afternoon, as he was being forced by his mother to do some school-shopping (Saturday was the last day of the tax-free deal). We went to the mall, vouged to actually shop, but bought about three things before heading off to Brandon, where we freaked out Emily in Borders with out megaphone and after a chat in the fiction aisle, departed for Sound Idea. Eric called, followed by Silver (and I happened to be minutes down the road from her house...), lots of talking occured, I got upset about lots of stupid stuff, nearly walked to Silver's in the pouring rain. It was cleansing, though, trudging through the puddles, rain pelting in my face and bright car headlines blinding me. A little girl in a dangerous world, yet I felt free. Decided walking to Silver's wasn't such a hot idea, returned, saw Big Fist - an unexpected (at least for me), end, but I was really impressed - a lot of times during performances, you tend to zone out the words and focus on the beat, or the kids, or whatever you're doing - but ehse guys, I was focused on their every word.
Got icecream afterward, drove Emily home, then returned to Tampa... Paul and I sat on my porch in the dark for the longest time, not wanting to call it a night. We ended up practically falling alseep on my front porch, the cold marble floor and dirty entrance rug meaning nothing to us. I could have fallen asleep, waking up in his arms with the sun, but of course, around 12:30, we decided I'd broken curfew long enough, I retreated inside....
Sunday, August 1st
Was pulled out of bed by the mother in the morning and assigned a bunch of household chores. As she holds the "car" over me at the moment, I cannot afford to argue such things. Eric came over,
Monday, August 2nd
Awesome day. Woke up, drove out to Tampa Palms and picked up Yaz, then headed off in the pouring rain to Westchase, where we saw Devin standing outside the Westchase town area, waiting for her mother. Afraid our plans for the day were ruined, we were delighted when her mother allowed Devin to hang out with us for a few hours. Paul came, and we all headed to Starbucks, got some coffee and chatted about everything, then headed to the mall, blaring rap music. Walked around civilization with Devin, and got STICKY PICTURES - then decided the mall was a bit to much, and headed off to Burger King - got some food, then headed towards Carrollwood, where we had to pick up my brother from his friends house. Pulled in, horn down, blaring obnoxious mainstream rap music from JULIO'S MIX. My brother is embarassed quite easily, and bolted out of Joesph's house, flustered and pissed off. Shortly after he got in the car, he noticed the picture of him from Warped Tour that we had hung in the car (him looking quite constipated!) and threw it out the window - we rescued it, though! Drove home with him bitching at us, calling us "gay" and demanded we cease the "nigger rap." Of course, the four of us found this amusing to no end, and declared ourselves "gay niggas," pre-empting every sentence with "as a gay nigga, I...." Now, generally, I despise this term, but with my brother's constant usage os it, it was really funny. Got some groceries for my mother, dropped them off, then took Devin home - then headed to Tampa Palms, where we visited Tremont and dropped Yaz off. I'M SO UPSET SHE'S NOT COMING TO TP THIS YEAR! Yaz was seriously one of my favorite people to chill with, and efinitely one of the most fun girls I've ever met, and we're G-N UNIT FOR LIFE, DAMMIT!! I miss Yaz :(.
Paul and returned to RSH, hung out with Gio, Tyler, and Eric for awhile - I had to eat dinner, Paul took them to farm store, then home, then the two of us went and chilled for awhile. Woohoooo.
Tuesday, August 3rd, 2004
Dragged out of bed and assigned multiple chores by the madre, but thankfully was accompanied by Eric. Seeing as we share a car and she pays for gas, I'm in no position to argue. We hung out for a bit, spoke to Tiff on the phone, then eric went to tyler's and i took a shower - then remembered I had to bring silver's shoes to her dad's store, so went to tyler's hung out with him for a bit, then we went to hyde park and dropped off the shoes. In no mood to head to Hillsborough, where we had to go and get Tyler's schedule, we started walking around Hyde Park and ran into Paul and Andrew (hooray!). Paul came with us, and we picked up Gio and headed to HHS, where we got lost, viewed all the sketchy people and picked up everyone's schedule. HHS has tons of character - but being there, I was delighted that I was at TP. This has been the summer of appreciation, I guess - I like Tampa, like TP, it's all good. Gio yelled obnoxious things with the megaphone, we met a bunch of RSH's friends, saw Eric, Ant, Bry, and President... Tyler went nuts when he saw the Young Republicans CLub table (he's the vice-president of the Young Democrats' Club), we dragged him out, all got into the car (eric included), and blared Anti-Flag (screaming "DIE FOR YOUR GOVERNMENT" loudly, windows down, five rowdy kids? YES!), got Paul's car, then headed back to RSH. Paul had plans to visit THE RILEY, so Tyler and Gio left and Eric, Paul and I drove to Odessa, listening to funk music and plotting our evil. We picked up Lindsey, whose mother had picked up the phone when we called her on our way and was upset that the boy driving Lindsey would do something as irresponsible as talking and driving. She jumped into the car, directions to Riley's house in hand, and we drove to Brandon. After getting lost with a vague direction (Mapquest failed us for once), we found his house, in a typical smaller suburban neighborhood. As much as Paul and I have been eagerly plotting a visit to Riley's all summer, I found my knees a bit weak when we got out the car, megaphone in hand. Visions of the police, getting in trouble again, the end of the summer - ran through my ehad. Lindsey was feeling the same way, but we mustered up the courage to follow Eric and Paul to his front door. Of course, he wasn't home, so after questioning his neighbors, who obviously found us strange, we left him an anonymous note in four color pen and left. HEaded to Silver's - megaphoned her, chatted, then went to Waffle House - sourly dissapointed at the service in Brandon's Waffle House - terrible. They had a ton of employees, little customers, yet they didn't take our order until the end (the cook did it for us), and offered little help. Whatev. We left, drove to my house, dropped Eric off, and then Lindsey, Paul and I chilled out on the driveway... finally spotted our STARS, but Lindsey was there :p. They left.
