Another Alternative

Upon Us

The bar was called Upon Us. It was a strange name, but mine is the Bean and Barrel so I can't really complain. Men kept offering Mamrie drinks and we'd laugh every time she turned them down.

"This place is great, Mames." I looked at her and laughed when I saw her staring at the bartender. "Ugh. Is that why you're turning all these boys down?"

"Not at all." She pointed at him and dragged her finger until she was pointing at the performer. "Look at the expression on his face and where he's staring. I saw a look like that in my backseat today."

"Ah, I see. So do you think they're together or is it one-sided?" I asked as I downed the last of my drink.

"Let's find out." Mamrie grabbed my hand and we walked over to the blonde behind the bar.

"What'll it be ladies?" He smiled brilliantly and we raised our eyebrows in unison at how quickly he snapped out of the googly-eyes.

"We were just curious to find out what's going on with out and Pretty Eyes up on stage." I had forgotten how suave Mamrie could be. The bartender's eyes widened for a hot second but he regained his composure.

"I'm not sure what you mean." He looked down at the bar and continued wiping it.

"Look, no judgement here, buddy. We're just wondering. You've been staring at him since we got here." I glanced at the performer and noticed the lyrics for a moment. My happy little pill take me away dry my eyes bring color to my skies my sweet little pill take my hunger but within numb my skin

"There's nothing going on with me and Troye." He looked at the performer, who now had a name, and his face fell a bit.

"But you want there to be?" Grace leaned towards him, biting her lip slightly. God she's beautiful, I thought.

"You can't tell anyone." The bartender looked back at us. "Yeah. I really do. But it doesn't matter what I want. It's impossible."

I looked over at Troye and noticed how he stared at the bartender for more than a moment.

"Not as impossible as you think, dude." Grace said, as if reading my mind. "Look at him. He's just as smitten as you."

"You really think so?" He was suddenly very happy. Almost giddy. "I mean I thought maybe but my head told me never in a million years. And I nearly told my best friend to get her opinion but- I'm sorry. I'm rambling. I've been so focused on keeping this secret that I never introduced myself. Hi, I'm Tyler."

"Grace." Grace shook Tyler's hand. "This is Mamrie and Hannah. We're your new best friends."