"Dan! Slow down some..." I whine.
We're playing MarioKart as promised, and as usual I'm winning. Almost. As it turns out, Dan is just as good as he said, and we've been neck and neck this whole time.
"Bam! Haha! Try catching up now!" chants Dan, as he sends a blue shell flying backward towards me. I groan and lightly kick him in the back, accepting my fate as the loser. Normally I wouldn't mind losing, but today PJ has invited a few more people over to the room who are all watching intently. I recognize most of them from their channels, like "CutiePieMarzia" and "ItsaMeMyleo." Then there's Chris Kendall, of course, who couldn't make it to dinner but was more than happy to join us in PJ's room.
The race ends, and as expected, I lose to Dan. I won the last race, though, and Dan the one before. A quick tip, never play MarioKart with Dan, PJ, or I. Even if we're in a friendly mood beforehand, we will quickly become soulless monsters who will do anything to win this stupid game.
"I hate you so much..." I grumble in Dan's direction and snatch up my Styrofoam cup from dinner, taking a quick sip of the watered-down soda inside. It's not exactly delicious, but PJ doesn't have anything else to drink in his god-forsaken hotel room.
Now that the race is over, almost everyone but PJ, Dan and I is ready to head back up to their rooms. It's nearly one thirty AM, and even I'm getting a little drowsy, now that all my adrenaline and caffeine has worn off. I suppose if I had a normal sleep schedule I might be tired now, but for me, three AM is an early bed time.
"Good game," says Dan, looking back at me from his seat on the floor, "You're pretty good. Nearly beat me..." I roll my eyes at him and try to think of a good comeback, but nothing comes to me. I've never been able to think of good comebacks, even way back in Year Five when the best insult began with "Your mom..."
"Shut up... I wasn't that bad. If you hadn't hit me with that shell we would've almost tied." He smiles, raising an eyebrow. I think he's a little drunk, as he and most of the people in the hotel room were enjoying some beer. I don't drink much, there's something about voluntarily handicapping my brain that is just a little weird.
"If by 'almost tied,' you mean still completely destroyed. But hey, you're pretty good for a normal person. Don't be too offended." I feel like kicking him in the shins for being so cocky, but I figure its just sarcasm and slight drunkenness. I get up and walk into the kitchen, where PJ sorts through the gifts he's received throughout the day.
Across the counter are various presents, ranging in type and color. My favorites so far are the headband with devil horns and the massive bag of caramel candies. I think I've eaten more than PJ at this point, which is saying something.
I grab a caramel chocolate from the pile and pop it in my mouth, barely taking a second to unwrap it. PJ looks at me defensively, as if he's figuring out whether to say something, but then goes quiet. You have to pick your battles, I suppose, and PJ isn't choosing this one.
"Need help in here?" I ask, picking up a cute little drawing with a note on the back.
PJ smiles, "Of course. I need your uni studying skills to organize all this shit." He seems to think that just because I'm in Uni still I have these great studying skills that can double as a super power. This is not true. If anything, I'm less organized than him.
In no time Dan has joined us at the pile too, sitting almost uncomfortably close to me. Almost, because it's actually not uncomfortable. Dan is nice and warm, and he smells like cinnamon. Plus, he tells nice jokes.
We all start getting tired after a while, though, and after an hour we're all a little delirious. Dan and I are both about ready to go, and even though I'm pretty sure he drank like three Monsters earlier, PJ looks ready to crash.
"I think I'm gonna head out," says Dan, "Have you guys seen my phone?"
My eyes dart around the room, looking for the iPhone. As far as I can tell, it's nowhere to be seen.
"I could call it," I offer up, holding up my own phone.
"Sounds good," says Dan. He proceeds to list off his number, and I call him. As it turns out, the phone is just underneath some gifts, and we find it after just a few rings.
As I leave the room, I can't help but notice Dan putting my number into a new contact, though I can't tell much more than that. We say simple goodbyes and I walk down the hall to my room, dark circles forming under my eyes. I have a feeling tomorrow is going to be good.
I fumble with the room key for a minute, my contacts blurring around in my eyes as I try to get the plastic both facing the right way and into the actual lock. Once I finally get into the room, I collapse into bed and pull off my bra, putting on a baggy old sweatshirt and some shorts. Then, into bed I go, pulling the covers over myself and plugging my phone into the charger.
Sadly, I don't get much time to sleep, because PJ calls me.
"What? PJ, it's like, three AM. I just left your room..."
"This is an important message! Seriously." I stare at my phone as if Peej were actually there, giving him that "Are you serious?!" look. PJ is one of those people who just doesn't sleep. Maybe he's a vampire, maybe he's just creative.
"Couldn't you tell me in the morning?" I groan. I can practically see PJ shaking his head.
"No, I can't, you need to know before tomorrow. Basically, I think Dan likes you. No, Dan does like you. Seriously. I just have this sort of instinct... You know how detectives are in movies? That's me. I'm like predicting the future over here. But yeah. I think Dan likes you." He's obvious high on sleep deprivation, stuttering over his words and talking like he's in a dream.
"Ugh. Peej, go to sleep, you're delirious. All that Monsters' given you hallucinations," I say, and hang up on him. As if someone like Dan would like me. Anyways, we barely know each other. Maybe in a few weeks I might consider thinking about all that, but right now I have more important things to think about, like grades and my channel.
Plus, the last time I dated was a year ago, and that was was a one-time thing with this girl named Tracy. And before that, this girl named Anne on two dates, and then Gale. Who I guess, yeah, was my boyfriend.
No going back to him now...
I fall asleep (again, thanks to PJ) thinking about Gale. As much as I know I shouldn't, I miss him. A lot. He was my first real boyfriend, and we were together for three years. You can't blame a girl for missing him. I still have his number in my phone, I could text him whenever, but it's not that simple. I wish it was, but it's not. It never will be.
And suddenly, my night is ruined.
