73

The waiting game sucks. Megan's talking to Paul right now, since I egged her on to beat any and all info out of him on facebook chat. I'm slowly regretting that request, because he pulled a "this is just between us" move. She apologized in advance, but told me that it's looking really good. He's freaking out just as much as I am. UGH!!!!

I was so blown earlier when I was driving Paul home from work. He told me that John (our boss) had taken him off the Sunday schedule from now on. That's the only time we get to see each other, ever. I was talking to Megan about all of this, and I told her three possibilities:

1. He wants to make sure that Paul pulls through with the taking me out part, and is separating us.

2. Doesn't want our work to slip if we do happen to date, because we are in our own little world.

3. He wants Paul to think of other ways we can meet up outside of work, and really get to do something besides bitch and complain about customers.

I was talking to Paul simultaneously with Megan, and we were CLEARLY tip toeing around asking each other if we like one another. We started talking about the DC United game on Saturday, and he kept saying that I should find someone to cover. He doesn't have anyone going with him at the moment. I told him at work that I would love to go, but who can I get to cover. I told him it's my first DCU game, and he told me that I have to find someone to cover. We were thinking of possibilities, and I thought it was so cute that he said, "don't worry, WE will figure it out". Megan told me that he was worrying about Saturday, and what we're going to do HAHAHAHA! He invited me to pho tomorrow, but I told him that I can't eat pho. I said that I would tag along anyways for the company. Megan wanted to have some boys bonding time, but I told her that Paul already made plans for me to join. So the plan is that I have my ipod on full blast and do some homework. She said that she's going to be grinning like an idiot the entire time. I told her that I'm going to be making my trademark annoyed faces at her. I said that I didn't have any money, and she was already covering Paul. She's going to buy me a tea, since I reminded her that I don't drink coffee.

I've been trying to keep myself preoccupied by listening to the new AFI cd that's on their myspace. I told Megan that I was impatient about their new cd coming out on Tuesday, and now there's this whole Paul thing! SUCKS! I kept playing "Too shy to scream" over and over, and decided that I need to change it up. So Across the Universe it was! I'm so nervous. Apparently he's just as nervous as I am. Oh my God...I can't believe this. I know John will have a ton of questions for me on Friday. I knew there was something up, especially since Paul quietly asked me if I could give him a ride home tonight, instead up putting it out there. Normally Eric would take him, since he's going Paul's way.

OMG...freaking out. I'm blaming tonight's insomnia entirely on Megan. She told me it'll be a fun insomnia, but the after effects won't be.

72

It's been a while, but I come bearing lots of news!

I feel like I'm about to have a panic attack of happiness. Honestly. I don't know how that makes sense in any way, but I am.

First, school's going great...I guess. I'm behind in my photography class. The roll of film I developed for my first project didn't have any shots on them. The only things that showed up on the reel were "kodak" and the frame numbers. I remember during the lecture part that that meant the film wasn't loaded properly. It turns out that I was loading the film correctly, but there was this thing called the ASO, or something, that didn't match up with the type of film I was using. That would explain why no shots developed. So now I have to redo this project and make a contact sheet on top of that. We did photograms in class today, and those turned out really well.

I solved my photoshop dilema! I now know how to use the lasso and masking buttons on that blasted thing. I know how to use a Mac. That's an accomplishment in itself. I'm gradually hating Macs less and less these days. I completed my photoshop photo collage on Thursday, which required me to stay late. I had to trek up and down campus to get to the library, go to the basement, pay the IT people to print the photo in color, only to have my print card rejected. It keeps saying "illegal card", which makes no sense. It's the correct card I'm supposed to use. They gave me a free color print anyways, for my trouble. I got such a work out that day.

