A boy's white night (part 2)...

Things could only get better after having sat in a room silently with my ex-roommate for 45 minutes.

I tried to rebound, personality wise, as best I could. After all, I'd just sat practically without saying anything. So I took a few more swigs and we headed out on the town.

Almost immediately I got the sense that Katie was flirting with me. She adjusted my hair, pulled on my jacket, and threw my bag at a different angle on my shoulder. Oh, and the fact that halfway through the night, she pulled off my glasses and cooed, "Yeah, you're hot. Without these."

Gee, thanks.

Flirtations aside, we had a good time stalking the city after dark. It's not as if we were alone, as predictions showed nearly 1 million people turned out for the festival/show. We saw toilets floating on water, acrobats on ropes, silent looped films...it was all very artistic. We were even going to venture into the abandoned subway station, opened specifically for this show, but the lineup was around the block.

What's with that! Can't people just not attend these things so I don't have to wait?



Along the way we ran into several people we knew, mixing and mingling with people from all walks of life. Really, the magic wasn't so much the art, but the fact a huge portion of the population was out in a festive spirit. It was like when people cared about Christmas.

Keeping with the Christmas tradition, we warmed ourselves up with coffee and Baileys. How rebelious, walking the streets with spiked coffee...at least we didn't smoke anything, like so many of the other pretentious hippie kids.

At 1:30 we'd taken in enough art, and headed to a local bar for a few drinks. On the way, Katie got a call from her friend, who wanted us to meet in the Village and go out there.

My stomach leaped. Was this it? I was going to hit a gay bar? With my straight friends?

We started out in that general direction, and I got a little tense. I mean, I'm paranoid of actually going, yet this crowd would be a lot of fun. And I would have the guise of an overcrowded bar to keep me semi-hidden, lost in a sea of randoms out for the festival.

Also, part of me was excited. I do want to get out there...maybe this was my ticket.

Alas, it wasn't meant to be. When we got there, Katie called her friend, who had already gone home. We trundled down the street into another bar she knew of and closed the place down.

Back out on the street, we headed back to Katie's place, though not really knowing why. We continued drinking, our small party in her small apartment. One thing led to another, I went to the washroom, and came back to find them all knee-deep in a game of truth or dare.

I took my seat, and was given the 'truth or dare' question. I chose truth, because to be honest, I'm not very daring. I'm still not crazy enough to strip, run naked or otherwise fulfill most of the dares people like to come up with. I took my truth.

"What percentage of men have you slept with over women," Katie asked, straight faced.

Well, this is unexpected. I smiled wryly, and was happy with my reaction. I didn't really care that she knew, much less anyone else there.

"It's a lot higher with the boys than with the girls," I laughed. She smiled dangerously at me. Apparently this new shocked nobody in the room.

After Laura and Katie made out as part of a dare, I wound up taking a dare myself. "Kiss Katie," Laura giggled like a 10th grader.

We moved in and made out for a minute or two. She was a good kisser, I now understand why gay guys make out with women for no other reason that to have someone to kiss.

When we pulled away, Katie had put on that dangerous smile again. "You're good at that," she said, biting her lower lip.

On the walk home, I grilled Laura. "How did she know!?" I begged.

"Oh, she asked me when we were just leaving her place actually. I was surprised she knew that early, but she's a good judge of character," Laura said.

Wow. I got discovered! People can tell! I may be broadcasting signals! At the entirely wrong sex and orientation, true, but this is big news for me.

We made eggs for breakfast, I showered, and finally went to sleep at 5:30, a smile still on my face. I guess I may not be such a failure in the broadcasting department as I thought I was.

A boy's white night (Part 1)...

Of course, we can't kick off any fun evening without a ton of awkward.

Laura and I went to pick up her friend while on our way to Nuit Blanche, the 'massive free contemporary art thing' that takes over the city from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. with free art exhibitions. Having missed out on it last year, I resolved to go this year. Of course, the group of people supposedly going was whittled down by the time we actually hit the street, but it was still fun.

We stopped to pick up Katie, Laura's friend and classmate. Katie is the type that doesn't hold back, honest to the point of blunt rudeness...but she also has a sweet heart, and if you get on her good side, she'll do anything for you. I realized as we walked into her building, with growing dread, that my ex-roommate lives at the very same address.

I told myself nothing could possibly happen while we rode the elevator to Katie's. It's not like I'm going to magically run into her...

The doors opened, and knocked. No answer. Laura called, and Katie was downstairs with another friend, and would be up in a minute.

Time stood still as the elevator doors opened. Out stepped Katie, some other girl, and my ex-roommate. They all walked towards us. My face went like stone, and Laura's eyes darted between me and the Ex. The pressure in the room changed, with so much negative energy flowing between the two of us. It caught everyone off guard.

We went inside, me reluctantly, and sat around Katie's apartment. At an apropriate moment, Katie looked over at Laura. "Do they know each other?" she said softly.

"They used to be roommates..." Laura answered.

Katie looked at me. "Is this awkward for you?"

"Incrediably."

We sat in a circle, with vague attemts at chatting, but the Ex and I never even made eye contact. She seemed uncomfortable, which I relished, as she spun her can of Diet Pepsi in her hands. Gleefully I observed she's gained weight and looks like crap. Why this matters, I don't know, but considering she's one of the very, very few people I despise (and for very legitimate reasons) I enjoyed the observation. Of course, I never said anything like that to anyone, because I'm slightly better than that.

She played the part of 'nice-girl' in the situation, chatting with Laura about this and that, seemingly interested. I've seen this mask she puts on, it's the one that wins people over, because it seems genuine. She's not coming down of E or worried about slutting it up for the clubs tonight, she's just the friendly girl who happened to drop by.

Finally, by the grace of God, after 45 mintues the random girl and the Ex got up and left. I breathed a sigh of relief.

As soon as the door was closed, Katie looked at me. This was the first time we met, but I felt comfortable enough to talk with her.

"What the hell was that!?" she asked. I told her in very loose terms that we had been roommates, and things went badly...and we aren't really on speaking terms. I also said, since she seems to know her, I didn't want to bring too much up. She's allowed to make her own judgments.

"Oh, I don't even know her, I just met her. That other girl I met yesterday, they seemed to be hanging out..." Katie said. What are the chances?

She seemed sympathetic, and I appologized. "I'm sorry for all that tension shit," I said, "really, that was just awkward."

"No, it's ok," Katie said. "But wow, I mean, I could feel it between you two. There was just this thing hanging between us..."

Good to know it's visible to the entire population.