Memory Box #1: The Gatorade Bottle

So in my room I have this big moving box full of "trash." Each piece of “trash” has a story behind it.  One item is the Gatorade bottle.

The school day at my high school starts at 7:15 AM.  Technically we’re not allowed to enter classrooms or any hallways besides the main one until 7:00 AM.  For the first two years of my high school career, I listened to this rule.  One day last year, I saw my friend George around 6:50.

“Do you want to go to 711?” he asked.

“Now?” I asked, incredulously.

He shrugged. “We’ve got time,” he responded.

“I can’t be late.”

“You won’t be,“ he said.

Against my better judgment, I agreed to go with him.  711 wasn’t that far away.  In fact, it was maybe a 5 minute walk.  The only problem in my mind was the fact that we wouldn’t be walking, we’d be taking George’s Rodeo. The road between the school and the convenience store was one way, and not the right way.  That meant we’d have to go in a big circle.

The entire way I was perched on the edge of the passenger seat in George’s SUV, bouncing slightly and playing with a rubber band.  To put it plainly, I was terrified.  Being late triggers my panic attacks like nothing else can.  But I took the risk, and I was trusting George not to let me down.  I was also exhilarated.  I had never done something like that. Okay, maybe there was that one time, but that’s another story for later.

We pulled into the 711 parking lot at 7:03.  By this point, I was giggling nervously. The person working there probably thought that we were going to steal something because of that. We wandered around for maybe a minute. George asked if I had any money; I said no. He bought me a blue Gatorade on the condition that I'd pay him back (this happens a lot, I probably owe him like twenty dollars now that I've been slowly paying him back). We were back in the car by 7:06. I was still nervous, but calmer since we were less than a minute's drive from the school if we were lucky with the lights. 

We weren't. We hit both of them. 

But we still pulled into the parking lot at 7:09. 

George was laughing at me for being so scared. My first class of the day was Telecom, which is in the main hallway. In fact, it was pretty close to where I ran into him in the first place. I speedwalked to the room and was in my seat by 7:13. 

The whole thing was a pretty liberating experience. I will forever look back on it as one of my favorite memories with George. It was a lot of fun and a total adrenaline rush.Which, when you think about it, is pretty sad. 

So now there's a Gatorade bottle with George's name written on it in Sharpie in the memory box.