Mixtape Memoir

1. Misery by Maroon 5
2. Yellow by Coldplay
3. Runaways by The Killers
4. Island in the Sun by Weezer
5. Creep by Radiohead
Misery
2012
My dad took us to a CD store in Plaza Rio. My brothers and I ran inside and looked for all the
bands we knew, trying to decide what CDs to get. After a while of looking at CD covers, we
finally decided. Among the albums we bought are: The Killers’s Battle Born, Katy Perry’s One
of the Boys, Bruno Mars’s Doo-Wops and Hooligans, Maroon 5’s Hands All Over, and a Big
Time Rush album.
For a while, I was obsessed with Maroon 5. I would play the CD all the time in a pink stereo in
my room. My family would also play it during car rides, and we all loved every single song on it.
One of the most prominent memories I have of listening to this album is during a trip to
Disneyland. We left Tijuana at night and drove to LA, where we would stay at a hotel, and leave
for the park early in the morning. We were celebrating my birthday, so I got to choose the music.
I remember my brothers and I singing our hearts out to Misery, in the middle of LA traffic.
Next morning, I woke up early and changed out of my pajamas. I had a Pluto hat that I loved
because it had his ears dropping from the sides. My older brother and I were bursting with
excitement, but my parents seemed worried. Apparently, my younger brother, Emi, was really
sick. Ever since he was a baby, he had lung problems, and got terrible colds and coughs. My
parents were worried that it could turn into something serious, and we were two hours and a half
from Tijuana, so they decided to back to Tijuana.
I had never hated Emi more. We didn’t understand that he felt terrible, so me and Hector gave
him the silent treatment for the whole car ride home.
Yellow
2017
In the summer of 2017, my family and I went on a cruise along the Adriatic Sea. The places we
went to were amazing, but the night I most remember happened inside the cruise ship.
I noticed on the cruise ship’s program that there was a karaoke competition, and I immediately
told my dad since he loves to sing. My cousin Fausto also wanted to participate, so the whole
family went to see them sing. I had never heard Fausto sing. I knew he was in a band when he
was in high school, and that he had always wanted to be a singer/actor, but he never acted upon
it.
Yellow, by Coldplay, was the first song I heard him sing. His voice was soft and very nice, and
the judges seemed to think so too. After that day, all the girls were after him, he was a very
handsome guy, after all. Two girls even went over to my mom and asked her to introduce them.
He was used to the attention, and he loved it. He loved girls, drinking, and parties. I sometimes
think that’s the only reason he wanted to be in show business, he was attracted to its vices.
Look at the stars
Look how they shine for you
And everything you do
Yeah they were all yellow
A few months after our vacation, Fausto was diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder. Apparently, a life
of reckless sex and drug use isn’t healthy for your mind. He was hospitalized for a few days
because he had a really dangerous manic episode. He struggled with changing his lifestyle and
seldom followed doctor’s recommendations.
It’s been a year since I have seen him. Nobody really knows where he’s at, except for Aunt
Frida, his mom. She told my mom he’s safe, but that’s all that she will say about him. I once
heard her tell a friend of hers that he was in LA, trying to make it in the acting business, but I
know that’s not true. I used to think he was in some kind of rehab center, but it’s been a year, and
rehab patients don’t stay in there as long.
Anytime I hear the name Fausto, it’s in the context of his disorder. I remember him when I listen
to Yellow because I want to remember him by something other than his illness.
Runaways
2018
The Killers has been my all-time favorite band since I was little. I’ve never been able to say
which song of theirs is my favorite, because there’s so many that I love; Mr. Brightside, Run for
Cover, When You Were Young, Jenny Was a Friend of Mine, For Reasons Unknown,
Runaways, and the Way it Was are among my favorites, but I can’t just pick one.
My dad took my brothers and me to the iHeart Radio Alter Ego concert in the LA Forum. The
lineup was amazing. The bands I was excited to see were Twenty-One Pilots, Weezer, Muse, and
The Killers. We had seats in the 14th row, so the view was amazing.
The Killers stole the show by far. The headliner was Muse, but The Killers had the better show.
Brandon Flowers had a great stage presence. He barely stopped during the performance, he kept
singing and moving across the stage non-stop. They closed the show with Runaways, and
everyone was clapping and cheering. I was looking at Brandon Flowers since he had just finished
cheering. I turn my head away from him and I see a drum stick in the middle of the air coming
straight at me. I froze for a second, I don’t have the best reflexes. Everyone in front of me was
trying to catch the drum stick, and I was just panicking on the inside. Everyone fails to catch it
and it falls right on my feet. I reached down to grab it, but I am cut off by the lady beside me.
I was so angry. My hand was only an inch away and she took it away from me. My younger
brother was also mad at the lady. We began to talk about how rude she was, loud enough so she
could hear but not too loud that we would sound too obvious. We wanted her to feel bad and
guilty enough so she would give the drum stick to us, but she never did. Instead, she told us that
she barely liked The Killers, and that if the next band threw something and we got it, then she
would trade. She made me angrier. She seriously thought we were naïve enough to hold on to the
hope that the next band would throw an item in the exact same spot.
