A Toast and a Drink

Act 2; Pt. 3: A Long night of Bartending

Okay, this is lowkey boring.

There's nothing interesting going on, it's just a bunch of needy teens kissing each other and it's honestly starting to gross me out. Parfait seems to be having the most amount of fun, the bottle landing on her the most.

I was about to leave because one, there's nothing interesting going on, and two, I don't want to get caught by Mr. Lee and I'm absolutely terrified that he's somewhere around here. But then near the end of the circle, things started to get interesting. And when I mean interesting, I mean interesting in a bad way. It started going downhill when after Parfait, it landed on this tough lookin dude and this other girl. The girl started crawling towards him, but the other dude just looked... uncomfortable? The girl tried to kiss him, but he pushed her away. She kept trying to kiss him, but he just kept dodging. He obviously didn't want to be a part of this. But then why would he join? Was it because he wanted to fit in, or was it because of peer pressure?

I guess Parfait got tired of the two because she walked over them and pushed them together, basically forcing them to kiss. I thought it was totally unnecessary, but nobody else seemed to care. Was I caring too much? The other dude didn't like that a lot because he shouted, "I hate all of you, you sick people," and he ran out. He almost saw me, but I hid behind a flower vase before he saw me. I felt bad for the poor dude. He shouldn't have played the game if he didn't want to kiss anyone sure but he also shouldn't have been forced to kiss people against his will. When he left, I looked back out to see people's reactions. I didn't really notice anyone saying anything, but there were obviously some people that looked uncomfortable, and maybe even sad. But hey, what was I supposed to do about it? I was just the bartender, and if I did anything I could get fired, and maybe even sued. I'm already in debt to so many people, I don't need to be in even more debt financially. So I just sat there, quietly doing nothing. I wish I could've done something.

Soon enough, somebody got up and went in the same direction as the tough lookin dude who left during spin the bottle. He was one of the people that I noticed looked uncomfortable. He's probably a close friend of his, maybe even more. I'm glad someone could do something about it, and I'm glad that he's standing up for his friend.

Suddenly, I hear Parfait's high-pitched voice saying, "Herb, it's your turn!" I'm interested immediately. Isn't Herb the dude that Parfait has a crush on? I look out a bit more to see that Herb is sitting right next to Parfait. He's a pretty ordinary and average dude which is probably why I didn't notice him earlier. He matches Parfait's description perfectly: brown hair with streaks of green in his hair, he looks about 5'6, and he's wearing a ruffled white dress shirt with leggings and a flower crown. He also looks very unsettled though. Not gonna lie, he doesn't really seem like Parfait's type, but I can't judge. I have no taste in men, mostly because I'm straight.

I think.

Recently I've been questioning my sexuality. I've had really close relationships with men in the past, but looking back on it I'm starting to see that we acted like it was way more than a friendship. I didn't realize it then, but I was a blind idiot back then when it came to love. So yeah, questioning what I like. I don't even know my own type and now I don't even know my own sexuality, so my life's a mess right now.

"I need to go to the bathroom really quick, continue the game without me," Herb said, and then he started walking away. However, before he could leave Parfait grabbed his leg. "Oh come on, it's your turn. You can spin quickly and then go," she said. Damn, she was a needy bi- I mean girl. It's in my morals not to swear cause I'm a good boy and I'm proud of it.

"No really I-" Herb started, but then Parfait cut him off. "I don't think you're going anywhere," she said. I could see her tightening her grip because his ankle was turning a bit more red with each second. They maintained eye contact for an unbelievable amount of time. She's really needy. She scares me sometimes. She's like a yandere, ready to kill for her love.

