“Your pick.” he says handing his device to me.
I flip through the list of songs and artists and come across The Ataris. I ask him “What about this one? Any good?”
“You never heard them? You have to hear it for yourself.” he says.
I select the song In This Diary and it starts playing. I like it. And it surprises me how much. David turns it up pretty loud so it’s blaring out of each of the ear buds being shared between us. Of course I had to pick the song that mimics what David said about these being the best days of our lives. But I like the song so much I play it again.
Here in this diary,
I write you visions of my summer.
It was the best I ever had.
There were choruses and sing-alongs,
And that unspoken feeling of knowing
Right now is all that matters
All the nights we stayed up talking
and listening to 80's songs;
quoting lines from all those movies that we love.
It still brings a smile to my face.
I guess when it comes down to it...
Being grown up isn't half as fun as growing up:
These are the best days of our lives.
The only thing that matters
is just following your heart
and eventually you'll finally get it right.
He puts the player on shuffle and we sit quietly just listening. I am not sure if it’s the music or him but I feel good, quite possibly happy even and at ease. He might actually just be a little bit good for me. I don’t think I have laughed or let alone smiled even in a long time. Not since Jacks. And that was about four years ago now. Maybe this is the place to have some fun and start to live my life. Of course photography comes first, but some fun can be had too.
The bus pulls up to the store and all but a few of us get off to check out the Piggly Wiggly.
“Piggly Wiggly. What the hell kind of name is that?” I mumble walking inside and giggling a little. David sticks by my side at first as we wonder down the aisles. And I don’t really mind it. I mean we are officially friends after all.
The aisles are typical grocery store aisles. I grab some popcorn and head to the other end of the store to look for a fan. David disappears but I keep on heading to where I think the fans might be. Then I hear some noises that sound like someone charging, like what I would imagine in a jousting match. As I am walking I look to my right to the end of the aisle I am passing by, and see David on a kids bike. It makes me smile and laugh, like he keeps making me do. I continue walking and right as I am walking past the next aisle Dax and David both rush me each aboard a kids bike. I hurry playfully to get out of the way. They continue after me and I zig zag down aisles. Laughing loudly now. I am pretty sure I lose them so when I spot the fans I forget about the chase that was happening only moments before. I take a few minutes picking out a fan. I choose a black clip fan that I think will be perfect to clip onto my bedpost.
“Gotcha” Dax says sneaking up on me and placing his arms on my shoulders and then attempting to tickle my sides but more like bruising my rib cage. He stops when David comes around the corner thankfully. I don’t know why but I don’t want Dax’s hands on me. I want David’s hand on me.
“Ok kids time to go.” I say.
We walk to the register and I pay for the fan and a few snacks I picked up. One being popcorn and another being twizzlers. Some of my favorite snacks from back home.
David reclaims his seat next to me on the bus after he stows the fan and bag of stuff I bought up top above us. Everyone is back on the bus so the driver makes her way back to the dorms. David tells me goodnight and I head to my room to put my stuff up before going back down for dinner. I wonder what he is up to but he did say he had plans already tonight earlier when he was trying to get me to go on a date with him.
Chapter Three
After the second week of classes I am starting to feel very comfortable with this place. Of course I think making friends like David has helped a lot in that department too. We actually have a good group of friends starting to come together now. And they all seem to regularly converge on our stoop. There is of course Dax, and then Remy from Brazil and Micah from Canada and his roommate Dean from Oregon. They all are majoring in either Illustration or Computer Art except for Remy who wants to go into video.
Being around all these guys makes me realize that for some reason I have always gotten along better with guys than with girls only in the friend department though. I mean sure I have dated but I always felt the need to end it when things start to get too serious. It just never seems to feel right to me. I was hoping I could break this guy only friend pattern with my roommate Emily but so far I haven’t seen too much of her other then when she is in our room sucking face with a guy that has long black wavy hair pulled back into a pony tail.
