When Glitter Comes to Gloom
“We should do something creative to TWIRP the boys! Maybe we should make ‘em some big posters, and decorate their front porch…”
At the time, my roommates loved this idea. We had no interest in being mediocre TWIRP-ers. After all, TWIRP week only comes once a year! We were determined to make this one memorable for our amigos over in The Colony.
And boy, did we ever!
Last Thursday afternoon, I told my boyfriend that I needed to run by Wal-Mart to pick up some art supplies. He was sweet enough to go with me, but didn’t really question what they were for. His brain was probably about to overload with that day’s influx of microbiology and biochemistry knowledge, so he wasn’t super curious.
Later that evening, after an intense game of Apples to Apples with our unknowing soon-to-be TWIRP prank victims, my roommates and I sat on our apartment floor, staring at the assortment of markers, glitter, sticky notes, ribbon and glue, wondering when the best time was to surprise them with these posters. Since we wanted to secretly decorate their front porch, we couldn’t simply walk over whenever we felt like it. After all, it would really be disappointing if one of them caught us—like that moment when you’re TPing a friend’s front yard, and they step outside and catch you, as your hands reach up to string the roll over another tree branch. Major whoops.
So we thought, Hey! It’s almost the weekend. We can lose a little sleep tonight.
Our masterpieces, at their finest. 😉
And, with that, we got to work embellishing our posters to perfection before dragging them to my car with us… at 12:30 a.m., of course.
As we left Tower Hall, we got some pretty awesome looks from a couple of the night owls still hanging out in the lounge.
“Where are you going? … Are you TWIRPing someone right now?”
“Yes we are!”
“…Are they awake?”
“Guess we’ll find out soon!”
Actually, we never meant to get them out of bed. We were hoping they’d still be awake, since they tend to be late-nighters.
After parking the car far enough away from the boys’ apartment that they wouldn’t see if we decided to make a run for it, we gathered up all our crafty leftovers and our posters, and headed to their porch.
Next, we made sure we had a hiding place identified, where we thought we’d be able to watch them open the door after we knocked and ran.
As we strung ribbon around the porch to clip the posters onto, and dusted the ground with way too much star-shaped glitter, we listened carefully to make sure no one was going to come outside. Once the door was loaded with sticky notes for a final touch, Brittany and I ran to the hiding place. Then Lydia knocked and flew across the complex to catch up with us before anyone opened the door.
“Shhhhhh, stop laughing! They’re still awake, I hear them!”
Waiting… waiting… giggling… waiting….
No one answered.
Hesitantly, Lydia went back over and knocked again, even louder, this time sprinting back to us in case someone had been waiting behind the door for the second knock.
Waiting… waiting… giggling some more… waiting…
Still, no one answered.
Are they ignoring us?
Then my phone rang. I picked up, composed myself, and tried to sound innocent when my boyfriend asked if we were outside their apartment.
“What do you mean, ‘you think someone’s there?’”
“Well, someone keeps knocking. And when we ask who it is, no one answers. It’s happened twice, and it’s kinda sketchy.” He sounded irritated.
We all looked at each other. Ooooohhhh….
“Well… maybe you should just open the door.” I said, a twinge of guilt in my request.
“Oh. My. Gosh. Security is on the way!”
… Oh, shoot….
Well, evidently, we hadn’t figured that into our plan. Nervous and extremely guilty, the three of us made our way to the boys’ apartment, unsure of how this new situation would blow over. All three of them came out onto the porch – one fuming, one laughing, and the last looking completely aghast. He must have been the one who called security, I thought, feeling especially guilty now.
To my utter disbelief, the officer greeted us with a warm smile and said, “Hah. I figured this would just be another student’s prank. Don’t worry, you’re not in any trouble. Happens all the time.” All he wanted was my I.D. number, to double check that I was in fact a student, and assurance from us that everything was definitely okay. Astonished at his graceful mood, despite the unnecessary call to duty at 1 a.m., all I could muster was a continuous, “I am soooo sorry!”
Around 1:15 a.m. that morning, the three of us girls left with the bittersweet confusion of disappointment and relief, feeling only half accomplished.
So you see, that evening taught us just how easily light-hearted glitter can come to unfortunate gloom.
But, despite this slight let down, the three of us were able to discuss our mistakes on the drive back to our apartment, making note of how to make next year’s TWIRP a little more spectacular, and a little less stressful. Moments like these are all a part of the college experience, right?
And don’t worry, boys, we’ll make it up to you with this week’s TWIRP event “Create a Date.” We pinky swear it! 🙂
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