Today's rambling: Berry's Road Trip
Written on Thursday, Aug. 22, 2002 at 1:34 a.m.
while feeling a bit

10:21 am.

The phone's loud ringing beside my bed roused me from sleep. Looking at the Caller ID, I noticed that it read "Blocked", and so I almost didn't even answer it. The only person who calls here with an unlisted number is Adrienne, and so I didn't feel like talking to her. However, because I knew that Geoff would be calling me today, I decided it would be in my best interest to answer this call.

"Hello, is Genevieve there?" asked a crazy old voice.

"No," I replied nonchalantly (trying to keep my voice from cracking, as it always does upon first waking).

"Well, how about Rowena?"

For those who don't know, part of my screen name is 'Rowena'. "Yes, she's here," I said. The voice immediately mellowed out to Geoff's. (Though I knew it was him from the beginning, because he always uses a weird voice when he first calls.)

"I'm just about ready to leave," he told me, and I immediately threw the covers back.

"I'm not even dressed yet!" I protested.

"Well, it takes me like forty-five minutes to get there," he reminded. He obviously doesn't know how long it takes me to get ready. ;) Anyway, we chatted for a couple more minutes, and then hung up. This is probably going to be a LOOOONG diary entry, so for those of you who don't feel like reading, either skip it or just go down to the end. ;)

I'd just finished getting ready and was getting the trash together to take out (I don't know why I had the impulse to take out the trash...maybe I wanted everything to look nice, hehe)...when the doorbell rang. When I opened the door, Geoff got this really relieved look on his face, then said, "I just made friends with the guy in 12D." Turns out, he'd accidentally gone to the wrong building--the one right next to mine! He remembered how to get to this apartment complex, which really is a feat unto itself, yet he forgot exactly which building. *giggles* I got a good laugh out of that one.

Anyway, we didn't stick around the apartment for long at all. I turned off the CD player, grabbed up the trash, and we left. As I said in my last entry, we didn't have any plans as to what we were going to do, so we ended up driving. A lot. We went all the way down to Philadelphia first, driving through the pretty sections (it's surprising to think of Philly having pretty sections, but it really does!). He asked if I wanted to eat at one of the restaurants there, but I wasn't feeling hungry (and I get nervous eating in front of people), so we just kept driving. Over the bridge into New Jersey. :P

Turns out, both of his parents were born there, so we traveled through the towns that they'd both grown up in. I honestly can't stand New Jersey, because so much of it's trashy, but I actually saw some really pretty places today! The town where his mother semi grew up (long story) was...not 'ritzy', exactly, but the houses were all really nice, and there were lots of trees and everything was well-manicured. The town his dad grew up in was like the lower class district, ha ha, but it was still alright. Anyway, we drove up to Princeton after that.

For awhile there, I joked that the university must've been moving every time we came near, because we just couldn't find it. We did find it eventually, though, and it's gorgeous up there. I mean, I guess there were a couple of spots here and there that looked like any place else, but most of it was really lovely and tree-lined and cozy. Guess those snobby little Ivy Leaguers need to have nice surroundings, eh? ;)

While we were there, I made mention of how Geoff seemed to be Ernie's only friend. :P Geoff laughed and said it was probably true, then said, "Ernie's definitely an interesting guy!" He said something about liking to hang around interesting people, and I joked, "Yet you're hanging out with me..."

"Oh, you're very interesting!" he stated, laughing. "No one else I know would refuse to take out a CD!"

Oh, that story. Earlier in the day, when we were still around the Philly area, he brought out his CD folder and told me to pick one. None of them really caught my interest, so I told him to pick one instead. He started teasing me and getting on my case, and of course my stubborn streak kicked in. I shut the folder and said, "Either you pick one or we're listening to the radio!"

