I'm Pretty Sure I Haven't Posted This Yet...

Well today at work, Kassidee, Megan and I were talking about dating and how scary it is and whatnot. So then I started talking about the weird/horrifying/hilarious dating experience I had about 2 years ago with a guy named Steven. This is the journal entry that I wrote the day after it happened, plus I've added a few details that I forgot to add when I originally wrote it. It was pretty traumatic at first so I was mostly concerned with getting the basic story down. So this is for all of you guys who haven't heard the story before. Mostly Megan. ;) Enjoy!

Okay, so in October my friend Kat wanted to hook me up with her brother Steven. He’d just barely gotten off his mission and he hadn’t been on a date since then which should have been a big indicator that I shouldn’t go out with him but eh, oh well. At least I’ll know in the future right? So she said she was trying to set it up so I would have a date with him Thursday and he’d go out with 2 other girls on Friday and Saturday. So I told her I would (more as a favor to her) and that she’d have to pick me up at my friend Kristal’s apartment at Old Farm because we were going to watch The Office that night. So she agreed and I told her that we would just go out for ice cream that night. That way if I thought the date was terrible it was alright because I would only be with him for half an hour. If it went well then…great!

So Thursday night rolled around and I was really nervous because I’d never been on a blind date before. After class the day Kat and I talked she introduced me to him really fast (he was outside our classroom) and I thought he looked kinda funny, like his eyes looked like they were sort of bugging out. Anywho, so I was at Kristal’s house then he came and picked me up and we drove to Casey’s ice cream place with Kat and her husband. So we talked and he was funny and I actually really liked him. So we had fun and made jokes, then we left the ice cream place and he walked me up to my room. I gave him a hug goodbye and then he asked if he could call me again, I said yes, and he left.

So yeah it was another 2 weeks after that before he actually called me. We talked for about an hour and he kept saying, “This is so weird! We’re talking like we’ve known each other forever and we’ve only seen each other for like half an hour! It usually takes years before I talk to someone like I’m talking to you.” So yeah we had fun and I kinda started to like him. So then probably 3 weeks went by and then he asked me on another date. It was the same week that we had to live in Richard’s hall because the boiler room in our building blew up. So he picked me up and we watched Ratatouille at his house. And then we talked for a long time. He kept telling me to ask him questions about his mission. So I asked him a question and he answered it and he had some really cool stories. So after he answered one I said, “So are we going to play a game like I ask you a question and you ask me a question?” He said, “No, I just really want to talk about my mission.” So yeah, that was kind of weird. He just wanted to talk about himself and wasn’t interested in learning more about me……yeah should have been a sign of some sort.

So basically I was over there until about 5:30 in the morning. Talking about him. And his mission. Yeah, we talked for a long time. Then I had class at 7:30 and that was sure fun. Anywho, so I thought we had a big connection and I got all excited and thought it might lead up to be something more than just a friendship. But yet again it took him about 2 weeks to talk to me again so that was really frustrating. But when he finally did call me I was a little sick but I really wanted to go out with him again so I said yes. He wanted to take me to Walmart to go buy some ingredients and then he wanted to take me to his apartment and make me dessert. So he picked me up and I got in his car and after a minute or 2 he said, “So I bet you've been wondering why I haven't been calling you for the past few weeks. Well I want to tell you something but I don’t know how to tell you.” I was thinking he was probably going to tell me that he liked me or something, which I would have been fine with and kind of excited about. So I said, “Well just try, go ahead and tell me what you want to tell me.” So he took a deep breath and said, “Ok. Well, I’ve been praying about us ever since our second date. Normally when I pray about girls that I like I get a straight out answer like, ‘No she’s not the right one for you,’ or whatever the answer is. But when I prayed about you and me, I didn’t get that kind of an answer. I think we should just give this a shot. Actually, I think that we belong together, and I think that the Lord really wants us together. We just get along so well together and we have so much fun together. I’ve fallen for some really shallow girls and you have a great personality. So after praying about it and stuff, I think we should give this a shot. That’s why I’ve waited so long to call you because I was afraid with the answer and how you would react. What do you think about it?”

