The Burnt House: "WHY NOT?" That's a good reason for almost anything…"

I'm sorry, dearest reading, I was a little drunk for most of the following post.

So let's start with last night's party. The second I was done chatting with you I took my shower and started to get dressed. Quentin had told me that there would be about seven of us so I wanted to wear something besides my usual jeans and oversized sweater. I went for my black dress with the lace in the back, a pair of geometric fishnets, and my cute brown boots. I topped off the look with my glasses and red lipstick. I had messaged Leila to ask what she was going to wear. She already seemed like she didn't want to go. First she told me that she only wanted to go for an hour, and then she complained that he lived far away. When I asked what she was wearing she told me jeggings and a top. She has no concept of dressing as a group. I missed my girlfriends more than ever then.

While I was getting dressed Quentin asked me what I wanted to eat and drink. I told him light beer, either white or rosé wine. He suggested that we get pizza, which I wholeheartedly agreed with despite having eaten dinner twenty minutes beforehand.

We met downstairs at 7:30 and walked to the RER A at Gare de Lyon. Leila was giving me a seriously made face when I met her downstairs, and I told her that she didn't have to come. It would be more fun if a serious downer didn't accompany me on my social trip. She came anyway. It was late so there was a gate open for the metro so I didn't use a ticket. We found the RER A towards Marne la Valle and waited for Quentin to arrive. He found us at about 7:45. He was with a friend that barely spoke English. It was a little awkward at first so we stuck to chatting with our respective friend.

The RER A took forever to come because not every train that arrives on the track is the train you want to take. I hate the RER. We finally got on and settled in for our 35 minute journey to Torcy. Leila and I didn't talk much, but I could tell that she was no the happiest of campers. She should have stayed home.

We got off the train in Torcy and started walking. I had assumed that Quentin lived near the train station, but I was wrong. We talked through a cute mall with many different restaurants and a movie theater before arriving to a parking lot. It turns out that Quentin's friend Patrick was going to drive us to Quentin's place. We got into his small, white coop and started to drive. Quentin played with the radio while Patrick and I voted on stations. Leila kept writing messages to me on her phone about how uncomfortable she was. Patrick was speeding, like all the French do, and she looked like she wanted to die. She was really ruining my good time. I was having fun driving in the fast car and chatting with the boys.

We got to Quentin's complex and went upstairs. His mother's apartment is adorable. She was in Spain for the weekend so Quentin had taken the opportunity to invite friends over. Quentin has two cats that were super mischevous and were good entertainment for the evening. It ended up only being the four of us which was fine with me. I set to work raiding his chest of liquor while he got snacks out for us. I made myself a cocktail of white wine, raspberry liquor, and carbonated lemonade while Quentin and Patrick ordered pizza. He got two four cheese pizzas for Leila and me, and he got an American pizza for himself and Patrick. The boys drank beer while we chatted and waited for food to come.

Leila refused to even have a glass of water and was barely speaking at all. After awhile she lightened up a bit, but she wasn't as talkative as she normally is. I was having a blast. My cocktail was delicious and the boys were good company. After awhile the pizzas came. Turns out that you have to request to have your pizza cut in France. The French are so strange. The cheese pizza had clumps of some kind of delicious melty cheese on it and I happily munched on a few huge slices while I talked and drank another cocktail.

The boys were so much fun. We played the Arctic Monkeys in the background all night while we talked about differences between France and America in a mixture of French and English. Quentin is really a funny guy. He spent most of the night mocking me or translating my conversation with Leila into French for Patrick. At one point they had fallen silent so I looked over. They were chuckling about how many hand gestures and faces I make while I'm speaking. Patrick called me a beautiful movie. I laughed.

At eleven o'clock Leila said that it was time to go home so that we wouldn't miss the last train at 12:35. Quentin seemed sad and shocked that I wasn't going to spend the night and take the 5:35 train home in the morning. I was sad to leave, but I knew that it was time to go home. Patrick and Quentin drove us back to the parking lot and then walked us to the platform. They stayed until our train left.

I got home and was in bed my 12:30. When I arrived home I found a message from Quentin asking if I had made it home okay. He's a really sweet guy. I would never have thought to take the train 35 minutes to go get someone when I really didn't have to.

I set an alarm to make sure that I didn't sleep my day away. When I woke up my stomach hurt a bit and my eyes were droopy. I'm not used to drinking and eating all night anymore. I somehow managed to study despite being tired. I only have a few things to say about the majority of my day. 1. I'm really starting to not like my pop class. Today I had to read p.167-213 of Loosely. Easily three hours of work on top of the three/four hours I spent reading the Lebrun article the other day. I took the class because I wanted an easy lower division. I didn't want to spend this much time on school for a reason. 2. There was some kind of live music happening outside that did not help my reading of the convoluted Loosely chapters. I guess it's slightly ironic that live music was disturbing me from reading about pop music. 3. One of the Loosely chapters was on techno (which includes raves). I actually really enjoyed that chapter considering my fairly recent foray into the rave scene. I agreed with everything it said.

I managed to finally finish my to-do list and sit down to some relaxation about five. I checked my facebook and found a message from Annie sending me the beginning of her part of the histories scavenger hunt. I begrudgingly read it through and gave her my comments. I also got another message from Talia asking if I was home yet. I lied and said that I was spending the weekend with a friend. I have no backbone.

I was feeling a little antsy but still tired. I watched some Judge Judy and then started reading The Phantom Tollbooth. I read a page of it yesterday and really liked it. I loved it today. I can see how this is Jimmy's favorite book. It's filled with really good messages like how you'll always find your way and how important time is among other themes. I'm pretty sure that the complex themes go over the heads of its child readers, but I really enjoyed it. I read three chapters and then put the book down for another time.

It was about seven at this point. Earlier in the day I had messaged Leila asking her if she wanted to get crème brûlée. We had agreed to meet at about eight. At about 6:45 or 7 she messaged me saying that she wasn't feeling well. I was still full from the grilled cheese I had made myself earlier in the evening so I took a shower to stall. I wasn't quite ready to leave the house, if I would leave at all. I did manage to leave and go find the crème brûlée that had been sitting on my to-do list for months. I knew a place near Bastille that sold it, but their's was 10 euro. I decided to go get it anyway. While I was walking I decided to look at one of the restaurants across the street. Their crème brûlée was only 6,50 so I decided to get it there.

I went inside and sat down at a table just like you're supposed to do. The server finally saw me, and he looked shocked to see me sitting there. It was like I did something wrong. He started speaking in English to me immediately, and I asked if I could sit on the patio. He made me feel very uncomfortable. He sat me right next to the service station and took a long time to come back to take my order. I didn't like him at all. I ordered my dessert and then asked for a wine list. I picked out a rosé for four euro an then waited for my dessert and wine to arrive.

I spent my meal watching the traffic and the people walking by the restaurant. I was very interested to see a woman come to scrap a sticker off the sidewalk with a knife, a wet sponge, and a lot of vigor. My order came and I was sad to find out that my dessert was served ice cold. It was still delicious and sticky sweeet. I was glad that I got the bitter wine to offset the sweetness. A glass of wine in France is about a serving and a half so I started getting slightly lightheaded towards the end of my meal. My server had taken a smoke break out on the sidewalk in front of me so I asked another serve my l'addition. I was dismayed to find out that I would have to use a five euro bill and some coins to pay for my check. I decided to take the opportunity to get the waiter to break a twenty. I claimed to only have a one euro piece so that he would give me 50 cents back. I didn't leave a tip.