Here it is. The entire month of July for the year 2000. Don't you just feel like a part of my life? Doesn't it make you all warm & fuzzy inside to know that I'm sharing a part of myself with you? I know it does. Read on, starting from the bottom.

July 30th, 2000: I had a fabulous day at COSI today. I've been bringing my lunch on days when none of my lunch partners are working, so today, I was hanging out in Volunteerspace, eating my packed whatnot. There were no volunteers in the room, so I felt a little weird being there. Of course, I always feel bad being in there, because the walls are covered in pro-volunteering signage that says stuff like "Make America Beautiful - Volunteer", which really doesn't make a whole lot of sense, if you ask me. Yet even though I'm a paid staff member, none of the volunteers seem to hate me. They actually embrace the fact that I hang out in their area. So, I was all alone, filing my nails, when two volunteers walked in. I wasn't feeling terribly talkive, so I just greeeted them and filed as they talked. They discussed working and driving to work and older siblings who control the family cars. All of the sudden, something made me say, "Oh, I know you" to one of the girls. She looked at me, interested, so I looked at her nametag and read "Krissy", which made me even more certain that I had heard about her. I said, "You have a brother named . . . " And then I paused. It was a faux pause, because I know very well that her brother is Steve, formerly of Adventure. So, after just enough pause, I pretended to suddently remember his name. I announced it, and she asked how I know him. I told her that I'm in love with him. She laughed, so I told her about talking to him while working in days past. I asked if he's going to OSU, already knowing that he is but wanting to hear her say it. But she didn't say it. Because he isn't going to OSU. He's going to USC. When Krissy told me that, I made her repeat it, not because I've gone deaf from listening to people complain to me all day but because I was unwilling to believe it. To think that I could be going there with him if I hadn't chosen to go to OSU rather than USC, which was my first choice of schools. I realise that you can't choose a school based on a guy who you've only talked to a few times, but Steve's just one more item to add to my "Reasons Why I Should be Going to California" list. I told Krissy about seeing a Steven look-alike at my OSU orientation, and she told me that he was actually at his own orientation at that time. She told me that he absolutely loves it out there, which sent searing pains through my heart. But it was time for me to go, so I told the girls to enjoy their lunch and made Krissy promise me that she would tell Steve that if he decides to go to OSU, I'll give up every man I've ever loved and marry him instantly. She promised.

So, I was a little upset by all of this news, but I had to go back to work anyway, so I tried to put it behind me and move on. Theatres are still cross-training with Guest Services, so I went to the Dome Theatre to be an usher. The Dome is 250-seat theatre that has a huge dome overheard that serves as the screen. Seats toward the front are tilted back to allow guests to see the entire screen, and all of the seats have speakers called Butt Kickers in them that vibrate your butt when bass-heavy music plays. A volunteer chick named Laura came out of the doors for a minute, squinted to let her eyes adjust to the light, said hello, and went back inside. I realised that I had just missed my chance to get inside, because the doors can only be opened from inside the Dome or with a set of keys, which I didn't have. So, I stood and talked to people waiting in line to see the next show until an usher motioned me over to him. He was standing with a Japanese guy, pointing out a place on the map, but the guy wasn't understanding him, so I offered my help. The guy asked me where the Motion Simulator is, so I herded him in the right direction. As the guy walked away, the usher told me that those were the exact directions that he had given to the Japanese guy a little earlier, but the guy had gotten lost and come back. I told the usher that the guy obviously just wanted to talk to me, and he said, "Obviously. Because you're so cute." Always a good way to get things started.

I called Laura on my walkie and asked her to let me in the Dome, so she came down and opened the doors. They were in the middle of a show, which I didn't realise. It was pitch black in there, so I could see absolutely nothing and ended up totally groping the guy whose place I was taking as he handed me his headset. All in a day's work, I always say. So, when the show was over, the ushers let all of the people out, and the Japanese guy-helping usher came over to talk with me. I told him that I had never worked a laser show before and asked him what they're all about. I told him that I'm not into the show that we do during the afternoons, which is set to pop music. I told him that I would much rather see the Beatles or Pink Floyd show that we do on Friday and Saturday nights, and as soon as I did, I knew that he was going to say that the Beastie Boys one is the best. He did, of course, and I knew that he would think that I was just saying that I liked the Beasties to impress him, but I had to do it anyway. I said, "Well, they're the Beastie Boys. Of course their show is going to be the best," hoping that he wouldn't think me a fake. He didn't seem to, so I asked if the show is mostly new or old stuff, just to see if he knows their music. And he does. I noticed that he has a paid staff nametag rather than a vounteer nametag, but I don't think that he looks like he could be 18, so I inquired about his status. He pointed to his nametag (which read "Mike", by the way), and I told him that I had noticed it and wondered if he's a fake. I know for a fact that volunteers interns wear paid staff nametags, but when I asked him about that as if I didn't know, he told me that he's never heard that that's the case. I decided not to argue with him and let him feel like the man that he thinks he is. He sat down in one of the front seats and told me that the front is his favourite place to sit; I told him that I like the back. He told me that the Dome is his favourite place to usher; I told him that I like the Extreme Screen better. He told me that he likes COSI's Eqypt movie the best; I told him that I like Africa. He told me that he was super tired; I was, too. Except he had a reason, because apparently, he had been out dancing until 4 A.M. the night before. When he told me that, I kind of got the feeling that he's gay. I realise that dancing does not automatically equal homosexuality, but he was way, way too cute not to be gay. He had light brown hair with blond highlights and good pants and really pink lips that called out to me, wanting me to bite them every time that I looked his way. And he could sing. Oh, could he sing. But he was obviously just doing it to show off or impress me or something, so I didn't say anything about it.

Mike asked me about my job and was upset that I make more than him, because Guest Services is where he wants to be. He actually applied to be one of our Spectrum Players (a.k.a actors) in Adventure or Progress, but Trisha, the theatre director, hired him before his interview, so he took the usher job. He also likes my shirts better than his. He asked if I wear white shirts by choice, and I told him that we're made to wear white. He was wearing a teal blue one that looked really great with his bite-able lips, but I told him that I can't stand when the coloured shirts get faded. He told me that you're allowed to trade your shirts in when they fade, evidently not realising that I probably already knew that, since he's only worked at COSI for three days and I've been there for a month. (Oh, yeah. A month. I know it all.) I asked him if he's going to college, and he's doing some kind of business something-or-other, which he says will allow him to "fix company computers for a shitload of money". Well put, Mike. He didn't ask me where I'm going to college, which was a total turn-off since I love to talk about myself, but I got over that quickly enough.

It was time to let people into the theatre for the show, then, so we went out to survey the crowd. Right as we were ready to close up the house, Mike said that he had to go to the bathroom and would be right back. I smiled, and he walked toward me to get to the nearest restroom. Laura told me to close the doors, and I knew that the doors would lock on him if we closed them, but I also knew that Mike had a set of keys to get himself inside. I decided to ignore that knowledge, though, and just wait for him by the door. When he came back, he thanked me and walked with me inside, but as soon as the doors closed behind us, he went up the stairs on the left side to stand at the top. I asked Laura where she wanted me to be, and I was hoping that she would send me to the left side, as well, but she wanted to stand with Mike, too, I imagine, so I went to the right side. I was a little relieved that she had wanted me on the right, actually, because I didn't want Mike to think that I was too anxious. However, when I climbed to the top, I found him sitting on the right. That made me wonder if he had walked over to the right after he saw me heading that way or if he had plans to go to the right all along, but I wanted to believe the former rather than the latter, so I did.

