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Five Things I Have Learned With My Roommates
- The apartment upstairs babysits the cast of Toddlers and Tiaras. We’re pretty sure. There always seems to be a combination of running, chair moving, and high heel walking upstairs. Toddlers and Tiaras is the only conclusion.
- Seatbelts are important. And reminding each other to wear seatbelts is important.
- No matter how much you dislike that girl who lives in your building, when she knocks on your door at 12:30 AM - scared, drunk, and alone - you invite her in. Let her sit down and have some water. Write down her number and text her once she’s left telling her to come back if she needs anything at all.
- Mashed potatoes are the number one comfort food.
- Your roommates are the most important people in your life right now. And you look out for them above all else. Whether it’s by tucking them into bed after they’ve taken an Ambien, setting out a plate of Oreo’s for them when they’re sad, mouthing off someone who you have a crush on because they were being a jerk to one of your roommates, going to the store with them to buy concealer to cover up their hickey, laying in bed with the lights off when you’re both not ready to face the world, or sending them a thoughtful long text that end with “I love you. I’m always here for you. Aka: best friend.” They need you and you need them. You need them a lot.
I'm going to go shower now.
- Adriana
It was a Sunday.
The night before, two of my roommates and I had stayed up late hanging out.
When we woke up the next morning the three of us were lethargic and ready for a lazy Sunday.
Which is precisely what we did.
Around 5:00, I got hungry.
Aubree was asleep, so I texted her, Facebook-ed her, and came into her room several times to get her to wake up.
I wanted to get food.
Chelacie was Skyping with her family, so I wrote a note on our "Announcements" white board, and held it up to her.
"We're gonna go get food. Wanna come?"
She nodded her head at me as she continued to talk to her family.
Around 6:30, I got impatient.
I went into Aubree's room and turned on her lights.
"Allllllllright, time to get up. I'm going to die of hunger."
Aubree sat up with her eyes half open. She ran her hands through her hair, sighed, and got out of bed.
I walked to the living room, where Chelacie was.
She was saying goodbye to her family, via webcam.
"Good timing, Aubree's finally awake." I commented as she closed her laptop.
Chelacie walked into our room, to get dressed and asked "Where are we going?"
"Not sure," I said, "Wherever. I'm just super hungry."
Chelacie thought about it for a moment.
"What aboooouuuuut...... Red Robins? Their fries are so good."
We all agreed.
Red Robins it was.
Aubree turned to me.
"Can you drive?"
"Sure."
~~~
Dinner was delicious.
We made sure to box our bottomless stake fries with fry sauce, and Aubree boxed her left over mac & cheese.
We walked out to my car full and happy.
We laughed about the little kid at the table next to us who had a huge head,
Chelacie and Aubree fought over shotgun,
I announced we needed to get gas, or we wouldn't make it home.
We began to drive.
As we made our way down University Avenue, Aubree mentioned that one of her friends was getting his tattoo tonight.
She said that she always promised she'd be there, and that we should stop by.
The tattoo place was near where we were contemplating getting ice cream, so I obliged.
Besides, I enjoyed the guys who were going to be there and wanted to see them.
We drove up the on ramp to the freeway.
Aubree mentioned how it felt incredibly late.
"What time is it?" I asked.
"Like 8:00" someone replied.
"Holy eff? Why does it feel like it's midnight? The sun is going down way too early."
Then it happened.
Utah County is famous for its atrocious traffic and construction.
As we almost entered the freeway, the road curved.
Orange cones where everywhere.
The road looked like it might have split, and the amount of cones confused me.
I couldn't see where to curve with the road.
So I went straight.
We drove between two barrels, and onto the construction site.
It was loose gravel and dirt, and we began to swerve.
I tried to get back onto the actual road.
The way the construction was set up, there was a drop off where the road and dirt met up.
Almost like a ledge.
A very sharp, very jagged ledge.
We ran into it, and onto the road for a moment.
The ledge did something strange to my tire (I'm not entirely sure what) and we began to fishtail.
I tried to control the car.
We drove back onto the construction site, and the sharp drop off threw our car out of control.
We fishtailed to the point where we were spinning. We spun to the point where we were sliding. We slid to the point where we flipped.
It was slow and quiet as my little white Chevy Cavalier turned on its left side and landed on the hood.
I don't even remember thinking anything as it happened.
I just remember thinking
"Oh my gosh. This is happening."
The car finally stopped.
Everything sped up.
Chelacie was already reaching over and opening her door asking if everyone was okay.
Aubree was looking around making sure everyone was still in tact.
I was hanging upside down by my seatbelt.
Aubree told me to hold myself up, as she unbuckled me.
My arms shakily came out in front of me and made sure my weight didn't fall on the car.
Chelacie had exited the car at this point.
Aubree told me we had to go out the back door.
She crawled in front of me, towards the back.
As I was crawling I realized "Holy shit. We're on the roof. We're crawling on the roof."
We got out, and all asked each other if everyone was fine.
I looked back at my car.
It was completely upside down.
"Oh my fucking hell...."
I turned around to Aubree and Chelacie.
"I'm so sorry," was the only thing I could think of saying.
We hugged as we all began to cry.
