Wednesday, August 7, 1999
2:17 AM, on the computer
Heh... heh heh... heheheheheheheheheh... HAHAHAHAHA WHOOOOOOOOO I feel good!!! I asked out the bookstore girl!!!! But, all things come in due time, that and I want the experience to last longer so you'll have to wait until I get there. *grins*
Wheel, today started slow... basically I watched cartoons while waiting for The Call. I never got it, so I looked up the number to Spencer's to see what was up. I had a really hard time finding the number... it wasn't in the phone book, it wasn't listed under AT&T's 0+0 Help, so I had to call the mall and get the number. I talked to the manager and he remembered me (good sign) and told me that they hadn't made a decision yet because he just arrived and they would get in touch with me, and he told me to call them on Monday if I hadn't heard anything.
I felt pretty good about that. I dunno why but I did. Almost exactly after I hung the phone up I got a knock on the door, and it was my friend Ben, the one that I went to the movie with on Tuesday. He wanted to know if I wanted to go see Mystery Men with him, I said only if he'd take me by Books-a-Million to see if the bookstore girl was there. Of course he agreed (I can be quite persuasive) and I told him to come by later. I called him around 6 to make sure he was coming, and after he said he was I called up a friend and his gf to see if they wanted to go, and he told us they'd meet us at the food court at the mall at around 8:15. It sounded like a plan to me, so I wolfed down my Szechuan Chicken that I had prepared and we left when Ben got here. We parked the car outside the bookstore and I swallowed hard. I knew what was about to happen and it was going to be something I'd remember no matter what the outcome. So we went inside and started discussing the plan.
We walked straight past the desk and noone was there.
I muttered something in French that I hoped Ben didn't understand and I walked back to the back to read a magazine and calm down. On the way back there though, I noticed something... there was a really pretty girl in one of the isles that looked strangely familiar. I took position in the isle and talked to Ben, and she walked by me, smiled, and from the shaking in my knees I knew it was her. We finished going back to the store when we ran into a friend of ours from band. I told him what I was doing, and he looked over and said, "You mean the girl at customer service?" And walked over there to get a good look because her head was turned. I followed and watched as he turned around and they both expressed their approval of the girl, and I told them to make themselves scarce as I began my "brilliant plan".
I walked up to the desk and and unbeknownst to her grabbed the bottom of it because I was nervous as hell... (pardon my french)
"Uh.... yes, do you have the book "Flaming Iguanas" by Erika Lopez?"
"Sure, lemme check!"
Her voice was like a glass of A&W Root Beer... smooth and it made my eyes roll back cause it was just too good to be true. I almost lost my cool though when she said, "Oh I'm sorry, would you like for me to order it?"
"Um, uh... no thanks I was just looking for something that was here." Immediately after realizing what I had just said I realized I almost blew my cover so I said "Well do you have anything by Hunter S Thompson? He wrote Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, and I'd ordered it here and I was wondering if there were any more books of his here."
For a split second she looked puzzled, like she was remembering something... she looked through the microfilm records of what was in stock and said "sure, he's in the politics section, let me help you find it!"
"Part one finished," I thought to myself. "You're doing good so far... here's the hard part though." She found where Dr Thompson's books were and read out the titles to me. I looked down and began stuttering words that sounded like: "Um... I'm just gonna be honest... this was just some big (or did I say pathetic? I can't remember) excuse to get you alone because I'm really shy, and well I was wanting to get your name and..."
She grinned.
Thrown off by that, I really started stuttering.... "I was wondering if you'd maybe um... like to go get some coffee sometime, like when you're off or something?"
Her face lit up.
I almost fainted.
She laughed and I knew I had her... that didn't help any. She grasped her hands and held them against her chest and said "Sure! I'd love to... I'm Meredith!" and she held out her hand.
"I-I-I-I-I'm John..." and I gently took her hand. I was holding the bookstore girl's hand... the girl I had been dreaming about and annoying all my friends about by talking about her... and her hand was in mine.
I must have been blushing because she looked at me like I was the sweetest person she'd ever met. I was so nervous at that time that I was looking down the entire time. I was going to ask her for her number but I looked up and she was looking down too, and when she looked up and our eyes met, I couldn't talk. I threw a hand out, made a slideways "that's it!" slicing motion with it (you'd have to see it in person to know what I was talking about), and luckily I managed to produce something that sounded like "Can I call you tomorrow?" and she told me to follow her. I followed like a lost puppy and I watched the goddess take her position on her throne behind the royal table and she scratched out her name and number on a post-it note and handed it to me. I looked at her name and I almost passed out, this time because of shock.
I had gone to high school with this girl.
I'm pretty sure I know this girl's sister, she graduated in my class.
If the above is true... her mother was my Junior year history teacher, and if I remember correctly to her I was "brilliant but a bit of a trouble maker".
Well we talked for a bit and I found out she goes to Miss State and she's a communications major... and sitting here now I realize that's my major. Groovy. Well back to the story she mentioned that she had to go back to school sunday, so I asked her if she wanted to do something tomorrow and she said she'd love to but at X time (I forgot, so sue me) she'd have to go help with the Elvis Presley Festival. We worked something out and I'm going to call her later today at 1 and we're gonna meet at the local coffee house for a cup of coffee and a chat. I hope this goes well... I really like this girl. Meredith... I like how that rolls off the tongue.
As happy as I was (I think I jumped and skipped around a bit) I told the lovely Meredith that I had to catch a friend for a movie, but as much as I wanted to stay she needed to get back to work and I needed to get back to my friend, so I bit her farewell and she said bye and went back to where Ben and the other friend was. I put on my most believable sad face and asked:
"Do you guys like apples?"
Ben asked why. I pulled out the post-it note.
"Cause I got her number... how do you like them apples?" They both laughed with happiness for me and I got high-fives and something of a hug from the guys. Maaaaaan I felt great. I still feel great. I'm gonna feel great when I wake up, and in about 12 hours I'm going to be in the attention of a perfect creature.
BUT my day didn't end there. Ben and I went to the arcade and started partaking in the massive slaying of Zombies. I love House of the Dead 2. I got tokens from a fiver and waited around for the game to clear and I turned my head and saw Alan and Chip, two old friends, and.... JENNIFER!??!? CRAAAAAAAAP!!!!
See she was my first girlfriend. She cheated on me with about uh... 15+ guys, the plus being from when I stopped counting and she kept naming people. Alan saw me though, and I signaled to him and he told me to come to his table. I thought that was strange that he'd do that when he knew I didn't like the girl he was with... well I managed to wave to Chip and I asked him how long she had been back. Well good news, it wasn't her but someone else Alan had met in Florida. Chip mentioned Alan had something he wanted to talk to me about, so I went to his table. Basically it just turns out Alan found out about my recent South Park fiasco (I'm boycotting it if you're wondering) and I gave him confirmation of those rumors. He told me that he had always thought I was a very intelligent person, and that stunned me. Well he talked to me about his film school in Nashville and recommended it to me. I remembered that April's brother goes there. I need to ask her about that. I went back into the arcade, and played some HOD2 and then Kevin and his g/f showed up and watched Ben and I play it. In short, we beat the game and I spent about 4 bucks. I gave the rest of my tokens to Kevin and his g/f for them to blow, then we left for the theater.
Mystery Men was great. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and I was impressed how well-developed the plot was. The Bowler was my favorite character... Janeane Garafalo is adorable...
Ben dropped me off at my house, and I started typing this along with talking to people. It's 3:47 now and I'm exhausted. So good night and God... thank You for the help, I know you had a hand in it.