Herb just stood there stunned for a second, and then sat back down. He just sat there with a blank expression on his face. I felt so bad for him. It seemed like he was in autopilot mode because he seemed to surprise himself when he spun the bottle. He looked like he wanted to cry. Alright, this is the second time where Parfait has been a bad person, and it's starting to make me angry. I tightened my hands into a fist. I knew I wasn't supposed to do something, but I felt obligated to do it. My body basically did it itself. I felt myself reaching for a rose in a nearby flower vase sitting on a table. I aimed for the bottle. I'm not the best at aiming, but I played outside a lot and I liked slinging rocks at my sister, so that should be good enough aiming. Who knew that would actually come in handy?

Once I lined up my shot, the bottle had already started slowing down. And so, I shot the flower, flinging it towards the empty alcohol bottle. Bullseye. The bottle shattered in a billion little pieces like a mirror, and I knew people would be looking around, so I ran. I slid into my bar and I sat there, my heart racing and beating like crazy. Was I a madman? If there were security cameras in there, they could see that I did it and I wouldn't get my pay! I started beating myself up over it. Sparkling, you're so stupid! Why would you help someone else? You just put not only you but your family at risk! But to my surprise, I didn't really care that much. I felt... proud. And thrilled. That made me laugh to myself. I saved someone else. I actually did something useful. Usually I wouldn't do anything significant. I was taught to always keep to myself and just let things play out, but I didn't tonight. And that felt good.

I spent the next few minutes just feeling proud of myself. I smiled to myself and giggled. I felt like I was going insane. I didn't even know what I was feeling anymore. I knew though that as soon as my adrenaline wears off that my common sense will kick back in and I'll feel instant regret.

Soon, people started streaming in and out of the bar. I could hear banging noises coming from the room beside the bar. Just great. I tuned them out.

Suddenly, this super drunk dude just came into the bar. He had bright red hair and his hair was very messy. He also hiccuped quite a lot. "Hey man, hic, can I get, hic, more cranberry wine, hic?" he said as he stumbled into a seat across from me. "Uhm, sure. Can I get your id?" I said, a bit skeptical that this man was drinking legally. He shuffled through his purse and pulled out his id. It read: Vampire Masuda, 21. 3/14/2001. Below it was a picture of him, and he still seemed drunk in the picture. "Okay sir, it'll be a bit of a wait okay?" I asked as politely as possible. He nodded a bit before it seemed like he passed out. It made me smile a bit, dude seemed nice.

Then another person walked in. He looked way too old for what age he probably was. "Hello, sorry for my friend here. His drink's on me. Can I get an Old Cuban Cocktail?" he asked in a customer service voice. "Sure, and don't worry about your friend. Can I have your id?" I asked. This dude was way more polite than his friend. "Sure, here you go!" he said, sitting right next to his friend and ruffling his hair. This dude's id read: Mint Robinson, 22. 5/4/2000. Like his friend's id there was a picture of him below his information. He was holding a violin and smiling politely. "You play violin?" I asked in awe. I've always loved music. He smiled, flushing, "Oh, it's not that big of a deal, but yes I do. I'm studying to get a major in Conducting and a minor in Fine Arts." "Dude, that's awesome!" I said, exclaiming a bit too loudly. He chuckled. That made me smile. Others' laughter always makes me smile and makes me feel warm inside.

Then a few familiar faces came in. It was the tough looking dude and his best friend. Both of their eyes were puffy. They sat down and I came over to them, pretending not to know what happened. "Hello gentlemen, is anything wrong?" I asked. The friend turned to me. "Oh no, everything is fine, thanks for asking. My name's Milk, and this is Yam. Say hi Yam!" he said gleefully but tired. Yam looked up, grunted, and put his head down on Milk's shoulder. "Sorry, we've had a bit of a rough night," Milk says apologetically. "Don't sweat it! I don't mind," I say.

Suddenly, someone walked in. I wasn't paying attention so I didn't get to catch who it was. "Oh hey! We were just hanging out and waiting the party out, wanna join?" Milk says to the person. "Sure," they said. "May I help you?" I chimed in.

He looked up at me and I didn't believe what I saw.