Wednesday, August 4th, 2004
With mega plans for an amazing day (RSH's last day of summer), Wednesday was supposed to to be insane. However, nothing went as planned - but it was cool. I was at the Gonzalezes when Paul came over, so we chilled out there for a bit, cracking jokes with Mrs. Gonzalez and wearing Julio's G-UNIT! shirt, then left for some adventure. Intending to eventually meet up with Eric, we drove to K-Mart in search of water ballons, but found none - so went to Best Buy, where we got some wire Paul needed for his DVD player and chilled in the parking lot, having APS wars and tickling fights. THe verdict? We're gonna live in the parking lot of best buy foreva!! I love it. Love it when you can do something as simple as sit in the car of the parking lot of some ridiculous chainstore on a busy street, laughing and joking and kissing and be so content, so happy. After Best Buy, we headed to my house for a bit, then to the airport where we picked up Paul's dad and went back to Lutz - hung out with his parents, who I rarely see (this was only my second time at Paul's house - he just always comes into Tampa). Seeing how often Paul sees and converses with my parents, I feel terrible that I never see his, so this was a nice oppurtunity to chill. Eventually headed back to Tampa, where we spent another night on my porch, falling asleeping in eachother's arms once more. Yet another night I never wanted to open my front door and trudge up the stairs, watching the lights of Paul's car move backwards down my driveway.
Thursday, August 5th
Paul's last day in town before he headed off to Hawaii, so of course, an important landmark in our amazing summer - the end. My brother had a hair appointment at 3, so I had to drive my mother and brother to new Tampa, drop them off, then take my brother's urine sample to Tampa Palms for testing (the strangest errand I've ever ran). I was shocked to find new Tampa clotted with traffic. I remember living there years ago, when all that existed past Tampa Palms was Hunter's Green and perhaps a few grocery stores - the place has blown up, changed from even two years ago, when I moved, and I though things were bad. Paul was amazing enough to meet me back at the hair place, where we eyed my brother's new hair cut - he did away with shaggy Beatles cut and opted for an extremely short, jocky look ("it'll get hot," he explained - but I knew it was for aesthetics rather than comfort - he wanted to make an impression at his new school). Paul and I agreed that it looked ridiculous, so we got him a sympathy card and a comb at Eckerd's, which we delivered to him a 4:30, when we met back up with my mother and brother for my dentist appointment (another thing destroying my last day with Paul... booo!). My brother, needless to say, did not appreciate our humour. GOt the teeth check out of the way, headed to Wal-Mart, then to Waffle House - an obligatory last dinner at our summer's hot spot - then decided to head to the beach.
We blindly took i275 with no particular beach in mind, and eventually came across the exit to Madeira - we missed it, took the next exit, and eventually found our way, parking in the public lot next to the motel we'd visited Tyler in weeks before. Hardly dressed for a day at the beach, Paul and I ran out, walking along the beach and eventually falling onto the sand, where we laid out for an insanely long time, in all our glory. Nothing, m'dears, is more amazing than kissing on the beach, under a sky full of stars, the waves crashing in the background. hahaha, i heart that boy to death. A perfect way to end our summer - finally finding our stars, no interuptions, no obligations - just the two of us. I remember staring out into the ocean, the unfathomable darkness that enveloped the water, so intrigued. I wanted to get into a boat, float out into the dark, just seeing where I'd end up. A new world, it seemed to call, laid out there in the amoungst the black.
Eventually, we headed back - and that's it went sour. I placed my cell in Paul's front pocket of his shirt (mistake #1), and we walked along the beach, hand-in-hand. The cell was there for quite awhile, as I checked it a couple of time, but towards the end of our walk, we came across several sandcastles. The evilness inside us screaming, we destroyed every piece of sand architecture we encountered, and ran along the beach, professing our RULING to the world. Around this time, I imagine, the phone was lost.
