Red Flag

Chapter seven

I sat on a stool by the bar at this place I had found called Molly's, currently listening to my mom cuss me out over the phone once she was let in on my latest decision.

"Yeah well, I did it okay? And you know what?! I'm happy that I did, maybe I'll go jump of a cliff or-or get high with homeless men by a barrel set on fire" I told my mother over the phone.

"You're unbelievable Ryan Evans, you're taking a flight tomorrow morning and you're coming back home to get a job" Mom yelled at me

"Like hell I am! Why can't you be more supportive, like dad?! He was happy with my decision!" I retorted.

"You did not just say that to me young lady!-"

"Sorry, what? I can't hear you, you're breaking up mom! Pshhhh shhhhhh b-
b-y-yyy-e-e!" And with that I hung up, slamming the phone onto the bar.

"You look like you need a drink" the man behind the bar told me, watching as I rubbed my forehead in exhaustion.

"More like 5" I smiled at him "Whiskey and Coke please" I said putting my hands down.

"On it" and with that he started making my drink while talking to another old man, who was sat like four stools away from me.

"Everything alright over here?" A young man, about my age, asked sitting down next to me with a smile, a beer in his hand. "I'd offer you a hug but I'm a stranger so it would be weird" he joked.

"And I would accept it but you're a stranger so it would be weird" I said giving him playful side eye with a smirk.

"Blake Gallo" he said picking his head up after laughing cutely at my comment, putting a hand out for me.

"Ryan Evans" I said bringing my hand up, the boy grabbed it gently and kissed the back of it like a total gentleman.

"Now we're not strangers anymore" he said with a smile.

"That's exactly what Pennywise told Georgie before eating him alive, and I need a few more drinks before I get to a hugging state" I told him and right then my drink arrived.

"Whiskey and Coke for the young lady who just got scolded by mom" the bartender told Blake while placing my drink on a napkin in front of me.

"In that case, I got this one Hermann" the brown eyed boy said pulling out his wallet.

"Don't let his smile trick you, he just wants to eat your arm" the blue eyed man told me with a wink

"Don't worry, I'm a loser" I whispered loud enough for Blake to hear as well.

"Stephen King references, she's a keeper" the man told Gallo before walking away.

"You..know him?" I asked pointing at the gray haired man.

"We work together" Blake said simply.

"You work here?" I was lost.

"No, I'm a fire fighter. All of us are, well not the people who don't look like they are, they're just here because they like the place" he said and I laughed at his weird clarification.

"That's so cool, you know? I wanted to be a fire fighter as a kid but I was always so skinny I gave up, I couldn't even lift a hose with this noodle arms" I told him wiggling my arms

"Well, you could totally try if you want. Stella, over there?" He pointed at the brown haired girl behind the other end of the bar "runs a program for girls who want to be fire fighters, I can help you train if you want and with her program you'll be passing the exam in no time" he told me, hyping up the woman's program.