The Week Of My Life.

[Ayl]

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We all have our moments in life when we just want to break free from the daily routine that always gets a hold of us, be it work, school, or something just as boring and tasteless. Myself, I have tons of moments like those. I think that is because my life is mostly boring. I’m really not the kind of person to hang out much, but more of a responsible person, who thinks of others and always cares for them first, then about himself second.


Three years ago, all of this changed when I went on my first vacation to the sea. I was at an utter lack of words after that simple week. It was like nothing I ever experienced before. My mind and soul were filled with new sensations that I couldn’t get enough of, so you can imagine my total dissapointment when I finally arrived home. But, although that week was awesome in wasy I couldn’t describe, it doesn’t come close to this year’s.


After a busy school year, summer finally came. We traded in out sweaters and school halls for swimsuits and pools filled to the brim with cool water! Although I already went two years in a row to the same resort, I was shocked to the bone to hear my parents congratulate me on my overall intelectual study and offer me yet another go towards the magnificent sea. My heart started racing with emotion, and though I’m the kind of person that manifests his or hers emotions, I hugged the living hell out of my parents after hearing the joyful news.


Next came the worst part. The wait. I literally counted the minutes before the fated day when I would finally embark on another journey in heaven. Days went by, as they usually do when you have no worries and keep having fun, and finally, the day of departure was upon us. With heavy eyes, but a throbbing heart, I made my way to the car, where my mom was waiting patiently in the driver’s seat, while I placed my bag full of clothes and other necessities in the trunk. The road to the train station went by in a flash.


As I dragged my handbag through the gates, I reached the platform, where a large crowd was bustling with noise, expecting the same thing as I was: to get the hell out of town and go wild. I quickly found some friends with whom I’ve travelled before and stuck with them for the while. As mentioned before, I’m not the most social person on Earth. Some people were complainning about the wait, but not me! I waited this long, ten more minutes weren’t going to kill me.


As the train stopped near us, we all rushed to get on board as soon as possible, since absolutely no one wanted to be left behind and miss on what was going to be the best week in my life, ever. We waved our farewells to the mass of parents or friends that saw us to the train as the wheels under us started moving towards the night. The dim lights in the hallways were enough to guide us to our compartments. What happened next affected me in ways I didn’t think were possible.


Each of our compartments were filled with strangers, who lacked a seated ticket, but decided to take advantage of the fact that the seats were unoccupied. I was puzzled at what to do, for almost all those who took our seats were seniors. I couldn’t ask a senior person to stand up and let me sit down, because that is the way I was raised. Eventually, other people stepped up and I exhaled, relieved. Unfortunately, that was not the end of it. During the 5 hour ride to the capital, Bucharest, I had to sit there and watch as the people stood up, trying to put their children to sleep on the cold floor, while I was sitting down, careless. After we arrived, people would ask me if I slept on the train, a question I would answer with the classical “No, I wasn’t tired.”. The truth was that the mere sight and thought of those people standing up was what kept me up.


A quick glance around the room revealed multiple persons, most of whom I’ve never met before. Near me was one of the girls I befriended from last year’s vacation. We kept in touch over the year and became close friends, although, after this week, my opinion about her was about to change drastically. But that’s between me and her. Next, there was this guy, younger than me, whom I’ve known since he was twelve, or something like that. Man, can that guy piss me off. He’s OK overall, but sometimes you feel like smacking his mouth off of his face.


Another person of interest would be, what I would soon be shocked to find out, a twelve-year old girl. Why was I so shocked you ask? Because this girl looked 15 to me, and would soon become the laughing stock of the camp. Now, I’m not a mean person, or that’s how I think of myself. I don’t gossip, I don’t say mean things to people in a serious tone (we all talk foul with/around our friends, so give me a break!) but God, this girl was so stupid, she actually thought that us cracking jokes about her was a good thing! If Guinness had a “Most Stupid Person To Ever Live!” section, this one would take the cake, both for technically speaking and for real! Let’s just say, whales were jelous of her silhouette.


The rest of them, I’ve never met before, but I did eventually. Now, I will not bore you with all the details of every day out of the whole week. What I am going to do, is present a total of three important moments that had a major impact on my experience.


