Beer Pong Your Way Outta Here

Here's the BBQ low down some of you have been waiting for, or if your just checking this after your rockin holiday weekend, it goes a little something like this:

I have been hanging out with a guy for a few weeks now. I say hanging out because in fact I couldn’t be sure if these hang out sessions were dates or friendship. I am pretty clear now. I've known this person for quite some time, and we've been friends for a few years. We never really hung out so when we started to hang out, I was in wonderment about what was happening, but still just taking this as a friendship. I'd like to be the first to say that he was the one who always called me and who always invited me to do things.

So when he called me Sunday morning and invited me to a BBQ with him at his friend's house, I said 'yea, that sounds like fun' and got myself ready, drove across Metro Detroit to his apartment, and hopped in his car to go on to the BBQ. I knew no one there, and did ask if anyone of his friends that I did know from the past would be there. He wasn’t sure if two of the guys would be there or not, but I'm pretty friendly and can make convo with almost anyone, so it didn’t matter. So when we arrive at the house, we go out back to the party where there still were only a few people there, his sister included. We walked in together, and no one knew who I was. And they wouldn’t know who I was if I didn’t walk up to most everyone and introduce myself since I was left standing there while he walked up and chewed the fat with his friend at the grill. Oh ya, he also said hello to everyone there, which meant he knew them and not that he didn’t introduce me because he didn’t know who they were.

From the time I got there, pretty much, I was left to fend for myself. I made small talk with some people, grabbed a plate of food, tried to get in on his convo with his friend until everyone decided it was time to play 'tippy cup'. I am not one for drinking games, and never played them. Ever. I am not a beer drinker nor does getting as drunk as possible as fast as possible appeal to me. I hung on the sidelines for a little while watching a bunch of people slamming a beer and flipping cups until they stood on end. Finally to try to fit in more and not look like a dud, I obliged to play with my gin and tonic. After a few games we retreated back to the deck but no, there were others who now set up the beer pong table. (Yes, there were specific 8ft tables situated through the yard especially for beer pong and tippy cup). I watched this boring game for a while before meandering to the bathroom, buzzing by the food table again and laughing (not willingly) at the girls making jokes and acting 'funny'. So at this point a couple of the girls decided to play beer pong themselves, and I was invited to play. Ok, it was either that or sit there by myself, so I did, again with my Smirnoff’s I brought for emergency. This got incredibly boring so we quit and went on with other business. Oh, did I mention that there were two 16 year old girls there with their mother? That’s not abnormal for a BBQ right? Well it is when mom brings pudding and jello shots and gives them to the girls and also forces them to let them play tippy cup with real beer and alcohol. WTF. I get that teens will experiment with drinking, but I never was taken to a 'grown up' party with my mom and dad to drink and get wasted. I digress.
So I am on the bench talking to some of the gals at the party, and this dude who claims to be Philippine and a gang member. Where is the person who brought me to this BBQ all this time you ask? {Shrugging shoulders} not by me at all. Oh wait, maybe for five seconds to make the girls around me laugh because he is oh so charming and funny. He was playing beer pong for hours. Meantime, sis asks me if we're dating and I say I really don’t know, so that means no, we are just friends. She continues to tell me he is an ass, and not to ever let him walk all over me cause he will treat me like shit. Well, sis, you don’t need to tell me that twice because I certainly am not the type to let anyone walk all over me.
So, gangster is talking and gabbing my ear off thinking he is spitting game. Hey, I'll take it since at least someone is paying me attention. We get up and talk amongst the slew of people who showed up. He shows me some pop and lock and I laugh and we dance for like 20 seconds. I happen to see the guys that I do know, and start chatting with them, catching up on life and stuff. I am trying to socialize and mingle as much as possible counting down the minutes to leave. Oh, I forgot to mention that the 5 minutes this person did talk to me in between beer pong games, I asked for his keys, and he said he was fine, so now hours later and nowhere to be found, you can imagine I was not about to let him drive me anywhere.

However, a while later he shows his face while I'm talking to gangster, who by the way didn’t even know I was there with anyone. He is "checking up on me to make sure I'm ok". Yep, I've been ok this whole time. Thanks for your fake concern. He proceeds to say "I'm going to the bar. Do you want to go?" Um, do I WANT to go? I say "Why on earth are you going to the bar? There are a ton of people here, drinks here, and food. Why?" He says "I want to go; there are more people to see, you can stay and I"L come back and get you". I say dryly "Um, I am not going to the bar. I have no money and we are here." He went. He f'in went anyway. Just to be sure that my ears were not failing me, I went up front and his car was gone. Bye bye! So not only did the person I came with leave, but so did the gangster I was talking to. This leaves me now to hopscotch around to different groups of people. I find my other friends, and tell them what happened just now. I was pretty much fuming at this point. They were on my side telling me that though they are not surprised he would do that, that it was a shady move. So I receive a text from my one friend who is around town. "How was the BBQ” Me: "still here and on my own” Her: "literally?" I call her. I ask her to come get me since she lives near the town we are in. I get her the address and she pops it into her On star and jets over. Meantime, I thank the host for having me and that it was nice to meet her, and sit up front and wait for my ride. Meanwhile different people, who know what is going on, come up to sit with me while I wait. I do hear from around the corner from some dude "_____ left Stacey, that is F'in poor form". Thank you stranger, at least I am not the only one who thinks so.

My friend gets there, I hop in, and we drive to my car. I get almost halfway home before my dead phone on the charger starts to ring. I am not in the mood to talk to a drunk him about this at this point and time, so I ignore both of the phone calls. I didn’t receive a voice message, and I haven’t received a phone call since. I imagine today he is too hungover or scared to talk to me. I fully intend on letting him have it, trust me. I was not in the mood to try to reason with a drunken idiot at 1:30am while trying to drive and look out for drunk drivers so I am not killed.

I don’t care if we are not dating, because we are not, and never were. We are FRIENDS and you do not do that to a friend. Yes, I am chatty enough to talk to people and hold my own, and I do not need you up my ass or at my side the entire time, and I certainly will not follow you around like a puppy dog. But he invited ME there. Why? Why was I invited when he clearly didn’t want to spend time with his friend? I would never say, 'hey HugNkiss, MG, EM or Tom, want to go to a BBQ my friend is having and all my friends will be there' and then say 'hey, I’m going to the bar, see ya,' and leave you there by yourself until Lord knows what time. This is so reminiscent of things that happened when I was with my EX in high school. I am not willing to put up with that ever again.
Me, self sufficient, I left his ass at that party to drive only himself home drunk at whatever time he decided to leave the bar.

Yep, only me folks, only me.