A day in the life: One night in Gatlinburg
I was born a ladies man, or so I would like to think. I think most would agree, I do have a way with the ladies. Just not those that think they're better than everyone. But realistic ladies, the kind that actually see potential in others. They dig me.
Doesn't mean I don't have a rage issue. Or rather didn't back then.
Sure, she wasn't my girl, but I certainly felt she was. I was pretty sure we had an understanding.
I just could not help it, I was a middle school boy with a posse, we were on a school trip. So we walked around and tried our hand at what guys do best (or worst rather): Pick up girls. It was quite some adventure, the group of four of us terrorizing the young ladies of Gatlinburg, TN. In our Real Men Wear Pink t-shirts we had just bought. You just can not understand the awesome without photo evidence.
So, that's one of the girls we ran across. I got to walk down the street with my arm around her and take a picture with her. That's certainly the only near success. Everything else was pretty tragic (including a group of girls who laughed "Haha! Our friends told us about you!") But whatever, we were above that.
This solitary success was enough to make my female friend jealous.
Can you sense the trouble?
Later that night: We go to the haunted house, there's a guy there that my friends and I crossed paths with sometime throughout the day. No reason to think any thing much of that, until he started talking to my special someone.
I know this is wrong, I should not have been jealous if I was flirting with people first. Not to mention we were not even in a relationship. The difference is I was just out having fun with the guys, nothing serious. She was just trying to spite me.
We ran into that guy and his own group. I confronted him. Told him not to call my girl. Told him to back off. Then I turned around.
My friends were gone. Where did they go? I guess they walked back to the hotel.
I turned and walked back to the hotel and go looking for my friends. I was pretty upset they would just leave me like that. Alone with 3 other guys on a random street in Gatlinburg, just outside an arcade. By myself.
I immediately go to the room, no one's there and I don't have my key so I go and talk to my special girl, explain to her what happened and ask where my friends are.
A few minutes later, they come back.
"Dude! Where'd you go? We were looking for you!"
"Dude! We got in a fight with those guys"
"I thought you guys left me and came back here!"
My head swirled, confusion. I swear they were gone when I surveyed the area. Forgot where they said they were, but it was not far from me at all. It is interesting that they failed to see me leave and I failed to see them.
"You got in a fight?! How'd that happen?"
and they explained.
First thing to upset my friends: When we were initially on our walk and one of the kids recognized me, he said "Hey, it's that nigger again."
I didn't hear that, but the fact that it would upset my friends without me saying anything. That is friendship.
Second thing: After I left, the leader of their posse (the one I had a talk with) was talking about how I ran off scared. LIke a coward.
Now my friends knew me, and though they could not account for where I went they did know that was the case. Not sure how the first punches were thrown or whatever, I was at the hotel. I do however, know that there was a fight.
Remember those cool airsoft guns? My friends had them in their pockets, they were playing with them before our walk. During the scuffle, one of their shirts flew up and some girl shouted "He's got a gun!" They took off back to the hotel and that's where I found them...or rather they found me.
Nothing ever came of that, aside from experience.
In hindsight, that is essentially the meaning of friendship. Having one another's back regardless of the situation. I think as we age and people change a lot of that gets lost. Mix that in with the lesson I learned about relationships and fairness and we have a pretty solid night in Gatlinburg.
Those were my friends, she was my girl. All was good. Peachy in fact. I felt great. I think that was the start of something for me, not sure what it started exactly. But I know it was a pretty big change since a year later, everything from that night was gone. My friendship with those guys just was not the same any more. I suppose that's high school.
I felt that night in Gatlinburg was a good night to recall because it was one of the first times I could say I was wrong. Because sometimes I am, and I'm not perfect. I think it was the start of deciding to better myself to make her happy. At the time it just applied to her, but really it lasted to anyone I've been close to. I try to keep myself at top condition to help out those closest to me. Guess that's that change I was mentioning.
