Troublesome Trio.

Disclaimer: Mom, Dad…..grandparents, you may not like this one.. (PS- I’ve changed the names to protect the privacy of some wonderful people.)

The large majority of my favorite people in this life have, at least once, made me think something along the lines of: "That is a fucking terrible idea, lets do it!". Usually, it's something harmless, but no doubt, really stupid. Examples include, but are not limited to: "Lets start a food fight!", "Dare me to climb this steep hill, in my Subaru Outback?", "So we're growing shrooms, you want to help us?", and that dare my best friend , and I, once took to streak around the school. (It was the middle of the night. No one was around. ALSO, I understand if the shroom thing threw you off a bit. I am a good, law abiding citizen, but I was also a dumb kid.) 

All of those things sparked the excited, but slightly terrified, reaction stated above. You can also bet your ass that we went through with all of them. But that's not exactly what this little story is about, so let's get to it. There are many people who have made me question my own choices, because of that exact statement, but there are only two who have the power to bring that reaction out of me, literally, EVERY TIME I SEE THEM.

It was the summer of 2011, just before my seventeenth birthday, when I first met Julia and Tiffany. Now, before I get into it, these girls are wonderful human beings. They always made sure that I was okay, and never pressured me to do anything that I wasn't willing to. That being said, they were complete party animals. (Have you ever seen the movie "Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates"? Julia and Tiffany, full on, remind me of the characters: Alice and Tatiana.) They were insane! But in the best way. Like a whirlwind of chaos, mischief, and all the fun you can possibly handle. They quickly became the highlight of my summers in Washington. I was just ecstatic to be along for the ride.

What happens at Baker Lake.. may scar you a little.

Okay, so back to the first time I met these two. It was the summer of 2011, during our first camping trip of the year. My dad had managed to score the best camp site at Baker, and as a result he had invited EVERYONE we knew to join us. Julia's mom was dating one of my dad's best friends at the time, and he had decided to bring the two of them, plus Julia's cousin Tiffany, to the party. 

I won't lie, by the time they had shown up, I was already a little buzzed. This was back during my teenage years, when I was more than happy to drink with my dad, and all the guys. This was also the year that Fireball had first become a huge thing. Gina, Julia's mom, introduced me to the two of them, as my dad stumbled over, and snapped a very awkward photo of the three of us. (This photo is one of my favorites, you can really feel how uncomfortable we all were, being complete strangers and all.) I didn't know anything about these girls. I even initially thought that me being buzzed during our first interaction might have been coming on a bit strong. Poor, naive, little me. It wasn't until later, that I found out Julia and Tiffany had somewhat of a reputation. 

I don't remember much of that night, for apparent reasons, but I do know that after our introduction my level of inebriation escalated very quickly. I'm not going to hash out all the details that I, and everyone else remember, because that night is not one that I particularly enjoy reliving. To Sum things up, I spent many hours in a camping chair by myself, on the opposite side of the campsite from everyone else, because I, *insert me grimacing at the memory*, couldn't control my body fluids. I truly believe that I was only one drop of alcohol away from needing to be admitted to a hospital. I was a mess. It was not fun. (I still get shit for this night, TO THIS DAY. And also, the mention of Fireball still makes my stomach flip. That was the last night I drank without pacing myself, and the beginning of my disinterest for drinking all together.) I should have taken that night as a warning for what hanging around with Julia and Tiffany looks like, but sometimes it takes a while for kids to learn their lesson.

Sleepover Shenanigans.

For whatever reason, I decided to immediately add these two to the small list of good friends I had, in the state of my summer home. At least twice a summer, during the last couple summers I spent in Washington, I would have my dad drive me up to Bellingham, and drop me off at Tiffany's house for a weekend. I'll never forget the first night I stayed there. 

My dad and I pulled into the parking lot, in front of a bunch of two story town homes, as Tiffany appeared from one of the front doors. By the time she made it over to us, Julia appeared behind her. After they greeted us, and my dad concluded that I was where I was supposed to be, and safe, he got back in his truck and left. The second we turned around to walk towards the house, Julia grew a Cheshire Cat size grin on her face, and excitedly told me that, "We got something for you!". As soon as we were inside, Julia grabbed a bottle of whisky off the stairs, and handed it to me, along with one small pill she had pulled from her pocket. "Take it.", she said, after watching me stare at it blankly, for probably way to long. I don't know if it was just because I wanted so badly to be one of them, or because I was so intrigued by their, "I don't give a fuck. I'm just here to have all the fun I can, and you can't stop me.", attitude, but whatever the reason, I did what she said. I took the pill, and chased it with a swig of the whisky, because "Whatever you say, Julia! You are the Party Girl Boss, and I am so into it!". 