Okay, time for the exciting news. So I was online Wednesday night, watching 500 Days of Summer for the 20th time. Paul messages me, drunk. He's explained that we he gets drunk, he's no wasted. He's aware of his surroundings, he knows what he's talking about, and he remembers every event that occurs. We start talking about random things, laughing and having a good ol' time. Out of nowhere he says, "I know this sounds random, but we should chill sometime. We could get something to eat, go get some drinks, and do something afterword". I remind him that I don't drink, but I'm up for doing something. He asks me what I want to do, and I told him I don't know. He tells me he'll get back to me when he's not drunk, so he can think better. The whole time I'm trying to decipher that conversation. I kept asking myself, "did I just get asked out on a date?" I forgot about it again, until earlier today. I went to the Dutch Market with Ava, Isaac (a new Isaac, not douchebag), and Megan. I asked Megan that if a guy asks her what Paul asked me, does it sound like a date? She wouldn't even let me finish the question, it was automatically ruled as a date. She started asking me if he's cute, what's he like. I told her that she know him. I told her who it was, and she started freaking out. I told her that I don't know how this came up, and it was completely random. She tells me that I should start acting extra cutesy around him. Fast forward; work. I walk into work, and the first person I see is Paul. I almost ran out the door! He was looking at the schedule, and I think he was about to say the same thing that I wanted to say to him; DC United game. He asked if I was interested in going, and I said put me down as a maybe. I told him that I don't have any money to buy my ticket, and it's $15. He told me that he would cover me, since it's only $15. I told him that $15 is a lot of money for a poor college student. It turns out that I'm working the night of the game, so we were both about to address that issue at the same time. I had to go help people, so the only chance I got to talk to him was when he was about to clock out. I asked him how he enjoyed his drunken night, and he was about to explain. Then he realized that he was talking to me the entire time. We didn't get a chance to further discuss this, since he was leaving. I asked Sandra and Alex what their opinions were if a guy were to ask them the same thing. Like Megan, they wouldn't let me finish the question, and asked me if this guy mentioned other people joining. I said that he didn't, and they both ruled that it's a date. Alex did tell me that this guy is buying me dinner, so it has to be a date. I told them who it was, and they both freaked out. Sandra told me that this is good, and they both promised not to say a word. I would kill the both of them if anyone else around work knows. They started talking about Paul-Tess-Leon story, and I finally got to hear what went down. Tess is Paul's ex, and she's a psycho bitch. None of us could understand why he dated her in the first place. His parents hated her, and he was depressed for the longest time. There was a party at his best friend, Leon's, house. He's also a coworker. Tess and Paul had gotten back together, and Tess made out with Leon that night. She did the same thing at this party Jose's friend was throwing. This girl is just bad news bears. Everyone at work hates her, and they haven't met her. Everyone at MC hates her, and they have to deal with her. Fast forward; clocked out. John asks me how I'm doing, and I tell him that I'm still pissed about my photo project, I'm exhausted from school, and I'm kind of happy about something. He asks me "why kind of happy?" I tell him that I think I got asked on a date. He asks me if it's by someone who works in the store. I said "maybe, maybe not". He asks me, "do his initials start with P.H.?" I had this horrified look on my face, and I wanted to say no. It wasn't happening. I yelled, "HOW DID YOU KNOW?!" He said, "John knows everything!" I tell him how this entire thing went down, and he explains to me how this even came up. He asked me if I recall last week, when we were all standing around the backroom talking about soccer. I tell him that I did, and he said that he noticed that Paul and I have a lot in common. He told me that Paul does talked to him a lot about his relationships, and how down he's been. John then tells Paul that he needs to stop going great lengths to date the wrong people, when the right ones are in front of you. He said that Paul told him about how we've been hanging out with friends and stuff, and I think he said that Paul did mention something about me during one of their relationship talks. John just told him to grow a pair, and ask me out. He did tell me right away how fragile Paul is. He said, "he's a musician, and artist. He wear's his heart on his sleeve, and he does get his feelings hurt easily". I told him I know, being an artist myself. I tell him it's the typical artist, always dramatic. You say one negative thing, and it's the end of the world. I told him the only thing that would bother me is Tess. I'm a no bullshit kind of person, and I don't want to put up with this. He told me to tell him upfront that I don't want to hear anything about Tess. He proceeds to tell me what a great guy Paul is, and that I would be good for him. I know he's a great guy; he's such a gentleman. I told John that I still can't believe he did this! I told him not to tell anyone else in the store, because shit will spread like wildfire. At that point, Jonathan came out and whined that he wanted to know who we were talking about. John just said, "goodnight, Malloy!" John then made me promise that I won't tell Paul about our conversation, because Paul will hate him forever. I told him it's a deal, if he promises not to say a word to anyone. I just told him that he's unbelievable. He continued to laugh, and I left. I text Megan quickly, letting her know that I got to the bottom of this. I tell Jose, because I know I can trust him, plus I needed some advice. He told me not to worry, and to stop having such a low opinion of myself. He tells me, "dude, you're sexy. You shouldn't worry about what other people think". I know he's right, but it's all those years of rejection. It's pathetic. He told me not to dwell upon that, and just allow of this to happen. He's happy, Megan's happy, the whole world's happy. Megan asked me if we have an actual date set up yet, and I said not yet. I think that he wants to wait for his license to get off suspension before we decide on what we want to do. Jose already wants to plan a double date. They both have a good feeling about this, as does John. So yeah, I got asked out on a date. Highlight of the week.