How Not To Be A Groupie

Chapter Thirty Two: Big Brother Mal

I should have known we would stop at a bar. It was a little rundown place in a...for lack of a better term, sketchy part of town. The paint was peeling on the walls and the owners didn't bother to get rid of the flies that had wandered in. And believe me, there were plenty of them swarming abandoned drinks on the tables. 

And what looked like vomit.

I stayed close to Malcolm. He was the closest thing I had to familiarity. He seemed to know exactly where he was going and led me around. I clutched my notebook to my chest. This would most likely end up as more good material for my book. So why was I so scared?

I love rundown places like this. I love the look and the atmosphere. My hometown even has a sort of dumpy look to it and I adore it. Maybe my anxiety was working overtime. That's the funny thing about anxiety. You're in no danger. Logically, you know nothing bad is going to happen. But it doesn't stop your brain from sending signals to your body to physically react. Pounding heart, sweaty palms, even trembling. 

"Hey, you alright?" Malcolm asked. I glanced at him then looked away. 

"Fine," I said. 

"You an' Ang think you're real slick," he said, attempting to make me smile. "Ya' know I'm smarter than that."

He was. But I kept my eyes away from him, hoping he'd change the subject. After all, I didn't know what was wrong myself! Luckily some voices from the bar had caught his attention.

"Hey, Mal!" There were two men waving at us. Malcolm nodded at them.

"There they are," Malcolm said. "Come on." I followed him up to the counter where the men eagerly greeted their friend. They were both rather taller than Malcolm but it was hard to tell since they were sitting down. "See you've already got started?"

There were a couple mugs of beer almost empty on the counter. "You'll catch up," one of them said before looking over at me. I looked down at the floor. "Who's this?"

Malcolm wrapped an arm around me before I could run away. "This is Hannah, friend of mine." I admit, it was pretty exciting for him to call me a friend. After all, I was still a fangirl at heart. "She's here to have a good time an' have fun."

The two men looked awfully happy at the sound of that. I wished Malcolm had worded that a bit differently. Because whatever these men considered to be "fun" I was most likely allergic to.

Like alcohol and casual sex.

"Glad to have you along," the other man said holding out his hand. I shook it and then the other's. One of them had dark brown hair cut short and the other had longer blond hair. I couldn't see their eye color in this light but that didn't matter. They both had a similar boyishly handsome look. But Malcolm was still better. 

"Here, give us a couple more," the blond man said. The bartender set down a mug he was drying and grabbed a couple of bottles from behind the counter. 

"Wait, Hannah doesn't drink," Malcolm said. The men eyed me. 

"That right?" one asked. "Alright, uh....just the one then."

"Ya' got water or somethin'?" Malcolm asked the bartender. The man grabbed a small glass and turned on a sink. The sink was filled with dirty glasses and steins. There was a fly. Filling the glass with tap water he shut the sink off and slid the glass in our direction. "Eh...thanks, mate."

"Drink up, then," the brunet said cheerfully. I peered down into the glass and looked at the black water sloshing around. It was only black due to the dim lighting but even then it was ominous. Either my mind was playing tricks on me, or there was something floating in it. Malcolm caught the mug of beer the bartender slid in his direction, the amber liquid overflowing and spilling all over the counter. Malcolm had no qualms about "drinking up" so I followed his lead.