The theatre steps are set up with two narrow steps right together, followed by one wide step. Mike was sitting on the uppermost wide step, so I sat on the one below his. I really wanted to sit with him, but I also wanted to see if he would come and sit with me, since I'm such a game-player. The show started, and all of the little girls in the theatre clapped and sang along to all of the Britney Spears songs, which scared me to death. And then I noticed that Mike was moving down the stairs to me. He was doing it very indiscreetly, but he was doing it all the same. Mike would sing the songs to me every time I turned around to look at him, which I explained to him was not all right. He kept whispering in my ears things about this show being better than the other times he's seen it, things about wanting to get up and dance for the audience during the Ricky Martin segment, things about how much he wished that he could accost me in the Echo-Free Room and have his way with me. Okay, so maybe he didn't whisper that last part, but he might as well have, because I think we all know what whispering does to me. And dang, did he smell good when doing it. I told him that, actually, and he stuck out his arm so that I could smell his Candies for Men. (He also wears Happy on occasion, just in case you were wondering.) Some people got up to leave just then, so I got up to perform my duty and lead them out. When I returned to my steps, Mike had moved back and was laying his head one of the narrow steps. I smacked his leg to keep him awake and he kicked my leg in return, but he stayed where he was. I pretended not to mind and tried to concentrate on the laser show, but well, that was pretty pointless. Trisha radioed me and told me that I was free to go back to Guest Services, but I told her that I wouldn't mind staying, if she knew what I meant. I forgot that everyone on radio could hear what I was saying, and I think Mike also knew what I meant, darn it. So much for not letting him think that I'm anxious.

When I actually stopped thinking about Mike long enough to watch the show, he scared me to death by silently moving right behind me and whispering something in my ear again. But anyway, a Backstreet Boys song came on, and the guy who was running the show asked the audience to clap when their favourite Boy's laser image was projected. I asked Mike which Boy was his favourite, and he said that he doesn't like them. I was a little surprised, since he seemed so pop-y, but hey, I wasn't disappointed. Then, when the song came on, he started singing along with it. I said, "Oh, you don't like the Backstreet Boys, huh?", to which he replied, "I like their songs. I don't like them physically." So, at least I know that he's not gay. Or maybe he really is, in which case . . . at least I know that he's not attracted to the Backstreet Boys.

When the show was over, we opened up the doors to allow people to exit, and Mike immediately took the job of telling all of the guests good-bye and wishing them a good day and all of that other whatnot, the role that I always play. Yet, I felt like I couldn't do it, because I didn't want him to feel like I was copying off of him or something. We went back in the theatre when everyone had left, and he mentioned that his shirt is too big. I told him that he looked good, and he said that my shirt is actually too big, as well. He put his thumb and forefinger on my sleeve to show where my shoulder seam is as compared to where it should be. I was hoping that he would measure me for the rest of my life. But alas, Trisha called him away to usher in the Extreme Screen, so I was left alone. I went back to Guest Services with a huge smile on my face that made everyone ask if I had been hanging out in the Echo-Free Room with someone again. So, it seems that I made a new friend. Not a future husband, necessarily, but a would-be gay who happens to get me a little riled up. And well, that's my favourite kind of person.

Oh, but the story doesn't end there, little ones. There's an entire second half to be told. And be told it will. Tomorrow.

July 27th, 2000: So, I went to OSU's freshman orientation on Monday and Tuesday, the 17th and 18th. I certainly didn't want to go alone, and neither did Katie, so the two of us drove up together. I was supposed to be at her house at 6:50 A.M., but I left my house about then, so I didn't get to her house until 7. We did the usual gas-getting and whatnot to prepare for our little road trip which was really not a road trip at all. The drive to OSU is basically my drive to COSI with an extra ten minutes drive time (too, too many "drive"s, I realise), so it wasn't really anything new and different. I was amazed that I didn't get lost on the way there, but Katie is an excellent navigator, so all was well. We pulled into the parking lot that we were assigned to and looked for a good spot. We weaved in and out of spaces, searching for the one that we would call home. Just then, an OSU ambassador spotted us and waved us over to the left side of parking lot, where we should have gone straight to in the first place. Katie and I were laughing hysterically when we finally got over to her, and by the look on her face, she was clearly impressed with both my fabulous driving skills and the fact that we were so easily amused by ourselves. (Number of ways that Katie and I branded the word "freshman" on our foreheads - 2) As we pulled into our parking place, Katie noticed that a girl right beside us was changing her clothes in her car. We gawked at her for a bit, unloaded our bags and whatnot from the Blazer, and introduced ourselves to her. She was Suzanne, and she was all alone, so we took her under our wing. The name Suzanne makes me sing the Weezer song Suzanne, so I sang that while Katie and Suzanne tried to ignore me. We walked across the river on a footbridge, Katie remarked about the incredible way that the bridge was just floating over the water before deciding that there were probably supports underneath it, and we entered Morrill Tower, where check-in was.

The hot check-in men gave Suzanne some directions while she was in line and then told us to follow her, but she hadn't really listened to them, so she had no idea where we were supposed to go. She remembered hearing them say something about the elevators, so we hopped on one, debated about what floor we would go to, and got back off to ask for the directions once again. (Number of ways that Katie and I branded the word "freshman" on our foreheads - 3) I'm sure that the hot check-in men talked about us once we headed the right way, but hey, what were we to do? We went to get our room keys and noticed that we were all in different rooms, which was a bad sign. Katie and I had specifically sent our stuff in together so that we could room together, but when I questioned a desk chick about it, she told me that OSU wanted me to meet new people and have new experiences. I informed her that I didn't plan on doing anything of the sort, but she just laughed and handed me my room key. (Number of ways that Katie and I branded the word "freshman" on our foreheads - 4) I went up to my room and made my bed, and while I noticed that my roommate's stuff was there, I got this really weird lonely feeling. I'm not one who minds being alone, but I did at that moment. I went downstairs to meet Katie and get our day started.

Our first business of the day was a Spanish placement test. Now, I took my three years of Spanish in high school, but I swear, I didn't learn a thing. Tracey and Katie used to talk about their Spanish class, and dang, they learned stuff that our teacher never uttered a word about to me. I wasn't the least bit worried about the placement test, because I knew that I would be in the lowest class, and I was cool with that. The test was full of paragraphs containing approximately two words that I was familiar with. Katie and I were laughing out loud at some of the questions. When I was done, I went to stand in line to get my results, and a girl ahead of me asked me how I did. I told her about my Spanish experience, and she told me about her five years of classes, so that made me feel really good about myself, obviously. When I got my results back, however, it turns out that I did well enough to earn credit for a course and skip over it to a higher one. I was totally impressed with myself and the fact that I'm a good enough at guessing that I was able to earn myself some free credit, but Katie hadn't done so well, so I tried to console her. I told her that her test had looked way harder than mine and that she would have a much better time of it being in an easy class. I really didn't think that her test had been any different than mine, but hey, I don't want my friends walking about without any self-confidence. So, Katie totally latched onto that idea and ran away with it, saying that she was glad that she had a harder test and was going into an easier class. I just kept my mouth closed and promised that I wouldn't say anything.

