Part 6: Duck for Thanksgiving?

One weekend in the beginning of November, all of Amanda's roommates went to Las Vegas to party like it was 1999. She was home alone for the entire weekend, so I did the noble thing and kept her company. We spent the weekend doing wholesome non-Vegas activities such as watching An American in Paris, playing canasta, toilet papering Cecil Samuelson's house and cruising down Broadway listening to opera. Except Broadway in Provo is called University Ave. Anyways, on Sunday she got on ichat with her mom and started talking about Thanksgiving plans until I hijacked the computer and started pretending to be her. I suggested they have duck for Thanksgiving instead of Thanksgiving, and her mom was like, "Okay!" They then found out I was around and we got on the webcam. Talk about scary! I was talking with her parents face-to-face for the first time! And I had just gotten done telling her sister to eat cow tongues for lunch! I was dead meat!

Anyways, they talked about Thanksgiving for a while and somehow after getting on the subject of cranberry dessert they started joking about me coming over for Thanksgiving. Ha ha ha! Now that's a good one!

But wait? Was it really a joke? Amanda and I couldn't help but wonder after the conversation ended. She called them the next day to find out, and soon enough, I was actually invited to California for Thanksgiving! Holy Fremont, Batman!

Let's back up here. Not too many days before that, I had asked Amanda to be my girlfriend, figuring if things were made official, JKC would back off for good. I asked, and she flat out rejected me with a slap to the face. Now, less than a week later, I was going to her home for Thanksgiving. What was I to her? Just a friend, or more? The plot thickens. Ooooohhh...

The time arrived and I was so nervous I almost lost my lunch. Luckily it was evening as we touched down at the Oakland airport and I doubt my lunch was still around anyway. However, I was sick and the changing pressures practically exploded my head. Still deaf in one ear, I walked down the terminal to the baggage claim area to where her family was and promptly was ignored for the next few hours as they happily greeted Amanda and Allen. Oh well, I was half-dead anyway so it didn't matter to me. Just to not seem so awkward I stood around with the guys pretending to be part of the crowd. I was good at that in high school.

We drove to Fremont where I received my room. Actually it was Allen's room. Because of me, he got his brother's bed, who got the floor. I'm such a jerk. I'll never forgive myself for that. Luckily, that won't be a problem next time I'm there, heh heh :-0

After a rowdy game of Bang! (a cheap ripoff of Pow! I mean, there weren't even characters based off of the Heits in it), it was off to bed and hopes of getting better. Things improved the next day and by the end of the week, I was enjoying myself tremendously, so much that the prospect of returning to my roommates didn't seem particularly appealing. One day when we were visiting the redwoods, it suddenly occurred to me that I loved Amanda, something I had wondered about for a few weeks. It just kind of came as a gradual revelation. Perhaps it was prodded on by Amanda's mom, who dropped several not-so-subtle hints (not nearly as hardcore as when Christmas rolled along). By the end of the visit, her parents had already bet on how quickly we would get married.

The night before we were to fly back, a rather interesting experience took place. Amanda had a long talk with her parents for what seemed like two hours. I still don't know what all went on in this discussion, but I can guess it was along the lines of, "Just who is this bum we let in our house?" Luckily, I was never interviewed since I'm not an Eagle Scout and would've failed right then and there. Things wouldn't be like they are now.

Well, they all came downstairs to where Allen and I had been discussing computer science. Everyone just kind of stood around as if waiting for something, so I just announced that I would go to bed. I went upstairs to brush my teeth and could hear them downstairs, discussing, "Why didn't you tell him?" Well, that peeked my curiosity. A moment later Amanda's mom came up to the bathroom and told me, "Amanda has something she wants to tell you." With a wink and a playful nudge to the ribs, she added. "You should go down to 'get a drink,' heh heh."

Everyone was now in bed, and I decided to get an actual drink since I was thirsty. Amanda was in her room. The light was on, but I wasn't about to open the door. I knew the moment I did so, alarms would go off and a SWAT team would burst in, shooting me down before I could do something "inappropriate." So I took my sweet time getting a drink, trying to get her attention that I was downstairs as inconspicuously as I could. After knocking over the trash can and tripping over the counter, she still didn't come out so I just went back to bed, concerned about my wellbeing.

What did she want to tell me? Did she want to say things were over between us? At best, I imagined that she would finally admit to be my girlfriend. Dejected, I turned on my laptop and started to write in my journal.

Meanwhile, in dark clothing and a face mask, Amanda crept up the stairs to my room, determined not to hold off any longer. Allen and Adam's door was open and Adam was sleeping on the floor right in front of the doorway, so knowing if she stepped past them to open my door, alarms would go off and a SWAT team would burst in, shooting her down before she could do something "inappropriate," she went back to bed.

Thanksgiving was over. The following day we flew back to Provo, and the secret still hadn't been told. Just what did she want to tell me? Was it good? Bad? Anything at all? I could hardly stand the anticipation.