December 12, 2014
After 7:00PM
Friday Evening
"One Eclectic Costume Party"
Call it what you want, but last night was one of the best night's I've had in a long time. Too long of time, in fact. It all began with a special basketball game we Westlake students call the "Silent Night" game where we all dress up as spontaneous and eclectic as we possibly can--but the fun doesn't end there, folks. Once we come, look around, and throw carnival-like glances at each other, some complimenting the sheer brilliance of others and some wondering why on earth anyone would come out in public dressed like that, we sit. Yes, we sit down at a basketball game and suddenly as the clock nears its end of counting, just after the national anthem is patriotically finished, we wait in silence for the tenth point to come. What happens while we do not talk? People ask. Mostly unaccounted whispers and heavy breathing rich with anticipation. I respond. Why are we silent? Others contemplate. Just wait and see. Is all I say. Even last year, as it was our first year doing this new tradition, people looked at us in deep confusion, speculating it was some sort of tribute for a deaf person or something. Most just thought we were lunatics. Every basket made, every good call from a referee before the tenth point was cheered for by the waving and epelectic shaking of our hands. I referred to them as "jazz hands" but it was the best we could come up with as a substitute for our lack of cheers...until the tenth point, that is. Legend has it, once the tenth point is alive and breathing--so are we. Even more so! As soon as the ball swirls through the hoop we are on our feet screaming, cheering and dancing as boisterously as humans possibly can! We cheer just one step away from ballistic. It's quite an incredible sight to behold and experience. I know last year was just plain ridiculous. If I'm not mistaken, several people were injured as we stormed the court just before half-time was about to begin--yes, half-time (the poor basketball team had been so nervous about this new idea that they didn't score ten measly points until a few seconds before the second quarter ended). Anyway, that year we were permitted to "storm the court" which actually turned into a major mosh-pit/dance party that left no one unscathed. I happened to be wearing a watch of my mother's from her young adult life and even though I still can't account to this day what caused it to break, I can still remember looking down and seeing nothing but a bare wrist and this feeling of remorse of what she would say once I got home flooding through me. This year, there would be no mosh-pit. And this year I only jammed one finger. After the tenth point, I remember feeling something wet hit the back of my neck from all angles--spit. Yuck. The kid next to me (a sassy ginger-polynesian) was screaming so cacophonously, moisture was spewing from his mouth and hitting me. It didn't help that we should've been exceeding the limit of humans on one bench at a time and so I was forced to be squished really close to him and everybody else. Needless to say, it was not a pleasant position. But, the cheering sent chills down my back and to top it all off we ended up winning our game by a landslide! Us! Little ole Westlake who never wins anything but band! (No offense kiddos, as awesome as band is, most of us would appreciate to be cheering into victory for all events at our school too). Dripping in sweat and all pleasantly surprised by the fabulous turn out of the event, we all laughed and enjoyed ourselves inside the gym long after the game ended. It was good to reiterate all the good things that happened and all the ludacris fun we had cheering in our strange outfits and being close as peebee and jay. After that, everyone but one person knew where we were going next. Maddie Lauder's eighteenth birthday was only twenty-four hours ago and so Jentry (her best friend and also a close friend of mine) had planned a very top-secret surprise party for her at her house and so slowly and very inconspicuously we departed in clumps until all but two arrived. (Jench had created a sudden diversion of a milk-run escapade for Maddie to fall into until everyone was in position). Suddenly, she knocked on the door and when she came in it was a multitude of hyperactive cheering and extreme hugging and jocund favor! It was great. Really, really great. Maddie didn't even have a clue about the party...or so I heard. The rest of the night only escaladed in enjoyable memories, most of which have escaped me, but the ones that sticked were simple: There were many kids of all ages eligible for high school at this strange and assorted costume party of sorts, there were delicious and rapidly disappearing Swedish Fish and there was at one point a "Circle of Trust" that consisted of us sharing our first kiss stories and what not. It actually ended up as a highlight of the night as most of the stories were interrupted with laughter and endless jokes parading all over our "unofficial"rule to stay quiet and only let the person with the "Speaking Hat" tell their story. Our circle was small, but heavily compacted with members. It was hot and by the end of the night I remember remarking that the basement smelt really strange and can only assume it was because of the major occupancy of teenagers and the ruckus they had caused. I floated between anyone and everyone--except I made a point to avoid the sophomores, as well, you know, they are sophomores--and enjoyed mostly listening to everyone tell random stories that had nothing to do with anything. Clay Baggage was most especially talented in that area. At one point I was caught in a web of one of his strenuous story about something I can no longer remember, but I do remember it was long. My eyes kept wandering about the room becoming rudely distracted by kids playing billiard pool and chucking exercise balls a little too close to my face for my liking. Then there was this other kid that really turned my head upside down. You may not know this about me, but I'm not exactly the life of the party. In fact, most would associate the "wallflower" with me. I tried my best to interact, but often found myself wanting (and refusing) to retreat. Daydreams of running out the back door and under the sleeting rain often popped into my head (especially during one of Clay's notorious stories). Sometimes it was almost an overbearing sensation to run away, but I refused. Something inside me wouldn't let me, and sometimes I really hated that little jerk, but most of the time (usually after the party) I was grateful for its sensibility. Through out the party, some were found buzzing by the piano, pretending they could play or otherwise trying and failing to teach others how, as I had done a few times, and if you took a break from the rowdiness in the theater room, you would only find a different kind--one that ignored the holiday movie and instead insisted on starting everyone in the room into a heavy conversation about anything but the movie. It also ushered people in and out in a constant flow of indecisiveness that both annoyed and understood everyone in the theater. I hardly ever deluded myself to that room. After about 11:30 kids starting dropping like flies. I found one sprawled out on the bean-bag in the theater, but the most humorous was Tiffany whom we found cuddling on the floor next the couch, completely asleep and defying her usual party habits. By midnight, most everyone was gone, but the few that left last were extremely drousy on the drive home and honestly made me very nervous to ride home with. But even that situation wasn't as uncomfortable as a sophomore frequently telling me all about his dream about us making out on Jentry's couch. Yeah...and I thought I really knew awkward before that. All in all, this night was one to remember and what do you know--it was the best unintentional costume party I've ever been to.
(k.b.)
December 13, 2014
11:43PM SAT
