storytime: park responsibly

ok guys, so remember how i planned to go to a rave in LA? well i ended up going, and had a really good time! at first, me and my bf were actually not going to go, because we honestly just wanted to rest a little more and hang out at barnes & nobles, buuuut we felt good so we ended up going to LA last minute! but what i didn't know was that i almost ended up in the WORST possible situation that could have ever happened to me.

everything started out really fun, we stopped by the grove and i got treated to a brandy melville shopping spree and also got to try the strawberry erewhon smoothie (lowk i didn't really like it lol) and we were chilling with my cousin and his gf before the rave. 

we head over to the rave and spend a good 3 hours there, it was honestly sooo fun! my bf's DJ friend had a really good set, my favorite songs he played were just dance by lady gaga (I LOVEEE LADY GAGA) and beauty and a beat by justin bieber and nicki minaj. 2000s music is one of my favorite eras it's just so good, most new music today just doesn't have the same feeling! 

anyways, after the rave we decided to take a waymo back to where we parked, but the ride back was... interesting. we ended up stopping. in the middle of a random, dark alley with sketchy spray-painted trailers around us. it was honestly a scary setting, especially at night in a city i don't visit often. but we got it sorted out thankfully and got dropped off where we parked.

we get out and, oh. my car isn't there. we walk back and forth on the sidewalk and IT'S. NOT. THERE. there's no broken glass, so i'm thinking, "did i just get towed? did i forget to lock my door?? did my car just get stolen???" i tried to keep my composure because there is no way this is happening to me right now. my bf calls my cousin and is taking everything very seriously. and i just break down sobbing sooo hard, i'm fighting to breathe i cry so hard i feel like i'm going to throw up. he's trying to calm me down but i'm standing there thinking that was it, i would never see my car again. that was my livelihood, that was the only way i could get anywhere. how was i going to get to school? how was i going to get to work?? how were we going to get home??? what do i tell my mom??? his keys were in that car too, i felt horrible. 

but he was being so sweet to me, calming me down. he told me i could use his car for as long as i needed to, my car was insured! it wasnt my fault! everything will get figured out! but i just felt horrible, i could've used his car but, it wasn't MY car. i didn't realize how important that car was to me until that very moment. 

my cousin gets there and on the phone he says, "your car is literally here."

.........

we RUNNN around the corner and see my cousin's gf standing IN FRONT OF MY CAR. omg. omgggg. we got dropped off on the wrong street! the street literally looked the exact same to us, specially since we aren't locals. but i was so relieved. i still felt bad for worrying everyone else (and a little dumb for not fully investigating), but i was just so happy that everything ended up being okay. it was literally the worst scare i had in my life. i had to process it for like, a week. 

moral of the story, don't jump to conclusions, and appreciate what you have because it could be gone just like that. hope u guys enjoyed my storytime, i can laugh about it now haha!

xx, anika