It's just another new year's eve
New Year's Eve. Three words that seem innocent enough. Yet throw them together and they create stress. People often put pressure on themselves on New Year's Eve because they feel it is either the last moment to make something out of a dying year or that they have to greet the new year in a particular way. I have never been a fan of The Eve. I just never saw the big deal. It is just another day. Never felt the need to make a resolution either. If I want to change something, I will change it today. But that's just me.
Not to say that I have not fallen into the hype a few times. 1997 was coming to a close and as the nucleus of my group of friends, people were wondering what my plans were. My buddy Joe and I decided to hold a party at my place. We had the same peer group for the most part and could bring in more between the two of us. We were quite the team he and I. We worked everyone we knew and made my house the place to be on NYE. There were some snags though.
First problem in high school of dating within your friend group is when the relationship ends, you still encounter each other more than you'd like. Her fiends were my friends and vice versa. So when Joe suggested that Amanda be invited to the party, I really wasn't having it. Not for any bitterness reasons or loneliness mind you. I was dating Ally, an absolutely gorgeous chick with a psychotic problem I had yet to discover. More on that another time. Amanda also had a boyfriend at the time none of us liked so I certainly did not want him at the party. But as we were in the same circles and I would be inviting all her friends, it only seemed fair that I let Joe invite her. Of course her fist question was "Does Jon want me there?' Joe being the ever charismatic and crafty individual, lied through his teeth and said indeed I did. This did not please Ally in that way that girlfriends have a habit of being jealous of exes, but so be it. Others were invited and all was a go.
Joe and I had a habit of conversing almost every night. During these conversations about chicks we dug or people we hated, we would often scheme. We pulled off some doozies. But for this party we had some sort of silly plan. And looking back I can't even remember what the purpose of it was. Joe had a "black box" for cable. To those unfamiliar with the concept, it was a cabe box that enabled you access to pretty much every channel offered by your local cable company. He thought it would be a good idea to bring it over and while flipping channels we would accidentally land on the Spice, or soft porn, channel. I seriously would love to remember what our plan or reasoning was for this. It wasn't like we wanted an orgy or anything to start so I'm quite baffled by this 12 years later. What was our plan? Ok so we weren't geniuses here. Maybe it was just to loosen people up? I don't know. In all fairness I have never been much of a porn guy and can't imagine Joe was either. This all is just weird. Perhaps if he reads this and remembers he can fill in the blank. But yes, we were gonna hook up the black box and how awesome was that gonna be! Riiiight.
So as the party was coming up, leave it to the ex to create a problem. Amanda was concerned as her boyfriend would be attending a different party and he would be drinking. She wanted to be sure he did not get too crazy so she would have to leave my party to go check on him and then come back. Her dad still liked me and the only reason she was allowed to go to this sleepover party at a boy's house was because that boy was me. He always hoped we would get back together. So had he known she would end up somewhere else for a bit, that would have been trouble. The biggest issue was that not many of us drove. I did, but it was my house and had my car gone missing, my parents would not be pleased. Joe offered to drive her where she needed to be come party time and get her as well. All she had to do was call my house when she was ready. Plans set and it was party time.
I don't remember a lot of pre midnight specifics. I think Ally created some sort of drama but people were having a good time. We watched the South Park New Year's marathon. They were gonna do something special for the traditional ball drop. But arguments ensued and people wanted to watch the ball in Times Square fall. Whoopee. At some point the Spice channel got turned on for a second or 2 and gasps were heard and then it went off. No big deal. Still not sure what the plan was with that one. Joe took Amanda to the other party and all seemed well. Then, the phone rang as planned.
What wasn't planned was that it was not Amanda on the phone. No it was some guy we didn't know. They found my phone number on her and called. She was passed out in their bathtub and had thrown up repeatedly all over herself. This was now a mess. They did not want to deal with her and knew she had to come back to my place for her dad not to flip out. I really didn't need this crap at my party. What was an easy pickup now became a search and rescue mission. They even told us to bring her a change of clothes. We scrounged up a T shirt and sweats and sent Joe and another guy to go get her. The worst part of it was that to get Joe in and out of the house he had to exit through my basement hatch(party was int he basement) as if the front door opened my parents would have heard it. We also had a fenced in yard which meant scaling said fence. Easy enough for us strapping young lads, but how the hell would we get a half comatose girl over it? All these problems plus the risk of my parents and to that end her parents finding out was quickly ruining my night. I was freaking out and the night was ruined for me big time.
