This was the day that five guys picked up my
car. Or rather, four guys picked it up; the other was busy shoving the
tire on. I was
biting my nails and hoping that they would neither drop it nor tip it completely over.
In the morning, I was home alone. I *love* being home alone. My uncle had a birthday party, which surprisingly my oldest brother actually went to. He tends to avoid family functions even more than I do. So I had the freedom of moving through an empty house, leaving doors open and playing my music as loud as I felt like it. I love having lots of space all to myself.
My excuse for staying home was the plan to do something for a friend's birthday. I had been told that we would leave around five, but I got a call at two forty-five saying to meet at T. J. (the birthday boy)'s house at three fifteen sharp. So I ran around like crazy, and lost my keys at the last minute while I was airing up the tire with the slow leak, but I made it. In time to wait half an hour for our driver, a maniac with his parents' mini-van.
I was the only female. I love that. Guys can be so much more interesting, especially when there are no girly-girls around for them to worry about impressing. These were three old friends and two new friends, and I could have been amused just watching them interact. These guys were awesome. We talked about Heinlein, haunted houses, A&M's computer science program, and 80s music. I missed a lot in high school -- I was worried about the wrong things, hanging out with the wrong people.
We watched American Pie 2, which was absolutely hilarious, and so much funnier than the first, although I must admit I've become a lot less uptight since then. We went to the mall, where T.J. spent his money on computer games. Then we went back to Teej's house, so I could go home and they could continue to another house for a LAN party. I halfway wanted to beg to be included, but part of me felt like enough of an intruder as it was.
My slow leak had turned into a fast leak by the time we got back. They wouldn't let me change my own tire or call my father, but they still complained. Because I was parked on uneven ground, the jack wouldn't reach all the way and they had to put boards under it. First they tried one board, and they got the flat tire off, but they needed another half inch to get the spare tire on.
That was when they picked up the car.