We’d spent the next four days exploring the city. We’d gone to the Blarney stone, walked around the main strip partaking in a bit of shopping, which seemed to lift Joni’s excitement a bit, and had the most delicious food we’d ever had before. It was Friday night and the pubs seemed to be a little busier tonight than it had been during the week. Each night I’d gone down to the pub below our hotel, even on the nights Joni faked a headache and stayed upstairs in the room, and hung out with the guys from the MC.
“So, are we going out tonight or are you going back down to hang out with those guys?” Joni asked, and a way those guys came out of her mouth irritated me worse than nails on a chalkboard. What was her deal?
“What do you want to do?” I asked, trying to avoid an argument.
“I’d like to go out and experience the nightlife, instead of staying cooped up in some dirty pub with a bunch of smelly men,” she said as she rummaged through her suitcase for something to wear.
“What’s your problem with them, Joni? They have been nothing but nice, paying for our food and drinks, and you don’t seem to appreciate any of that.” I threw the blouse in my hand down, throwing my hands up on my hips and glaring at her in frustration.
“I don’t know what you do see in them. They are just a bunch of old bikers, never gonna make anything of themselves. And they probably pay for our food with money they got from selling stolen cars or something.” She was standing across the room from me, challenging me in that way she always did. I’d always let Joni be the alpha of our friendship, mostly because I didn’t care one way or another. But this time I wasn’t letting her win.
“I think you don’t like them because they don’t come from money, because they enjoy the simple things in life. Something you obviously don’t understand.” I tried to keep from raising my voice, knowing Ana was right down the hall. “The whole point of this trip was to get out and experience the world before we went off to college and you can’t seem to do that. You’re finding the bad in everything and you need to stop.”
“Starla, I didn’t come to Ireland to experience what it’s like to be around a dirty group of bikers. I came to get drunk, have fun, and possibly get laid. Now, are you going to join me in that, or are you going to do what you always do and find something comfortable and stick with it.”
“Fuck you,” I shouted, offended and hurt. “If all you wanted to do was get a piece of ass you should have stayed back home.”
“I couldn’t, I had to come chaperone you, remember!”
It hurt to hear her say that, like the only reason she had come was because she felt obligated, not like she’d actually wanted to come with me. Who was this person standing in front of me? Joni could be a handful sometimes, but she’d never been so outright mean before. I took my wounded pride and marched right out the door and into the crisp night air. I waited outside of the door for a moment, expecting to see her coming down the stairs after me, but she didn’t. I looked up at the window to our room and watched the light go off.
I wrapped my arms around my waist and started off down the sidewalk. I wanted this trip to be epic, to be full of fun and excitement, but it was turning out to be the exact opposite. I felt the misery pour into me as I thought about having to spend the next few weeks with Mrs. Someone-Pissed-In-My-Cornflakes. I walked away from the hotel, no idea where I was actually going. I passed by various people in my attempt to walk off my anger, and then found myself at a small park. It was open in the center and lined on the outer edge with trees that gently rustled in the wind. I took refuge on a bench near a small trickling fountain and tried to fight the tears that were threatening to fall.
I saw a young couple walking hand in hand around the outside of the park, enjoying the freedom of the night, and when they were out of sight I was all alone. I could feel my throat constricting and I fought it hard. I didn’t like to cry, it was a sign of weakness and I was far from weak. I thought back to all the fun Joni and I had in high school, the parties, the football games, we’d had a blast and made the best of every situation we’d found ourselves in. Why couldn’t she do that now? Couldn’t she see how much this trip meant to me? Yeah sure, I wanted to go out and party and have fun too, but I wanted to be able to experience the people a little bit too.