I went up the hatch and just stood for a moment in my ice covered yard trying to sort all this mess out. Everything was screwed up because of my damn ex girlfriend. Not even someone I liked! Someone I did not want at my party in the first place. This is what I got for being nice. A guy named Adam came up and found me. He saw me in a daze looking at the sky trying to sort everything in my head. He and I just talked. We weren't even really friends. Same circle and he was very close with Joe. But without really trying he just calmed me down. We then made sweet love. Yipes people, get your heads on right. Can't two guys have a conversation on a chilly night under the stars without being gay? Ok, so I probably didn't help my case there but we just talked and took in the night. It was quiet and icy and it just calmed me down. Tranquility is a special thing when you can find it in the worst moments. Of course my problems weren't over, but I think without that conversation with Adam, the rest of the night may have gone drastically different.
Joe arrived back with almost conscious Amanda. It took four of us but we got her propped over the fence. All the while she was out and it took a good 20 minutes in bitter Connecticut cold. We carried her downstairs and put her on the bed. Yes, in my basement was one half of a set of bunk beds. Other people who stayed the night were all over the floor at this point so getting her to the bed was a chore enough. I had a trash can in case she needed to throw up more. Joe brought her foul clothes back in a plastic shopping bag as she remained unconscious on the bed for quite the long time. At this point everyone was so exhausted that we all just kinda fell wherever and attempted sleep. Well all but one. I decided as it was my house I should probably make sure that our drunken guest was still alive. So i grabbed a chair and hung out next to her head. Every few minutes i would lean in to be sure she was still breathing. And this continued all night. I had the tv to comfort me as well as I was the only person awake all night. I sat through Romy & MIchelle's High School Reunion. For that alone, this chick owed me!
Amanda stuck with us throughout the night happily. As all the kids woke up and called their parents, Amanda slept. One by one they all started leaving. As she was not awake, she did not call her parents to come get her and before you knew it, it was just me and my ex. Oh joy of joys what could be better. I remember as she woke and called her parents, I walked around tidying up my basement. I did not really want to stop and talk with her or anything as we still weren't on the best terms. She asked me to hold on to her soggy clothes as her parents would question the bag. I said I would. She left and I continued to clean not thinking much more of anything. We had gotten through this fresh hell. And oh yeah it was a new year. 1998 would see a lot of things happen. One in particular was unforeseen.
Amanda called a friend of hers later int he day to ask about what had happened at the party and such and what she had missed. Her friend informed her that I had stayed up with her all night and kept checking on her. She could not believe it as we had been in that bad place. She called me and we talked a bit. It wasn't long before she and I would not only become friends again, but best friends. We were pretty much inseparable. It was a fun time.
That night was so very odd and yet some good came out of it I learned how to stay cool under a terrible situation. And how to friend an ex. Not something I was terribly good at but I learned that when you try to force it, it explodes. When it happens organically, or with the help of alcohol poisoning, it can make perfect sense. I can't think of a more eventful New Year's since.
Not to say that I have not fallen into the hype a few times. 1997 was coming to a close and as the nucleus of my group of friends, people were wondering what my plans were. My buddy Joe and I decided to hold a party at my place. We had the same peer group for the most part and could bring in more between the two of us. We were quite the team he and I. We worked everyone we knew and made my house the place to be on NYE. There were some snags though.
First problem in high school of dating within your friend group is when the relationship ends, you still encounter each other more than you'd like. Her fiends were my friends and vice versa. So when Joe suggested that Amanda be invited to the party, I really wasn't having it. Not for any bitterness reasons or loneliness mind you. I was dating Ally, an absolutely gorgeous chick with a psychotic problem I had yet to discover. More on that another time. Amanda also had a boyfriend at the time none of us liked so I certainly did not want him at the party. But as we were in the same circles and I would be inviting all her friends, it only seemed fair that I let Joe invite her. Of course her fist question was "Does Jon want me there?' Joe being the ever charismatic and crafty individual, lied through his teeth and said indeed I did. This did not please Ally in that way that girlfriends have a habit of being jealous of exes, but so be it. Others were invited and all was a go.
Joe and I had a habit of conversing almost every night. During these conversations about chicks we dug or people we hated, we would often scheme. We pulled off some doozies. But for this party we had some sort of silly plan. And looking back I can't even remember what the purpose of it was. Joe had a "black box" for cable. To those unfamiliar with the concept, it was a cabe box that enabled you access to pretty much every channel offered by your local cable company. He thought it would be a good idea to bring it over and while flipping channels we would accidentally land on the Spice, or soft porn, channel. I seriously would love to remember what our plan or reasoning was for this. It wasn't like we wanted an orgy or anything to start so I'm quite baffled by this 12 years later. What was our plan? Ok so we weren't geniuses here. Maybe it was just to loosen people up? I don't know. In all fairness I have never been much of a porn guy and can't imagine Joe was either. This all is just weird. Perhaps if he reads this and remembers he can fill in the blank. But yes, we were gonna hook up the black box and how awesome was that gonna be! Riiiight.
