Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Close to Me

by The Cure

I've waited hours for this
I've made myself so sick
I wish I'd stayed asleep today.
.
I never thought this day would end
I never thought tonight could ever be
this close to me.


+++++++++++++

It was sometime around Christmas break of my Senior year (December 1986) when I went with Alan Moore and Mike Butler to Mike Gidley's house in Bexley. Mike's house was tucked into this quiet cul-de-sac. The house was two stories with a full basement. By Reynoldsburg standards in 1986, it was huge.
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Alan, Mike and I split our time between three rooms: the basement, the entertainment room, and a small bedroom.

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The basement had a pool table and a boom box. Three or four of Mike's friends from Bexley High spent a good part of the night there, chain-smoking cigarettes and shooting pool. There was only one girl in the basement, named Carly. She was a Goth chick before Goth chicks really existed.
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We split up from the rest of the party and went up to the 2nd floof of the house. Someone was in Mike's parent's bedroom and someone else was in his sister/brother's room. Mike, of course, was in his bedroom.
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We went to the entertainment room, which was bigger than the great room at most houses, tiled in wood, with another pool table, a full (but unstocked) bar, and a sound system, complete with a CD player and Quadrophonic speakers ringing the room.
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She put in "The Cure - Singles" and we made out on the couch, girl on top.
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Somehow, the guy who had also been chasing her came in and broke it up, then stole her away to the basement and I didn't see her the rest of the night. Alan and Mike, and I think the Beals sisters, too, came up and we listened to "Close to Me" off the 'Standing on the Beach' CD - which was the first time I'd heard the song or the album.
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We moved onward to one of the free bedrooms and hung out. - About six of us crammed into a very small bedroom - I think it belonged to Mike's little sister. I'd even called my mom to say I was going to spend the night at Mike's house. She demanded the address, and I made up an address in Whitehall so I could stay there. I had hoped to hook up with Carly again, but she disappeared shortly after midnight, I think.
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Alan, Mike, and I did what grown-up boys did best - we played around in the Entertainment Room, including slipping around on our socks. I'm sure we played a game where we tried to see who could slide closest to Mrs. Gidley's China Cabinet or played paper-wad basketball, no blood/no foul style.
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We ended up crashing in the Entertainment room, listening to a mix of CDs, including 'Standing on the Beach', 'Sticky Fingers', and 'Ziggy Stardust' (on random mix) until morning.
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When I arrived home, my mom scolded me and sent me to my room to 'think about it.' I was probably grounded for 1 or 2 weeks. The trip was entirely worth it, though. After all, I can still remember most of the details of that one short night with Mike, Alan, Beth Beals, Christy Beals, Carly and Me like it was yesterday.

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