After we got our I.D.'s, everyone was hurdled into an auditorium for our welcome. The welcome was the usual horrid event that you come to expect with college-related whatnot, so Katie and I talked about yarmulkes and how we would manage to avoid the rest of the activities while still getting necessary information most of the way through it. The main idea of the whole bit was to make sure that we have lots of drunken promiscuous sex but not enough that it'll affect our grade point averages. I liked that. We then went to lunch in the dining commons of Morrill Tower. Katie and I grabbed a huge round table meant for six people, lounged around accordingly, and wondered how much we intimidated people. Finally, a guy came over and asked if he could sit with us, so we met Zack and his friend Lisa. They were cute and funny and the usual, and they explained to us that the day was only for honours students, which made clear the business that all of the speakers at the welcome were calling us the "cream of the crop" and other ridiculous phrases.

After lunch, we had to go to our advising sessions, so Katie and I were forced to detach our hips and go in different directions. It was then that I encountered my future husband for the first time. You know, sometimes I meet people and think that they have a certain look that I really like or they have good taste in music or other little random bits that don't mean much when separate. But this guy was perfect, probably still is perfect. If appearance guaranteed everything, then I would have just asked this guy to marry me right then and there. He had the perfect black, spiky hair that I'm constantly looking for. He was wearing a just tight enough dark blue polyester shirt with black pants. He had little square glasses, the kind that everyone wears but only he actually looks good in. But most importantly, he was wearing my shoes. Black and white shoes that I had admired for 15 minutes during my last trip to Journeys before deciding on some silver ones that my family would be a little more apt not to hate. But he had them. I didn't know what to do with myself, so I did nothing but walk into University Hall, where my pre-med session was taking place.

I had no idea what room I was looking for, so I found this Japanese kid, asked him if he knew Karate, and followed him to the right room. His parents attached themselves to me for some reason and asked if I would consider marrying their son, and although the thought of being the wife of a would-be doctor is rather appealing, I ran away from them and found a seat in an area right in the middle of the room. I was surprised to notice that a guy I had been admiring at lunch was there; he hadn't struck me as the doctor type. We listened to speeches about how our major is the hardest and that we shouldn't let anyone stand in the way of our dreams and that we should consider having a whole lot more drunken promiscuous sex than the other students during undergraduate school, because there won't be much time for that during medical school. When it came time to fill out our schedules, I expected the professors and advisors to meet with us one-on-one, but instead, they just kind of handed us the paperwork and told us to go at it. I felt extremely alone in there, mostly because everyone else was with their parents. I realised that Mom would have been with me if she was still alive, and that hurt. A lot. All of the things that I thought she would be helping me with suddenly don't seem nearly so cool now that I'm doing them alone. But anyway. Sandy (who can be read about on April 28th) had told me a couple of months ago to get into his honours chem class. I was supposed to sign up for the 9:30 class, and he planned to make me look like a total idiot by getting scores three times higher than mine on absolutely everything that we would be doing in the class. I was really fine with this, and I like Sandy, so I planned to get into the class. However, when I went to sign up for it, I found that I'm not allowed to take it until I've taken a certain math class, so that totally ruined all of my plans. I ended up signing up for math, Spanish, a survey class that we have to take, and an honours philosophy class. Don't ask me what the heck made me sign up for philosophy, because my brain doesn't work like that, but at least I'll be challenging myself a bit, hopefully.

After my advising session, I was supposed to meet up with Katie near some tables in this big grassy area outside of her session hall. I walked out of University Hall and headed toward the grassy area, but after a bit of walking, I realised that I had no idea where I was, and I was pretty sure that I was nowhere near our meeting place. I turned myself around and eventually found the area, and when I did, I saw Katie sitting with a girl much older than us. I assumed that it was one of Katie's sister's friends from college or something, but from the way they were talking when I approached them, it seemed like they didn't really know each other at all. It turned out that Katie had been pseudo-raped and had sat down with the girl for protection. Of course, a dirty, older man had merely approached her and invited her back to his place for some DVD-watching, but to Katie, this was pseudo-rape. So, I comforted her on the way back to our dorm rooms.

When we got there, I decided that I was going to introduce her to Sandy, so I called him up to make some plans. He was at work and said that he went right by campus on his way back to his apartment. However, he doesn't drive to work, so he hinted that it would be cool if we picked him up. I warned him that there was no possible way that I wouldn't get lost, but he assured me that I wouldn't be able to get into college if I couldn't find my way to his work. So, Katie and I escaped campus and left for Sandy's. We got lost, of course, but after a few phone calls, we found our way and pulled into the parking lot, where Sandy was waiting. It's so weird to think that he's actually younger than me. Thinking about the fact that he has an entire year of college under his belt makes me feel really inexperienced. So, he led us back to his apartment. He had told me that I would have to come visit him after work or something some day, and I was kind of anxious to see where he's living for the Summer. It wasn't quite what I expected. First off, he told us to excuse the porn on the walls, which seemed weird. Sandy is the anti-porn, but I imagined that he would-be roommate is somewhat of a porn-lover. However, he was just kidding about the porn thing, so whatever. Sandy has next to no furniture. He has two lawn chairs in the living room and a desk and chair for his computer. He has no bed. That's right. No bed. He has a sleeping bag instead. He told us that we could spend the night, though, which seemed like a good idea to me. He also showed me a picture of a girl who visited him a while back. She was cute, but I have no reason to be jealous. I sometimes think that Sandy's trying to make me jealous, though.

We decided to go see the X-Men movie, because Sandy says that it may just be the best movie he's ever seen. We got there a little early and headed for the book store, where Katie and I promptly headed to the restroom to discuss. She really wasn't okay with the idea of spending the night with a guy she had only known for an hour, but I knew that I could change her mind if given a bit of time. When it was time for the movie, Katie and I grabbed Sandy and headed back to the theatre. I got my seat first, which would have left Katie sitting beside Sandy, so she asked if I wanted to sit by him. I simply said "sure", because I didn't want to give him the idea that I was desperate to sit by him, but at the same time, I didn't want him to feel rejected. So, we sat and we watched. Sandy was bouncing his leg up and down the entire time, which was really distracting but not in a bad way, if that makes any sense. And then the weirdest thing happened. At one point in the movie, he bounced his foot over to mine and let it rest there. And at the risk of Sandy reading this, I felt something. Just a bit of electric. Okay, it wasn't just a bit, and it caught me by surprise. So of course, I started obsessing over it. I wondered if he knew that he was resting his foot against mine or if it was just a random occurrence. So, I kind of moved my foot around a little to let him know that it belonged to me, but he didn't do anything, so I don't really know if he ever knew. I suppose it doesn't really matter, though.