Island in the Sun
2018
One of my favorite golf tournaments I’ve played was the Aaron Baddeley Invitational Junior
Championship in the Omni La Costa Resort’s golf course. It was a team event, and many of my
friends were playing it. We were 6 girls on the Mexico team, and we were split into teams of 3.
Sofina, Ivanna, and I were a team, and the other team was Jessica, Mariana, and Napua. Sofina
and Napua aren’t Mexican, but they were invited because we needed more girls. I stayed in the
hotel room with Ivanna and Sofina, but Ivanna and I spent most of our time in Jessica and
Mariana’s room, while Napua went into our room with Sofina. Napua and Sofina mostly hung
out with the American team because they felt more comfortable.
We all had early tee times, so we would play in the morning, and then have a free afternoon to do
whatever we wanted to. The first day we were there, Alex and Isaac drove us to Target, where
we bought a lot of snacks and ran around the store with the carts. For the rest of the week, we
would drive to a small shopping center and hang out at Starbucks or Coldstone. On one of the
last days, we made a campfire outside the room in a communal area outside of our building. We
invited the Canadian and Japanese teams and talked to them all evening.
On an island in the sun
We'll be playing and having fun
And it makes me feel so fine
I can't control my brain
Playing this tournament felt liberating because my parents weren’t there to tell me what to do. I
was in control of my money and my actions. I didn’t have to ask for any permissions. If they
were there, they would definitely not let me go into a car being driven by a teen, and they
wouldn’t have let me stay up somewhat late. Being with my friends I felt free to make my own
choices. Even if they weren’t the smartest, they were my decisions.
Creep
2020
I missed another birdie putt on the 18th hole, finishing with an upsetting score of 83.
As I made my way to the scoring table, tears filled my eyes. I usually don’t cry after bad rounds,
but this tournament was different. This was a qualifier for the biggest national junior tournament
in Mexico, hosted this year in Cancun. This tournament gave spots to the first 4 places. I had
ended the first day in 4th place, but only by one stroke, so I needed a really good round today.
I got to the scoring table inside the Pro Shop, checked, and then turned in my scorecard. I looked
around the Pro Shop in search of my friends. I see Ivanna and Mariana talking next to the
leaderboard, which had not yet been updated with today’s scores, and I make my way towards
them.
Usually every conversation after a tournament starts off with “what did you shoot?” Or “how did
it go?”, and then the other person responds “I did bad” because they don’t want to show off, or
because they actually did bad.
“What did you shoot?” I asked Mariana.
“I did really bad”
“Me too, what did you score?”
“85,” she responds.
“Oh” I answer, trying to sympathize. “I shot 83.”
I look over at the leaderboard and look for her name. She shot an 80 yesterday.
“I think we have a playoff” I said slowly, in a very uncomfortable manner.
“Wait, what do you mean?” She exclaims.
“Well, I shot 82-83, and you did 80-85, so we’re tied for 4th” I said slowly while looking at the
leaderboard, doing the math in my head over and over, still skeptical on my math abilities.
I turned back to Mariana and she was gone. I saw her in the distance with her putter next to the
practice green. She’s nervous, I thought.
I waited 5 minutes until they updated the leaderboard and officially announced the playoff for
the last spot through the speakers.
“THE GIRLS 16 -18 PLAYOFF WILL TAKE PLACE AT THE 18TH HOLE IN TEN
MINUTES”
As I made my way to the practice green, to make a few putts before the playoff, I overheard
Ivanna talking to Mariana’s parents.
“I’ll be rooting for her” she told them.
Hearing this hurt, but I came to the conclusion that she was being polite, and probably would
have said the same if she was talking to my parents. She probably wouldn’t mind if either of us
won.
I got to the practice green, grabbed my putter, and dropped 2 golf balls on the green, on the
opposite side of the green of where Mariana was putting. I’m practicing 3-footers, since I missed
those the most.
Out of the corner of my eye, I see Toño, Edu, Ivanna, and Jessica approach Mariana. They’re
talking to her, laughing, and watching her practice. I was trying to focus on putting, but all I
could think about was why they didn’t come and talk to me. They were my friend too. I’ve been
friends with Ivanna since I was 7, and I had met Toño and Edu a few months ago, while Mariana
had met them through me a week ago. Jessica is Mariana’s best friend, so I understand why she
was with her, but we’re still great friends, so I would have appreciated one “good luck,” or
something like that. They never came over to me. The closest we came to an interaction was a
full second of eye contact with Ivanna, which I broke after she shot me an awkward smile. It was
clear who they wanted to be the winner.
“Why do they like her better?” I thought to myself as my eyes got teary again.
I didn’t feel any anger towards Mariana, she did nothing bad. All she did was being a nice and
cool person who people wanted to be around. I just didn’t think people would visibly choose
sides, or at least I didn’t think our friends would. She’s one of my closest friends, and it broke
my heart that I had to compete with her face-to-face.
I want you to notice
When I'm not around
You're so fuckin' special
I wish I was special
“I better stop thinking too much about this, I don’t want to look like I was crying,” I thought to
myself while quickly drying my eyes.
“MARIANA GARCIA AND SOFIA TORRES, PLEASE HEAD TO THE 18TH TEE BOX.”
Crap. I still looked like I was crying.