Be My Last

I leave in a few hours. And I don’t know how I feel about it. Conflicted, I guess. I’ve gotten so accustomed to being home that it’s very strange to be leaving. I won’t have my parents or siblings or dogs, and I’ll be left to my own devices. I’m a bit sad because, though chaotic, I really loved being home. I mean, I don’t always appreciate it, but I do right now. I love school, though I love home more. I wish there was some way I could have both. It’s partly the reason I’ve decided to transfer out of Simpson after this year. That and it’s expensive. Anyhow, this blog was actually meant to cover the events of the past few days, rather than my woes about leaving home. So, back to the topic:

Wednesday my sister and Brad were taking me to Little Tokyo in LA as a last hurrah before coming back to school. Usually a trip to LT includes karaoke at Max, stopping at the Japanese market and a bite to eat. However, it went a little differently this time ‘round:

Planned to take the Metro. Thanks to another dazzling fight between Ashley and Brad about appropriate shower times, we missed the train. Ashley and I, riding ahead of Brad, had a conversation like this: “You know, Courtney, next time you need to tell me when you get out of the shower.” “I did… a minute later.” “And you really should have taken a shower after me. I take shorter showers when I’m pressured.” “My mistake… but your shower was, like, really long.” “Actually it wasn’t.” “But it was like over thirty minutes.” “It wasn’t.” “OK.” *eight minutes of silence* “You know, Brad made us late.” “Oh?” “Yeah. His shower was really long and he didn’t even take one right after me. He made us late.” “Okey-dokey.” She just can’t function without blaming someone.

Instead, we hitched a ride with her friend Cynthia.

Cynthia spent 80% of the car ride to LA on the phone with her work. The other 20% was spent on awkward conversation and silence since, for some reason, I was in the front seat and Ashley and Brad were in the back watching Big Bang Theory. Which left me and Cynthia with only each other to talk to. We have virtually nothing in common and spent most of the time making strained small talk. She’s nice and everything, but she’s Ashley’s friend, which is fairly indicative that we have very little common-ground.

We make it to LT and Ash and I went to the market only to find that they rearranged everything. Meaning, the my favorite drink to get there, Suntory Gokuri peach, was missing. Ashley ended up finding it, but it was warm (it used to come refrigerated), so I got something else instead. She’s going to send me up some next time she goes to LT. She doesn’t know it yet, but she will. They’re so good~ tastes just like drinking a peach. So I got some carrot juice, pandas and really, really nasty mochi instead.

On another note, while at the LT market: I was scanning the pocky and saw this strange type of pocky I’d never seen before… Men’s Chocolate Pocky… I don’t really get it. It looks like normal pocky, except that the packaging is an aqua-green and not red. But that’s it. Red isn’t particularly feminine, so I was/am a little confused. Just an interesting note. Men’s pocky. Maybe it’s physically impossible/or illegal for woman to consume it. Wow.

Anyhow, onto karaoke! It was actually pretty fun, though halfway through Cynthia was called into work. Brad and I sang a few Taylor Swift duets and tackled Bohemian Rhapsody. It’s a bit unfair, since Ashley and Cynthia can read kanji, but I looked up the romaji to a few songs and, for Anneke, sang Be My Last by Utada Hikaru. Her. Favorite. Song. Well, not really. Anyhow, it was fun and the best part of the day~

And then Hell broke loose. Brad missed his train because Ashley led us to the metro bus instead of the train. So Brad missed the train he planned to take into Riverside so he could get to some classes he hoped to add. Thus, he was petulant/angry and he and Ash even had a screaming match at the platform. Yes, I was embarrassed and did walk away as if I didn’t know them. People were watching. At one point Ashley marched up to me and announced: “Let’s go, Courtney! We’re leaving Brad here!” She tried to get me to leave him at the station by himself in the heart of LT. Brad has zero common sense. It would be like leaving a twelve-year-old to fend for himself. So, I refused. Eventually it went to angry whispers/arguing between them as we took the bus to the metro train station and bought our tickets. After that, they both deflated and got on better terms and were even enjoying the train home.

I enjoyed the train too. I was listening to my iPod and watching the landscape blur by in what was my first train ride since third grade. But then this thing with her SmartWater bottle started. For some reason, she grabs her empty bottle, starts waving it like a maniac and then slaps me with it. I don’t really know why… it was like when my dog, Molly, who doesn’t usually play, wants to. I don’t have enough data on this yet to offer any kind of explanation. So, she hits me with the bottle. I grab it from her and hit her. Eventually she gets it back and hits me again. I grab it from her and hit her. So, it became this every-few-minute battle of SmartWater. Very interesting. But most of the time she and Brad were watching Big Bang Theory on her iPhone. Although, I got into her Facebook as we were nearing Ontario. This will come into play later.

So, the train is at Riverside, though still moving. We’re on the third level and get up to move to the first. That’s when I fall. I’m not even sure how it happened exactly, only that one moment I’m at the top of the stairs leading to the second level and the next my butt is bouncing down every step to the bottom. It didn’t even hurt or anything at first. It was just a bit embarrassing. Ashley comes up and helps me up. At this point I had a firm hold on the SmartWater bottle up until the last step when I lost my grip and it flies under another seat. The first words out of my mouth were: “Get the bottle!” So Ashley gets it, I grab it and shove it in my purse for safekeeping. After I get the bottle, I follow Ashley down to the first level as the metro is pulling into the station. Curious people asked if I was fine (I was), and then it hits. For some reason, I go from o-100 in nausea right after that. The second the doors opened, I ran out and knocked into another lady. The same lady who told me to tell the conductor I fell. As if he cares. I didn’t have any obvious injuries so I told her I didn’t need to. As soon as I’m out, I’m ready to hurl. I ran to a nearby planter, poised to let go of my lunch. In fact, another lady tries to help me after seeing how sick I feel. But then I remember that I had nothing to eat that day. So I can’t barf. But I want to.

Next, as Brad heads off to class, we’re waiting for my mom to pick us up from the metro station. I’m sitting with my head bent over on the bench, still sick, when Matthew calls. This is where the Facebook thing comes in. All I hear is Ashley screech: “She what?!” and then glare at me. You see, I had typed something like this on her Facebook as a status… “Ai love mai sistah, Courtneh. She grate. Ai love her. Ai give her a kidney! Any day!” This was just supposed to be some stupid, rambling nonsense. But I guess it gave a few people the idea that she had donated her kidney to me. So, that was pretty hilarious. I was falling over in laughter as she began chanting, “I don’t care that you fell anymore. I don’t care. I don’t care.”

Bumper butt. That’s what they’re calling me now. Because my butt bump-bump-bumped down every step. And while I originally was sure I had no injuries, only a few scrapes, the next morning I found out otherwise. I’m not sure what exactly is wrong, only that my hip is not liking me right now. I have to pick up my leg with my hands to get it over a step because it hurts to lift it. If I don’t move, it doesn’t hurt, but any kind of walking of lifting is painful. So I have to basically pick up my leg for it to not hurt when I step over something or get out of the car. It’s great. I’m hoping it will go away soon and that it’s only a sprain or that I tore a muscle or something. At least the nausea is gone~

Well. That’s it. My last blog in Southern California. I leave for Redding, in a little less than four hours. *sigh* So conflicted.

But on a happier note, I forgot a little excerpt from yesterday. As I was listening to One Jump Ahead (reprise) from Aladdin, Eric-a passes by and says to my mom: “When I was in grade school, we used to be in a group at recess and pick a Street Rat and then beat him up.” For some reason, I was speechless. In amazement.

That is all. It was a great four months, Southern California.

Toodle Pip.