Well, I was pretty much sick to my stomach. He basically proposed to me. It would’ve been ok if he just liked me, but after all that I was just like….well I started NOT liking him right then and there. So I said, “Well, I do like you but I think we need to take this REALLY slow. I’m a really slow person when it comes to relationships and we need to get to know each other better and stuff before we make that decision.” He’s like, “Yeah, I agree.” Then he told me he had to drop something off at a friend’s house. On our way over there he kept going… “You know, I think we were probably best friends in the pre-existence. No actually let me change that. I’m completely positive that we’re soul mates. I think that matchmaking angels have been all around us and have finally brought us together. I can just feel that we belong together.” Um okay, I was about ready to throw up at this point. So he kept saying stuff like that the whole time we were on our way to Walmart. It was crappy! So then we get to Walmart and I kept my hands in my pockets the whole time. The last thing I needed was someone I didn’t like that much trying to grab my hand. So we bought some ice cream and some stuff he needed to make apple crisp.

Then we drove back to his apartment. I was like thinking I must be dreaming. It sounded like something from the Singlesward, like when that guy Deverl tells that girl with the headgear “I think we met in the pre-existence.” I couldn’t believe this was actually happening to me! It made me sick.

So we get to his apartment and he just kept saying the same things that he was so surprised I wasn’t running away (ha ha ha…) and that he just feels like we get along so well. Then he started talking about his first impressions of me and girls he’d liked in the past. It was a long, long hour I was over there. He said, “I usually fall for the drop-dead gorgeous girls and you’re totally not even like that so this is so weird that I like you. You’ve really taught me that personality is a lot more important than good looks. I mean, I remember the first time I saw you, right when my sister first introduced us after your English class. I took one look at you and I thought, ‘Well, she doesn’t really look like the type of girl that I would be interested in but I guess I’ll give her a shot.’” Yeah he kept going on with stuff like that for a while. It was really fun to listen to. Comments like that will really boost your self-esteem.

So as you can imagine I wanted to get out of their pretty fast. He wasn’t really trying to hurt my feelings but that’s what he was doing. So anyway, I was glad when the buzzer finally went off telling us that the apple crisp was done. So then Steven got out the ice cream box and he had a hard time opening it. So I made a joke and said, “Oh we’ll just eat the box with the ice cream, it’s no big deal.” Then he said, “Well, I guess it would be a good source of fiber.” I was like, “Yeah…” Then said, “You know, on my mission I put fiber sure in my food every day. I used to be able to hold my stomach in my hands because my stomach kinda flopped of (um, sick!). But after having fiber sure every day I guess it got all of the junk out of my intestines and I lost a lot of inches. I went down about 3 belt loops. You know, you should use fiber sure every day, then you wouldn’t be as fat.” OH MY HECK! So I said, “Well I’m not THAT bad.” He said, “Well you could still lose a lot of weight. You should totally start using fiber sure.” Wow. Believe it or not, it got worse!

Well then he started dishing out the apple crisp and thankfully I just started eating. He just kept talking and saying stuff like that over and over, telling me again and again that I had really taught him that personality is much more important than looks. That didn't stop him from making a few suggestions on how to improve my supposed ugliness. "You know," he said, "you should really try to do your hair curly every once in a while. I'm sick of seeing it straight all the time, it needs to change. Also I think your hair color is a little too dark, so you might want to change that too." I told him that I did my hair curly sometimes but the times he'd seen me my hair had been straight. Then he said, "You know, you should really try to wear contacts instead of your glasses." I told him that I wore contacts during the day but my eyes couldn't stand wearing them at night. Since we only ever hung out at night that's why I was always wearing my glasses. So he said, "Well take your glasses off for a minute so I can see what you look like without them." So I took them off and he said, "Hmm...maybe not." So I'm sitting there, facing this sliding glass door, and I'm looking at myself feeling like the fattest, ugliest person in the world! It was terrible! I wanted to get out of there!!!
So then he started talking about my family. “I really want to meet your family,” he said. I was like, “Why?” He said, “Well honestly I really just want to meet your mom. I want to watch how she mothers your siblings. They say that daughters usually have the some mothering style as their mothers, so I want to watch her to see how you would mother our children if we got married.” Whoa, that was extremely creepy. Then he said, “Now I know your family is moving to Texas ‘cause you told me that a while ago. So after we got married, we’d have to move to Iowa ‘cause I got a job offer there when I was on my mission for $60,000 a year without a degree. So if I get a degree I’ll get more money. So with that money I’d make sure we had about a $20,000 a year to devote to traveling so that you could fly down to Texas a few times a year to see your family. But we would have to move to Iowa for my job.” Okay, so how he’s planning out our budget after we’re married? This was getting way too creepy. So I told him I wasn’t feeling good and asked if he could take me home.