Katie and I didn't end up spending the night, but we did do lots of clapping games in Sandy's living room. She put dimes in the cuffs of my pants, which I unknowingly ended up taking with me. Sandy wanted us to come to a friend's house and watch Fight Club after going bowling, but Katie was worried about getting locked out of our dorms, so we just took the safe route and said our good-byes. I think she felt really bad about ruining my fun, and at the time, I thought that she was being really stupid about the whole situation, but who knows what kind of dirty sex Sandy and I would have had if we would have stayed over. Right.

So, as Katie and I were walking across the river from the parking lot to our tower, I saw my future husband running across the grass beside the river. There was nothing that I could do, so I just had to watch as he disappeared into the tower that was reserved for the guys. It seemed a very appropriate thing to have happen. I bid Katie a good night and went to face my suitemates for the first time. I really love meeting new people when I know that my relationship with them won't be temporary, but I knew going into the dorm that I would spend one night with those people and never see them again, so I wasn't too excited. Well, they were all standing in the doorways to their rooms when I walked in, and when I headed for one of them, the girl in the doorway greeted me and asked if I was her roommate. I told her that I'm Katie, and she said, "I'm (insert crazy Indian name here)." I said, "You're what?!", so she repeated her name for me. She moved to another doorway to allow me to have ours, and I stood there and talked with all of them. It amazes me how incredibly inferior I feel to all of the honours kids at OSU. In high school, I was used to doing nothing and having everything come to me naturally. Well, the same was true for absolutely everyone in the honours program, except they all went to much better schools than I did, had the chance to earn twice as much AP credit as I did, and were all valedictorian of their class. I'm not used to thinking that people are better than me, and I imagine that I'm going to compensate for that in college by not doing any work and saying that I don't care about school, but we'll see about that when the time comes. So, after sitting up with them for far, far too long and talking about who we were in high school and who we want to be in college, we went to bed.

On the second day, we were forced into a "How to be Successful in College" session. The speakers tried to wake us all up by asking stupid questions about our interests and having us stand up when one applied to us. After one of the questions, I stood up and looked around, and when I looked to my right, I met the glance of my future husband. I wanted to make some kind of contact, but all I could do was smile, so I did that and knew that it meant nothing. At a point later in the session, the speakers made us introduce ourselves to someone we didn't know, and I desperately wanted to go talk to my husband, but he was just far down enough that it would be a little too obvious if I got up and went to talk to him. So, I just leaned around the girl next to me and met Jeremy, a total ROTC-wannabe. I was still asking him about how hot he'll look in his uniform and all when the speakers tried to get back to work, so Katie leaned over and told me to shut up, that introduction time was over. I believe that she was just upset that she wasn't included in my conversation.

Later, as we went to lunch, we passed by my future husband, but he was sitting with his dad, and I wasn't quite ready for that, so I just passed him by and hoped for a better chance later. As I was thinking about this, I noticed another guy out of the corner of my eye, and as we passed him, I realised that it was Steven from Adventure at COSI. I couldn't believe my incredible luck. Only a couple of days after I had found out who he was, I was informed that he had left COSI to get ready for college. It kind of hurt to think that I would probably never see him again, but there he was, attending the very same orientation that I was. Of course, he was with his parents, as well, so I just passed by. I don't know why I'm like that. I never embrace moments when I should, and when I think about the moments later, all I do is regret my non-embracing of them. So, while we were standing in line to get our lunches, Katie pointed out the fact that my future husband was standing a couple of people in front of us. I pointed out the fact that he was standing a couple of people in front of us with one of my suitemates. I noticed that she was talking about me to my future husband, which seemed promising, so when I heard her say, "Right there. The girl with the Sprite bottle," I said, "Are you talking about me?" Total feigned surprise. She said, "Yeah, I was telling him that you're one of my roommates." I said, "Actually, we were just talking about you, too." She said, "Oh, really?" I said, "Only bad things, of course." She chuckled, but my future husband looked a little dumbfounded. Aye.

When Katie and I were just about to get our food, another of my suitemates cut in between us to grab some tomatoes for her sandwich, and when she did, I said, "What do you think you're doing? Get back in line and wait like the rest of us." She looked a little scared and said, "I just need to get a tomato." I said, "What you need to do is go stand in line." She then realised that I was just kidding, but Katie didn't and started to apologise for my rude behavior. Katie can't stand to be fake mean to people, I've noticed. We actually had a bit of a scuffle about that while waiting in line, because I told her that she leeches on to people and is fake nice so that they'll be her friend. She was incredibly upset and said that some people think things like that in their heads, but no one would ever actually say them out loud. I told her that I speak my mind and she should be over that by now. It was really great, because a guy I work with at COSI was in line right behind us, and he was listening intently. I love fights, but more than anything, I love public fights.

During a session after lunch, the very same girl who had sat by me at the morning session found me again and asked to sit with me. I wonder what makes people feel like they're safe with me. I want to be one of those totally unapproachable people who people think will never allow a new person into her circle of friends, but darn it, people know just by looking at me that I'm going to accept them. I hate that. Katie and I chose to forego the rest of the afternoon activities and left for home after a while. It really hurt that I didn't ever get to talk to my future husband. I decided that I didn't ever approach him because I was worried that the things he would say would ruin my perfect image of him. But maybe I'll see him in a class this Fall and he'll be scratching the word "Weezer" into his desk with a metal spork. And I'll start singing Suzanne. And he'll look over and tip his square glasses at me. And then I'll know that nothing he could ever say would ruin his perfect image.

July 10th, 2000: So, Day 13 at COSI. (I totally get made fun of for knowing the exact number of days that I've worked there, by the way.) Fun goings-on, as usual. Yesterday, after I clocked in and got my radio, I was on my way to the Desk, and I saw someone walking away from the timeclock. However, before I could see who it was, a wall came between us. But the person caught my eye, so I backed up, and just as did, the person looked over, and darn it, it was Nick. He gave me a little wave, and I waved back. I wasn't expecting to see him there, but it turns out that he was working Box Office, since he's the Do-It-All Boy of COSI. I can't stand it when he works Box Office, because then I know that he's there but don't know what he's doing, and it just drives me crazy. He drives me crazy. When he was working with me on the 8th, he didn't have a lunch time on his schedule, so I couldn't ask him to go anywhere with me. However, just as I was finishing up, he walked into the lunchroom and sat down at my table with a bag of food. He asked if I wanted one of his Skyline chili dogs with a laugh and told me that the meat is what kept him from taking me to Skyline with him, so that was good to know. I talked to him about his 4th of July boating fun and told him that for the first time in years, no one got hurt at my family gatherings except for my little cousin Callen who burned herself with a sparkler, but she doesn't really count, because she's an idiot. (A cute, little idiot, but an idiot all the same.) He told me that he actually had a bit of trouble with the sparklers, as well, and was feeling the burn. I explained that Callen is only 3 years old and has an excuse, which made him feel great about himself, as I'm sure you can imagine. I went to Mike's house on Saturday night and was working through this Nick situation in my head before we delved into Hackers, but I got nowhere. See, Nick's skanky ho friends are more comfortable for him. He's always talking to Pam, which causes me major problems, because Pam is a tapered jeans/tank top girl. You know the type I'm talking about. I consider this type of the girl the most horrid form of white trash. She has a pretty face, but she wears white make-up on it, she's far too big for the little tank tops that she wears, she's never in anything but a pair of dirty tennis shoes, and she has these faded black tapered-leg jeans that seem to be glued to her body or something, because they never come off. It just kills me to see that Nick is able to overlook both her looks and personality to find something good in her. Or maybe he's exactly like her and I just haven't seen it yet. Or maybe I've seen it and am denying it, as I always seem to do. I don't know. I just don't know.

