GIRLS NIGHT!!!

Last weekend when Jen, Katie and I were driving back to College Station, we were discussing how we all need to hang out more outside of the pool. Now that water polo is over with, we all had a bit more time to do just that!

At some point on the drive back, Jen found out that I had never been out on Northgate and so decided that she was going to be responsible for fixing that.

Northgate is the strip off of campus that has all of the College Station nightlife. There are several bars and dance halls, and is typically known for just holding all of the drunken college students at nights. Just the words “Northgate” makes me nervous, because that is not the atmosphere that I feel comfortable in. I would rather have a movie night and go to bed super early than even think about going out on Northgate. I know that some of my friends drink, and I don’t want to see them get completely wasted and then me think differently about them.

When Jen brought up that we should get a group of polo girls to have a girls night and go to Northgate, I tried to talk my way out of it as fast as I could, but eventually agreed. All week it was the talk of the polo team, and all week I just got more nervous. I knew that Katie didn’t drink, and that a couple of the other girls weren’t 21 yet either. I told Katie how completely nervous I was early on in the week, and she promised me that she wouldn’t leave my side and the second that I felt uncomfortable she would leave with me. I agreed that I would go, and tried to force myself to be as excited as the other girls were.

I am learning this semester that sometimes you have to go out with friends just for the friends, not because you particularly want to do what they are doing. This goes with movies, dinner plans, etc. And every time, even though I’m not thrilled about the activity option, I always have a blast when I do hang out with friends, and so I was hoping this would be the same way.

So last night (after texting other girls because I had no idea what I was supposed to wear or bring when going out on NG), I kinda got dressed up, and looked semi cute for the first time nearly all semester. Katie and I drove over to Jen’s apartment where we were meeting the rest of the group, having no idea what we were getting ourselves into.

Kimbre (polo freshman) was already there when we got there. Jana had called Jen quickly after saying that she had to run home to get lemons and that she and Emily (her roommate that hangs out with us a bunch) would be back in a bit. I didn’t even want to know what those were for. When Jana got back she came in with a couple bottles of alcohol, and I was like “oh great… they are planning on drinking before we even go out!” Katie must have been able to tell that I had begun to minorly freak out, and reminded me to take a deep breath. It was going to be okay.

Jana surprised me by pulling out two cans of lemonade and tossing one to Katie and I while saying “don’t think I forgot about y’all! I brought something that y’all could enjoy too”. I smiled, and for the first time all night thought that maybe this would go okay.

Jana offered Kimbre a shot and Kimbre tried but couldn’t manage to drink anything but a sip of it. The rest of the group took one, and Katie and I got a kick out of their faces. Supposedly it was supposed to taste like birthday cake and chocolate… but from the look on their faces it didn’t taste like that AT all!

After that, we decided it was time to head over to NG. Jen lives right behind it, so we were able to walk there and not have to drive (which made me really happy!!). Supposedly it was early still (it was 11:30….) and so we walked through some bars. Jen, Jana and Emily took two more shots, while Kimbre, Katie and I just laughed. I loved just watching people! The most interesting people were there! Another girl from the polo team and her roommate met up with us, and so being in a group with 7 other girls, I felt completely at ease. The camp counselor side of me definitely kicked in and I was doing headcounts and making sure I knew where everybody in our group was all night.

After walking through some of the bars, the group tried to teach Katie and I about all of the bars and the different atmospheres, “just in case we ever wanted to know”. Luckily, we skipped the gay bar! PHEW!

We ended up at Daisy Dukes, a dance hall that plays 5 country songs and then 5 rap/pop/i-don’t-know-what-to-call-it songs. I got asked to dance on a couple of the country songs, and I picked up two stepping fairly fast! When one guy asked me how much I had had to drink and I replied “Nothing, it’s just not my thing”, and swung me out and walked the other direction, I laughed as I walked back to my friends. Katie and I were experts at finding the most awkward ways to dance to songs that didn’t involved dirty dancing, and it was fun to just laugh and be goofy with them. Emily wasn’t a huge dancer, and neither am I, and so we would tend to sit off to the side and watch everybody else. People watching is so entertaining! Before we knew it, the last song of the night was playing – it was 2:30 in the morning!!

I was so glad that Jen, Jana and Emily didn’t drink too much that night. They acted like themselves all night and didn’t go crazy. It very well could have been just because they knew how uncomfortable I am with alcohol and how uneasy I was about being on Northgate – but whatever the reason, I was relieved they only drank a bit. We went back to Jen’s, and then Katie and I took Emily and Jana home. I’m sure they could have drove themselves, but when I asked if they would ride with me, they knew it would make me feel better and didn’t even argue.

I got back to my dorm around 3 and was shocked to find so many open parking spots… guess a lot of people were still out! I immediately ran through the shower because I REAKED , and then climbed into bed. Overall, it wasn’t a bad night! I had more fun that I was anticipating, and I realized that you can have a good time even in those situations. It is possible to have fun on Northgate and be completely sober. It is okay to have friends that drink, especially when they know their limits. It definitely helped being in a group of girls, and being able to use the line “GIRLS NIGHT!” when a guy wanted to dance and you didn’t want to.

Would I go back again? I think I would, depending on the group of girls. I love these so much, that even if they would have drank too much, I would have rather been there knowing I could drive them home. Overall, not a bad night! Now off to study for the rest of today!