Hi, Mariah?

I originally had nothing planned for today, but it became really busy by the end. My morning started out like it usually would, though. I woke up a bit early, but also very tired because I slept late this morning. Someone left messages for me on our Discord server so I just replied to them and also talked to them a bit in the morning.

For the rest of the day, I was mostly busy with work. I remember trying to make this piece of code work and I spent most of the afternoon on it, and I eventually figured it out by the end and put a flag on it to finish it by tomorrow.

After all my work was done, I played Phasmophobia again with someone and Luan. It was really fun! We tried our best to get a "perfect investigation" and we completed a few rounds, mostly with me dying. But, by our last playthrough, we actually got a perfect investigation! It was a long round of Phasmophobia, we even took a small break to eat food, but we all got back in the game and actually got a perfect investigation! And I didn't have to die in the process! We were so happy after finishing the game and we all left to do other things, with me originally planning to sleep early.

But out of the blue earlier, Mariah replies to my IG Story asking me what I do now and we got to talk again. It's been years since we met up and she invited me to meet up with her and have a chat. While I was skeptical at first, I figured it wasn't any harm to meet an old friend from high school. She eventually did tell me that she wanted me to meet with her boss on Friday so they can discuss some sales plan or thing to me, but I was okay doing that on Friday. For today, I figured Mariah and I would just meet up, talk, and catch up with each other's lives.

I booked a ride to her workplace in Poblacion and it was interesting seeing her again. She looks so mature from when I last met her back when we were teens, but I guess that's just life. It's nice because she seemed so bubbly and peppy, and she even hugged me when I greeted her, which kind of shocked me since I'm not touchy with people often. But I appreciated Mariah being friendly and we walked around, just looking for a place to eat. I suggested Filling Station because we both didn't plan on anything and she went with it.

Mariah and I just walked and caught up on our way there. She mostly just told me about how her life and family life have been recently, the challenges she's faced, and I'm seriously surprised to know that she hasn't been to Filling Station yet. I was more shocked to hear that she's never done partying or clubbing here in Poblacion. I tell her that she's really sheltered and she actually agrees. We eventually make our way to Filling Station and we're given a table.

Somehow, I told Mariah that I couldn't hear properly and I asked her if it was fine sitting next to her, which she agreed and I'm glad I asked because my hearing is starting to get really bad. Plus, the music in the place was loud so I wouldn't hear her anyway. It also helped because I don't feel comfortable sitting face to face and talking to people.

We got our food and Mariah chose the angus burger I recommended, and I got steak for myself. I told her that I'd be treating her and she says she'll make up by treating me on Friday, which was nice of her. We also both got iced teas and I remarked that she should do a tierlist and she says that this one was the best for her, with the next being the iced tea from Bonchon, which I found funny. Eventually, our food was served and we ate while talking. Some of the people in the restaurant also had birthdays. The speakers played a loud "Happy Birthday" jingle that sounded obnoxious at first, but downright horrible because that song played 5 times or so for 5 birthday celebrants. It was so weird that so many people had today, June 25, as their birthday and I joked that the likelihood of that was super low, and then Mariah laughed. But she was irritated by the jingle as well and she didn't like it at all.

I catch up Mariah on some parts of my life that I've unpacked recently, like my situationship, how I gave so much to someone, and so on. I even shared secrets to Mariah that I've barely shared to anyone. Thankfully, she was receptive and super friendly when I was kind of telling her the gray-area stuff I've been doing. Mariah also tells me the stuff she's been doing the past few years and we talked about a few things from her life, mainly her family life, career, studies, and her history leading up to this point. We also talked about our mutual friends and the people that we know. Mariah then tells me that she's happily single which kind of shocked me because I thought she'd have a boyfriend or seeing someone, and then I tell her that I'm single as well and avoiding meeting new people because of how tragic my past "relationships"/romantic encounters have been. Mariah even joked that she mostly shared about her life and apologized for talking a lot, but I was fine listening since I often do that for my other friends who just want a friend to listen and talk to.

It was nice talking to Mariah again after so long. We both found it funny because it's been 8 years since we last met up, but I'm glad we were able to pick up where we left off and that we're still good friends. We eventually had some food for take-out and we walked around because we felt a bit bloated. I recommended the Starbucks nearby and she was surprised that there was one nearby. We went there and I order a drink for myself, while Mariah just tries to rest because she's really tired. We talk for a bit more until we eventually decide to head home and Mariah books a ride to her place. I wait for her ride to arrive and she gives me one last hug before saying goodbye, which I found super cute and kind of her to do. I went back to the Starbucks and booked a ride home eventually.

The trip home was nice, I mostly listened to good music and I just took in our interaction for the evening. When I got home, I got a message from Mariah and I joked to her that I'm still alive. We talk for a bit and I joke to her that I plan on selling my new MacBook because I don't like the color. I put it as an IG Note which she replies to, and I recommend that she just paint my acrylic laptop case for it since she's an artist as well, and I tell her that I'll give it to her come Friday. She says she's down for it and I promise to repay her by treating her out, but then she recommends that we could hang out without having money involved, which was super nice of her. Elaine also replies to my note and I joke about not liking the color of my MacBook to her. Eventually, I had to go to sleep and I wrote my journal entry before going to sleep.