It’s pretty uncomfortable to open your dorm room door to this sight everyday after classes. So I am excited that tomorrow they are opening up the photo lab to us in my Intro to Photography class. I have been taking a lot of pictures already so I will have plenty to do in there once it’s open. We also have our first big assignment to take photos of something that symbolizes the city of Savannah.
David and I have done some more exploring and seen a lot more of Savannah since that first night but we always seem to gravitate back towards the Paper Moon for key lime pie and coffee like we had on our very first night in town. And actually I don’t think he has tried the pie anywhere else in the city yet but here. The rest of the guys sometimes tag along with us but none of them ever order the key lime pie they usually stick with pizza or a burger or something like that. And tonight was no different for them. Think it was a 50/50 toss up for half having pizza and the other half having burgers. I of course went with the ham and cheese omelet with a slice of key lime pie.
We are all laughing and goofing off at the diner and it’s a Thursday night, meaning no classes until Monday when a group of girls walk by talking about a band playing about five blocks down the street at the Velvet Elvis. All the guys seem to get quiet and their eyes follow the girls closely. All of them except for David and I who roll our eyes at them. I am not paying too much attention to the girls until one of them starts talking to me and I realize it’s Emily. I almost don’t recognize her since I haven’t seen my roommates’ face much since that first week when it was not connected to black haired pony tail guy.
“Hi Thea.” She says bating her eyes sweetly and tossing her long blonde hair over her shoulder. Which seems out of character for someone with a such a big bullhorn nose and eyebrow ring “Who are all your friends?”
Pointing I say “Dean. Remy. Micah. Dax. And you remember David.” She checks out all of them but her eyes stay on Dax and then move to David a little too long before she turns to me and says loudly “Thea you and the guys have to come with me and Lilah to check out this swing band at the Velvet Elvis. It’s going to be a lot of fun.”
Before I can say anything pretty much all of the guys chime in, in unison. “Ya let’s do it.”
We each pay our check and start heading five blocks toward the river to Liberty Street. Passing a few homeless people on the way as well as groups of other college aged students checking out the nightlife like we were doing. My thoughts stay on the homeless until we arrive. We get there and there are a half a dozen others already inside, standing off to the side of a large dance floor. The band setting up has a large bass and three brass horns. They are wearing fun pin stripped suits.
The upbeat tempo starts up and some of our group migrates to the dance floor. I can tell by David’s expression that dancing is not his thing. That one corner of his mouth that usually perks upward is actually pointed downward but he still looks adorable. I am by no means a good dancer but that doesn’t mean I don’t have fun trying. At least I used too. It’s been a long time since I got on a dance floor. Swing dancing is something I would love to try. So maybe I should try it. I am still contemplating when Remy wh
o is standing next to us asks if I want to give it a shot with him.
We pay close attention to the girl and guy next to us and try to mimic some of their moves. Which end up being a lot of leg hopping and feet rocking. It’s a blast. I lose count of how many songs Remy and I have danced to and we both decide to take a breather, joining David, Lilah and Emily standing at the bar. I didn’t notice before but now I can feel the sweat accumulated on the back of my neck. Me and sweat seem to go hand in hand in this city. With one hand I hold my hair off my neck and with the other I search my corduroy pants pockets for a hair tie without luck. I see David glance my way with a quick grin that lifts up the one corner of his lips but then Lilah jerks him back into conversation with her.
“You have a hair tie I can borrow?” I interrupt somewhat happily.
Looking annoyed she digs one out of her bag and hands it to me without turning away from David.
“Ah Thanks.” I say.
A new and even more upbeat tempo swing jive comes on and Remy grabs my arm just as I finish tying my almost too short hair into a tiny pony with messy pieces of black and pink strands still hanging close to my face. My feet happily follow but my hand grazes across David’s arm looking for a swig of his beer, which he allows unphased. Reaching back out to my hand David takes it back from me as Remy continues to pull me onto the dance floor. This time we mimic the pretzels and spins, which I am surprised I can do halfway decently. The music keeps coming and my feet keep dancing until I don’t think I can hop anymore. Remy starts dancing with another girl on the dance floor and I make my way back to the bar where David, Emily and her friend Lilah are still chatting it up. I order an ice water from the bar tender and quickly gulp it down. Emily shifts opening up the circle of conversation, but Lilah is talking so fast the conversation doesn’t implore me. Plus it seems more like a David and her only discussion. Emily joins back into it somehow. There I go again unable to converse and therefore make friends with girls.