The first of these three would be, without a doubt, our first night in Costinesti, the favourite resort of the younger population of our country. The train left us in the station at almost eleven AM, at which point we rushed towards where our accomodations were located. On the road there, I had a major surprise coming. Last year, I had the pleasure of meeting a group of guys from another city, all of them experts in having fun. There were four of them in total, but only three of them were present now. Nevertheless, meeting them contributed to the pleasure of the trip.


The day passed slow, much slower than I remembered. Once the sun started setting, plans started brewing. Where to go? What to do? Who to go with? In the resort, you had two major choices when it came to clubs: The Ring, or the Megadisco. Fancy names for fancy places, but from my previous times there, I really loathed the places. Finally, I decided to start going only to my favourite bar, White Horse. Cheap beer, good music, wonderful atmosphere. It might be small, but one thing is for sure: when people come there, they have a good time!


I reached the location some time pass midnight. It was like I stepped in a whole different world. The rock music was booming from the speakers and the people were either cheering from benches, or dancing on them! Both boys and girls with long hair were twirling it around, with no care in the world. Soon, after I had revved up my courage with a couple of beers with my mates who greeted me at the station, I joined in on the fun. I soon lost control over my body as the music took over it and moved it for me. Occasionally, I peeked through the crowd that formed around us, only to see others from my camo coming in after visiting the other clubs and bars. A smile flourished on my lips after remembering the words of a man I once met in White, the year before: “You can do anything you want to in this resort, but you will always come back to White Horse!”. Now, feeling more mature than the previous time, I know he was right. It’s hard to explain, but I somehow felt a deep bond with each of them.


As we stepped on the improvised dancefloor, we started shaking, jumping, dancing and singing along with the music. The songs were deep, but shouted out loud. We no longer gave a fuck who saw or heard us, as long as we made them understand our message. In those moments, we broke free from the shackles of routine and boredom, of shyness and sadness. We tossed our arms in the air, only to let them fall down on each other’s shoulders, at which point we started to yell out the lyrics in the air like crazy, for the gods themselves to hear us and tremble before our claim to immortality, for while our bodies would decay in time, our souls would forever be that of the nutty teenagers who challenged Death itself by drinking and smoking and partying until we couldn’t move an inch anymore. It was, as I like to call it, “a night soaked in alcohol and smoke” !


The second part of the trip that I would like to present would be the morning after the first night. For some reason that I couldn’t figure out, there were some tensions between us in the morning. Well, some of us, anyhow. I decided I wouldn’t be a part of it all, and so, in the clothes I wore the night before, I took a long, enlightening trip along the coast. I rolled up my jeans, took off my shoes and socks and used the laces to tie them together and hold them suspended from my hand. The water was much calmer then than it was the day before, when the waves reached up to almost 2 metres high, like it wanted us to get out and stop disturbing it. Too bad for it we were too headstrong to obey, and faced the water slaps with bravery.


The sand was unusually hot, since there was nothing to warm it up during the night. Maybe it was just my wild imagination running loose, who knows? Walking along the beach, the cool water slithered through my feet, as my thoughts wandered around inside my head. I couldn’t think of nothing but how much I missed this place and how much I enjoyed last night. I don’t know how, but somehow I started debating why couldn’t I have this much fun at home. Why couldn’t I be this crazy and fun when I’m home? It was then that I realised that my personality was dual, in nature. At home, I was this shy kid, whom, despite his age, did not have the maturity to face his problems and chose to retreat in solitude, away from social interaction, while at Costinesti, I became the “real me”. The man who joked, drank, smoked and didn’t fear anything.


Due to some funny thing that happened last year, in a club, I gained the nickname “The Manager” from a group of girls who later introduced me to the group of four friends I’ve mentioned later. While we were together, that group became a family to me. A family I could be the “real me”, also known as the “Manager”. A wet and cold sensation woke me up from my meditation and I realised I was on my knees, standing in the water. My legs hurt like hell, no doubt a combination between the all night long dancing and the fatigue from the lack of sleep. But, despite the ache and the tiredness, I was content, I was so happy, tears started flowing on my cheeks. I vowed to myself I will never go back to the “scared me”. That I will stay “The Manager” forever. Because that was the “real me”. A person who cared for those around him, who would’ve taken a beating for their sake anytime. A guy who liked to party, and also make sure everyone else was having a blast too. Afterall, what’s the point in feeling happy if you can’t share it with the others?! I really couldn’t move, so I had to use my jacket as a beach towel and sit on it until I was good enough to go back. Needless to say, once I got back to our cabin, I slept like a baby for five hours.