*SIDE NOTE: Don't ask me what it was. I truly have no idea. (Side Note inside Side Note: Kids, don't ever ingest things, without knowing what it is. That's just stupid.) My suspicions tell me it was Adderall, but as someone who knows next to nothing about drugs, I am not 100% on that. I guess I'll never know.

The rest of the night was pretty much a huge blur. I remember a lot of people. I remember passing around the whisky bottle a lot. I also remember being outside with Julia, and watching her light the filter end of a cigarette. I tried to explain to her why it wasn't working out so well, but she couldn't seem to understand what I was saying, and she kept pointing at the cigarette end saying things like, "Look at how long that filter is!" The next day she spotted the abandoned cigarette, with the burnt filter, and I got to play out my favorite pastime- telling people stories about the stupid things they did when they were drunk. It became a little inside joke between the two of us.

Something I have learned is that you can always tell how crazy a night was by the way you wake up the next morning. Also, it's always a little bit surprising how many people can fit into small amounts of space. Naturally, I was one of the first to wake up that morning, and the sight that I woke up to still cracks me up to this day. Tiffany's room was very small. Only big enough to fit her bed, and her sister's bed (her sister was out of town), with a little walking space, and a small box TV. I woke up, crammed in the corner of Tiffany's bed, surrounded by a least fifteen people. Most of which looked familiar, but I couldn't remember their names. It looked ridiculous. It looked like someone just carelessly dropped, fifteen-plus, people in a room, and however they landed is the position in which they feel asleep. There were people in the closet. Someone was in a laundry basket. Multiple people to a bed. People all over the floor. People sitting up, and people laying down. They all began to wake up, one by one, and head home, probably with a pretty big headache, and wishing they had sunglasses. 

We did a lot of stupid things together, when I stayed the night with them at Tiffany's. Drinking all day in her room. Paying for bus rides, all over the city, with all the change we could find around her house. Walking to the nearest 7/11, and standing in the back trying to talk strangers into going in, and buying us more alcohol, and cigarettes. Shoving a six pack of beer, and a bottle of vodka into our friends bag, and walking back to the house, terrified.  Oh. yeah, and that one time when we got stopped by a cop. Apparently, four teenage girls, walking down the street with a jewelry box, a baseball bat, and an obvious amount of angsty rage, looks a bit suspicious. Who knew? Somehow getting away with it, after executing the worlds worse lie - Thanks a lot, Julia. - and then booking it, to go hide in our friends house whose mother hates any kind of visitors- yeah, that was pretty interesting.

"The Hangover" - Whatcom County Style.

The last time I went to stay with Julia and Tiffany, we stayed at Julia's trailer, just outside of Bellingham, in Darrington. I was only given one night this time, and I was expected to be dressed, and ready to go, when my dad arrived to get me the next day, at noon. We spent the whole day just hanging out at the house, and watching movies with Julia's mom, and Julia’s best friend, Nikki. By 5:00 PM I had assumed that it would just be a quiet, and relaxing night. I should have known better by now..

Sometime between making my assumption, and the sun setting, the girls had gotten wind of a party. Before I knew it, the four of us were in Nikki's car, heading deeper into the woods. Now, here's the thing about me, as a passenger, in car going somewhere I've never been... I watch everything. I'm not just zoning out; I'm creating my own mental map, complete with pictures, in my brain. Don't worry, I'll get to why that's important. 

We arrived a short 15, or so, minutes later, to an old, one story cabin nestled into the lush, northwest forest. The long gravel driveway in front of the cabin was packed with vehicles of all kinds, and smoke from a fire pit, along with some loud laughing, made it clear that the party was in full swing. I spent most of the night in the garage, playing pool and drinking beer with a bunch of guys that I had only just met, but were like, totally my BROS!  I had even met a guy who was from my hometown, and we spent the majority of the night calling each other "Mount Vernon"... because we were real clever. I met a lot of people I didn't know, and honestly don't remember, but it was a lot of fun. At least it was a lot of fun until my hometown "buddy" and I were chasing each other around, and he decided that a good way to hide from me was to crouch down in the dark, in the small amount of walking space between two cars. I ran between the two, and tripped over him, kicking him in the ribs, in the process. He wanted nothing to do with me after that, but that's okay, I have plenty of real best friends. 