So he drove me home, and we talked in front of my door for a while. Then I told him I should probably go inside and go to bed, so he said “ok” and gave me a hug. So I hugged him for a while and then I let go. You know how you can tell when the person you’re hugging is trying to let go? Yeah, I guess he doesn’t have that ability because he kept hugging me for like 10 seconds after I had COMPLETELY let go. I had to sort of push him away. Then I was like, “Ok, see you later.” Then he hugged me again and basically the same thing happened again. After he FINALLY let go, he’s like, “Sorry, I just don’t want to leave you anymore. It just feels so good to hold you! But I guess I should probably go. So I’ll see you later.” So yeah finally he left. Needless to say I didn’t answer the phone when he called me the next day.

So his sister was furious at him and told me that he says mean things like that all the time, so right then I decided I never wanted to see him again. Then later his sister was mad at me because she had talked to him and said that I had misinterpreted some of the things he had said about me. Um, please tell me how that could POSSIBLY be misinterpreted! So yeah she was mad that I didn't want to date him anymore. Wow, how does that make sense? So anyway, long story short, he called me, left me a message saying he’d talked to his sister and “apparently he freaked me out about some stuff.” So I called him back, and he asked if he could explain anything and I said, “No, you don’t have to explain anything. I’ve just been doing a lot of thinking and I’ve decided to go in a different direction.” He told me he didn’t blame me at all and we told each other to have a good day.

So yeah, that was the end of that. It really hurt my feelings for a few days but now I can’t even believe that actually happened. It’s pretty funny that someone would actually do that. After he proposed to me he kept telling me I was fat and ugly. Such a delight, that boy. Totally joking by the way. If I never talk to that kid again it’ll be too soon haha.

Anywho, that was it. Here's an update on Steven's life right now. He went on a blind date with someone, a month and a half later they were married. Yeah, I guess he found someone who was just as desperate as he was haha. I guess that's a mean thing to say, but I do feel sorry for whomever he ended up with. I wouldn't want to be married to that kid. Anywho, have a great week everyone! :) Christmas is almost here, so Merry Christmas! WOOT WOOT!

Graduation is Around the Corner!

Woot woot! Graduation is practically here! December 12th, baby! My wonderful Aunt Kaye made these announcements and I think they're pretty awesome. There's a pink one and a blue one too, but I like these black ones the best. Anyway, it looks like I only have 12 more days until I graduate. It's going to be fantastic but I'll be sad at the same time. I really liked college, and I'll really miss taking English classes and talking about all that English stuff. *sigh* It can't go on forever though, right? It had to end sometime. At least I ended on an easy semester rather than a hard one.