Another part of the trip that I will always remember is when I met S. The day before the night I met S, I bought myself a straw hat, bound together with a plastic material of sorts, with black cloth around the head. It looked cute, and kept the sun away from my head. Of course, being the fashion monster that I am, I just had to wear it to the bar that night. Although rather kitschy, the hat felt really good on my head, as if it was a part of me. Soon, the nightly ritual commenced, as loud music started booming once more, and the people started rallying around the source to continue the fun. I couldn’t do any less. I was now the “Manager”. Strolling down the porch, closer to the growing crowd, I spotted her dancing on a bench.


The simple sight of her dancing was enough to make my body ache all over. The way she twitched, turned and laughed were enough to drive a man insane. My best friend patted me on the back once to make sure I was alright, since I stopped in the middle of my tracks and was staring in the distance. After I shook off the feeling, I reassured him and followed him further in the crowd. Subtly, I made my way to the place where S. was dancing. This was the moment of truth. Was my vow from earlier just something hollow I made without thinking, or did I really mean it? I swallowed all my doubts and stepped on that bench, with hope in my heart. We danced together, laughed and sung ‘til morning came upon us. We got so hot that we used the hat I bought to cool down, waving it from one to the other.


The moment to go our separate ways went by, as our group decided to go see the sunrise. I agreed, because I couldn’t ditch them for someone I didn’t know in the least, although I did it with heavy heart. The way wasn’t long, and in no time, we were on the sand. Taking a deep breathe, I waited for the ball of light to pierce the horizon, when I heard my name being called from behind. S. and friend of hers were catching up on us. A quick hug was her way of greeting me again, before taking the hat from my head and placing it on hers. Gently, she sat on some stairs nearby, waving one finger towards me to approach her. The curiosity in me made me obey her, and soon our bodies would intertwine, our lips exchanging happiness.


The sun finally rose from under the sea and suddenly, S’s friend, M., had the “great” idea to take a swim. S. was skeptical at first, but soon joined in as well. It was a pleasure to watch the two of them play around in the water, splashing each other, laughing and smiling. Soon, S. would emerge from the water, just to quiver up next to me, in the hopes that I could help her warm up. She was shaking, yet her content could be seen on her face and in her smile. My left side got completely drenched when I placed my arm around her, gently rubbing her so that she’d heat up. Taking the hat once more and placing it on her head, she kissed me again, whispering afterwards in my ear: “Keep this hat, it’s a lucky one!”. From that moment, I became attached to that hat, not because of S., but because of what I realised that hat really was. It wasn’t simply a thing to hold on your head to dull the heat, but a symbol of all the great memories I will get from this vacation. A “lucky hat”.


The last, and no doubtly, the most important moment of all the vacation was the last night. We planned the ultimate night.


Dance ‘til you drop,


Drink ‘til you barf,


Smoke ‘til you choke,


And kiss ‘til your lips fall off!


But something even better happened. I got the chance to meet A.


A. was a girl from our camp, whom I’ve never really talked to until our last night in the resort, when a few of us gathered together to hang out and chit chat. She was cold, wearing some jacket she’d found in her room. Time was going slow, so we decided to smoke. I was a bit of a jerk that night, mainly because I was kind of cracking harsh jokes about the guy who was in the same compartment as me when we came. I shared my smokes with her during the time we were with the others, but, at one point, we broke up the group, and someone yelled out that we should go up on the rooftop of a nearby building, which had a service ladder out in the open.


At first, I was a bit skeptical, but after some consideration, I figured why the hell not? What could happen? Climbing up the ladder wasn’t difficult at all, and soon me, A. and a couple of boys were on the roof. The view wasn’t much, but it looked splendid to me. Not before long, the other guys left me and A. alone there. Deciding that a little conversation wouldn’t hurt, we started talking. Small stuff, neither of us was going to pour out his soul in front of a stranger. But at some point, I don’t know why, but I told her I was ticklish around my stomach. That was all she needed. In the next second, we started tickling each other like there was no tomorrow. She had long nails, thus making it twice as hard to resist, since I simply love being scratched, especially on my back or the nape of my neck.


