before i begin, you should know that i am currently in an intense Lorde phase, hense the title, and probably several references throughout this post.
in 29 minutes, one of my best friends will be 17. she had been begging us all week to do something totally crazy on her last night of being 16. so naturally, we come up with the idea of playing clue because that game is as close as we'll get to anything scandalous. i decided that that wasn't enough because we're only as young as the minute is and what about when she's 61 and she's looking back thinking i can't believe i was in bed by 8:30 every night as a teenager (this is a real thing. once it hits nine o clock on a week night she cannot keep her eyes open) and all i wanted was for her to have something to chuckle about when she looks in the mirror and for the first time notices creases around her eyes. I wanted her to remember that she was young once and she loved it. So, we grabbed some blankets and a box of wheat thins and the four of us took off down the street, ignoring every complaint she had because this is adventure - and I knew she'd thank me later.
the road there was short and filled with made up scenarios about what would happen if we got chased down. this is what we decided:
1) i would fight them off because i am a 94 pound weight lifting champion that spends 100% of my free time breaking records at the gym.
and if that didn't work:
2) we run for our lives and have a damn good story to tell.
i spent the night sitting on a dark golf course with my best friends telling secrets and being young.
until the sprinkler's came on. all three of them bolted while i stayed behind and gathered up everyone's things (i don't think i will ever outgrow my turtle nickname) and by the time we reached the end of the hill we were crying with laughter because the sprinklers were going the opposite direction of where we were sitting and none of us, not even me, had a single drop of water on them. also, it was just like troy and gabriella in high school musical 2, except none of us are in love with a basketball star with self identity issues.
they thanked me.
we ended the night playing Never-Have-I-Ever (coca-cola, of course) and making fun of everyone we hate.
As the birthday girl was leaving, i asked her how she felt and she said afraid. "it's just so crazy to think that by this time next year, i could be in hawaii, at byu. or idaho. or even here."
i reminded her that she could also be in none of those places. who knows, maybe she'll be in heaven.
followed up with, "but at least we had tonight"