Well I actually finished my final draft of my final paper about half an hour ago. Woohoo! I think I can honestly say that I won't miss writing tons of papers all the times. Not research papers anyway. It'll also be nice to have my Family Finance class over with and my Natural Disasters class. Now the only thing I have left to do is turn in my paper on Friday and take my finals next week. I'm looking for good books to read and stuff to do. Right now I'm reading My Name is Asher Lev (which is a fantastic book by the way) and working on my quilt project. But that will be done pretty soon haha. I'm also watching the 4th season of House because my roommate bought it this weekend. So yeah, I'm just looking for options on what to do. So if you have any ideas let me know. :)

Well I'm pretty excited for the Christmas holidays. I love everything about Christmas, and I'm most excited about spending a lot of time with my family. I was going to have to work the 21-23 of Christmas break but I knew I would get really homesick and stuff so I got someone else to take those shifts for me. Last year when I was up here by myself it was really hard and really depressing. When it's Christmastime, all you want to do is be with your family. So I was glad I got those shifts taken care of. I do have to work the 15th and the 16th the first week of the break, but it's only for two days and my roommate will be up there for those two days as well. So I shouldn't be too lonely up there, and I'll be working 8 or 9 hours a day. Life is great!

Well I only have like 5 minutes left of work so I have to go. I'll talk to you all later! Have a great week everyone! I love you all!

I Think I Have Officially Changed Teams

Now if this isn't one of the sexiest guys you've ever seen, I don't know what's wrong with you but you'd better get your head on straight. He looks even better in the movie if you ask me. Anyway, onto my story.

So last night my friend Sam and I had a little adventure going to the midnight showing of New Moon and we stood outside for about an hour an fifteen minutes or so. We had fun talking about guys and just catching up on each other's lives. Anyway so we were chatting and then the next thing I knew this girl in a white jacket just bolted out of the door and ran through the parking lot. A few seconds later this guy came out the door and took off after her. I figured maybe she forgot something in her car, maybe they were flirting, I don't know. Then maybe thirty seconds after that a group of girls came out and asked, "Did anyone see a girl running out? Do you know which way she went?" So I told them which way she went and they also started charging in that direction. They went clear into the other parking lot and seemed like they were looking for her. Was she running away or something and her friends were trying to find her? Sam and I kept looking over in that direction to see if they found her or if they were coming back, but soon they disappeared and we never saw them after that.

Well we kind of blew it off after a while, but then about 5 or 10 mintues later the earlier showing of New Moon got out or something, and these two ladies came out. Sam and I assumed it was a teenager (like 13-14) and her mother; it could have been her older sister though, we don't know. So at first glance it looked like the mom just had her arm around her daughter. But then it looked like the girl was trying to pull away. Then we could clearly see that the girl was trying to get away from her mom and her mom kept trying to hold onto her. It looked like she was trying to run away too or something. So I think they must have gotten pretty close to their car because the mom kind of started walking towards one, but then the girl suddenly started trying to twist around and break free and then boom! She escaped her mom's grasp and took off running! Her mom charged after her but the girl was extremely quick. She almost got hit by a truck because she didn't even bother to check for cars while she was running. So after she almost got hit by the truck we didn't see either of them again. It was crazy! What was this movie doing to people?! We thought maybe the girl might of been mentally disabled or something a little bit by the way she was trying to get away from her mom. It really looked like something a small child would do, not a teenager. Anyway, I guess we'll never know. Last night was full of mystery.

So the movie itself? AMAZING! Much better than Twilight. Now, I love the books but I really didn't like the first movie. I watched it once when it came out and I was very disappointed. Also I don't think Robert Patterson is that attractive and he's a pretty big slob too. We watched him on Jay Leno the same night I saw Twilight and his hair was so greasy and his clothes weren't even straight. It looked like he had just gotten out of bed. He said that he didn't like the way his hair felt after it was washed so when he took a shower he rarely washed his hair. Look pal, let me tell you something. You can't play Edward in Twilight and then act like a slob in public. I was so disgusted! Yeah, and in all honesty I don't think he's a terrific actor. Here's a picture of the guy that I wanted to play Edward.


Well I was actually looking on IMDB and he was Humphrey on Star Dust. I had no idea! THis guy's name is Henry Cavill, and he's a hunk! Anyway, this is who I pictured as Edward and I think that this is who Stephanie Meyer thought should play Edward as well. Anyway so yeah, I wasn't too happy with the Edward they picked but hey some people really like him and that's great.

