Tuesday, December 31, 2013
Day 1
I woke up in my big bed to "Blurred Lines" by Robin Thicke playing on the radio next to me. I slowly turned my head to the right. The clock read 7:30.
I was happy because it was New Years' Eve. I signed up for a camp at a pyramid nearby, in the middle of the desert. There are lots of legends about the pyramid, including how it used to be an ancient civilization and stuff like that. Some people even say it's haunted in the middle of the night.
Every New Years', people organize a camp there, first there's a tour, then we do some activities about the pyramid (I don't remember exactly what, I am bad at reading comprehension), and then at 6 they throw a huge party going past midnight. And of course, don't forget the New Years' countdown.
"Okay, that was Blurred Lines by Robin Thicke!" the man on the radio announced.
"So today's conversation is about... adult temper tantrums," the woman said.
"Looks like we're getting a call here!" the man announced.
"So, whenever my husband doesn't get his way, he will just go to his room and sulk." the caller said.
"For how long?" asked the man.
"Like, a couple days." the caller said.
"A couple days!?" both the DJs replied in unison.
"He'll only come out of his room to eat lunch and stuff. He'll just sit there and not talk to anyone. When he's done sulking he will just pretend nothing ever happened while people give him strange looks."
I shut off the radio, slowly got out of bed, had a shower, got dressed, and did my usual routine. My friend Paul was still sleeping in the room next to mine. He had a sleepover the night before. We stayed up really late watching movies, however that was probably a bad idea since I had to be up early. Oh well. I was excited about going to the pyramid. Even if there were creepy rumours about it.
I went into his room and shook him to wake him up. "Paul, get up. Get up!"
It took a little bit to wake him up, and when he finally woke up, he groggily said, "Brandon, it's only 8:00."
"We have to be at the pyramid by nine and it's a bit of a drive," I explained.
I probably should have woken him up earlier, but I was quite tired. Again, staying up late was a bad idea.
After he got ready, we left the house quickly to get to the pyramid on time. It was a cold morning, in the winter months the nights are bitter cold. I forgot to mention I live in a suburb right by a neighbouring big city in the desert. Sometimes I don't get why they build big cities in the desert, considering the fact they will be suffering from a water crisis in the foreseeable future. Then again, a lot of them existed long before people started worrying about that.
We went to pick up our female friend (we're not dating) named Crystal. She lives at the edge of the suburb closer to the mysterious pyramid.
Afterward, we drove along Route 66 to the pyramid. It was a half hour drive from my house, and a twenty minute drive from Crystal's. The drive was uneventful, just driving across fifty kilometres of plain desert, with the occasional cactus on the sand and the sun beating down on the landscape.
When the drive was over, we pulled up on the small parking lot outside the pyramid, which was just pieces of yellow stone from the outside. The parking lot was usually empty or having just a car or two, but today it was full, and there were several cars parked on the shoulders of the small highway.
All three of us got out of the car and looked toward the pyramid. Several people were walking towards the pyramid, if you were here any other day it would just look like a lone pyramid in the middle of the desert, and you would most likely be the only one here. I'm just trying to think of all the-
"Brandon!" a voice yelled.
Huh. That voice sounded oddly familiar to me.
"Brandon!" the voice called again. I turned my head to the left.
Oh crap. The voice belonged to a classmate of mine from twenty years ago. He was just dressed casually, with a long sleeved shirt and jeans. And he was wearing a brown hat. And he was coming my way.
"Brandon! I thought that was you!" he exclaimed, obviously happy to see me again.
"Hi, how are you doing?" I replied, trying to be friendly even though I hated him. He always followed me everywhere when I was a kid.
"Hey, hey," he said, "now don't you say you don't remember me because I sure as heckfire remember you. Well?"
Double crap. I somehow managed to forget his name. "Not a chance."
"Jacob!" he yelled. He lifted his hat to reveal his bald head. "Williamson! I did the saxophone performance at the high school, remember? Come on, buddy!"
He finally put his hat back on his head.
"Jacob, I would love to stand here and talk with you, but I'm not going to." I walked away, seeing an opportunity to get away from him. Paul and Crystal were already in the pyramid.
"Naw, that's fine, I'll walk with you!" he said happily, putting his hand on my shoulder.
Triple crap. My attempt failed.
"You know when I see an opportunity, I just have to take it like a man, you know what I'm saying?" He continued to talk and talk while I just stood there bored out of my mind, wanting this conversation to end.
"Oh god!" he eventually said. "It is so good to see you again!"
"Alright, bye." I walked away, happy this conversation was finally over.
However, there was a lower spot on the ground, and I lost my footing and fell flat on my face, sand getting in my eyes.
Quadruple crap.
"Oh ha ha!" Jacob laughed. "Watch out for that hill there, it's a doozy!"
I just got up and angrily trudged over to the pyramid, while Jacob was still laughing at me.