2010 Looks to be a Doozy for the Jakester

New Years Eve was pretty awesome. When I say awesome I am particularly focusing on the “awe” portion of the word. All of us went to a little party up in Bountiful (minus Lance he went to Harry-O’s black tie masquerade thingy). Oh, and here’s a story you’ll love, we were invited to said party by none other than Tori.

Yep, Tori is going to be flying to BYU-Hawaii next week. She called Calvin and told him that she had a friend that she really thought Nick would like. Rather than setting her friend Jennifer and Nick up on a date she wanted Nick, and all of us to come to her friend’s party where Nick and Jennifer could meet.

Tori’s proposition seemed innocent enough… HA! riiiiiiggght. I told Calvin that this was clearly a ploy to get attention from him. He was aware but undaunted. I think he figured with Marie out of town, it’s New Years Eve, and he has to kiss someone. Tori is a given, (and though our blog makes us sometimes come off as suave lady killers with the ability to walk into an room at any time and score with the 'finest of fine' ladies) Calvin, like any man when action is concerned, is often prone to take the “given” rather than seeking a better option and risk getting nothing.

Aaron and Nick thought theirs was as good a party to go to as any. Nick hadn’t gotten any action for a couple months either, so I think he was liking the "hook up" idea. I brought Sanders along for the festivities and the night was really fun and a little insane.

The party was rather small (about 20 people) but we all got some stroke-of-midnight-smooches. Here’s a little shock-and-awe for you… Aaron ended up making out with Tori in front of everybody, thanks to a conniving scheme Calvin and I came up with off the cuff. Nick, got some! Hooray! I got some... and while kissing Lisa, I would occasionally look up to see Calvin, lip-locked with a different girl every couple minutes… including one girl, which, I’m pretty sure is married.

I would expound, but I have far more important things to talk about than our escapades in the early minutes of 2010. Now on to me. Three somewhat paramount things have come up in my life in the past three days.

Thing One: I lost my job. That’s right, I got fired. Not laid-off, fired. Perhaps I should point out that I have been fired or laid off from every job I have ever had... except for one. And, actually I was only laid off once and that was my job before this one. I probably deserved to get fired. In probably 80% of my life's firings, I deserved it.

Why am I such a terrible employee? Well, I have a problem with authority. I do not respect authority. I generally think I am smarter than my superiors, thus I begin outsmarting them (or trying to) A practice which usually manifests itself in me doing the least amount of work I can in order to get the most amount of money.

This time I was fired because I was always late. Not by, like, five minutes, but more like 15 minutes to an hour. Every day. There was no outsmarting involved, though. I just never thought he’d fire me. I blatantly showed up late, usually with a grinning “sorry boss.” Well, when I showed up 63 minutes late for work on Tuesday and my excuse was “Um, I was up till 4am playing Modern Warfare 2”, he carried out his repeated warning and fired me.

Thing Two: I got kicked out of school. I know what you’re thinking, “How does someone get kicked out of college?” Well, I wasn’t a very good student in high school. Don’t mistake that for me not being a very good learner, I am just a bad student. I graduated high school with a 1.8 GPA. Yes, you most certainly can get a diploma with a GPA that low. I also, ignored my high school counselor’s advice and failed to take many of the required high school courses like senior year English, a higher math than geometry, foreign language, and science. I know, I know, my poor mother.

So, how did I make it into the U of U in the first place? Easy. I scored very, very high on the ACT test. A high enough score that, after my mission, they let me in despite my obvious lack of commitment. The counselor at the U said, “You are obviously learning, you’re just no good at homework.” I haven’t felt so understood like I did when she said that. However, it was on a “conditional acceptance” where I would have to take all the courses I skipped in high school.

I didn’t take the college seriously, just like my boss, and took whatever classes I wanted. I sort of figured they wouldn’t let me register for them if it was a big deal. I was wrong. So, even though I got a 4.0 for the classes I did take, I got a letter this week saying that I was out.

(Sigh) Thing One and Thing Two should be freaking me out. I can blame no one for my plight except for myself. Yet, I’m not really that worried. I can get another $9 an hour job… and I’m pretty sure the only requirement for getting into SLCC or Weber State is the ability to fog a mirror. So no big, and for now I will use this as an excuse to take the semester off.

Thing Three: I think Sanders and I might be getting married. At the party we went to last night, there was a room above the detached garage that is a make shift theater room. After Smooch Fest 2010. We sneaked away and ended up in that room lying in the dark in the jumbo Luv Sac. We made out and talked which is my favorite thing. I like talking and I like making out, and with my virgin perspective, can think of few things that rival or best those moments. Lisa and I didn’t get engaged, per se, but, well, read the story and see what you think.