So anyway, when I was reading the novels I was always team Edward, hands down. I didn't understand how there could even be a choice, like how could anyone possibly think that Jacob could be the one to end up with Bella? Edward was clearly the obvious choice. But after seeing New Moon last night I feel completely the opposite. Edward was so pathetic and an idiot and weak! I couldn't see how she could pick Edward over Jacob! Sam and I were talking about this after the movie and we were both so conflicted and felt exactly the same way! We were crying when Edward left Bella at the beginning, but I cried even harder when Bella lowered the boom on Jacob. It literally ripped my heart out. I hate Bella! She's such an idiot! Ugh! Anyway, so it was very sad. Sam reminded me, "At least we know that it ends up working out for him in the end." *sigh* It's true, but I'd never thought of Edward as second choice. Or really no choice at all. But yeah, Edward never seemed so needy, whiny, and useless in my head while I was readint he novels. Unfortunately that's exactly what he was in the movie.

So my decision has come to this: for now, when it comes to the novels I am ALL team Edward. But when it comes to the movies I'm TEAM JACOB! Woohoo!

Anywho, so there's my story. Hopefully later today Sam and I and a few other people are going to go watch 2012. That should be pretty fun. :) Have a great weekend everyone!

I'm All Excited for the Holidays!!!

Well here I am again. As you can see I changed my blog layout and I LOVE IT!! I kinda got sick of the one that I had because I've never had anything different. So I searched around and my awesome friend Megan showed me and I found this great background! It's http://www.thecutestblogontheblock.com/ and I love it! Woohoo! They had adorable looking blog templates and it was easy to put them on my blog. Woot woot! Yay for easy!

So on Wednesday I had a pretty awesome experience. As some of you may know, I've been taking classes from my favorite professor (we'll call him Dr. M) throughout my college years. I am currently taking my 4th class from him and it's a class on Jane Austen. I love it! He's going to teach this amazing theory class next semester. They'll be reading amazing books like Alice in Wonderland, The Hounds of Baskerville, Hamlet, The House on Haunted Hill, etc. It's going to be a really psychologically mind-bending writing class, and I actually considered putting off graduation for one semester just so I could take that class. But then I remembered I don't have another couple thousand dollars to spend haha.

Anyway, so on Wednesday after that class I went into his office to talk about a paper. Before I could say anything, I sat down and he said, "So there's absolutely no way that you can take the theory class from me next semester?"

Me: "Well no, I wish there was but I'm graduating this semester."

Dr. M.: "Oh graduating. Well that is a problem." (pause for 5 seconds) "What if I failed you?"

Me: "Haha. Well I need this credit to graduate so I guess if you failed me I would have to stay another semester."

Dr. M.: "Well, problem solved. Cancel all of your graduation announcements, I think we have a solution. I'll just fail you in this class and then you'll have to stay another semester and take that class from me."

Haha I was laughing pretty hard. So then he said, "Here, let me show you the books that we're going to read for that class next semester." So he rolled over on his swivel chair and showed me all the books I listed above and more. Then he said, "I tried to pick books I thought my students would like; you know, the ones that have taken classes from me for a while, like you. So when I was trying to think of what books to use for the theory class I was thinking, 'What kinds of books would Alisa like to read?'" So I was bummed. I told him that a lot of those books were on my reading list of books I want to read. He said, "Well, you can always read those books outside of a class." But seriously guys, that's not nearly as fun. Especially when you've already taken a mind-bending class from Dr. M. like my Don Quixote class. Anywho, so what we figured out was that he would email me the class discussions and I could follow along with the readings and the discussions. Anyway, I was just really touched that I made such a good impression on my favorite professor that he wanted to have me as a student for one more semester. Also it was nice to hear that he tried to pick novels that I would like (I'm sure that he had other students in mind as well). But yeah, it was a big compliment that he wanted me to stay. I really admire and respect him, and it always feels good to get a compliment from someone you admire. :)

Well it is FRIDAY and only a few more days until I get to go home for the Thanksgiving break! WOOHOO! I am so excited! Plus I finished all of my homework for the rest of the semester so I can do whatever I want during the break! Then I will come back after the break for a week of classes, then have two finals the week after that, and then I will be graduated on December 12th! Yes! Then I have to work here in Logan for about a week or so, and then it's a big long Christmas break for me. Yippee! Then I have to look for a job and all that, but right now I'm just focusing on Thanksgiving break! I am so excited!

