Fourteen Beers at Chili's

Page 8

It takes every ounce of your strength to push the plate towards Derek. His face lights up as he reaches out to take a bite of your precious appetizer. You spent over a third of your beer budget to get it, and now you won't even receive its full bounty. Your heart breaks into pieces as you watch Derek reach out with his grubby fingers. The least he could do is use a fork.

Is it too late to snatch the plate back?

Derek pops a bite into his mouth and barely chews before swallowing. "This isn't half bad. Thanks, bro."

The fucker didn't enjoy it even half as much as you did, but he was already going in for a second bite. Your grip tightens around your fork as you resist the urge to stab him. Taking a deep breath, you try to remind yourself of all the nice things Derek has done for you over the past year as your roommate.

Even though you aren't in his frat, Derek always invites you to their house parties. Come to think of it, you aren't entirely sure why he doesn't live in the frat house. Oh, wait. Derek was evicted from the frat house after not paying his dues last semester. He'd spent all of his money on pizza and Natty, and his parents were tired of bailing him out.

There's that one time Derek brought a pledge to the dorm and made him clean the whole room, even your side. Oh, and how could you forget that he'd so politely stick a sock on the door handle when he was occupied with a co-ed? You are eternally grateful that you've never walked in on all that.

Maddie returns with another round of beers, which soothes your nerves. Her arrival distracts Derek, and you pull your plate back over to keep him from eating any more. He'd practically ravaged your poor meal. You lower your head to whisper a quiet apology to it. Luckily, nobody seems to notice your odd behavior.

"I'm getting the next couple of rounds for him," Derek says to Maddie. A wide grin tugs at his lips as he points across the table at you. "He deserves it for putting up with my dumbass all semester long."

Your heart swells with brotherly love at the generous display. That will at least partially make up for the hole you'd burned in your beer budget for buying the appetizer. You wipe a stray tear from your eye with one hand as you reach out to fist bump Derek with the other.

The next few rounds of beer are a blur of frothy deliciousness and pleasant conversation with the bros. The bro to your left, Fabien, actually works at Chili's himself! He regales you with tales of rowdy customers and back of the house antics.

"The walk-in freezer is the best place to relax after a long shift. It's totally soundproof, too. We all go in there and scream our heads off if the Karens were especially annoying that day. They always seem to have something to complain about," Fabien says.

"So you'd say the freezer is a good place to chill out?" you ask, grinning. Your dad would be proud of that joke.

Fabien snorts and playfully slaps your shoulder. "If you were any cheesier, I'd put you on some nachos and eat you up!"

You think he's flirting with you, but you can't be sure. You're confident enough in your sexuality that it doesn't bother you. Besides, it feels good to get a little attention. The most action you'd gotten that semester was when the girl who sits behind you in algebra sneezed on the back of your head. She didn't even say sorry! You wore a hat to class every day after that, just in case she did it again.

"Do you get any type of employee discount?" You try to sound casual. If you can win Fabien over, you might get some money knocked off your bill. You're not above schmoozing for a deal.

"Only on stuff I get during my shift," Fabien answers, much to your disappointment. He glances over each shoulder before leaning in close to whisper to you. "My uniform is in my locker in the break room. If you put it on, I bet you can serve yourself a few beers before anyone notices."

Looking Fabien up and down, you aren't so sure his uniform will fit you. He's a solid six inches shorter and forty pounds lighter than you. You aren't very big yourself, but Fabien is basically a twig. A strong wind would knock him over. Even so, the offer is tempting. Who knows how much beer you can throw back before you get caught?

Do you...

WEAR FABIEN'S UNIFORM (GO TO PAGE 10)

STAY AT THE TABLE (GO TO PAGE 11)

BEER COUNTER: 5