Scene: Saturday. Marcella, Jason, Yuko and Sage decide to go swimming at UofL. I don't want to swim, but I insist on being a towel guard and joining in on the fun.

We get to the pool. There are lanes and small people wearing swim caps and goggles, furiously swimming laps. Some (college-aged) boys run around in towel cloaks, screaming team chants at the top of their lungs. Marcella looks apprehensive. We force Jason to go ask the girl at the desk what's going on; he comes back with a calendar and informs us the pool is currently closed for swim practise, although it will be open at later dates. Yuko is greatly disappointed. The gang tries to brainstorm Other Places to Swim.

Then, out of the blue, Yuko says, "I wish we could get a hotel room and use the hotel pool."
We stare at her in shock. Suddenly, this sounds like an excellent idea. (I wasn't actually all that crazy about it because I wasn't swimming in the first place, and here I was being sort of roped into it -- but I decided to go along with it anyway. Weak or just part of a group? You be the judge.)
I convinced my mother that this would be a "slumber party" at Marcella's. We become frenzied, calling everybody we know in our group in order to get them in on the Adventure. Seth thinks it's the worst idea he's ever heard, but is in. (He later backs out because he's "uncomfortable sneaking people into the hotel" and is basically a party crasher. BUT WHATEVER, HE'S A JERKWAD JERKFACED no he's not THING ANYWAY.) Erica tries to go, but her parents abandon town and need her to look after the house. We try to invite Rachel, who gets pissy when we don't, but she can't go anyway. (Good riddance, anyway?) The final tally ends up being the four of us plus Sage.

We eat food (I have my first real burrito) and they go swimming; Sage's first time in the pool. Marcella and I test out the baby cot while Jason and Yuko go retrieve more food. We watch Star Wars. We cuddle soft pillows. We talk about things. We watch Yuko feed Sage and Jason be super-sweet with Yuko. We hang out and eat waffles. We laze around on Sunday morning, eight AM, just being awake and almost not-believing that we actually did it.

The weird thing is that part of my brain keeps saying, "But you'll be moving soon. You're going to lose these friends." I know it isn't true and I keep having to tell myself it isn't true. I have friends and we get to do crazy things.

Still, I long for a place I have hardly lived.