Anywho, that was just a brief update. I hope you all have a fantastic week! I also hope that I will start writing in this more often. I love you all!

Candy, Chili, and a Woopie Cushion

Well, there you have it. My Halloween costume. My friend Kristy lives in North Ogden and we went down to her place on Halloween to go trick-or-treating. Yes, that's right, we went trick-or-treating. We only went to houses of the people that knew Kristy so we didn't get a bunch of weird looks. As you can imagine, I was quite popular with my costume. I got lots of attention and candy. It was great. Kristy's mom just had a bunch of random costumes for us to choose from and I think I made the right choice. :)

So another thing that helped us get away with trick-or-treating as "adults" is that we had two Chinese foreign exchange students named Alex and Paul. So we kept explaining to people that we were giving them the American trick-or-treating experience. People got all excited and loved asking them how they liked it and everything. So yeah if you don't have any children to take around trick-or-treating, then find some foreign exchange students to take around and it doesn't matter how old you are. It really was so great, and half the houses we went to had full-size candy bars! Yeah, overall the trip was successful.

After we were done trick-or-treating we went over to Kristy's grandparents' house to enjoy some chili and rolls. It was fantastic! We were pretty exhausted after walking up and down several hills so it was nice to sit down and have some dinner. But we all ate way too much and we were extremely tired. So once we got in the car Alex and Paul fell asleep and Michelle, Kristy and I just stayed up talking all the way back up to Logan.

So after we dropped off Alex and Paul we three girls went back to Pine View and decided to watch a movie. But while we were sitting there trying to decide which movie to watch, Michelle and Kristy fell asleep on the floor. Then I told them that we could watch a movie another time, but as soon as they got up they said, "Wow, I'm really not that tired anymore. I think we could watch a movie." So it was about 11:00 when we got back and we didn't start the movie until closer to midnight. We decided to watch Frequency and they fell asleep a little bit at the beginning, but after the first 20 minutes they stayed wide awake the whole time. I was really impressed haha. But I had to watch them walk across the lobby to their apartment to make sure they made it back safely. They were walking like they were drunk haha. But yeah that's how the night ended, and it was fabulous!

So yeah, there's my Halloween story. In other news, I will be graduating in 6 weeks! December 12th! HOLY CRAP! What am I going to do with my life, you may ask? I'll tell you.

I don't know (picture me saying it just like Tevye on Fiddler on the Roof).

My plan right now is that I am for sure moving home and looking for a job. But I may be looking into going to grad school next fall. But we'll see what happens. I've got some pretty difficult decisions to make. But yeah right now I'm just looking for a good job. At least I'll have a degree so I won't have to do any more pathetic jobs that I took during the summer. Now I can actually pick and choose the job I want instead of just taking whatever I can get. Yay! Anywho, I'll keep you updated on what happens; right now I'm just trying to focus on school, getting good grades, and just getting excited for the holidays. HOORAY FOR HOLIDAYS! Have a great week everybody!

Back to My Life

Well I do have a lot more to that story, and I actually had a majoy breakthrough a few nights ago with it. But I think I'll start writing about my life again, since people seem to respond to that more. If you'd like me to keep you updated or email you the rest of what I have then email me or comment on this and I'll send you a copy.

Wow, it's been quite a while since I've written about my life. Too bad I wasn't writing about my life this summer because I was working at the Utah State Developmental Center and there were a lot of funny stories there haha. For those of you that don't know, USDC is a place right across the street from the Mount Timpanogas Temple in American Fork and it's a place where they house over 200 handicapped individuals and take care of them. It was a very very hard job, but I had some pretty good laughs along the way.

