Middle Child Syndrome- Ian Gallagher

girls night out

It was another busy day at Patsy's, and I got stuck with a table full of teenage boys. On Father's Day. Weird, but oh well. 

Ian had to go to a funeral that day, and he had some unfinished business to attend to, so I probably wouldn't see him until the morning after. 

I wrote down their orders and looked at them, "I'll be right back with your drinks."

I put the order into the system and came back with the drinks.

"Hey, blondie," one of the guys said.

"Yea?"

"There's one thing we'd like to share."

"And what's that?"

"Your phone number," he said.

I raised my eyebrows and laughed nervously, "I have a boyfriend."

"Come on. He doesn't have to know."

I clicked my tongue, "Not supposed to flirt with customers, and I got a busy day. Sorry, kids."

I took another order at table nine before running into Sean.

"Hey, you ok?"

 "Yeah, just obnoxious boys bothering me," I said.

"Want me to talk to them?"

I shook my head, "Don't worry. Not my first rodeo."

As a family of three left, Fiona looked at the table and walked out after them.

"Although you might need to sort that out," I said, pointing to the door. 

I cleared one of my tables and saw Fiona and Sean walk back inside, and Fiona had a bloody lip.

"Geez, what happened to you?"

"The family didn't tip me because I was quote-unquote slow, and then I called him a fatass, and his wife decked me."

"Jesus," I said.

I brought the food over to my table with the boys.

"Enjoy!" I said before quickly going back to work as I noticed our regulars who were musicians, "Yo, Fi. Table four. Band boys!"

_____________________________________________________________

After my shift, I picked up a gift on the way home for my dad. Persephone came home a few minutes after I did and stomped upstairs in tears, leaving me mom to run after her. She came back down after a few minutes.

"What's wrong? Why's she crying?" I said.

"Boy problems," my mom said, "Carl kissed another girl in front of her, and she's really upset about it."

I also got invited to go see a band with Fiona and she told me just to wait for her at her place, so after I spent some quality time with my parents for a bit, I walked over.  

I found Carl watching TV in his wheelchair, and I took the remote and paused it. 

"Hey!" he said.

"I need to talk to you."

"What do you want?"

"Do you know that my sister likes you?" I said.

"What?"

"You heard me," I said, "It's none of my business what you do and your feelings towards her, but making out with other girls right in front of her isn't cool. You made Persephone really upset, and I don't appreciate that."

"I didn't know," Carl said flatly, "Can you put my damn show back on?"

I rolled my eyes and pressed play. Talking to boys his age was as pointless as sun tanning at night. 

I watched a bit of TV with him until the door swung open.

"It's just a haircut! Why is everyone freaking out?!" I heard Debbie say. Her naturally frizzy hair was cut much shorter, and she had some intense eye makeup on.

"It's not just the haircut!" Fiona said, following after her, "It's- you look like-

"WHAT?! I look like a what?!"

"Whoa, you look like a hooker!" Carl said, making me push his head. 

"You think?"

"That is not a compliment, Debbie!" I said. 

"From Carl? Totally is!"

"Hookers are hot," Carl said.

"See?"

"Debbie! You're a smart girl. What are you doing hanging out with whores?!" Fiona said.

"I don't know. You're a smart girl. Why are you on probation for drugs?!" Debbie shot back.

I took a deep breath. That was a low blow, Debs. 

Fiona and Debbie made up pretty quickly, and the three of us got Persephone to come out with us. It would do her good to go out.

None of us got carded, which made Debbie and Persephone feel super happy. 

"Alright, let's dance!"

We made our way to the front and started dancing. We all grooved to the beat, and as I got lost in the music, someone tapped my shoulder.

"Ryder! What are you doing here!?" I said.

"Friend's dad owns the place!" Ryder said, hugging me. 

"Oh, hey, Ryder!" Fiona said, "How's it going?"

"Great, these guys are fuckin' awesome!" he said.

Fiona went up on stage and danced with the lead guitarist for a bit while I kept an eye on the girls. The creepy guy that was trying to dance with Debbie came back, and I tried to push him away but to no avail. 

Fiona got off the stage and walked towards the guy.

"Hey! Asshole!" She punched him right in the face only for him to punch her back. The lead guitarist got involved and punched the guy. 

"Guys, let's go!" Fiona said.

The four of us including Ryder ran out. We all laughed.

"That was insane. I can't believe you just did that!" Persephone said.

As soon as we were out of reach, we stopped running. Debs and Persephone looked as giddy as ever, but Fiona looked less than pleased.

I turned to Ryder, "You didn't have to leave with us, you know."

"I know," he said, "Just wanted to make sure you're ok, that's all."

I smiled weakly at him.