You can't get mad at me now.

The reunion is this weekend. I have out of town guests coming to my house. I decided to do a little cleaning, which lead to a lot of cleaning, then repainting Jill's room, and so on.... So while I am being boring, here is a little high school story for you!

I think once you have moved out of your parents' home, and no longer own said vehicle in question that you can't get in trouble for let's say driving it into a hole. Even when three years afterwards someone lets the story slip. One of my high school boyfriends, Jonathan, remained close to my family and stopped by whenever I was in town from school. As we sat in the living room laughing about some of the things we had gotten ourselves into, he said "Mr. P, what did you do to Tricia after Nathan drove her Jeep into that hole? It took like nine hours to get that thing out." A look of confusion passed over my parents' faces. They had no idea what he was talking about. Because? I had gotten away with it. Until then.

When we weren't in Conroe for the weekend, Nathan would come to Houston. On a Friday night, not unlike every other, Nathan and his friend came to Houston to meet up with Holly and I. After playing hide and seek in Walmart until we got bored, we decided to head out to The Plateau. If you grew up out here, you what The Plateau is. If not. Well, it used to be a pile of dirt in a field that everyone drove out to, to ummm, eat cookies and drink milk while playing ring around the rosy. The Plateau had long since been abandoned as the milk and cookie spot, cause the cops took bulldozers and dug big holes to keep cars from being able to make it along the road down the bayou. It made it an excellent playground for every offroad vehicle. It hadn't rained in a while, but driving up and down the holes was fun. Hey. We live in Texas. Mudding is fun, y'all.

Up and down we went. Holly and I in the back laughing hysterically. Nathan pulled up to a big hole. "Think I can make that one?" We all agreed it wasn't a good idea. Too steep. Too narrow at the bottom. Nathan backed up. Then, next thing we know, normally level-headed, logical, Nathan heads right for it, grinning. "NATHAN!!" It was too late. We hit the bottom of the hole, head first. We looked at each other stunned. "I think we are stuck." Nathan looks around, "Uh ya think, Captain Obvious." Slowly we all climb out the back of the Jeep. From ground level, not one part of the car is visible. Shit. This is bad. I start to shake. I am in soooo much trouble.

"Trish. Where is your cell phone? We need it." I look at them. My cell phone was at home. On my desk. We start walking. After about a mile, we come to the neighborhood pool. Without hesitation we all jump the fence. I know who to call. Jonathan. Already in college and holding down a job, he was a bit wiser and smarter than me. And? He never hesitated to get me out of my big screwed up messes. Plus, Nathan and Jonathan were good friends. Hell Nathan had introduced me to Jonathan. In less time that it should have taken Jonathan to get from his house to the parking lot that we were waiting it, he arrived.

We still had three hours until curfew. I thought we were golden. Until hours later, the car hadn't budged. At all. The panic set in. I yelled at Nathan. I yelled at Jonathan. I got pissed. I started walking. Cause that is how you solve problems. I walked for an hour, before making to my street. Through the night, I heard cheering. Softly. In the distance. No way? It couldn't be. I sat down on the curb. Within minutes, several sets of headlights came around the corner. In the lead, was Jonathan.

"Get your ASS in the truck! They have your Jeep at the car wash now. Let's go meet them, and then get you guys home!"

I started crying. "How bad is the damage?"

Jonathan grinned. "Not a scratch on it, baby!"

We managed to drive my car into a hole, take hours to get it out, and pull it out without a scratch. Unbelievable. But? We still weren't in the clear. Somehow, Holly and I had to get back into my house without waking my mom. And? She is the worlds' lightest sleeper.

We came up with a plan. First, Nathan would move his car around the corner. Then, the guys would drive the car into the garage while Holly and I ran in the house slipping out of our shoes and jeans and running into the kitchen like we had come down for a snack. The guys would shut the garage after them. But Holly and I would be tucked safely in the house. Pretending to have been there all night.

It was near 5am when Holly and I were sitting on the kitchen countertops with cookies and half-full glasses of milk (the real kind) when my mom came down and opened the garage door. "Mom," I called out. "Did we wake you? I'm sorry we were trying to be quite but we starting laughing and got loud." My mom came into the kitchen. "Have you two been up all night?" We nodded. She shook her head and laughed. "I thought I heard the garage door, but I guess not." Holly and I shrugged and each took a bite of our cookies, looking at her like she was crazy. My mom went back upstairs, and Holly and I dissolved into giggles amazed that we had gotten away with it all.

And for years, we did get away with it. Until Jonathan opened his big mouth. Stupid Jonathan.