Chapter Sixty-Six: I Was Beat Up By A Paper Crane

February has begun, and it still seems like the semester just started. The homework load is definitely getting heavier, but it's not too bad. Everything has been pretty normal here...well...except for last night.
Before I spill the beans on my "incident," there are a couple of things I should update you on. (If you're really impatient, you can just scroll to the bottom of this post.) 
On Jaunary 27th, Women of Faith has a Scarf Exchange. Everyone was told to bring a wrapped scarf to give away White-Elephant style. Well, Mary and I are a little low on cash (and transportation), so getting wrapping paper or gift bags was out of the question. So, I guess you can say we improvised.

Using our Resources

Mary wrapped her cozy new scarf in old Calculus II homework. I placed my zebra scarf in a balloon and used that as "wrapping paper." Please don't ask me how I did it because I'm not even sure I understand it myself. All I know is that popping the balloon was required to retrieve the scarf (which was actually the last gift opened!). The girl who initially received Mary's scarf was super excited...not only because of the scarf, but also because she's taking Calculus II! Everyone wins! 

On February 5th, we had a new family member added to our dorm room. Bailey is now the proud mother of a Betta fish! We all agreed on the name Lancelot, and he is so loved. He swims towards us when we look at him, and he gets excited when we tell him about our day. I don't really like fish too much, but Lancelot might be the exception.

Just Keep Swimming

Later that evening (after dropping Lancelot off at his new home), all of my roommates and I got pets, too. Not fish (we don't want that much responsibility!). We all got plants. Our dorm was obviously in desperate need of living things, plus it's fun to have something to care for. Although a plant isn't nearly as exciting as a dog or cat, it's something to look after. Mary got lucky bamboo and named it Benny (Benny the Bamboo!), Bailey got a small, thick cactus named Penelope, and Jenny got a basil plant and named it...well..Basil! I got a small bonsai tree that I named Faron. 

Mary's Bamboo (Top Left), Bailey's Cactus (Bottom Left), My Bonsai (Top Right), Jenny's Basil (Bottom Right).

Between that and now, not a whole lot has happened. I beat two temples in Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Mary and Jenny have had some tests here and there, Bailey is preparing for an upcoming practical in her anatomy class, and we've been working out on a semi-organized schedule that tends to fall apart easily. 

However, last night was quite exciting. Like I said earlier, last night was anything but normal. This is probably one of the most embarrassing stories I'll ever share here...but I feel like this story is just too ridiculous to keep within the walls of my dorm. Details to keep in mind: our common room is decorated with white streamers and paper cranes hanging from the ceiling. Unfortunately, sometimes the cranes fall down because we hit them or they weren't secured in the ceiling tile very well. So, a couple weeks ago, Mary accidentally knocked a crane from the ceiling. She didn't feel like dragging a chair all the way over to that spot and hanging up the crane again, so she just put it on a streamer. This made it about eye-level for me, so it was significantly lower than before. This may seem like arbituary details, but this will be important later...  

Cranes and Streamers

It was a normal Monday night. Bailey, Jenny, and I all gathered our spare change (literally...I broke into my piggy bank!) to get a couple of pizzas. Nothing too unusual. I watercolored a picure of pizza and gave it to the delivery guy just for giggles and grins. 

"You're my hero"

We were up doing homework, studying for classes the next day. I actually was doing a review, for, I had a test the very next day. Occasionally we get distracted with the internet (or even each other), but we tend to usually get back on track. Last night was different. 

It was probably 12:15 AM, which really isn't that "late" in our college schedules. Bailey was getting ready to go to sleep since she knew she was waking up early, when she runs into a paper crane. Remember them? Well it was the paper crane. The one that hung lower than the rest. Frustrated, Bailey did a cheesy karate stance and lightly kicked it for fun. Mary and I were watching her and both got up, saying, "That looks like fun! Let's kick it!" 

This is when it started to go downhill. 

Mary pushed back the couch for ultimate kicking room. I positioned myself in front of the crane. I actually used to be in Karate...in middle school. I guess you could say my "moves" are a little rusty...if they even exist anymore. Despite this, I decide that a "roundhouse kick" would suffice. 

So I lifted my fists, and made a round with my right foot. I was pretty close...just, like, 5 inches off. No big deal. And then I felt my left foot completely lose traction with the tile floor. 

I fell. Hard. 

This is what I had planned to do:

This is what really happened:

To be completely honest, it didn't even hurt that bad. I, of course, felt the shock through my body, but it didn't rattle me too much. I giggle because of my complete failure and turn around to reassure my roommates I was okay. 

Mary and Bailey gasp together. "SARAH, YOU'RE BLEEDING!!" Mary screams. Bailey throws the shoes she had in her hands and rushes towards me. 

"What?" I say, my smile dropping. I touch my hand to my chin, just because I know I landed on it, and see my fingers are coated with blood. 

The world swayed beneath me as I realized I screwed up. I really hurt myself.

"Take this," says Mary, handing me tissues. "Apply pressue...Don't look at it!" Bailey says. I could feel the color fading from my face. I wasn't losing too much blood, but the sight of it really frightened me. 

"Okay," I say, a little freaked out.

Bailey and Mary quickly helped me to the couch, so I could put my head back and apply pressure a little more comfortably. 

"Do you think she needs medical attention?" Bailey asks Mary.

"I don't think it's that bad," Mary replied.

"What??" I exclaimed. How bad is this??

"What if she needs stitches?" Bailey said, worry evident in her face.

"WHAT???" I've never had stitches before!

"No, let's just get Kristen (our Community Advisor)," Mary says. 

I was really starting to freak out at this point. I mean, head wounds bleed a lot, so I'm sure it's not too bad. It barely even hurts! Okay, it hurts a little...a lot...but it can't be that bad! So, in a stressful situation, what do I do? 

I tell jokes. 

I'm going to be completely honest, I do not remember any of these jokes. (Yes, I hit my chin, not my head...) However, whatever I said must have been incredibly appropriate and creative because we were all laughing so hard. I was also crying (more out of shock than pain), so I was really having a fun bundle of emotions. 

Bailey helped me put an ice pack on my chin after she cleaned it a little, and then I was given, not one, but two bandaids on my face. Our CA did come in and take a look at me, but she was confident we knew what we were doing (I don't know why she would think that, really) 

But, really, it all ended up okay.

Pain

I ended up missing my two morning classes, simply because I was in a lot of pain (and my face was embarrassingly swollen). Despite this, I still dragged myself to my math class to take my mandatory exam. Even with my wound, I think I did pretty well! 

Adrenaline Rush Selfie!

Neglected wound

All in all, everything turned out just fine. I'm feeling a whole lot better (thanks Ibuprofen). This was a night that really made me say "Thank you, God, for giving me the best roommates!!" They took really good care of me...I honestly don't know what I would do without them. 

So...that's my embarrassing story. I can't believe this all started with a crane...I mean, this is probably the stupidest thing I've ever done! I think that's why we were laughing so hard last night...because I kept saying, "I just wanted to kick the crane..." 

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