you smell like valencia

i'm a strong believer in the whole "things happen for a reason" bit. but i'm also a strong believer in "things happen because you were a dumbass and did something stupid" bit. the important thing is you learn from it.

for example....

[now, if you're my friend, chances are you've heard this story. but if you're my friend, chances are that you will enjoy hearing it again.]

once upon a time (a time i like to call sophomore year of college), a young dame had her heart set on an unattainable love... or in other words, i had a huge crush on my physics TA. he was an aerospace engineering junior, a swimmer, spoke fluent spanish.... ok, he was mexican. it was a weird time for me. i was young.

besides, it was not a bad thing to be smitten with the teacher's assistant who was grading your lab. for our lab reports, most people wrote one page lab summaries like good students. i was writing a one page letter to my crush. contents are confidential.

just kidding they were never dirty. he was shy and nerdy and would be really embarassed.

one night, the opportunity came when i was invited over to his apartment to have a drink before we both met up with our friends at separate parties. i was a nervous wreck. and my under 21 ass didn't have any alcohol.

"do you have any alcohol??" i desperately ask my then-roommate, melissa. i couldn't be the girl that goes over, drinks all the guy's beer, then leaves (and when i say "all the guy's beer", i mean all. i literally would've probably ended up drinking all his beer. my dad doesn't call me the professional on accident). it was out of the question. that was a typical uncool girl move and i was not your typical uncool girl. i was your untypical cool girl. plus i was so nervous i needed a shot before i walked over there.

"um, i have this." she holds up and 75% full 5th of captain morgan.

i look her dead in the eye. "can i have that?"

"yeah, sure." and i took the bottle from her hand.

i get to his apartment and just as he was about to offer me a beer, i pull out the 5th.

...looking back, he probably thought i was an alcoholic. ...and looking forward, he probably still does.

"oh.. you have your own."

"well, i didn't want to drink all your beer. i mean, we're friends."

"no, that's cool. i'm just used to girls drinking all my beer."

haha!! typical uncool girl, 0 - untypical cool girl, 1. i got this.

it doesn't take long for me to get 10 times more hammered than him.

somehow we start talking about exercise, and he tells me he does yoga.

"psshhaaaaaa, you mean you like take a class??" my very drunk self asks both mockingly and truly curious.

"no, i have it on podcast on my computer."

"you mean, you do it in there?? in your room?" i say pointing to the door behind me on the couch.

"yeah...."

just like i had to my roommate melissa, i lean forward and look him dead in the eye. only this time i wasn't asking a question. "we're doing yoga. right now."

now when i said we, i meant we. but it wasn't we. it was me. by myself. drunk. doing yoga. on the bedroom floor of my crush. my crush who was also my physics TA. he rolled out a mat, turned on the podcast and watched while i went to work.

now. what i felt i looked like was this:

or this
or this
what i actually looked like was probably more like one of these girls:

needless to say, our relationship didn't move much further past that night. yet, surprisingly, i'd still receive a text or facebook message from him every now and then. ...must have done something right...

it's been about 3 years now. he went to grad school and has returned to st. louis. i agreed to meet with him and catch up. now, remember, i hadn't hung out with him since that infamous night.

when he shows up at the bar and sits down, it's not minutes before he asks, "remember when you did yoga in my room?"

"seriously. all my friends know about that." i say back.

and now the world wide web does too.

we reminisce on lab and life. he asks about my job and when i explain to him exactly what i do and how exactly my machines work (because i know he'll understand), he just smiles.

"you have no idea how proud i am right now. look at you! talking physics!"

later in the night, i say to him, "i'm going to tell you something that is going to sound really weird."

"ok..." he says cautiously

"you smell like valencia."

"like, the city in spain?"

"yes."

well, he did. another point for the untypical cool girl.