I stand pretty much alone for a few minutes resting my cup of ice on my neck when suddenly Dax and Dean walk up to me. I am happy to be rescued from standing awkwardly. They are both a little sweaty too so I ask “You guys enjoy yourself on the dance floor too?”
“Not as much as you did.” Dean says. “Didn’t know you swing danced.”
“Well there is a first time for everything I guess.” I say. “And I don’t think it will be the last time either. That was a blast.”
“You want to go again?” Dax asks me.
“Aw I don’t think I could hop or do another pretzel tonight.” I say. He looks cross about it but honestly I am not sure I would dance with him even if I wasn’t so tired. He seems like a nice guy and he is good looking. I mean the guy looks like a buff Brad Pitt-like surfer but he comes on a little too strong. And he is the kind of guy that probably is used to getting his way and any girl he wants. But I just don’t see it for me.
“Ok let’s all have a beer then.” He says. None of us are old enough but the bar tender doesn’t check any of our IDs. None of us drove tonight so I figure one beer would be ok.
“Cheers to college.” I say raising my beer bottle to the guys and glancing in David’s direction. He glances my way still in the middle of conversation with Emily and Lilah but raises his beer at me and nods.
I’m pretty thirsty so I manage to easily chug the first beer quickly and Dax immediately replaces the empty one with a fresh one. I am not a big drinker. The first one was really just to kick back and celebrate this newfound part of my life and how much fun I was having here. I had no intention of having another one and besides it would probably put me to sleep.
“Um thanks, I guess.” I manage to say to Dax. Which he seems to take as an invitation to come closer to me. He lifts his bottle for another “Cheers to college” toast and when he puts his arm down he rests it on my shoulders. I squirm a little knocking his arm off and feel relieved when he doesn’t make a move to put it back on my shoulders. I am thankful when he turns around and starts talking to Emily. Lilah notices the attention from Dax and pivots a little so she can converse with him too. I shift my attention to the dance floor and smile when I see Remy still at it with the girl from earlier.
“Someone stole your dance partner huh?” David says suddenly by my side and leaning into my ear. My smile widens.
“And I am happy for it. Otherwise Remy would still have me out there.”
“You seemed like you were having a good time.”
“For sure. It was a blast. But my legs are like Jell-O right now. No more dancing for me tonight.”
“So dancing a big thing for you?”
“Not a major one. But it’s pretty fun. Used to go with my sister and… my brother sometimes back home but that was mostly country dancing and as they would call it booty shaking.”
David chuckles and the devilish grin at the corner of his mouth is back. I think about how it would feel to run my lips over that grin. I try to drag my thoughts away from kissing him afraid I might give into them since I have already downed one bottle of liquid courage.
“Swing dancing is a bit more intense than two stepping.” I say. “Not into dancing much huh?” I ask.
“No. Not at all. My sister does it so someone in the family is coordinated but I am not one of them.”
“Have you ever really tried it?”
“No. I’ll stick to drawing.”
“Ok. You’re missing out though. And it doesn’t matter if you’re good just that you let loose and have some fun.” I say. Deciding to take a sip from my beer to distract my lips from wanting to kiss him even more.
“What kind of drawings are you working on now?”
“Well I am taking figure drawing so in class we are doing the whole nude model thing…”
“Come on Thea. Micah and I are heading to the Bar Bar to play some pool.” Dax interrupts. “I bet you can play a good game of pool.” He adds.
Just then Remy walks up saying “I heard that place is fun. They have board games too. I could play some monopoly right now or some cards. Come on guys.”