Brian announced yesterday that his crazy roommate moved out the night before. The movements of crazy roommates aren't really of any importance, but this guy was crazy cool. Brian said that the guy left behind a bunch of his clothes and furniture, but he managed to take a jar with approximately one inch of jelly left in it and an empty bottle of mustard with him. He left the jumbo box of Star Crunch in the apartment with Brian, but he just had to have that last inch of jelly, apparently. In other Brian-related news, I asked him if there was any way that he can take the 18th for me, because I have college orientation that day. He can't, but later he asked what it was that I had to do on the 18th, and I told him that it was my second orientation day. He asked what college I'm going to, what I'm majoring in, etc. and was totally surprised that I'm only going to be a freshman. See, all of the Guest Services staff at COSI is around the age of 20. Brian actually thought that I'm his age, 21, which I have a hard time believing. But hey, I'm taking all of the age that I can get.

So, back to Day 13. I was sitting in the café today, and I started thinking about the job that I could have had at the Gap warehouse. See, Mike is not happy there at all. He says that if it wasn't about the money for him, he would apply for a job at COSI. I remember back in the day (meaning less than a month ago) when I found out that Mike had applied for the same job that I had at the Gap. I was actually hoping that we would end up working together, because I kind of miss the boy when I only see him once a week during the summer. Now, I can't imagine what I would be like if I had taken the Gap job just to be near Erica, Angel, and Mike. It's like that Robert Frost poem. I took the road that was less traveled, the one that led me to a destination that no one was able to tell me about, because I didn't know anyone who had been there at the time. Hooray for discovering things for myself.

I was hanging out at the Guest Services Desk in the Atrium today with Ray, the most charming, charismatic older man I've ever met, and Moon, who I haven't worked with in ages. Ray left for a second, and just as he did, a 20-ish guy in a suit walked up and asked about the press conference. See, COSI's president is/was an astronaut. She was actually the first woman to walk in space, so that's cool and all. Well, a U.S. postage stamp commemorating her walk was released at COSI today, so there was a bit of press conference. I told the guy a little bit about what he could expect, gave him directions, and etc. I wasn't willing to let him go, because this guy was hot. I mean, John the Safety Services Officer was the Prince of Hot, but this guy was the King. And he was crazy nice to boot. So, when he started walking away from the Desk, I looked at Moon, and she started laughing, because she knew what I was thinking. I said, "Dang, he's cute", and just after I did, the guy turned back around and smiled. It was a bit embarrassing, but he kept running into me and talking throughout the day, which was well worth the sliver of embarrassment. I kept wishing that he had some kind of advertisement hanging around his neck or something. I wanted him to be wearing a sandwich board that said, "I AM, IN FACT, SINGLE. PLEASE, OH PLEASE, ASK ME OUT." Because I would have. But say he's married and has a kid. I would feel horrible. The thought of the rejection doesn't bother me, but asking a married man out is almost as bad as . . . something really bad.

I was roving around the Mezzanine today, and I saw a little crowd, so I went over to see what the fuss was. It was actually two guys who were doing a rat basketball exhibit. I wasn't doing anything, really, so I just stood and watched. One of the guys was Jason, who I happen to have a bit of a thing for. I've never really talked to him, just said hello, asked him how he's doing, etc. He's the really science-y type, and he just seems interesting. So, Jason explained how they train the rats to play by positively reinforcing their touching of the little plastic ball with tiny rat treats. During all of the explanation, I was watching the other guy, who I didn't know. He just stood there, totally silent and looking totally disinterested. Jason put the rat on the miniature basketball court and let it make a basket. When he did, everyone cheered, including the silent guy. However, as soon as he was done cheering, he went back to his original totally disinterested look. He did it every time that the rat made a basket, and I found it terribly amusing, although I believe that I might have been the only one to notice that he was doing it. When the game was over, Jason told all of the kids that they could feed the rat if they wanted to, so I waited to ask a question while the kids crowded around. The silent guy came over to talk, and I told him that he amused me. He introduced himself as Nick, and I said something about the fact that everyone at COSI is named Nick. I asked him if he had ever thought of changing his name to something like Herkemer, and he said that he's actually considered that name specifically, that he stays up at night, wondering if that's the right name for him. I assured him that it is. The kids had cleared, so I slid over to Jason and asked him if the rats would fight over the ball if two were placed on the same court. He said that they would, but COSI let museums in Tennessee borrow the rats that are trained to make baskets on the other side of the court, so the game wouldn't make sense if we put two of the rats that COSI has in together. Nick asked if he could borrow a rat, which I laughed at but Jason found extremely un-comical. They then loaded up the basketball cart and headed off for another show, so I went down to the Atrium for a bit of Desk fun.

When I got there, a kid named Shane was in the midst of his Desk training. COSI seems to think that people get bored doing the same things every day, so everyone is being cross-trained so that we can do new and exciting things every day. I'm not into it, because I like being a respected Guest Services person only, but all of the theatre people love doing my job, so I basically hate all of them. Plus, I feel like Guest Services people are the only ones hired based on personality and appearance rather than pure ability, so there are now unattractive, antisocial theatre people working the Desk sometimes, which I think makes COSI look bad, but hey, I'm not in charge, am I? So, Shane from the theatres was at the Desk, waiting to get a bit of training from me. He was nice enough, but he was also only 14, which means that he was pretty much only interested in flirting with me rather than answering anyone's questions. He was fascinated with my hair, which amused me to no end. COSI people seem to have a thing with my hair, and I'm okay with that, but this kid was obsessed with it. So, while Shane was asking me 201 questions about how I get it to curl like I do, Brian brought a lost kid over to the Desk and started getting information from him so that a search could start for his parents. Brian is super great with kids, which I totally admire. In the middle of the questioning, however, the kid's parents walked up and grabbed him, so Brian turned to me and said, "Easy peasy Japanesey." That's right. EASY PEASY JAPANESEY.

I went to lunch next, and when I sat down, a grandma and her two grandkids sat down at the table in front of mine. The little boy kept putting his hands down his pants, and every time he did, the grandma told him that he would have to go wash his hands if he kept touching himself. The little girl called him a "kiwihead" each time that he did it. They made me laugh.

