Chapter 48
New Friends

So last night I finally got to hang out with people my age! Before I did though I knew I would be and I was talking to my sister on the phone and told her that I would be hanging out with my new friends that night, of course, I hadn’t met them, but since they seemed to be semi-permanent fixtures at the house I figured that they were to become my new friends. She liked that idea, knowing they would be your friends before you even meet them. Kind of alleviates the pressure.
So last we went to play laser tag! I have never played before and had wanted to try. Laser tag is located in lovely rundown downtown Richmond. My mom had warned me because believe it or not my mom has played laser tag (and before me…I’m speechless on this issue). So as we are driving down there the sidewalks are filled with the local people. For some reason, running into local people in Idaho Falls, Idaho was cool but here my white, middle class-ness made me itch all over. I had never really thought I would feel like an outsider, that who I was just didn’t fit in with anything to do in this area. I had never thought before how people might perceive me with my Old Navy apparel and my skater shoes. As we got closer to the place where the laser tag was we seemed to cross over into a different kind of downtown, I couldn’t help but think to myself that this was the upper end of downtown. This was the area that was developed for the college kid with money to spend. There was an outdoor rock concert, you had your cafés, the “clean” bars, hoards of white people walking around, and laser tag. I didn’t get to see what else was around, but I knew that this was the hangout for all those kids who grew up with me in the West End.
Laser tag on the other non-political, socially stratified hand, was awesome! I love it! My body is sore today but I would love to play again! We had a group, mostly boys which usually I would like that but last night it felt weird, I was wondering if my roommates ever hang out with girls. Our group was mixed with another group of…I think teenagers, or extremely young looking young adults. They were probably the most fun because I didn’t know them but we would shoot each other or chase each other around and you are wondering, “who the heck is this?” I shot a couple of people from my group, and very much enjoyed a sniper position at certain times. My favorite was when I was so desperate to not get hit but to hit the other person I just put my gun right up to theirs and kept shooting until one of us had been “hit”. They printed out our stats and everything and the best part is, the person that I shot the most is a complete stranger to me and the same person who shot me the most.
I did learn a few things about myself last night, all concerning not becoming a cop. First, I am trigger happy, I would turn a corner and almost run into someone, scream, and shoot, which is why I had shot my roommates at least once, even though we were trying to tag team it. The second is that I am toast on the streets, especially at night; people shot me in the back so much! I guess that’s why they give you all those stats so that you can improve yourself. I did however practice my gun handling skill that I learned from watching so much Law and Order. Have your back to a wall, sneak a quick peek around the corner…clear, turn the corner and do the same at the next opening. Unfortunately there is probably always someone up above you and they are watching, aiming, and more than likely shooting. Dang them.
So after laser tag people came over the house and I was actually feeling pretty sick about then and felt horrible because I hung out for a little minute and then went to the bathroom awaiting my stomach to explode. It didn’t happen so I took a warm shower thinking that it would calm my stomach. It didn’t. I sat in the bathroom for the longest time just trying to stand up without feeling like I would throw up. I finally brushed my teeth, washed my face and came into my room to get my pajamas on; by that time everyone was gone. I curled up in my bed and tried to get comfortable, but I only had one way to lay that helped my stomach, so I stayed in that position until some time this morning.
In my dream right before I woke up I was eating cotton candy with my sister who lives in North Carolina. Currently I still feel sick. In fact, if I think about eating cotton candy I feel like I will throw up and you would think that this thought process would be easy to eliminate since eating cotton candy isn’t usually on someone’s mind. But for some blasted reason it’s all I can think about, so my stomach is here trying to get me to stop and my throat is closing up like I’m ready to spew. I’m trying to think about eating apples instead.