I continued to apologize profusely as cars began to stop and run over to us.
"Is everyone okay?" they'd always ask.
We were all fine.
How were we all fine?
We just flipped the car.
Aubree and Chelacie weren't wearing their seat belts.
This thought sank in.
They weren't wearing their seat belts...
I began to cry and apologize more.
Within minutes, the cop came and whisked me to his car to fill out paper work.
I saw Chelacie and Aubree blowing warm air into their cold hands as they called people.
I couldn't believe what had just happened.
It didn't feel real.
It didn't feel like it actually happened.
I walked out to my car. The windshield was a touch away from exploding on our faces.
The driver side window had completely folded and shattered.
Everything in my car was thrown around and on the ceiling.
I crawled through my car and gathered things I needed immediately.
I was shaking.
We were all shaking.
And we were safe.
No one had a single injury.
Not a scratch or a bruise.
(We would find this not to be true by the next morning.)
But at the time...
We were fine.
And it was amazing.
And it was terrifying.
It was terrifying to think of what could have happened.
How much worse it could have been.
When it was already so bad.
I didn't want to think about it.
It's now Tuesday.
We are all sore, and have found a number of cuts and bruises and bumps we didn't know we had.
I still feel emotionally strange and hate to think of the responsibility I had in the situation.
My hands shake at the thought of it.
But we're all safe.
And we're all here.
And I know without a doubt that the fact that we're all okay is more than just a coincidence.
It was the scariest thing I have ever experienced in my life.
But it was an experience that I think was necessary.
For what reason, I'm not sure yet.
But it's comforting to know that as major the accident seemed, we're safe and alive to prevent something worse from happening in the future.
And for that I'm grateful.
I'm scared. But I'm grateful.
- Adriana
Once upon a time I was in a not-a-relationship-but-we-were-mostly-together-it's-complicated-okay. This relationship recently ended. Like most girls do, I have been doing a lot of reflecting. (Do guys do this too? The male mind is something I do not/will not ever understand.) Tonight, as I woke up from a 4 hour nap at 3:00 AM - this is what my sleep schedule has been reduced to - I was for some reason reminded of a conversation I had with this person, early on in our relationship. The conversation was about butterflies.
I don't remember how the conversation came up between he and I. But we ended up discussing the differences between butterflies and stomach flips. He argued that stomach flips were more powerful than butterflies: "They're kinda just like... BAM. I just made your stomach do crazy things," he said, "Butterflies are more subtle, aka not as powerful. Stomach flips are better." I argued that butterflies were more powerful than stomach flips: "My stomach could flip if I ran into my nasty seventh grade teacher at the grocery store. That's not powerful, that's just gut wrenching. Butterflies mean way more."
He tried to argue that stomach flips were more powerful, I think, because he asked me if he had ever given me butterflies. I told him no, but he had made my stomach flip before. It was an ego thing, probably - him refusing to believe butterflies meant more. His argument lied solely on the fact that butterflies were subtle. I told him that they were not subtle, but that they were progressive. It was a gradual thing that happened in our bodies when another human being woke something up inside us. This made him pause. So I continued. "If someone gives you butterflies, it's because they've evoked some sort of feeling from you. They've stirred up some emotion inside you that makes your stomach flutter. Anyone and anything can make your stomach flip. Stomach flips are a fleeting thing. But butterflies? Those sit inside you, I think."
He conceded. I won.
I'm almost positive it was the very next day that he gave me butterflies for the first time.
These are the things he and I used to talk about. Our early conversations were wonderful. There was always a new topic; we'd argue, but in a healthy and insightful way. He taught me so many things. About himself, about the world, about myself. And also a lot about cooking. Thinking back on the first half of our relationship, I don’t think I could be more delighted. It was a wonderful time where I was getting to know a beautiful human being.
I thought about the conversations we had just prior to our break up. This is what they consisted of: fights, school, fights, how-are-u’s, and kissing.
I physically cannot remember the last time he gave me butterflies.
I am seeing now that at some point in our relationship, something shifted. We fell into a routine that was suffocating the both of us. Routine is not something that anyone should be subjected to. I understand that there are "honeymoon" phases and such, and that when those wear off, you're left to deal with real emotions. But this is not what I'm talking about. I honestly believe that two people can have such a connection that they are always enlightened in a relationship, even in the smallest of ways. Everyone deserves that.
He enlightened me. But I think eventually he and I forgot how to do that for each other. The situation became complicated, and frustrating, and messy. We were more concerned about external things and hardships, that we forgot the way we communicated at the beginning of our relationship. We couldn’t remember how to get back to that place.
I still care about him more than I've cared about anyone in a very long time. He influenced my life in a way no other person could. He gave me butterflies.
He hasn't given me butterflies in a while, but he evoked something inside me. And butterflies? Those sit inside you, I think. And they sit there for a long time.
You, dear reader, deserve butterflies. Don't let anyone convince you that stomach flips will suffice. The emotion that comes with butterflies is something that you are capable of receiving and giving. And it is an experience that you are entitled to.
And hey, maybe if you're really lucky, you'll even find that person who gives you birds.
But that's another topic for another time.
- Adriana
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