College. The only place where it's socially acceptable to theme a nightly event. "Margarita Monday," "Taco Tuesday" "Wine and Cheese Wednesday," and "Thirsty Thursday" were my go to excuses to throw back a few gallons of alcohol. As any good college student knows, it's not binge drinking when you have purpose.
Taco Tuesday became a weekly occurrence when my friends and I discovered two dollar tacos and three dollar "margaritas" at a local spot in Pasadena. I say "margaritas" because their definition of margarita was a glass of tequila with a shot of sweet and sour (I'm not complaining, just clarifying). Religiously we went Tuesday, after Tuesday, after Tuesday, organizing our outings around tennis practices, lesbian activist meetings, yoga, fuck buddies and homework. Needless to say we became a cult, but only on Tuesdays.
A typical Taco Tuesday would go like this:
8:00 pm: Arrive at Lexies' house.
8:04 pm: Decide on a DD.
8:15 pm : Drive to Dona Rosa's.
8:30 pm: Eat tacos and drink margaritas.
9:45 pm: Drive back to Lexie's house.
10:02 pm: Smoke, drink, bitch about life.
11:00 pm: Disperse back to our lives.
Simple, short and sweet. However on a brisk October evening, everything changed...
As I'm selecting my outfit for tennis practice, my Blackberry beeps. I have one new email. This was a welcome distraction from deciding if it was a neon pink or neon green kind of day. I open my email to find tennis practice had been canceled due to "unforeseen" circumstances. In reality, our coach probably just didn't feel like showing up; at least this time he had the courtesy of sending us an email. My fashion conundrum was no longer an issue burdening my mind. However, the two hours of empty space added to my intentionally busy social schedule were another story. For fear of becoming bored and irrelevant over the next two hours, I immediately texted Lexie informing her of the void in my schedule. This is when the magic happened.
Lexie didn't respond to my text. She actually picked up the phone and called me. A rare occurrence by anyone these days, unless its a drunk dial or death related emergency. (Why people deal with a 20 minute text conversation as opposed to a 2 minute phone conversation still baffles me…yes I'm guilty of it too…) Lexie spoke as if she was stuck on fast forward. She quickly informed me a weird series of events had occurred over the last hour. Everyones usual Tuesdays activities had been canceled due to "unforeseen circumstances". Because of the phenomenon, a motion to begin Taco Tuesday an hour earlier was accepted and pending my approval. (I mean, you wouldn't buy a skirt without asking your friends first if it looks good on you, right?) Without hesitation, I approved. Shit was about to get real. For a college student, an hour earned is two hours instantaneously wasted. I'm sure I could have studied for an upcoming test or started researching catalogs for an upcoming paper, but my cult life was far more important.
Wishbone House was a cluster fuck of hustle and bustle. You may ask why I just referred to Lexie's house as "Wishbone". I wish I had an intriguing story, but I don't. For some reason unknown to me, all student houses around Occidental College are named. Yup, you heard me. You get a house, you name it. However, it was never that easy. The naming process typically set the tone for housemate living conditions. If you agreed on a name, chances were you would get along swimmingly. If you didn't, the shit storm of drama you'd probably endure over the next nine months would most likely result in a therapist, a search for new friends and a new residence. Students took house naming very seriously. You couldn't say "I'm going to Bob's house" because you would be instantly labeled as a lunatic who is detached from the social scene. You'd have to say I'm going to Tribal House. Side not, most people knew me and my partying ways, so you could get away with saying "Ross' House." I'm kinda a big deal ...
The car ride to Dona Rosa seemed normal at best. Sunny, Sebastian , Lexie, Dana and I bitched about life. When we arrived, we ate, we drank. It was nothing out of the ordinary minus this groundbreaking conversation of homosexuality:
Dana, immersed in her cell phone, ignored the group vigorously texting during dinner.
Me: " Pay attention to us!! Get off your damn phone."
Dana: " I'm sorry. My brother is having some problems at school. Everyone thinks he's gay!"
Sebastian: " Well is he gay?"
Dana: " NOO!! He is just musically inclined"
Insert hysterical laughter from Sebastian and I. I've literally never laughed so hard in my entire life. Musically inclined?! You've got to be kidding me.
Dana punched me because Sebastian and I were "being mean," but probably because she secretly knew her brother was a huge homo. If people have concluded you are gay, newsflash, you are probably gay and not in the "I'm a swimmer I shower naked with guys after practice" gay way but a " I hang back and let another teammate suck my dick in the shower" kind of way.
Back at Wishbone, the tone was lack luster to say the least. The whole moving Taco Tuesday up and hour really seemed to make the night longer. Naturally we found a way to kill time.
Sunny decided I was the key hole to who is key, Dina was throwing a fit over her "musically inclined" brother all while Sebastian and Lexie were practically having sex on the couch. How boring had we become? This was not the night I had imagined. I contemplated going home to watch Netflix. I remembered seeing Oceans 11 had been added to instant stream when suddenly I had a bout of ESPN. Some how, deep inside, I knew this night was meant to be something legendary and thanks to my sixth sense these powerful words came to fruition, " Lets go take a picture in front of the Bellagio Fountain."
Silence.
My heart started beating a billion beats per second. My mind started envisioning the epic adventure right in front of us--
More silence.
I began thinking this was the worst cult ever.
FINALLY Lexie spoke. " Sounds awesome. I just have to be back for a 10 a.m. class."
An explosion of ecstasy raced through my mind!!! I was so fucking excited!!! Next thing I knew it was raining T-rex's as I navigated a dangerous mountain pass while searching for the fairies to guide us to the light.
Miraculously we ended up in Vegas.
After an hour long photo shoot at the Bellagio there was really nothing more for us to do. (Some people were not of age, buzz kills). The night was relatively young so we grabbed fourth meal at the Grand Lux Cafe in the Venetian. After a balanced breakfast of waffles and ice cream we were back in the car with Lexie serenading us to a mix of Ricky Martin and Disney songs.
Lexie made it to class by 10 a.m. and our one night Vegas excursion became the talk of Occidental College by lunch.
Never again have I been able to get a group of friends to go drive off to Vegas on a whim.
I attribute to this night to the beginning of #RossVegas
Our photo:
And this one...just because I look adorable.
-R