Emily and Lilah decide they are going to stay here so it’s just me and the guys. But I don’t mind really since Lilah has been spending more time then I would like her to with David this evening. We head out and walk a few blocks bringing us closer to where the dorms are. I don’t think I would know my way around driving this city yet, but I think I can handle walking the historic downtown at least during the day. So far walking around has revealed that there are blocks that are not so good to be on but they are usually tucked around nice blocks. So you pretty much have to walk through bad parts no matter which way you go. By bad parts I mean places where homeless or troublemakers congregate, alleyways that have broken down cars in them or boarded up old Victorian houses with spray painted graffiti on them. And Max the security guard has warned us all to be careful in those spots because other students have been mugged or worse.
Walking into the Bar Bar Dax goes straight to the pool table that is already being used by two girls. But he gets his way immediately budding into their game and the girls happily letting him. We all see some empty tables in the back where the shelves of games are at so we head that way passing by the two girls against one guy pool game in progress.
“Want in on the game Thea?” Dax says. “Last chance.”
“Think I am good. I am more of a monopoly girl.” I say trying not to hurt his feelings but at the same time wishing he would take the hint. The girls he is with giggle about the monopoly comment that takes his attention away from me enough that I can continue walking a few steps trying to catch up with David and the guys. At least that is what I thought. Dax makes a quick turn swooping into my ear and whispering, “You know you want me.” I quickly dart next to David trying not to laugh but can’t help the eye rolling.
“What did he say to you?“ David asks me with his sideways smile.
“Nothing important.” I say. “I think he’s drunk and a little crazy too.
> “What is it with that guy? I thought he was going to be a cool roommate.” David says.
“Jury is still out on that one.” I say trying to make light of his ridiculous drunken stupor.
The monopoly takes my mind off Dax’s words. And we are all getting pretty competitive in the game. And I like seeing David laugh and smile with that one corner of his mouth that is now driving me crazy. I am the shoe and I own all the railroads but one and am stacking up a good amount of money from the guys continuing to land on my property. Micah is clearly in the lead though with the most properties and money. I am sure he would have won if we kept playing but the bar is closing down so it is time to head back to the dorms. Dax left earlier with the two girls and I was glad for that.
On the walk back the guys decide they want to stop off and go into the graveyard. Colonial Park Cemetery.
“This will be fun guys…oh and Thea you too. Eh? Savannah is supposed to be one of the most haunted cities in America.” Micah says. He goes on to tell us “This city has been through it all. War, disease, famine, duels, natural disasters.”
I think him nearly winning that game brought him out of his shell some more. Cause I don’t think I have heard him talk this much or noticed how much his Canadian accent comes out when he does. It’s nice to see him get so excited about history. It’s good to have things in your life that excite you. So I play along and keep him talking about it.
“Ya Button Gwinnet, a Georgia signer of the Declaration of Independence is buried there along with something like 700 victims of yellow fever.” he says. “It was also used as a camp for General Sherman’s soldiers during the civil war. There are rows of headstones stacked along the wall in the back because they broke them off and moved them to make room for their campground.”
“So fascinating. Eh?” says Dean with a mocking tone and poking fun at Micah’s Canadian accent.
We get to the entrance. It consists of an impressive pillared stone archway with an eagle sculpture with open wings on top and the engraved letters DAR. The tall wrought iron gate is closed. David and Remy give it a push and it opens pretty easily. It’s dark but we walk through the paths and through the trees draped in Spanish moss. We are all creeped out being here so late but still having fun exploring the history of our new city. We walk past small blank markers to indicate graves and some full blown intricately engraved headstones. And make our way back to the edge of the cemetery with hundreds of gravestones resting against a red, brown and white faded brick wall. The headstones vary in sizes and shapes and color. Most of them are broken but have been rejoined and affixed to the wall. They all have discolored stains on them and a few of them are so old you can’t see the words anymore. Some have a few words others have a paragraph of words. We all start reading the headstones aloud one at a time. Every one of them is interesting.
Capturing Savannah Page 3