5.7.05

This weekend was a series of mixed reactions. If I told you the details of my vacation, it would sound like the best thing ever: 3 whole days of 85 degree weather at a house on a dammed-up portion of the Columbia, an entire extended family of a friend to hang out with, and boats and jet-skis and wakeboards and sound systems and cold drinks and pool tables and ping-pong and foosball and poker and and and...

And it was. It was a lot of fun. How incredibly relaxing, to have absolutely nothing to do but drive around in a boat in your swimsuit. My only worry was when to reapply sunscreen so that I wouldn't get too burnt. "Work" was going to eat dinner, or leaving to help bring in the boat and clean it out for the night, or wiping down the jet skis. I was just in heaven as I was wakeboarding behind the boat, and the amazing speakers blasted out "Master of Puppets" as I jetted across the surf. I could drink a Red Bull and eat Sun Chips as I lay out on the boat, and I wouldn't have to think about a thing. It was really a great time while it lasted.

But the company situation was less than desirable. First of all, I felt like I was invited along just because I was the only one in our circle of friends who had not been to Sunland yet. (Yes, that was the name of this 200-lot riverside community.) Furthermore, the other invitee was a guy that I have not gotten along with for years. This is no secret; we just do not like each other very much. There's no real reason for the dislike, from what I can see. But there doesn't have to be -sometimes certain people don't get along. It's just a simple fact. But we are capable of being civil, and so I thought things would go smoothly enough to where we'd have an enjoyable weekend. And as it turns out, it's the aspects that I didn't anticipate that slowly soured the weekend. First, there was a slight feeling of alienation from much of the family, where instead of being called by name I was referred to as the "friend", and no one really talked directly to me except for the host and the grandma (who is the coolest grandmother ever. It's been scientifically determined), and no one but the kids would approach me to play games with them. This was made worse by the fact that the other invited friend of my friend's had already been along a few times, and he was loved by virtually all the family. Another compounding factor was the slow realization that the friend who had invited me was becoming increasingly annoyed with me, and I couldn't do anything to fix it. Nothing I did was right, and the worst part was that I couldn't just get up and leave when I wanted to, since we had all come in the same car to a getaway 150 miles from my house. Believe me, if it would have made their vacation better, I would have.

Then, to top it all off, I made a small mistake right after I got back to Olympia due to a miscommunication. That part, I admit, is my fault. But of course, word got back and it resulted in an angry phone message and a few conversations between other friends about the topic before the day's end. And of course, now they're mad at me, and I don't know how much I should fight it. Fight to regain the favor of an acquaintence I don't particularly like anyway? I think I'll stay away from that one. The real question, then, is what to do with my female friend... the one that may not want to talk to me, at least not for a while.

This is why, my friends. This is why I didn't live in the CHS girls' apartment this year, or in their cluster last year. This is why I make such a colossal effort to make new friends at UW. This is why an out-of-state school may have been the better choice. TOO MUCH HIGH-SCHOOL DRAMA.