in an alternate universe, it's syllabus week. i just moved into apartment 7301 & finished decorating my room, hoping to turn that apartment into a home for the next 365 days. i spent my first summer in my 20s bathing under a florida sun & falling in & out of love with every person, place, & experience i came across. my friends & roommates just came back into town, it’s 2:00 on a wednesday, I'm leaving the local gym, i text my roommates “do you want to go to white trash wednesday at ken’s at 10”, & they say yes. i stop at mike' s beer barn on my way home, driving in my notorious garnet jeep with the windows & top down, blaring morgan wallens “7 summers ago” down tennessee street. i pass the same homeless man who jump ropes with a makeshift jump rope he made out of a random red cord & realize that i somehow will be starting my second year at florida state.
i go home, see the neon orange light still on from the night before, turn it off, & walk to my room. i open my blinds & windows, climb into bed, & take a day nap that somehow turns into a slumber. it’s 9pm, i get ready, & check on all my roommates to see if they’re ready—they’re not but neither am i. the apartment is always filled with so much music, it makes me feel like i’m in some corny coming to age movie, & i ask my roommate if i can borrow my favorite top that she owns. i put on my favorite pair of club shoes that have somehow survived the torment of tally strip & pots floodings, & i find my way to the kitchen.
i turn the neon orange light on again & make myself a drink. my roommates trickle into the living room & our friends start knocking on our door despite knowing damn well that they just walk through the door as if they own the place. we pregame for a little & intended on leaving for strip at 10, swearing we’ll beat the line, but somehow, it’s 10:45,& the uber was just got ordered… we know that there is no doubt the most heinous line waiting for us. we drink 4-5 big cups of our drink of choice for the night in the crowds of country loving seminoles until 2am.
we close our tabs, go home, & take off our makeup, shower, & chug as much water as possible before bed (a religious post-night-out routine we learned our freshman year of college). we wake up at 5:30, get ready for mandatory PT at HJB. in between every step, we regret that one text message asking if we wanted to go out and muster up the courage to walk out the door. ethan is waiting for me, ready to drive me to PT (he lost a bet over the summer that mandated he come drive me to PT every day for the semester). we listen to white ferrari on our way to campus & channel all the grievances that’s happened to us in our life, hoping it makes us mentally & physically tougher (it works). we go to seminole cafe afterwards, shove our faces with every breakfast food available with a side of the best blue powerade anyone of us has ever had, debrief about our night out, & everything is perfect in the world.
however, that’s not an alternate universe. that was two years ago today & now i square my corners & cup my hands when i step outside my room.
enjoy your college years, kids.
with all my love,
♡steff
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