Overwhelmed

20 August 2007

3:32 PM

It's been four months since I've written.
Shit... This is gonna take awhile.

Pick up from last entry - I'm over Nikita.
•I bought flowers and set them in front of her house when she came back from her StuCo trip.
•I drove as fast as I could after school to her house to make sure she was alright after she flipped her car.
•I asked her to prom by writing a poem in sidewalk-chalk on her front doorstep:

I know you've been going through a lot of change lately
And you may not quite yet be ready to date me
But assuming you're ready to begin things anew
I'd really love to go to prom with you!

'change' is underlined because the entire thing was covered with like, $20 in pennies.
•I bought a new pair of slacks for my black suit and had them tailored the day of prom for a date with her - total cost: $105.
•I brought her flowers that night, as well.

In return:
•"It's not that I don't want to go to prom with you... I just don't want to go to prom.... We can still hang out that night and all..."
•She had dinner with Ron on prom night, while I had dinner alone at another restaurant with Chris, Niki, Dallas, and their dates.
•She left the flowers I gave her on prom night at the hotel room.
•And I didn't get my $20 in pennies back.

So, yeah... After I got super wasted on prom night with drinks including a shot of Everclear chased by a shot of Bacardi 151, hit on her, passed out, and puked on her couch, I could tell by the tone in her texts that she wasn't even considering me.

Too fucking bad for her, I say.

It's cool though. After I got over that, I started talking to one of the divers through MySpace. Ms. Laura Ernst. She attends Coronado High School, and she's entering her senior year. Anyway, we got along well, and soon enough, we started dating. I love her =)
But, I'm also leaving for college in t-minus two days =(
Here's where I sum up our relationship and how I feel:

I'm very glad I got to know her. I wish I had started talking to her during my first year of diving. She's a great person, and I know she'll make someone very happy one day... I don't want to try to hold a long-distance relationship because it's going to be her senior year and I want her to be able to have romances and dates to the dances. I want her to have as much fun as she can this year. I didn't have as much fun as I could have my senior year, so I hope she can make up for it. She thinks I'm going to forget her, but that's impossible. I'm glad this happened. I'm glad we happened. I just wish it didn't have to end.

I'll get back to my emotions in a little bit. For now, I should discuss my summer.

Summer's been really great. I've been diving, for one because I'm still trying to tell myself I have a chance of walking on at USC, but if nothing else, to keep my flexibility and get some exercise.

There have been two hotel parties this summer - both hosted by members of Team Nihar, both at these amazing hotel rooms at the top of the MGM - The SkyLofts. If you've seen Ocean's Thirteen, it might interest you to know hat SkyLofts got the Five Diamond Award this year - one of only five hotels in Vegas to get it.

The first party was for graduation. Niki and I planned it, and it turned out great. We paid for the room, left $45 on the table for the maids because we knew we fucked it up, and still had $15 to buy lunch after we checked out.

The second... Was a bit worse...
This one was entirely planned by Niki, and was thrown as a going-away party for everybody who's going out of town for college. It was held on the 30th of July - the latest it could have possibly been, because Ron left the very next morning for Seattle. This party was far more populated than the last... I literally had to hug the walls to get from one room to another. There were enough people for me to go crowd surfing in the living room. Of course, with more people come more potential thieves. To date, I know that a digital camera and cell phone were taken. Also, someone took about $150 from the money in the safe that was supposed to pay for the hotel room, and then reset the 4-digit numeric code on the safe. We had to have the locksmith come up and open it for us the next morning.

Having lost that much was enough... But it seems fate didn't see it that way.

A few days ago, Niki's mom called and told him that $2000 had been taken out of her bank account by MGM Mirage to pay for damages to the room. The report said that the limestone and carpet had to be deep-cleaned, there was fruit on the windows and walls, the walls had to be repainted, there was broken glass everywhere, the carpet was frayed, and the repairs would leave the room unavailable for four days.

Niki's mom was, understandably, upset.
She told him that she wants the money back, plus overdraft fees, within seven days, or else she'll sell his car.
As soon as Team Nihar found out about that, we've been trying to think of ways to get the money... Niki's mom called him back the next day, crying, and by demanding more than $2100, upset Niki to the point of taking a good, swift swing to his computer. He hit the side of his tower closest to the motherboard, and my guess is that he broke the motherboard, processor, or both.

Well, the best ideas we've come up with for making this money are as follows:
•Sell as much of our property as we can
•Give my mom $1000 and let her use it to play poker, with the intent of tripling it or better
•Give Niki money to play poker himself, at tables in California

The first option is in play, but isn't doing well, as most of the things I can sell are worth less than $50 each. The second can't be done until my mom is off work, those days being Wednesday and Thursday. The third is being initiated as I type this, as Niki and Chris are driving south for Niki to session and enter some tournaments.

Niki's being financially backed by Sarah Williams, mainly because Dallas is skeptical about Niki's competence in succeeding, and won't front him the money. Niki thinks Sarah, Chris, Alma and Salome are the only ones to believe he can come back with a profit. I dunno what he thinks about me, but whenever he reads this, I'd just like to let him know that I believe in him, too. He's made pretty good money playing online poker, and showed his live poker-playing skills at the poker tournament at my sister's house a few months ago, where he took third. I've known the guy the longest out of all of my friends - since third grade. I know what he's capable of.

I'm just really upset that this trouble had to come at a time like this. Two of my very, very best friends just left for a three-day trip to California in an attempt to get us out of a bind, and I'll be gone to college before they get back. I've been typing through tears since the sentence about how long I've known Niki. I can't believe I'm about to do this. Chris, Niki, and Dallas are my best friends, and I'm gonna be gone in two days to start a new life, and to make new friends. But not to ditch old ones. I'll know these guys forever. I know that. Both of my hands are numb and shaking. I'll have to pick up from this blog when I regain composure, whenever that is.

God bless, Niki and Chris.
Best regards,
Vaniah Juniper Schwenoha.