Also this summer Andrew left on his mission to the New York City, New York South Spanish speaking mission. He's been there for over a month now and he's been gone probably almost 4 months. It's actually gone by relatively fast, for me anyway. So he's in Long Island right now teaching those people and his apartment is about a 5 minute drive away from where my dad's office is located. Poor Dad! He says that he sees missionaries around all the time and he's always afraid that he'll see Andrew. Oh by the way, for those of you who didn't know, my dad flies over to New York about every other week for his job. Then when he's home for a week or so he just works at his office he has in American Fork or at home. Anyway, so that's been hard for him but he'll be ok.

Another exciting thing is that it's my last semester of school! Woohoo! Graduate in December baby! Really it's not as exciting as it sounds. I mean don't get me wrong, I am terribly excited and proud to be graduating from college but that means that I have to deal with real life now. It's been nice being able to say, "Yeah I'm just going to college right now," and not have to think much farther in advance than that. But no I have to decide what to do. I've thought about trying to get a teaching job at a charter school (I'm an English major with an emphasis in creative writing), going back to school and getting a degree in nursing, going to grad school in either human resources or literature, etc. I don't know, there are a lot of options here. The trouble is that I'm just too good at too many things and I'm interested in too many things. But for now I just keep praying and reading my scriptures and such, waiting for the Lord to direct me in what he wants me to do. Who knows, maybe I'll end up dating somebody and get in engaged, HAHA! Yeah I know, that would be crazy!

Well anywho, I have to study for a test in my Natural Disaster class. It's my first test of the semester actually. I've been pretty lucky indeed! I'm only taking 3 real classes: Natural Disasters, Family Finanace, and a Jane Austen class (LOVE THAT CLASS!). Anywho so this semester has probably been one of my easiest so far. That's nice for my last semester, especially when comparing it to my previous spring semester where I had to write hundreds of pages in my writing classes. So when I have only 2 papers in my Jane Austen class that total 13-15 pages, I'm pretty thrilled. So yeah there you go. :) I will update some more later, and I'm excited to start writing about my life again! Woohoo! I hope you all have a fantastic week!

Next part! Sorry it's taking so long!

Ariana and her friends barely said a word to each other once they were in their barracks. It was painful for Ariana to see the worry and fear in their eyes. Even Sarina and Aiden were just as frightened as the rest of them. After they got dressed in their night clothes, they all said goodnight to each other and crawled in their beds.
Ariana had a hard time sleeping that night. When she was awake she would just stare at her friends, wishing she could protect them somehow from what they were about to go through. When she fell asleep, she dreamed of moments of all of her friends wrestling with agony while she was forced to watch. The entire night was filled with relentless torture and the band on her wrist seemed to slowly tighten all night.