After that kid freaked out on me, I was no longer feeling happy and buzzed. I realized it was about 2:00 AM at this point, and I decided I was ready to leave. I just wasn't into it anymore, so I went in search of the girls. I first found Nikki and Tiffany. More like Nikki, and the dysfunctional body of Tiffany. I had wandered into the cabin, and happened upon Nikki, drunkenly slurring, as she yelled at some guy to stay off of Tiffany. Tiffany let out a near unconscious groan from the queen size bed, in the middle of the room. I made several attempts to tell Nikki that I wanted to go home before I decided to just go find Julia. I had hoped that she would be able to talk Nikki into leaving, but by the time I found her she had her tongue so far down a guys throat that I could hardly get a sentence in. 

It didn’t take long to realize that I probably wouldn’t make it back to Julia’s house that night. I couldn’t help but imagine what my dad would say if he showed up in the morning to find that his daughter was not where she was supposed to be, and immediately I was terrified. Desperate, I walked up to the nicest, most sober looking person I could find, and asked THIS COMPLETE STRANGER for a ride back to Julia’s house. He agreed, like the total sweety that he was, and I climbed into the passenger seat of his huge truck.

(For the story we are just going to call this guy Larry, because he seriously reminded me of Larry the Cable Guy- so just picture that!) Larry was a complete gentleman, and held the door open while I threw my tiny body up into his trunk, and then he closed to door for me too. The whole vehicle shook as he climbed into the drivers seat. I was so busy freaking myself out about the fact that I had just gotten into a strangers car, that I missed the first time he asked where Julia lived. After he asked a second time, I explained that I didn’t really know the area well, but I was pretty sure I remembered all the turns we took to get here, and I could probably back-track from that. (Remember about my mental map I was making?) He started the truck, and I began giving my directions. Larry was kind, and curious, he made a lot of small talk which I was thankful for because it made the drive less awkward. I don’t know if he noticed that my hand never left the door handle, or that I continuously would glance at the lock. Most of my answers were pretty boring, mainly because I was mentally preparing myself to jump out of a moving vehicle if necessary. I sort of felt bad for not being more friendly when we pulled up to Julia’s house, and he stopped the truck. He asked for my phone number before I got out, and out of kindness I gave it to him, although I haven’t talked to him since.

Luckily, Gina had left the door unlocked for us, and so I snuck into the living room, and slipped into Julia’s bedroom without a problem. To exhausted from the night, I chose not to change my clothes, and got myself into bed as quickly as possible. I even squeezed myself into the far corner of the bed to make room for the girls; for whenever they made it home that night.

It was probably around 7:00 AM when I awoke to Gina busting though the door, followed by a frazzled looking Nikki. “Danni, where is Julia and Tiffany?!” Her volume had startled me awake, but the question completely scared me. That, along with the freaked out looked on Nikki’s face, and the VERY empty bed next to me… but especially the look on Nikki’s face. She was seriously freaking out. I jumped out of bed, and we spent the next four and a half hours playing the most stressful game of “Where’s Waldo”.

There was a lot of driving back and forth between the cabin, and Julia’s house; plus a few other places. Many phone calls where made, which eventually led to finding out that Tiffany had woken up at the cabin, walked to a bus stop, and gotten home in time to watch her baby sister (and thank God, charge her phone). But where was Julia?

It was getting horrifyingly close to noon when I found myself crammed in the back of someone’s car next to a very frustrated Nikki, and headed even farther away from familiar territory. We pulled up to a small trailer, in some hood-rat lookin’ neighborhood, and I prayed that we would find Julia here; safe and sound. Nikki, on the other hand, had no time for praying- she was pissed, and she was going to get some answers. I watched this girl (who I had just met the day before, remember) pull a baseball bat from the trunk of her friend’s car, hold it over her shoulder (like a badass), and start banging on the door of this trailer until it opened.

“WHERE THE FUCK IS JULIA?!!!!!”, she screamed in some kid’s shocked, and confused face, before pushing him aside and full-on waltzing into the place like she owned it; baseball bat and all. A few moments later she reappeared from down the hall (still screaming), followed by a very sleepy-eyed Julia. We made it back to the house with just enough time for me to brush my hair, and my teeth, and spray myself down with body spray, before my dad pulled up on his motorcycle to pick me up. If you’re reading this, Dad, sorry this is the first you are hearing of all of this. Hey, at least I turned out okay, and I have some crazy memories- which is what being an idiot kid is all about…. right??

I Guess The Moral Of The Story Is… 1. It’s okay to drink alcohol, but don’y get to crazy with it because that just looks stupid- and it doesn’t feel great the next day either. 2. Don’t ingest things that you don’t know what they are- seriously, just don’t. 3. Don’t stray away from your people if your phone isn’t charged- or at least tell someone where you are going. 4. It’s okay to NOT be a party animal.

PS- K. and S., I miss you two. I’ll never forget our memories together, hopefully we can make new ones… maybe less crazy ones.

xoxo