"Either you pick one or I'm kicking you out of the car," he retorted. When I still refused to open the folder, he switched the radio to some crappy hip-hop type of station...and then turned the volume up. Still I sat there, laughing at how funny it sounded for this music to be playing in his car, but stubbornly refusing to choose a CD. I broke down in the end, though, picking the first CD I saw when I opened the folder. I can't even remember what it was now...Led Zeppelin? Whatever. So that's what the one comment was referencing. :P

I blushed and dropped my face into my hands, laughing and saying that I felt really silly now. He said no, it was cool (or funny or something), but I still felt dumb. ;) I don't even know WHY I just didn't want to choose a CD...I mean, he obviously liked all of them if he had them in his collection, so it wasn't as if I was going to pick something he hated! But I just wasn't interested in listening to any of them (except, perhaps, the Moody Blues CDs or the Queen CD or the Yellow Submarine soundtrack)! I couldn't listen to the ones I knew (except Seventh Sojourn), because he was adamant that I listen to something new. :P Oh well, it worked out okay I guess!

Driving away from Princeton, Geoff was like, "So is eating just out of the question, period, for today?" I hadn't even realized that he'd wanted to eat back there, but I guess he did! I assured him that no, eating wasn't out of the question, I just hadn't been hungry earlier today. We didn't end up eating for quite some time after that, however. We drove into Trenton, which honestly is a pretty dirty city. There was one section that wasn't so bad, but if I were given the choice, I would never travel there again. Sorry to anybody who happens to live in New Jersey! Hehe...

I was afraid we'd be stuck in Trenton! We missed our turn (because the way they built that intersection is RETARDED), so we had to go several miles back and drive through the SAME DIRTY DISTRICT (which is right before the prettier part) just to get back to that intersection. "All roads lead to Trenton!" I laughed when Geoff said something about us finally getting out.

By this point, I think it was around 4 in the afternoon. It might've been a little earlier, I can't really remember...We did so much driving that it all ran together after awhile! We drove through Bristol, which was something like a hole in the ground. Hehe...For every pretty area I saw, it seems like I saw 50 other not-so-great places! I saw 10 THOUSAND adult stores and strip clubs, with all sorts of fun names...Ohh, one of them had a little message board thingy beneath it, which read:

Hot outside
Cool inside
Lots of Girls

Well, something like that. It cracked me up. Wouldn't that make things a little hot inside, too? Hehehe...

Blargh, I'm so tired...Alright, so somehow we ended up driving past an Olive Garden. This was well away from Bristol, but Geoff said that there was another Olive Garden somewhere farther up, so we went to that one instead. There was a Barnes & Noble across the street, which he just HAD to point out to me after finding out that I love that bookstore, but of course we didn't get to go to it. Hehe...instead, we got this little flashing, vibrating thing that let us know when a table would be ready, and we went to sit down.

Dinner got me all flustered and embarrassed yet again! I'm an unbelievably picky eater, so I automatically went for the same thing I'd gotten at Tiff's party, because it was familiar and I knew I'd like it. Since this item was cheese ravioli (I know, how old am I?), Geoff started teasing me all over again. He was trying to get me to try new stuff and whatnot, but I was just too afraid to get something and find out that I hated it! As it was, I hated the salad dressing they used...but at least I tried it, instead of being stubborn and refusing it. He told me that I had to try whatever he decided to order, and so I figured that was only fair.

As we were waiting for our food, we got into a conversation about my pickiness...I think it might've started because he made me try his beer, and as I knew it would be, it sucked. Anyway, whatever the reason, he commented that maybe I just have more highly-sensitive taste buds than most people. *chuckles* I have a more sensitive sense of smell than most people I know...does that affect the sensitivity of my taste buds? ;)

Out of nowhere, as we were munching on our salads, he lamented, "You don't have to go back tomorrow, and I do!"

"You're going to miss me, aren't you?" I asked coyly, looking at him only briefly before turning back to my salad. After a moment, I looked up again to see him looking at his salad.

"Yeah," he replied, nodding. I grinned happily and continued poking at the lettuce on my plate.

"You'll have to find someone else to make you go on break, now!"

He laughed and said, "Yeah right, I'll probably never go on break, now!" (In other words, the only reason he went at all was because I kept reminding him and getting him to go...otherwise, he never would've remembered/thought to stop working and take one.)

