Rewind: Sardines

First off, I'm going to apoligize to my husband Rick, the love of my life for this post. He is the hottest man I know.

During my freshman year at Rick's College, I had a really fun FHE group. (Translation: The guys were easy on the eyes)

Anyhoo, for an activity, we had plans to play Sardines on campus. For those that have never played...stop what you are doing and go play right now. Yes, it is that fun, at least when you are an immature freshman.

It's basically a spin on hide and seek, except for there is one hider, and the rest are seekers. When you find the hider, you squeeze in and hide with them, hence the name, Sardines. As people continue to find the hider, they keep squeezing in. The last person to finder the hider is the big loser and has to hide next. Get it? Good.

When it was my turn to hide, I found an awesome spot to hide in one of the classrooms. It had a long counter in the back with cabinets above it. Then there was a long accordion-type door that closed over the whole thing. I climbed onto the counter, closed the doors, and then squeezed into the very back. I curled up into a ball and put my coat over me. This was definitely the best hiding place ever. Mistake number one.

After a few minutes of hiding, I heard the classroom door open. Footsteps crossed the room and the latch to the accordion door opened just a bit. Through a tiny crack in my coat I could see a head poke in. Attached to it was the face of Ryan, aka, my current crush. I held my breath and didn't move a muscle. Hiding in the dark corner under my jacket. He couldn't see me.

He closed door and walked away.

"Success!" I thought.

I congratulated myself again on the excellent hiding spot. This congratulatory moment quickly passed as I realized that I was a complete idiot. Most people would consider hiding in the dark with the object of their affection a good thing. Why didn't I cough or something?

Several minutes passed before I heard more footsteps and saw the head of an FHE brother that I definitely did NOT like. Panic started setting in as I realized that I certainly didn't want to be cuddled up with him. Fortunately, he didn't see me either and the near-emergency passed.

Many more minutes passed, and I was beginning to grow tired of sitting on the counter. It had been too long. Had they given up looking for me? Should I just come out?

Relief set in as I heard more footsteps. Two sets. Thank goodness. I was ready to move the game along.

Oddly, these voices weren't ones that I recognized.

Then I started hearing some banging around. Chairs being moved, latches being flipped, and papers being sorted.

Next I heard something that I definitely wasn't expecting. The sound of a violin playing. Or was it a viola? To be honest, I have no idea what the difference is. And at this point, I didn't care.

I slowly scooted from my spot in the corner and slid down to the end of the counter. I quietly unlatched the according door, just barely enough to try and peek through to analyze the situation.

My heart sank as I saw two people sitting in the middle of the room with their violin/viola's out.

Somebody was having a music lesson.

It was obvious that nobody was going to come and find me now with a lesson going on in the room. So, I had two options. First, I could sit there and wait for the lesson to be over, which could be anywhere for 30 minutes to an hour, or I could just leave right then and there.

I sat there for several more minutes and decided that I was done with the whole thing.

I opened the accordion door and hopped off the counter. The music stopped abruptly and two startled heads spun around see what the noise was. I walked across the room and gave them a big smile and a little wave as I passed them. I opened the door, let it shut behind me, and freedom was mine!

By then, I figured my FHE group had given up on looking for me (which they had- thanks a lot!) and went home. But, at least there were two hotties waiting for me on the couch when I got back to my apartment. (But not as hot as Rick.)