Later, I roved on into Ocean to play in the water and flirt with Brett, who has the most perfect jawline that I've ever seen. However, he wasn't there, so I picked up some plastic balls and placed them on fountain-like streams of water that were specifically designed to hold up the plastic balls. As I did, an Ocean worker a little older than me came over and asked, "And what do you think you're doing?" I turned around, smiled, and said, "I'm playing with your balls, clearly." We both kind of looked at each other, wondering who was going to say something about that. I said, "That was rather . . . umm . . . inuendous." He said, "Mmm-hmm." So, I said, "And that's all I'll say about that." I left Ocean and went to Life.

The echo-free room in Life has been giving me troubles lately. See, I have this crazy urge to have nasty, dirty sex in it. I don't know what it is about the place. It's just a room with big, white, jutting sound absorbing boards covering the walls. But it's so dark and quiet in there that it does something to me. You know, I invited Nick back there for some sex one time, but we were interrupted before anything could happen, so I'm deciding who my next victim will be. There are just so many to choose from, but I think it might be Chris. Brian's right up there, but the whole smoking thing might stand in the way of our perfect romance. Chris is like a big teddy bear, though. Plus, graduating from the University of Chicago is just a little too much for me to pass up. Not that he's really mine to have, though. The night that Nick and I went to Red, White, and Boom! with his skanky ho friends, Chris went and changed his clothes before he left to go watch the fireworks. When you see someone wearing their COSI uniform every day, you're either pleasantly surprised or horrified when you see what they wear on their own time. Well, dang it, Chris had to go and have perfect taste in clothing, too. He's a baseball cap man, too, which makes him just that much more adorable. So, it just about killed me when I saw him with his wife at the COSI party. It's not like I didn't know that he's married, but somehow, I assumed that his wife was a blow-up doll or something and he would simply pop her to be with me. But she's not and he can't. She's not pretty enough for him, though, so I'm going to see what I can do. Yes, sex in the echo-free room will be good. Although, the total lack of doors may pose a challenge for us.

Finally, it was close to closing time, and I was back at the Desk with Shane. A woman came from the room where the little lockers are came and told me that it smelled like someone had left a dirty diaper in a locker near hers, so I called some Support Services guys to come and check it out. During this, a Support Services chick came over and told me to look off to the side of the Desk at a random woman who was sitting on the floor in the midst of the crowd. I did and didn't notice anything out of the ordinary. She was simply holding her baby. However, the Support chick told me to look again, and when I did, I noticed that the woman wasn't just holding her baby, she was nursing her baby. Nursing right out in the middle of everything, her chest totally exposed. None of us wanted to tell her to cover herself up, because none of us wanted to get close to her extreme nakedness, but everyone was totally staring at her. I actually got the feeling that she wanted everyone to be staring at her, so you know, whatever turns you on. Just then, a Support Services guy came out of the locker room and informed me that the locker hadn't had a dirty diaper in it. It had actually had a real, live pile of human feces just sitting in it. Now how cool is that?

July 3rd, 2000: So, today was my 9th day at COSI and the day of the big Red, White, and Boom! fireworks whatnot in Columbus. Red, White, and Boom! is a huge, huge thing in Columbus, you know. I was kind of excited, but I walked by the Guest Services Desk in the Mezzanine (a.k.a. middle floor) of COSI today and saw scary PAIGE throwing herself at him, as usual. I stopped and asked PAIGE for a pen, more or less just so that Nick would notice me and I could ignore him, which worked exactly as I had planned. I went down to the Atrium Desk to hang out with Chris, and he gave me my V.I.P. passes for the party that COSI had for the fireworks. I grabbed them and went back up to the Mezz to ask Nick if we were still going together tonight. I was hoping that PAIGE would be there just so that I could rub, rub, rub it in her face, but alas, she was nowhere to be seen. However, a chick named George (don't ask) was, and I didn't really want everyone knowing about my non-existent love affair with Nick, so I just asked, "Are we still okay for later?" Not discreet at all, I realise, but George pretended not to know anything while Nick smiled and confirmed the plans.

A bit later, I went back up to the Mezz to sit down and take a break. PAIGE and Nick were talking in the corner, so I just sat without a word behind a partition off to the side. Nick came over and walked circles around me while PAIGE looked on as if she hates me. I went back to the first aid room and tested out the beds with Nick, which was a total invitation for work sex. Nick gave me the mood ring that he bought from the COSI souvenir cart, and while I was testing my mood, PAIGE stole Nick's attention with tales of drunken escapades with her other undoubtedly unattractive friends. She was asking Nick about drunken escapades of his own, but much to my surprise, he hasn't had any. Mmm-hmm.

After work, I went into the bathroom to change, and as I was heading there, I saw Nick going into another bathroom with his backpack, presumably to do the very thing that I was planning to. When I emerged, Nick was nowhere to be seen, and I started worrying a bit that he hadn't seen me go into the bathroom and had left without me. However, I saw a guy in a blue shirt across the Atrium and assumed that it was him, so I stopped and buckled my shoes for good measure. He came over and led me to the Box Office to talk to a couple of his friends. I took that chance to check him out, as I had never seen him in anything other than his COSI uniform. He's just adorable, and that's all there is to it. When he introduced me to Leana (that's Leen-a), Nicole, Pam, and Miriam, I couldn't help but notice how terribly unattractive they all are. I don't mean to dwell on appearance here, but I felt extremely overdressed and far too civilised to be around them, and I realised that looks don't matter to Nick at all when it comes to picking friends. I wonder how that happens.

So, Leana came with us. She and Nick have apparently been friends for quite a while what with their volunteering for COSI together and working for COSI together and all, and it was pretty obvious to me that Leana's maybe ready for a little more than friendship with him. I didn't want to do anything to jeopordise that or make Leana hate me, so I was really careful around her. However, Nick kept walking beside me and pushing her behind us, which she was not happy with. I thought that I was going to totally dislike Leana because of how comfortable Nick is around her, but she and I have so much in common that I immediately liked her. After walking around in circles for years, we finally found the COSI party area. It was a platform right down by the water, under and beside a bridge. We said hello to the other Nick and sat down at a table with Brian from the souvenir shop who never, ever talks. No, wait. Actually, my Nick said hello to the other Nick, the other Nick stared at me while saying hello back, and we sat down at a table with Brian from the souvenir shop who never, ever talks. Nick was hungry, so we went up and grabbed some of the boxed lunches that were actually dinners from the caterer's table. I opened mine up and sat, thinking for a moment. Nick told me to stop giving my turkey dirty looks and just chew on my bread for a while, so I did just that. I remarked at the odd texture of the non-gelatinous gelatin and got a little giddy when Leana pulled out her moist towelette. I have a passion for moist towelettes, you see. So, Leana told me to get mine out of my lunch that was really a dinner and gave me hers as a symbol of her undying love for me. I unwrapped the darling thing and took a huge whiff of it. Ahh, the sweet smell of lemon. I rubbed it on my hands and reveled in its moist goodness until it was all moisted out, whereupon I wrote "To: Nick From: Katie" on it and handed it to Nick as a gift, which meant that he was obligated to hold on to it. I then asked if he does any kind of weird drugs, because that seems like the appropriate thing to do after giving someone a moist towelette. He doesn't smoke or anything, but he confessed to having a $2000 a week crack habit, which I told him that I can deal with.