I definitely didn’t want to go down so easily, so I started tickling her too, up until the moment she fell into my lap. It was then that I saw how beautiful she was in the moonlight. I could see her brown eyes, through her hipster-like seeing glasses. Her long, dark-brownish hair, split all over the place from the fall. The moment I bent to touch her lips with mine was like my whole brain went dark. I didn’t think and I didn’t care. She might as well had pushed me and called me a pervert or a creep.


But she didn’t.


She kissed me back. A soft touch at first, the intensity rising with each second. She was a biter. A good one at that! Our mouths kept up the back-and-forth game for a little while longer, until we decided to make ourselves more comfortable. We grabbed another pack of cigarettes and my beach towel and laid it on the rooftop. Balancing the 2 litre bottle of Coke up the ladder was no easy task, but I really didn’t give a fuck about it, I just kept on going. Soon, it would prove the effort was totally worth it. Sitting up there with A. was the peak of the whole vacation. I got like a dozen texts and a few calls from people, wondering where I am. I’d like to say I simply ignored them all, but that would be a lie. I did check them, but I knew there was no chance for anybody to make me get off that roof. Well, wrong again. Someone did convince me to get off, and that person was also A. She had these terrible neck pains. I tried helping her with a few massages, but it was for naught.


Finally, we got off and went to her room. That room redefined my concept of “messy”. Of course, it was because of the amount of people that frequented it during our stay there, as she later reassured me. I believed her, because I couldn’t believe such a mess could be made by so few people! It didn’t bother me, though. I’m a messy person myself. I swear I would lose my head and limbs if they weren’t bound. Even though I chose to ignore all the texts I kept getting, I still took a peek at some, urging me to come to the bar for drinks and a good time. I tried dragging A. with me, but she wasn’t feeling good and she kept on arguing that her hair looked like hell. If you would’ve asked me, I really didn’t see the difference, but you can’t argue with girls when it comes to their looks! She told me to go by myself, but I couldn’t just up and leave her, mainly because I didn’t want to. I really don’t know why I didn’t want, but I simply didn’t! She tried insisting a few times, but she soon found out that I can be headstrong as hell too!


We stayed together, and since she was tired, we decided to go to bed. We slept together, but not in the perverted way everyone will think when they read that part, but in an innocent way. We snuggled each other for like an hour before we fell asleep. A sleep disturbed in the morning by her roommates, of course, but nevertheless, it was a good night, and I sure as hell don’t regret nothing about it. The next day we went to breakfast together, and spent most of the day together. Holding hands, snatching kisses, sharing smokes. Crazy kids in crazy times.


The final hour was close. We all dragged our bags halfheartedly to the train station. At one point, the same annoying kid from my compartment and the one I made fun of the other night was there with us. He was a friend of ours, even though sometimes, the best remedy for him would’ve been a good slap. A. and I were playing around, when the same guy spoke out towards us: “You two are gonna break up!”. That afirmation left me thinking for a second, only to realise I didn’t care. It wasn’t the destination that mattered, it was the journey itself. I was going to make the best of the little time that we had left together. And I did good at it.


The ride back home went uneventful, except for one last camp prank. It was hilarious for some reason. Maybe because neither of us really wanted to leave the resort. “One more day!” some of use cried. But the black writing printed on our tickets quickly brought us back to reality. As I stared off in the night with A. sleeping on me, I burnt every good memory and feeling from this vacation deep in my soul, so that I will always have them with me.


Once the luggages were out of the train, we all started going our own way, some of us with their parents, others browsing for a cab to take them home. In just mere minutes was I struggling to push the key to the house in its hole and open the lock. The dog was barking like crazy, happy for my return. Throwing my baggage on the floor, I tip-toed through the hallways, searching for my room. The soft, yet hard touch of my pillow comforted me, but I was sleepless. A text from A. made my charging phone light up. We talked until I finally fell asleep. You could say that hearing she was safe after the trip home made me relax just enough to get some shut-eye.


It is truly a pain to write all these lines by myself, since it makes me go over all the beautiful things that I went through with so many people I care about. All the jokes, all the laughs. I am happy that I had the chance to live such wondrous moments, and I count myself lucky for it. I know that I will never forget this trip. And to all the people that made it possible:


Thank you for everything!
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