When our food arrived (he got chicken marsala, by the way), he grabbed my fork and sliced off a piece of chicken for me (after I'd just finished burning my mouth from one of the potatoes I'd stolen off his plate). *pauses for a second and thinks about that* Guys, I just took something off his plate, without a moment's thought. That's actually a step forward for me, because at any other time I would've felt really silly (even though I kept stealing potatoes from Tiff's plate..)...but I did it! Wow! *feels strangely proud of herself* But anyway, where was I...Alright, he handed my fork back to me, and I hesitantly ate the piece of chicken. There's just something about the texture of chicken meat that I don't like, however, and as the flavor itself wasn't all that terrific, either, I wrinkled my nose in distaste. He didn't believe me at first, but when I insisted that I didn't really like it, he said, "I've just lost all faith in your sense of taste."

:P

I may never live down my picky eating habits. All throughout dinner, he'd make a comment here and there about it, and then get this amused twinkle in his eyes when I mock-glared at him. And at the end of the meal, when the waiter handed us two Andes mints (which are yooomeh), Geoff slid his over to me. When I asked why he didn't want it, he said, "Oh, I don't know, I'm just really picky about that stuff." *sniffs* It's not my fault I'm so finicky! I was just born that way!

By the time we left, the sky was dark and the air was deliciously temperate. There was a slight breeze blowing, and it was so lovely that I wished we could go walking! We hopped back in the car, however, and continued cruising...though by now, he was heading back to my apartment. Couldn't figure out how to get there at first, and even when he decided on the best direction, it took us quite some time to get back. In fact, by the time he parked, it was a little after 10 o'clock! We just sat there in the car at first, and I thought he was going to make me walk inside by myself again.

"Aren't you going to walk me to my door?" I pouted. He turned off the ignition and opened the door, then suddenly remembered something and asked if I had a pen.

I'd asked him at the Olive Garden if I could write to him while I was at college, but when he rattled off his address, I told him he'd have to write it down later. Good thing HE remembered, or else I might never have gotten it again! At any rate, I dug out a pen from within the depths of my purse, and he scribbled down his address on a small piece of paper. I think it might've been on the same piece of paper where he wrote down my phone number yesterday (underneath the name "Amber Lynn"). No, actually, it wasn't. Heh...not that that's important or anything! :P He spelled his name "Ge-off" on this paper though, hehe...

Alright, tra la la, we walked down the stairs and halted a few feet away from my door. We hugged, and he held me against him for several long, lovely moments. ^_^ Well, it was certainly a lot longer than any of the other hugs I'd ever gotten from him! Yet again, I just wanted to pull away long enough to kiss his cheek, but instead we drew apart and I was left mentally kicking myself for not doing anything. We talked for a couple more minutes, laughing about something really silly, and then finally he was like,"Alright..."

So I inched back up to him, took his face in my hands, and kissed him...on the cheek. X_X Actually, it was fairly close to his lips, because I saw him about to return the kiss just as my face was nearing his (so I turned my head slightly), but ah well, that was about as good as it got! We hugged again, he told me to have fun and email him often...and then he left.

And now I'm left feeling rather despondent because there'll be no more of these fun drives for several months, at least. I know it's only a few months, and I'll be able to write and email and probably even IM him often, but I won't be here! And even though I know that this choice I've made will benefit me in so many ways, I can't help wishing that I'd decided to stay nearby. Joanne thinks that my being away for so long will sort of jolt Geoff into reality, and he'll really miss me...I only hope she's actually right this time!

Everybody else thinks I'll end up meeting someone at college. And if I do, well, then it happens. But understand, please, that that's the LAST thing I want to think about right now, because at this very moment, I don't want to meet some other guy at college. Just because I'll be meeting new guys doesn't mean I have to date them, y'know? I guess they're all over that idea because the guys I'll meet up there are going to be more my age, whereas Geoff's older. *sighs* Guess I can't expect them to understand, eh?

I had to call Frank when I got home, and that just sunk my mood, because I really didn't feel like talking to him. He was yelling at his younger brother to shut up half the time, and the rest of the time he was talking about cars and other stuff that held no interest for me, so by the time we hung up, I was feeling very relieved. I wonder if he'd ever talk about how he'd like to live in a house surrounded by trees, secluded from just about everyone else...Geoff brought that up today, which surprised me because that's the exact sort of environment I'd love to be in!

Who'd have thought I'd turn out to be this disgustingly soppy... :P

If you must go, oh no, I won't grieve
If you wait a lifetime before you leave...