It started to rain a little later, so the three of us ran under the bridge and sat on a ledge, where Leana told me about majoring in psychology, knowing about fake wood grain, etc. until she went to look for a friend when the rain died down. I took that chance to steal a chair and sit in front of Nick, who sank to the ground in turn to talk. I asked him who he is, and he said, "Nick." So, I asked him who he was in the past, and he was also "Nick" then, so I had to change the wording of my question. I asked where he fit in in high school, and he didn't, which kind of surprised me. I asked about his family, and while he seems like the only child type, he actually has a 17 year-old brother and a 13 year-old sister. His parents are a Catholic school-turned-public school teacher and a real estate agent, if that's of any interest to you. He was shocked at my involvement in 4-H, especially the pig part, knowing that I'm a vegetarian. I told him stories of my music theory class, while he told me stories of his. He asked if I sing, and it turns out that he does, too, which is a very, very good thing. We talked about the fact that he's moving from Guest Services to Safety Services, which means that I won't get to see him as often, but I was excited about him wearing that yummy black uniform until I discovered that he's going to be a desk person at first rather than an officer. So, it's basically a lose-lose situation for me, but I'm glad that he'll be happier. Some other people from COSI came down and sat a little way away from us, and I saw one of them, who I heard someone call J.D., watching me. I watched him for a minute to make him stop watching me, but he didn't, so I did. As I was looking away, I heard him ask one of his friends if I was "Nick's new woman", which made me feel a little bit used. Leana came back and Nicole sat down with us with a deck of cards, begging us to play something. We started a game of Spoons, which I had never played and ended up liking. More fun than the game was watching the people, though. Nick is incredibly, incredibly quiet until he gets to know someone, yet his friends are all obnoxiously loud and outgoing. Nicole especially makes me crazy. I really like Leana and Miriam, but Nicole insists on repeating everything she says, because she finds herself to be so very full of insight. She said, "It was fun as HELL," when talking about everything that she's ever done, and when someone was asking who would ever think to invent Silly String, she said, "I don't know, but they're DAMN rich," about 800 times until she was sure that everyone at our table and all of the surrounding ones had heard her.

When the fireworks started, I thought that we had great seats, but Nicole and Miriam weren't impressed, so they went running off to some stairs leading up to the bridge to stand on. Leana and I laughed at how childish they are, but then Nick went running after them, too, which made me wonder. When Miriam sat down and hung their feet off the ledge of the stairs and Leana, Nicole, and Nick followed, I realised that they all just kind of follow each other around. I don't think a single one of them has a mind of their own, but hey, they all seem like good people, so whatever. Pam and I stood for the fireworks, because she can, in fact, think for herself. The fireworks were a bit disappointing, to say the least. There were so many fireworks that too much smoke was hanging in the sky, and we couldn't see about half of what was going on. We saw bright flashes of light behind the smoke, but that was about it. Since the fireworks were being set off in COSI's parking lot, Nicole said, "Hey, we should be happy. This is the closest we'll ever come to seeing COSI go up in flames," about 800 times until everyone acknowledged her comment. So, when they were done, Leana told us that she is having a 4th of July party tomorrow night and started writing directions to her house. I really wanted to go just so Nick wouldn't be with all of those unattractive girls, but my family has get-togethers that I don't want to miss, so I declined her offer. J.D. came up the stairs, and Miriam attacked him, so he detached her from himself and came over to talk to me. He introduced himself and thought that I said that my name was "Tatie", which amused me. He was exceptionally good-looking, to say the least, but well, you know, who isn't to me?

We started back to the parking lot, and Pam said something about the Dave Matthews Band concert. I went crazy, of course, and we shared tales of our concert experiences. When we were done, Miriam and Nicole took off running, and Pam grabbed Nick's hand and followed them. That gave me a chance to ask Leana some things I was wondering about Nick, which seemed weird, since I had been thinking about how much she wants him only hours before. We stopped to have our picture taken with an evangelising guy dressed like Jesus, and we went back to Leana's car so that she could give me directions on how to get home. Everyone had decided to go to a Waffle House, but I was ready to go home, so Leana told me to follow her to a certain point and then take a different route to get back to my house. We got in our vehicles and tried to get out to the street, but traffic was horrid, so we got back out and played Frisbee. Actually, I should say that Pam and I sat in the back of Nick's truck and listened to bad prog rock while Miriam, Nicole, Leana, and Nick threw Frisbees into mud puddles. I couldn't help but notice how left out I felt, but it was a good kind of left out. I mean, here were these people throwing Frisbees into mud puddles and having an incredible amount of fun, and I realised that I'm just way better than that. I didn't want to be a part of that group, really, so I don't know where I'm left. When traffic cleared up, we all pulled out and immediately got totally separated. I didn't know where I was going, which was fun, but I did know that I had to turn right at some point, so I attempted to get into the right lane, which was next to impossible. Traffic was moving at .0000002 miles per hour, so I just saddled up alongside an older man and asked if I could get in front of him. His wife scoffed at me and turned her head, but I smiled at him, and he gladly let me over. Old men rock. Nick pulled up beside me and asked if I would let him over, and that was the last time I saw him tonight.

July 2nd, 2000: So, yesterday was my Nick-testing day. Maybe I'm a psycho for trying to find out what our deal is, but dang it, I wanted to know. I hate these kind of situations. It's one thing to have someone ask you out for dinner and a movie. You know exactly what they want from you. Unless, of course, you're just friends, but in that case, you know that you're just friends, and dinner and a movie is simply dinner and a movie. But when a co-worker asks you out to lunch, you know nothing, the way I see it. But I had to know. I had to know if he asked me to City Center simply because he wanted to get out of the building to eat and didn't want to go alone, or if he planned to use me for a few weeks. So, I wanted to test him. And I did.

I woke up incredibly late yesterday morning. Well, it was incredibly late for me but probably still early for most people. See, I usually get up about 5; 5:10 if I'm exceptionally tired. Yesterday, however, Dad called up to my room at 6:45, so I completely freaked out. I ended up looking exactly the same as I always do, but I had to take my hair products to COSI with me to finish myself off after my hair dried on the way there. When I walked in the building, I was hoping that the way Nick greeted me would tell me everything, but alas, he was engaged in conversation with the Safety Services Officers and didn't really notice my entrance. I went to the bathroom to do my hair, thinking the entire time that if anyone saw me go in, they would be wondering what the heck I was doing in there so long. When I emerged, I saw Nick watch me walk across the lobby (which is called the Atrium). I ignored him, though, because I'm like that. I went to the Desk and said hello to Brian, who I recently loved until I found out that he's a smoker. The best ones always are, I've discovered. Brian left for the morning meeting a few moments later, so I took my cue and got up to leave, wondering what Nick would do. He grabbed a clipboard to take morning meeting notes on and caught up to me. He didn't say anything, though. Just walked beside me. I briefly considered not talking to him to see if he would ever say anything, but I then considered how shy he is and abandoned the idea. So, I asked how he was, and he simply answered, "Fine." He asked how I was, and I was simply "tired". I told him about the whole waking up late experience, and he was impressed with my incredible ability to get ready slowly and think that I had accomplished something. During the meeting, we sat together, which was a new and different experience. I glanced over at his notes at one point, and I noticed that he had spelled Todd's name "Tod". It bothered me. It bothered me, because I don't know how intelligent he is at all, only that he's really good with COSI goings-on. It bothered me, because I don't know if that's really how he thinks one would go about spelling the name "Todd" or if he just made a mistake and didn't notice. When the meeting was over, we sat at the Desk while we waited for our schedules, and I picked up a guide to Columbus' summer music festivals. I started looking through it, and he rolled his chair over. He then started counting the money in the money box upon Ted's request while I talked to him about the Franklin Park Conservatory to mess up his counting. When we got our schedules, I scanned mine to see if there was any chance that we could go to lunch again. I figured that if he asked me a second time, I would know where I stand. But he had totally different schedules; there wasn't even a chance for joint roving. Blah.

