Tuesday, August 6, 2013

August

Gosh, it feels like the summer has flown by! It's already August and I'm working on a Freshman playlist for school and trying to figure out whose classes that I'm in. I'm sort of disappointed in my schedule thus far. I don't know who is in all of my classes yet but I have gym first period. Ugh. I have advisory though with two of my really good friends, if only all of my friends could be in my classes. I know everyone always says this but summer really did fly by. I got back from camp on July 20th and camp was so amazing. I can't even begin to start describing it. I feel like it's all I talk about (I apologize because I know it's annoying sometimes when all someone talks about is summer camp) but I genuinely loved it so much. All my other summer camp experiences pale in comparison and I realize how unhappy I was at those camps. Like I just want to be at this camp all year and I just love all of the friends I made so much and I wish I had gotten to know them better and they were all so sweet and amazing. One of our other writers Payton went to the same camp with me and I hope that she had as good of a time. It's just hard to transition back to home life after two weeks of independence and being able to just be yourself all the time for two weeks. Not that I'm not myself at home but I feel like I censor my opinions more and don't express myself as strongly and just am more passive and whatnot since I'm around my parents more often than not. At camp you're just always with this group of amazing girls who you become friends with so quickly and have a million inside jokes but can also talk about more serious stuff I guess. I had an amazing conversation with this one girl, Helen, about people using mental illness as adjectives and it was really nice to be able to have conversations like that I guess with someone. I'm rambling on now, sorry. I just really want to try and describe it. Anywho, I took two classes, DIY fashion, and creative writing. In DIY fashion I made a dress which was sort of fun-ish but then we had to all walk in a fashion show on talent show night which made me really uncomfortable (Payton can vouch for my discomfort, she was there). In creative writing we each wrote a piece and put it all into an anthology, I edited and added bits to a thing I did for school. I started adding on more from a different character's perspective but I think it sounds really stupid so I haven't added any since I've gotten home. There were so many amazing writers there so it was sort of hard to view my work as very good compared to theirs. Like one girl, Calla, her stuff sounded like it could be a book, a really good YA book, she and these two other girls (Nora and Helen) did poetry on open mic night and it was really good. Going home was so sad. I miss everyone so much and it makes me really sad to think about how it will be an entire year before we see each other again. One girl Rachel said we should all get together over a break in school but all of our breaks are so different and it's crazy expensive to travel and as much as I hate to say it I don't think it's going to happen. I finished my piece about the sleepover with Anna at camp.
We weren’t let into the movie since we were too young. It didn’t seem to matter though, the wind blew through our hair and the windows were all rolled down. Dusk slowly settling through the sky, making itself comfortable. We picked up her brother at the train station as Mackelmore resonated through the speakers and into the still darkening sky. We stopped at the 7-Eleven on the way home before watching movies. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Valerie and Her Week of Wonders. We talk and are interrupted by memories, thoughts, and ourselves. I tell her about another sleepover where I had stuck my head out the window in the rain at 3 am and watched my friends make sundaes in their mouths. She cuts me off, asking if I want to go outside. Before I can think I’m saying yes and she’s unlocking the sliding door in the kitchen. It’s midnight and I’m on her porch holding her camera as she grabs her skateboard from the garage. She says the neighborhood is safe. Soon I’m running alongside her skateboard and as she coasts along she tells me about her neighbors. The street lights that dot the street shine down on her as she glides in and out of their luminescence. I take the camera from her. Click. The flash goes off. Everything is bright for a second before fading back into the early morning darkness. She says we can get them developed in the morning before my mom comes and offers to teach me how to skateboard. I decline and take another picture. We reach a manmade pond where the full moon is reflected and reproduced by the dozen. I apologize for using so much of her film. There are 32 left on the roll. Soon her house comes back into view. She takes a picture of me sitting on her skateboard and we traipse silently up the lawn to the back door. Everything is as we left it. Pop tart wrappers on the couch, and Baby (her grandma’s dog) at the door, still silent.We slide the door open and I feel a sort of freedom. But all too soon I’m in my mom’s car, pictures undeveloped, as the city skyline looms back into view. I wish we could have hung out more before she left. Maybe she’ll come back to Palatine before leaving for college. My eyelids are heavy as the highway flies by. Maybe we shouldn’t have stayed up until four am.
With that piece of semi-okay writing, I ought to end this post. It's almost 3 am and I'm totally screwing with my sleep cycle by staying up this late.
Toodles!
Simone
8/6/13
2:40 am