Toddlers Until Teenagers

Chapter 52

ALEX's POV

   A WEEK BEFORE

"And then, I was like, what?" Wes threw his head back and laughed, but to me, it looked like a blur of blonde hair. I laugh along, and so does Matt.

"Guys, guys, there was once this woman named Chloe. Man, was she hot. And then one day I was like-" Matt starts off his story about one night stands about clingy yet hot women. I doze off, sipping my beer with ease. This is the life.

Around the bar, there aren't many people. It is a Friday night, but we got to the bar earlier than expected. Only a couple of boys and girls around our age sip drinks and some look reasonably wealthy, while others look as middle class as us. There are some middle aged men, too, sipping drinks or just sitting around in the dimly lit bar. It's not much fun here. Mature, older people, with mature, older lifestyles. We just stopped by because it was only a couple of the bars left that we didn't go to. The plush green cushioning and the brown and red homey style, with a restaurant attached really told us that we were the only ones laughing every second and drinking heavily out of the expensive bottles.

Drinking and playing around with women. Getting what you want at Wal-Mart because hot men get what they want. Living the life. That's what it is, even though we aren't businessmen and we sure as hell don't have expensive apartments or flashy cars. We use have each other and our small yet well paying jobs, which are the only things we can keep.

"Then she said, oh, why don't we, Matty? And since that phrase I realized how clingy she would be." Matt places his drink down, and looks around as the laughter dies down from us three.

"Guys, this bar is no fun. Why is New York no fun right now? I moved here for a reason, hello. Let's call it quits." Wes says all of our thoughts aloud and we both nod in agreement, finishing our drinks, paying them off, and pushing the glass doors out into the night. It's warm. It's early. It's New York City, baby.

The sun is about to set down, soon, and as we walk back to the familiar parking lot of the plaza that has expensive and polished looking pharmacies and gift shops, we easily can tell we aren't coming back here anytime soon, not to mention it's way out of town.

As soon as we settle into the car, our belts are buckled and the driver sets off. Aka, the one and only, Parker Hilroy. My other close friend. He's the best. He's part of our inner circle of the guys who live in that one apartment near the city. The guys who get the girls. But the only difference is, he actually has a pretty stable job and is only here for this month as he's the owner of a restaurant business in Austria.

"So, where to now? Want to go grab a bite?" He asks, and I bite my lip, deep in thought.

   "Sounds good to me." And so we do.

   ***

PRESENT DAY

       I place the colorful and cheap menu back onto the wobbly table, pushing my chair back and mentioning to my friends that I'd be back in a second as I searched for a restroom. Another thing about being in a new city.

   The sounds that I head are a lot of voices that emerge together, joined with laughter in the small, crammed fast food chain sitting at the edge of a beach. "Excuse me, where is the restroom?" I ask a man in a blue uniform behind the small counter that displayed menus and the cash registers.

   "Right this way," he ushers to the small hallway beside the counter, and I mentally slap myself for being blind and oblivious to the big label right by my face.

   After doing my stuff in the tiny and only stall, I wash my hands with the lemon hand wash and walk back out. A bunch of burgers and fries are set on our table, and Wes is digging in.