Give thanks.

Today is the last day of my mini-vacation. I guess all that working weekend ordeal finally paid off and I got five days off for the Thanksgiving holiday. And if you count the fact that everyone left early on Tuesday, I got almost six days. Not too shabby, if you ask me. Ever since then, though, it has been an array of parties, dinners and friends gatherings. I honestly cannot say when the day started and the night ended. Everything seems to have blended in and got mixed up in the process. I've slept during the day, and was out for the most of the night, then was up in the early morning, only to watch more movies at 3am.
I stayed out until 6am on Wednesday, which meant that there's no way I was going to make a 4pm dinner at my relatives' house. Turns out, I was right - I didn't make it until almost 5pm. My aunt, and especially my dad, were pissed but still happy I actually made it. At first, I was under the impression that I didn't have to go, but apparently that wasn't the case. So, to be polite, I stayed there until about 7pm and then went home to change, only to head for R.'s house thereafter for my second dinner that evening. I tried to brace myself at my aunt's house, but I cannot say I was majorly successful. Therefore, I only took a few bites at R.'s before settling down to watch a few movies. R., S., S., R. and R.'s brother were there too, however, R. and S. left soon thereafter - R. went to sleep since he was feeling sick and S. went to ... who knows where she went. I had a suspicion that something was fishy about her recent behavior, but figured she is a grown up and should be able to handle it herself.
I was very disappointed though when I found out that she has been talking shit behind my back. No idea why or what for, but the fact still remain the fact. She also referred to some of our mutual friends to blame them for whatever she has been saying, pointing out it was them who started talking in the first place. Thing is, I don't know what they can possibly know about me since I know for a fact nothing ever happened between me and either of those guys (and I think I would have remembered if something did). However, maybe the fact that nothing happened is the exact reason they started talking about me - since I know for a fact three of them wanted to get it on, and when I said no, decided to get their little revenge. In any case, I am no longer interested in dealing with them since I definitely do not appreciate when people make baseless comments about me - especially if those people know nothing about me in the first place.
What bugged me even more though, was the fact that S. never mentioned it and never brought it up, but continued to lie to my face about it. If there's one trait I hate in people, it's lying and gossiping. Lying the most. I do not understand why she deemed it necessary to lie to me that she was hanging out with those guys - after all, it is I that have an issue with them, not her. Had she told me she was going out with them, I would have found someone else to hang out with for the night, no questions asked. However, after I discovered she wasn't truthful, I wonder if the excuse that she used was just a smoke screen to do whatever other things she wanted. Basically, it is much harder to trust someone once the trust's been broken. And it seems like this is exactly what happened in this case. But I guess I have to be thankful that I found out about it, even if in this nauseating way. After all, from now on I can be more careful around certain people I considered friends and it is better to know it and to pick your strategy and your actions, than to stay friends with people who talk about you the moment you turn your back.
It makes it that much harder to trust people in general, though...
After that conversation, S., R., her brother and I stayed up until about 4am watching movies and talking. Then, in the spur of the moment, we decided to go to the mall once it opened up, which meant we had to be up around 5:15am. We went to sleep, if you call an hour a sufficient time for a good night sleep, got up and went shopping. It was a total bust though - no good deals whatsoever... Done by noon, I headed home for some long overdue sleep... and didn't wake up until about 8pm. After that, the day and night got mixed up again and time pretty much flew by. Even now, at 3pm, having just woken up after another night out, I am sitting here wondering how I am supposed to go to bed in a few hours in order to get some rest before the work week.
On the side note, I am no longer sure that people who I thought were my friends should remain them...