At one point in the morning, I was the checkpoint chick at the North end, the checkpoint that's just barely visible from the Atrium Desk. Nick was there and next to no one was in the building, so I just sat and tried not to watch him. And then PAIGE came along. I had never seen PAIGE before, and well, I wouldn't mind never seeing her again. PAIGE is clearly OBSESSED with Nick. (I'm merely infatuated with him, you see.) PAIGE was all over Nick like . . . things that all over other things, though. It made me insane. She works in the Box Office and was supposed to be helping out Guest Services by being a checkpoint chick, since we were running short of people. Well, since there was no one in the building, she didn't have a whole lot to do and kept leaving her point to go over to the Desk and talk to Nick. I would have been doing the same thing had I been in her place. No, actually, I probably would have just stood there to make him want me to come over the Desk. That's the difference between PAIGE and me, though; I don't throw myself at people; I play dirty, dirty mind games. I shouldn't have been jealous of PAIGE, though. See, PAIGE is really unattractive. And when I say "really", I mean really. Nick doesn't seem to hate her, though. In fact, he didn't blow her off at all, which bothered me. She followed him to a checkpoint when it was his turn, and I found myself becoming consumed with my hating of her. I wanted to scream at her to do some work. I wanted to rip out her hair or something. I wish I was the cat-fighting type. I noticed that she doesn't have any nails, and man, I could do some damage to her with mine.

So, I thought and thought all day about what my next move should be. I decided that I would ask him to Columbus' big fireworks bash on the riverfront - Red, White, and Boom!. But I had no idea how to go about doing it. I don't ask people to go places with me; I wait for them to ask me. But I knew that he wouldn't be working on Sunday, and the fireworks are tomorrow, so I had to ask him fast. I assumed that he already had plans to go with someone else, but hey, I'm not one who's embarrassed about being told no, so I looked for my opportunity. But there wasn't one. Every time that I was with him, tons of other people were, too. I would have really, really loved to have asked him in front of PAIGE, but I knew that if he turned me down, I wouldn't want her to be there to revel in it. So, finally, at the very end of the day, I saw my chance. Mary, Nick, and I were at the front Desk, and I didn't mind if Mary heard the goings-on, so I approached him. Just as I was about to start talking, though, a woman came over and asked him to help locate her lost child. He looked at me, and I told him that I just had a question for him that could wait, so he took off with her to look around. I went the opposite direction to search, and when the kid had been found and I came back to the Desk, Nick was nowhere to be seen. I just assumed that I had missed him and told myself to just give up, so I went back to Ted's workspace to grab my things and headed toward the door. Just as I exited Ted's space, though, I saw Nick walking in the Atrium toward his car. I walked a little (okay, a lot) faster to catch up with him, but he was far gone, so I slowed down and started hunting around for my keys. Just as I located them, however, I looked up, and there was Nick, rolling down the window to his car before he got in. The window to his truck, rather. A rather massive, teal green truck at that. I had told him that I drive a Blazer/Joanie's Mustang, but he had never told me what he drives. So, a massive, teal green truck it is. I'm all for trucks, so cool. When he saw me looking at him, he smiled and just watched. A conversation ensued:

Katie: "I believe that I'm becoming your stalker."
Nick: (smiling still) "What?"
Katie: "I think I'm stalking you!"
Nick: (laughs) "Ohhhhh."
Katie: "Umm . . . here's a question."
Nick: "Okay."
Katie: "Are you going to Red, White, and Boom!?"
Nick: "Uh. I don't know."
Katie: "Will you go with me?"
Nick: (thinks for .463 seconds) "Sure." (smiles)
Katie: "We can do the whole COSI V.I.P party catered thing."
Nick: "Okay. I work that day."
Katie: "So do I, actually."
Nick: "Okay."
Katie: "Okay."
Nick: "Okay."
Katie: "Well, then, I'll see you then."
Nick: "Okay." (smiles)

So, I went to my car, and I was happy. I was very happy, actually. I didn't work with him today, but I did work. (That's right. I work on Sunday. I'm an evil blasphemer and proud of it.) I worked with Leslie, the girl who totally hates me. I have no idea what I did to make Leslie hate me, but wow, she does. I can't seem to do anything right when she's around, and she notices everything that I do wrong. I also worked with Travis, though, who I love. I just realised today that I think that he may be gay, and it's a shame, because dang, he's a cutie. And terribly nice to boot. But he has really nice handwriting. And he's too nice, actually. Definitely gay. He's trying to teach me to yo-yo right now, though, which is cool. I told him that my yo-yo-ing skills will definitely help me to pick up guys, even if his don't help him pick up chicks. Of course, maybe he's not trying to pick up chicks at all, anyway. The highlight of my day, though, was seeing Steven. Yes, Steven. Steve is actually Mystery Boy. But he has a name now. I stayed late tonite to wrap some things up after closing, and as I was sitting at the Desk with a guy named Chris (who is incredibly intelligent and will possibly be teaching at the University of Chicago this Fall, the very same college that he graduated from), I saw Mystery Boy approaching the front of the building. He was wearing his Adventure clothes, which made me happy. I saw him notice me from the other side of the glass, and as he came toward the Desk, he totally stared at me. Actually, as he was talking to Chris, he was staring at me, too, but probably only because I was totally staring at him. He asked to use the phone, and Chris gave him a hard time, because Chris didn't know that he works at COSI. He told Chris that he's a volunteer, though, so that answered that question for me. Mystery boy picked up the phone, called someone, and said, "Hey, Mom. It's Steve." So, Steve is his name. He needed a ride, which makes me wonder exactly how old he is, but hey, Tracey is 18, and she doesn't drive, so I'll just assume that he's close to my age still. He thanked me for the phone, which didn't make a whole lot of sense, but I would have thanked him were it his Desk, so there's that. When he left, I was wondering about him, and right as I was, I happened to pick up a volunteer schedule that someone had left on the Desk. So, I looked at the page and discovered some more personal information about him, which I won't be sharing at this time. I swear, the illegal, evil ways that I discover things amaze me. It was a good day.

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