Tomorrow's Just A Song Away

When I was in college, I wrote a one act play about three friends that go for a drive late at night. I was even lucky enough to have it produced by the theater department on campus, but that's besides the point. It's a play I haven't really thought about in awhile. I thought about it today. I thought about this snippet of dialogue between the two female characters and their friend Crispin (a part that was totally written for a white dude but ended up being played quite by a fantastic Chinese exchange student):

BELGIUM: I might be breaking up with Maxwell.

CRISPIN: What?! But you’re like, in love with that guy!

BELGIUM: Yeah. But I’m also kind of in love with myself.

CRISPIN: Is that enough of a reason to break up with someone?

BELGIUM: Yes?

CRISPIN: You’re heartless.

TANGERINE: You’re fine dear. I totally support whatever decision you make. After all, it doesn’t have to be the bad kind of breakup.

CRISPIN: Aren’t all breakups essentially bad?

TANGERINE: No no. Ever hear of the Spice Girls? They broke up ages ago, but they still meet up every few years for a farewell reunion tour.

CRISPIN: So when you and Maxwell break up, you’ll be like the Spice Girls?

BELGIUM: That’s what I want, what I really really want.

TANGERINE: You really really really wanna?

CRISPIN: Zigga zigga ha. (bites into a potato chip)

BELGIUM: I just hope this breakup doesn’t go all Pangaea on me.

CRISPIN: Pangaea?

TANGERINE: You dunno about Pangaea breakups?

(Crispin shakes his head)

BELGIUM: They’re the opposite of Spice Girl breakups.

TANGERINE: Yeah. Pangaea break-ups are the kind where you drift really far apart and before you know it, BAM!-

BELGIUM: -You’re Eurasia and he’s not.

CRISPIN: That’s intense.

TANGERINE: Yeah. But don’t you worry. If you do decide to break up with him, I’m sure you’ll have a Spice Girl breakup.

(There’s a brief pause.)

CRISPIN: ...But aren’t the Spice Girls all lesbians?

They go on to pick up a hitchhiker and proceed to have conversations about life, love, and green libertarians from space. It's a fun play and maybe someday I'll post more of it, but the parts about green libertarians from space aren't really relevant right now.

The part about break-ups, however, is quite relevant. This evening I had alert all of my Facebook friends that "Lauren is no longer listed as in a relationship." Gah, I hate Facebook sometimes. I should make a profile for my cat or my keytar or something so I can list myself as in an open relationship with it and totally confuse the universe. But I won't do that. I like to at least pretend that I have a life.

As far as break-ups go, it wasn't horrible. I mean, it wasn't fun or easy, but it wasn't necessarily a heart-wrenching Pangea-style break-up. I'm not saying we're going to be the Spice Girls (I think that analogy is a little weak anyway). But I didn't walk away from everything hating him or being bitter towards him. In fact, I still care about him a lot. We were both fairly miserable though. It was hard admitting it to myself, but things weren't really working out.

We met at a coffee shop outside the mall. We talked. We agreed that it's over. A cheesy 80's song played in the background, proving once and for all that my life really is a sitcom. He drank the last of his coffee. I finished my tea. We hugged and parted ways.

I went into the mall and walked around Macys for a bit. They didn't have anything very interesting on their bargain rack today, but I still had to check. I know this is such a cliche girly thing to say, but shopping always makes me feel better (even when I don't buy anything).

This song was playing as I was browsing the shoe department:

It was a good song to hear at that moment. I have no idea what tomorrow will bring, but it's only a song away.

Okay, so it sounds cheesy when I write it out like that, but it seemed profound and logical at the time.

Anyway, I should go to bed before I end up writing anything too pathetic. I'm trying not to think too much about everything. I'm trying to just focus on moving forward. Like a shark, right? A shark has to keep moving forward or else it will die. "And I think what we got on our hands is a dead shark." If you can tell me what movie I just referenced, you get a gold star.

And with that, I shall go to bed. Goodnight, comrades.