We were about 10 minutes outside of Madeira when we realized it was missing, that scratched up phone with the peeling stickers on the back. Desperate, we returned to to site, where we spent quite a bit of time on the beach, calling it and hoping to hear the ring, see the blinking screen. The wind was blowing, and the waves were crashing, making it nearly impossible to hear anything, and the sandy beach was vast enough that finding a few inch long cellphone was nearly impossible. We returned home cellphoneless, ending the day once more in the drive for one last night on the porch... found out what a clutch on stick-shift was (jesus christ, i am an incomptent piece of shit when it comes to automobiles), said the final goodbyes, and watched the GTI pull out of the drive one last time.
Friday, August 6th
Bent on finding my cellphone, I begged my mother to let me return to Madeira to search for it. Though it was a shot in the dark, I knew I would feel better if I exhausted every option possible - even if it meant going to every hotel on the beach and checking their lost and found. She agreed, as long as I took company - and of course, as soon as HHS let out, I enlisted Tyler. My brother, too, opted to come along. We were about to leave when my mother decided there was too much traffic to head out there, and refused to let us go. I was crushed, and upset that my mother would use such stupid reasoning. Yes, rush hour isn't the best condition to drive in, but one must learn to deal with such stresses when driving, or you'll never improve. Our plans ruined, we took the car out on an adventure, hitting Papa Dan's for some Jones Soda, where we met some cool middle school kids ((not an oxymoron, I swear!) A particulary neat one lived near RSH - we gave him a ride to Hyde Park. Anyway. Went to Kash-N-Karry to visit Marcel, who was not working, then to Squaresville, where Tyler had never been (and anyone who knows the boy can understand how perfect that store is for him). Tyler got a DK shirt, then we went to Westshore, where we found out through the unhelpful employee at Cingular that the cheapest phone I could get without being bound in contract was a hundred bucks. Fuck.
After the mall, we went to Marisa's, where we surprised her and spent nearly two hours in her living room. Tyler and Marisa's mom, an HHS alumni, really hit it off, and engaged in a conversation about the wonders (and the 60s riot!) of HHS. Around 7:30, we left, and I then I was picked up at the house by Kristina, who was with her friend Greg and this chick from school, Ally. We cruised around, honking at drunks at the bars on Howard and stopping for icecream. Headed home, her dude friend left, and hung out and talked for awhile before falling asleep.
Saturday, August 7th
Woke up, headed to Panera, then Ally left - Kristina and I decided camp shopping was crucial, so we dropped by my house to get some money (and nearly had to drive Andre to Carrollwood) and ventured to Sports Authority, where we picked up some camping gear (sorta), and ran into Marisa's dad. Drove to International in the pouring rain, and, as all the parking places under the roofs were taken, were forced to sprint in the torential downpour into the entrance of the mall - hahahaha! Spent the next few hours shopping for good stuff - I got a cute shirt at Forever 21, and Kristina got lots of cute things - then we went to the amazing STARBUCKS DRIVE-IN and got the necessary caffiene, drove back to her house and chilled, then I was taken back to my house, as we had plans to go to a show at Sound Idea - but of course, as soon as I walked in and told my mom the plans, she refused to let me go.
All was better, though, when five minutes later I heard a knock on the door - Eric, Tyler and TIFFANY!! greeted me. Elated to see Tiff, who was visiting from flight attendent school, we excitedly entered my home and plotted. My mother refused to let us go even if Tiff drove, claiming it was too rainy, so after my parents left for a movie, we made some food then took my car to Davis Island, where we met Tyler's awesome friend Keir (sp?). Keir was a cool guy with an insane house, and he ventured with us to downtown Davis Island (if you can call it that), where we got some soda and chilled at the laundromat... lol. Went driving, visisted Kristina, then Tiff got a call from Eric's dad, who said my mom was looking for me, and I called my mom, who, in a rage of cursing and violent anger, demanded I return home.
Not wanting to hear mine (nor Eric, Tyler, or Tiff's) story, my parents bitched me out for taking the car and not telling them where I was going. I explained to them that they told me I could go out as long as I left a message with them, and I assumed I'd get in contact with them before they returned home vua cell-phone, but that didn't happen. The car, which apparently, I wasn't supposed to take, was because Tiff is fucking trying to support herself and didn't need to waste gas carting us around when she had to drive three hours back to Daytona the next day.
Whatever. So I'm in trouble... I think.
Oh, and my cellphone is ringing again, and Tyler's voicemail no longer picks up. Which means someone has my phone. Which means I need to cancel the service - I couldn't earlier, since I didn't know the billing code (it's billed to my father's office), and when I got a hold of it, they, of course, just my luck, where fixing the automated system for "my convience."
My convienience, my ass. Now someone's out there running up my phone bill. AUGGGHHH.
Oh, well. I got to talk to Paul for a few mintues today <3. I MISS THAT BOY SO MUCH.