First There Was Me… Then I Added Three (part 3A of 3: Mushu)

It all started back in 2015 May, when the relationship with Romeo came to an abrupt end after being together for two years. I was devastated at my loss and figured I was cursed because my mom used to always say that when I was younger. She said that relationships never really worked out for many the women in my family and that three were the magic number. You know the saying “third times a charm?” Yeah well that never worked out for us. Long story short, there are three fathers in my family, my cousin’s family, my grandma's family etc, and none of those three men ever worked out so they gave up on love and became amazing single mothers.

After I broke up with man #2—I mean Romeo—in 2015 I started to believe the curse was real. If it were true then at this point I only had one more man to be with before all hope was lost. I met my son’s father in 2011 when I started college and during my time in college, I didn’t know anyone outside my classroom.

I studied acting—we were a small class of 20 people and you LITERALLY only saw those 20 people for your whole duration there and of course the other actors in the other years ahead of you.

I was a shy person back then and as I was sitting down in the hangout they called “the hive” (which makes perfect sense because our mascot was a wasp or a bee) at my own table minding my business, I felt like someone was staring at me. I looked up and sure enough this guy was looking in my direction and I’m pretty sure he was staring at me so I looked away for a few seconds and then I looked back. Sure enough, he was STILL looking at me, which made me feel nervous. I’m sure you are probably thinking this stuff happens in movies and doesn’t sound real. But I kid you not this happened.

After realizing he was definitely staring at me, I gave a smile. One of those awkward, I see you staring at me and I don’t know what to do kind of smiles. Then I looked back down at my work and continued to rehearse my lines. Sure enough, he gets up from his table walks over and introduces himself to me and we became really good friends from that day onward.

At first I found him kind of annoying because he was always trying to get my attention and get to know me and, being shy, I didn’t want to know him the way he wanted to know me BUT nonetheless he was a really nice guy so we began talking and getting to know one another. I learned that he was really smart with computers, loved anime, Disney, and food. We grew so close to the point I would stay at my sister’s house just because I’d get to take the bus with him home since he didn’t live too far.

I’m sure you are thinking at this point I probably really liked this guy but to be honest, I didn’t. I found him to be nothing more than an amazing friend. One day he walked me to my sister's after school because it was dark and he wanted to make sure I got home safe. We sat outside for about 30 minutes just talking and that’s when he hit me with, “Will you go out with me?” My heart literally sank and not from excitement but from confusion since I wasn’t thinking about him on that level at all and I did NOT know how to say no. Just the thought of it made me feel so bad, but I bit my tongue as I said, “I’m sorry but I don’t like you like that.” The look on his face didn’t make me feel any better as his eyes welled up with tears and then he said ok as he walked away to catch the next bus home.

Fast-forward two years later to 2013. We were still friends despite that awkward shutdown and he invited me to a bonfire. I thought, "Cool, I love camping and I love meeting new people." Thanks to my acting program I broke out of my shy shell and became more outgoing and social. So I invited my girl friend to come along as I knew I was going to be alone since I didn’t know any of his friends and let me tell you that night was THE WORST NIGHT OF MY LIFE!

It started off well. I met them at the bus station and we all took the bus over together. We walked to the area where the bonfire was going to take place which had me trekking through wild flowers and possibly poison ivy or poison oak—I can’t really remember at this point but I remember seeing a sigh saying “beware poison (insert poisonous weed here)." By the way I’m asthmatic and allergic to certain flowers, one of which includes lavender, which was around some of the bushes, and I felt very uncomfortable while trekking to this place.

So finally after about 20 minutes of walking, we were standing on top of a BIG hill overlooking the city, which looked really nice. We made jokes, told stories, and got to know each other a bit better. While this was taking place, I said to my old college friend (he will be known as Mushu since that’s what I used to call him) that I needed to get back to my sister's and get on a bus before it gets too late and he said, "Yeah, no problem." So it began getting dark and I believe it was a Sunday around like 9 PM. As I’m getting ready to leave, Mushu said that all the buses stopped running and the next one wasn’t until 5 AM. Now I know my readers don’t know me but for those that do, I DO NOT do well with being outdoors at night in a place I don’t know. I don’t like wild animals, and I do NOT like forests, cemeteries, or any of the sorts.

So at this point I blow up at him in front of his girlfriend he was with. (Oh yeah, did I say he was with his girlfriend?) He’s all like, "Chill, don’t worry I will walk you back out through the forest to a bus stop." I’m freaking out and say, "Oh no I am NOT going back through the forest to run into wild animals or touch poison plants I can’t see." He ended up walking me, my friend, one of his drunk friends, and another random friend to the highway and pointed us in the direction to go before just leaving and heading back to his girlfriend.

I was so scared because my life was in the hands of a VERY intoxicated man I have never met before that day who had more common sense than the other two: my friend who is known for getting me lost (I love her though) and some random female. After walking on the highway near more bushes and cars zooming past me, we see a guy on a bike that tells me that there is a 24 hour bus route up ahead. I was so happy to hear that only to find out we would have to be walking for another two hours.

We ended up passing by a cemetery and I was so scared I began having a panic attack, which then turned into an asthma attack. I called my friend crying explaining how scared I was only to have him, Mushu, and his friends laughing at me and telling me to stop freaking out. As that was happening, a cop car was driving by. I tried to wave it down but it didn’t stop and before you say, "why couldn’t you call a taxi or your sister?" I had no money but a buss pass and my sister didn’t drive or have a car.

As we continued walking, I was in tears while the drunk boy was trying to keep me calm and letting me know he wouldn’t let anything happen to me. My friend decides she’s going to take a random staircase that leads to a street in hopes of getting a bus. She claimed she knew where it went but again her track record sucks for knowing places and I don’t trust her for that. (Again, I still love her). She took the pathway with the random girl and drunken boy and me kept walking straight.

FINALLY after two hours of walking on the side of a highway near bushes, losing two people who decided they wanted to take a staircase to nowhere, and an emotional breakdown, I finally made it to the bus stop. I got home at about 3 AM even though I left at 9:30 PM. After getting home, I was basically traumatized from that night which was supposed to be fun and it ended up being a nightmare. That’s when I decided I was never talking to Mushu again and thankfully since I graduated schoolm I didn’t have to see him again.

… To Be Continued