It was pretty late. About an hour had gone by since Sanders and I started loving in the Luv Sac. Our conversation stalls when I say, “Look how cool the snow looks in the moonlight.” The flakes were huge, and I’m not sure if it’s a full moon, but it’s a bright one. Lisa says, “Oh my gosh it’s so pretty.” We stare out the window and after a few minutes I say, “It’s kind of mesmerizing, like staring at a fire.” She didn’t respond. Her head was on my shoulder, so I couldn’t see her eyes. I decide she was probably asleep. I gently kissed her on the forehead to check. She didn't respond.

I looked back out the window and wondered how long we had been up there. It was probably 12:30 when we left the living room to find someplace we could be alone. I mused over the nights events and was a bit surprised that no one had texted me or had come looking for us. Maybe they were still playing games, maybe they were watching a movie, maybe they had paired off and found themselves in similar surroundings to mine. There were more girls than guys… I grinned thinking that Aaron or Calvin might be snuggling with girls of their own.

Just then my phone rang, loud enough to wake Lisa up. It was a text from Aaron, “We’re crashing here tonight. Cool?” I had taken a stand on sleeping together with Lisa thus far, but figured she was pretty much already asleep and texted him back, “cool.”

Lisa says, “These Luv Sacs are extremely comfy to snuggle in, but they’re not the best for a snog.” I laugh, and say, “Yeah, my elbows and hands were never very sturdy, every time I shifted my weight I fell over.” She kissed me on the cheek and said, “You adapted to the unsure terrain nicely.” I reply, “That’s what I do, I adapt… did you just use the word 'terrain' in the dark.” Lisa giggled a little, “I’m tired.” I roll slightly on to my side which made her head fall softly back off of my shoulder and into my crelbow, I slid my other hand, which was resting on her side, up her side and back, and gently grabbed the back of her head and kissed her. Then I say, “Go to sleep.” She ignored me and said, “That’s how come I know you will do great, because you are a good adapter.”

I respond, “What?” She says, “With your job. And school. I’m not worried, because I think you’ll do great.” I say, “I’m not worried either.” She says, “I know, that’s another great thing about you.” I say, “I should get you tired more often so you'll deliriously compliment me.” She kisses me on the cheek again, and says, “I think I love you.” Caught off guard I paused for a second. So she starts talking again. “I know you don’t feel as strongly about me as I do you, but I think you are an amazing guy and I love you.”

My mind is racing. I feel very strongly about Lisa. I feel as strongly about her as I did Andrea. I’m just not sure if it’s love. I don’t even think I know what love is. I want to know, but… do I want her to show me? I didn’t want to say “I love you, too” if I didn’t mean it. But if I don’t even know what it is then how can I not mean it? I decided that because my feelings for her are as strong as I have ever had for a girl, that until I had a feeling stronger or more powerful to replace it, that this must be love.

“I love you, too.” I say back. Her face lit up as much as I could tell in the dark. “Really?” she yelps, her voice excited and higher than usual. I responded quickly, “Yes.” Lisa was laying on her side, but with me right next to her, her arms were trapped between our bodies bent at the elbows and then flat in front of her chest so her fists were right below her chin. I felt her body start to shake, and couldn't figure out if she was trying to move or if she was just that excited.

Then, she shifts her weight so she can pull both her arms out from under her, and grabs me by the cheeks and kisses me. She doesn’t just kiss me, she pellets me with kisses all over my face and mouth. She stops and looks at me. She has the “seeing” advantage because the moonlight from the window behind her and is illuminating my face. I can see, though, that her eyes were bouncing back and forth between different parts of my face. Then she says, “When you think about 'us' and the future do you think about us... married?” I think about her question, “Yes.” I say. She says, “Me too.” Then repeats the 'kiss attack' move.

Lisa settles down and rests on my shoulder again. All her moving around made us sink further into the Luv Sac and smash together even more. So, she had nowhere for her arms to go but on my chest. She sighed, her voice has gone back to the quiet tired voice from before, “I will, for real, let you take that back if you want.” I thought about it. Sure I don’t know what love is… or maybe I do and just need to learn it. And, sure, I omitted that when she asked me. I do really always think about us being married, though. I had been praying fairly generally about “us”, nothing specific yet, because I’ve been thinking it’s too soon. Obviously, (and remember this... cause it’s rare) I was wrong.

I say, “No, I really think we’re getting married.” Lisa whispers, “Me too.” I say, “I mean… I haven’t fasted about it or anything… and there has been no proposal, but those seem like technicalities.” Lisa whispers, “Yeah.” I look out the window to see the snow has stopped. She says, “Me too.”

We both lay there, in the dark, for several minutes. Then I feel Lisa’s breathing get slower. I assume she is asleep like before. I kiss her on the forehead again and say, “Night.” My mind runs through what just happened. I think to myself, "I am going to marry Sanders." Then I hear her voice again, “We’re getting married.” I didn’t fall asleep for a long time.

I am anxiously waiting for more time to pass to see how this pseudo-engagement shakes out. Lucky for me I don’t have a job, nor am I a student. I’ll have lots of time to ponder my future.

Jake