Waking up in a cold sweat, Ariana heard the familiar beep of her wake-up call. Her eyes darted across the room at her friends, and it was obvious that their night hadn’t gone much better than hers had. No one looked at each other. Everyone just went to their lockers for their clothes then to their dressing rooms to change. As they were getting ready, the female voice came over the loudspeaker.
“Attention all teams. Please put on your provided uniforms and wait in your barracks for your instructions.”
Moving at a slow pace, they hoped to put off the time of their instructions as long as possible. Once they’d done everything they could do they all wandered aimlessly to different parts of the room. Hoping the scenery would take her mind off of things, Ariana walked toward the window. The trees were all black, as if the shadow of the night never left them. The black mist from the previous night was now a grey fog that filled the sky and crawled across the ground.
Ariana didn’t know how long she was standing there, but she snapped out of her trans when the door swung open and Steinblik yelled, “Everyone in a line NOW!” He caught everyone off guard but they formed a line as quickly as they could. Ariana and her friends stood there, and Steinblik flashed Ariana a crooked smile. Ariana merely rolled her eyes as she stood in line.
“Alright,” Steinblik said calmly, “Galina will be here soon with her instructions. She and I were up for a while discussing how we should test you today, whether we should start easier or just go straight to torture. Unfortunately, protocol doesn’t allow me to share with you what level we picked for you today. On the bright side, you will soon find out.” He chuckled softly to himself. “Now, everyone stand up straight when Galina comes in and listen carefully to what she has to say. You will need every bit of information you can get your hands on for this task. Now shut up and stand there!”
Suddenly their door quietly opened and Galina quietly entered the room. Everyone stood up straight with pits in their stomachs. Galina spoke in a soothing voice. “I understand your fear, but take courage in the friendships you have here and take comfort in the arms of your friends. You will all suffer; such is the way of everything. But these friendships will lift your team up higher than you ever thought possible. Do not seek peace in solitude; it will surely lead to your downfall. Seek peace with your companions as you are all tried together. If you pull together you will not fail.”
They stood there sheepishly, embarrassed that she had to inform them of why they were friends and why they needed each other. She continued in a voice with a tone of authority, “Your task today will be a difficult one. It will be your first taste of what you will experience here every day. Captain Steinblik and I have been talking about who your team leader will be. He or she will have a very difficult job. In the end of your discussions it will be his or her job to make the final call. When the days come where your team is tested person by person the team leader must watch each of their teammates suffer through their tasks to see how their strengths and weaknesses could help or hinder the team. They will carry the weight of the team on their shoulders.” She paused to let them all take in the new information she had given. She then took a deep breath and said, “After discussing this with Steinblik, we have both concluded that…Ariana should be the team leader.”
Ariana felt her heart drop to the floor.
“Ariana,” Galina rescued her, “I know you are overwhelmed with this new responsibility. But I will be here to help you, as well as Captain Steinblik.”
“Right,” thought Ariana. “Like a fox after a wounded chick he’ll help me.”
Galina continued, “You will receive separate instructions from your teammates and you can only share this with one person when absolutely necessary. We’ve chosen Merric to be your second in command.”
“Well,” thought Ariana, “At least I’ll have some help. Merric is better at all that tactical fighting stuff than me anyway.”
Galina stood up straighter, looking more solid. “Today for your first task you will need to make your way through a castle, facing whatever you find there. Then you must find the secret way out and go through to the next challenge. You will receive more instruction there.” Galina glanced over at Ariana. “Stay close to each other and take direction from Ariana. She will have more knowledge and understanding of what is occurring than the rest of you. Trust her.” She paused for a moment and then turned to Steinblik. “Alright Captain Steinblik, they’re all yours.” Then she turned and gracefully left the room.
Once Galina left the room, Ariana felt discouraged and hopeless. Maybe if she wouldn’t have been so sarcastic to Steinblik at first she wouldn’t be in this terrible position right now. But something inside told her that she probably would have been chosen anyway for some other reason.
“Ariana! Do you intend on standing there all day?!” yelled Steinblik. “I said to go get into your uniforms!” Ariana jumped at his harsh yelling, and then hung her head slightly. “Sorry sir, I’ll get right to it.” She started to walk to her locker, wishing she could just crawl into her bed and cry until she could go home. Ariana started taking her clothes out of her locker. She turned to go to the dressing rooms only to find Steinblik in her face.
“You know,” he said “for a team leader you’re really starting off with a crappy first step.” Then he snickered, “I’m going to love watching your team crash and burn all because their team leader can’t even stand up and get ready without nearly crying. You won’t last more than a day in this test. You can’t even take charge of yourself let alone your friends.” Ariana looked away, but Steinblik quickly grabbed her jaw and pulled it right to his face. “You’re a pathetic excuse for a human being,” he spat out.
Ariana looked into his dark eyes. A sudden rage boiled up within her. She could feel her face getting hotter and hotter. With one swift move Ariana smacked his arms out of her way, grabbed his shirt by the neck and shoved him against the wall. She pointed a finger right to his face and said with a dark tone in her voice. “If you ever touch me again I won’t hesitate one second to break your neck.” She held him against the wall a few more seconds then let him go.
Ariana started walking off when Steinblik yelled, “Seeing as I am your leader it is my right to touch you whenever I darn well please!” Ariana stopped where she was, turned around and said, “Do you want to bet your life on that?” With that she turned and walked into her dressing room.