"Ready?"
"Yeah, actually. After those lessons today this will be a good break," I replied. Quinn and I were outside the bar, and we had decided that today, in addition to Charlie's, we would also pay a visit to the Zoo, the club next door. I had been there once before, so I already knew what to expect. After paying our usual entry fee and getting our IDs checked, we entered the dimly-lit area; we were very early tonight - it was only around nine-thirty - and the band hadn't arrived yet. There didn't seem to be many people in the place in general, either.
"How will we ever find a place to sit?" I remarked facetiously, and Quinn grinned.
"I know, it's so full! Might be just standing room only for us," he said in a tone of mock seriousness.
"I have to withdraw some money," I said, checking my wallet. "I only have about twenty bucks, and if we're gonna be here until midnight or later we'll run through that in no time."
"How much do you think we'll need?"
"That depends, how much do you plan on drinking?" I replied with a grin. He grinned sheepishly; Quinn was a bit short of cash tonight, and had been half-heartedly suggesting we call off the evening's plans when I had found out about his financial situation. I had offered to pay for tonight entirely; I could see that he needed another night out to kick back and relax, and money was not going to be a problem as far as I was concerned. After a little while of him protesting and my stubborn refusal, he agreed, but I could still tell he felt bad about the fact that I was going to pay for his share of alcohol tonight.
"I won't drink that much today, given... You know..." his voice trailed off.
"You'll drink as much as you want, don't let money hold you back," I said firmly. "I'll withdraw a hundred, that should be more than enough, I think."
Quinn looked horrified. "I can't make you spend $100 on me!" I laughed.
"I'm drinking tonight too, remember?" I pointed out.
"Oh, right. But still, I couldn't ask you to spend that much money on one night out!" he said, but I chose to ignore that.
"Just because I'm allotting a hundred for the night doesn't mean we have to use it all up," I said. "Better to have more and have some left over than have to keep going back to get more cash. Basically just have as many drinks as you want tonight, and don't worry about the money. I got it covered." I smiled at his unconvinced expression as I stepped towards the ATM machine. "You go ahead and get us a spot to sit at while I get the money."
"Fine, if you're gonna be so helpful with this, then I'm gonna make sure I help you tonight," he said from behind me.
I barely heard him, my attention focused on the machine as I was entering in my code. "Sounds great," I replied vaguely, still not really registering what he had said. It was only after I had turned around from the machine after withdrawing the money that his words really sank in. 'Make sure he helps me'? I didn't know what that meant. But I understood right away, as I peered around the room and found Quinn; he was sitting at one of only four tables in all of Charlie's which was already occupied. Beside him was a thin girl with long black hair and - I would guess - around two or three pounds of makeup. Across from them was a girl with blonde hair of medium length, but I couldn't see any more of her as her back was to me.
Quinn, noticing that I had spotted him, gave me the merest of winks which clearly signalled he wanted me to join the little group as well. He grinned widely as I frowned at him, we both knew that he had now managed to do what he had been trying to convince me to do last time we were here: talk to girls whom I had never met before. Of course I could avoid it, I could go sit by myself or just leave, but I knew as well as Quinn did that I wasn't about to do that. Not only would it make me look like an ass and an idiot if I sat by myself, but I wasn't going to go back on my word to Quinn to cover him for alcohol tonight. And, I reflected, he was doing all this to help me out, so I could at least try to do my bit.