So as the party was coming up, leave it to the ex to create a problem. Amanda was concerned as her boyfriend would be attending a different party and he would be drinking. She wanted to be sure he did not get too crazy so she would have to leave my party to go check on him and then come back. Her dad still liked me and the only reason she was allowed to go to this sleepover party at a boy's house was because that boy was me. He always hoped we would get back together. So had he known she would end up somewhere else for a bit, that would have been trouble. The biggest issue was that not many of us drove. I did, but it was my house and had my car gone missing, my parents would not be pleased. Joe offered to drive her where she needed to be come party time and get her as well. All she had to do was call my house when she was ready. Plans set and it was party time.
I don't remember a lot of pre midnight specifics. I think Ally created some sort of drama but people were having a good time. We watched the South Park New Year's marathon. They were gonna do something special for the traditional ball drop. But arguments ensued and people wanted to watch the ball in Times Square fall. Whoopee. At some point the Spice channel got turned on for a second or 2 and gasps were heard and then it went off. No big deal. Still not sure what the plan was with that one. Joe took Amanda to the other party and all seemed well. Then, the phone rang as planned.
What wasn't planned was that it was not Amanda on the phone. No it was some guy we didn't know. They found my phone number on her and called. She was passed out in their bathtub and had thrown up repeatedly all over herself. This was now a mess. They did not want to deal with her and knew she had to come back to my place for her dad not to flip out. I really didn't need this crap at my party. What was an easy pickup now became a search and rescue mission. They even told us to bring her a change of clothes. We scrounged up a T shirt and sweats and sent Joe and another guy to go get her. The worst part of it was that to get Joe in and out of the house he had to exit through my basement hatch(party was int he basement) as if the front door opened my parents would have heard it. We also had a fenced in yard which meant scaling said fence. Easy enough for us strapping young lads, but how the hell would we get a half comatose girl over it? All these problems plus the risk of my parents and to that end her parents finding out was quickly ruining my night. I was freaking out and the night was ruined for me big time.
I went up the hatch and just stood for a moment in my ice covered yard trying to sort all this mess out. Everything was screwed up because of my damn ex girlfriend. Not even someone I liked! Someone I did not want at my party in the first place. This is what I got for being nice. A guy named Adam came up and found me. He saw me in a daze looking at the sky trying to sort everything in my head. He and I just talked. We weren't even really friends. Same circle and he was very close with Joe. But without really trying he just calmed me down. We then made sweet love. Yipes people, get your heads on right. Can't two guys have a conversation on a chilly night under the stars without being gay? Ok, so I probably didn't help my case there but we just talked and took in the night. It was quiet and icy and it just calmed me down. Tranquility is a special thing when you can find it in the worst moments. Of course my problems weren't over, but I think without that conversation with Adam, the rest of the night may have gone drastically different.
Joe arrived back with almost conscious Amanda. It took four of us but we got her propped over the fence. All the while she was out and it took a good 20 minutes in bitter Connecticut cold. We carried her downstairs and put her on the bed. Yes, in my basement was one half of a set of bunk beds. Other people who stayed the night were all over the floor at this point so getting her to the bed was a chore enough. I had a trash can in case she needed to throw up more. Joe brought her foul clothes back in a plastic shopping bag as she remained unconscious on the bed for quite the long time. At this point everyone was so exhausted that we all just kinda fell wherever and attempted sleep. Well all but one. I decided as it was my house I should probably make sure that our drunken guest was still alive. So i grabbed a chair and hung out next to her head. Every few minutes i would lean in to be sure she was still breathing. And this continued all night. I had the tv to comfort me as well as I was the only person awake all night. I sat through Romy & MIchelle's High School Reunion. For that alone, this chick owed me!
Amanda stuck with us throughout the night happily. As all the kids woke up and called their parents, Amanda slept. One by one they all started leaving. As she was not awake, she did not call her parents to come get her and before you knew it, it was just me and my ex. Oh joy of joys what could be better. I remember as she woke and called her parents, I walked around tidying up my basement. I did not really want to stop and talk with her or anything as we still weren't on the best terms. She asked me to hold on to her soggy clothes as her parents would question the bag. I said I would. She left and I continued to clean not thinking much more of anything. We had gotten through this fresh hell. And oh yeah it was a new year. 1998 would see a lot of things happen. One in particular was unforeseen.
Amanda called a friend of hers later int he day to ask about what had happened at the party and such and what she had missed. Her friend informed her that I had stayed up with her all night and kept checking on her. She could not believe it as we had been in that bad place. She called me and we talked a bit. It wasn't long before she and I would not only become friends again, but best friends. We were pretty much inseparable. It was a fun time.
That night was so very odd and yet some good came out of it I learned how to stay cool under a terrible situation. And how to friend an ex. Not something I was terribly good at but I learned that when you try to force it, it explodes. When it happens organically, or with the help of alcohol poisoning, it can make perfect sense. I can't think of a more eventful New Year's since.
Labels: romy michelle high school reunion new years year's eve 1997 1998
posted by Jon M Hyde at
11:46 AM
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