F!ckings of a Pretty Boy ; sidemen

6) Fight me

"Well you're missing out. This restaurant has great IPA." Josh informed.

"Then I'll be sure to order it next time."

"By the way, is it just me or is our waitress hot?" Josh whispered leaning across the table.

"Sure. I'm not really into tall women." Ethan shrugged, pulling out his phone. Strangers passing by giggled to each other and shouted over whatever crazy rumor they were chattering about. Others told stories of the difficult tests they had that week they were out celebrating was over. Josh tapped his fingers on the metal table to fill the gap in their conversation.

"Do you know if there's any parties tonight?" Josh spoke up. Ethan's eyes looked around as he thought for a moment.

"We could swing by D Chi (*a frat) and see what they're up to." he suggested.

"You know someone there?"

"Yeah, his name is Cal."

So once they were full of pizza, and Josh was full of beer, they made the walk to the neighborhood behind the downtown part of campus. Past the rows of restaurants, shops, and apartment buildings, was a quiet neighborhood. Well quiet except on the weekends. It was filled with fraternity houses in the center. There was nothing quiet about those. On the edges of "frat row", so it was called, was Delta Chi. It is a massive stone house with architecture from the late 1800's. Off the bat Ethan spotted his friend Cal who was standing on the steps of the entrance staircase. Seeing Ethan knew Cal, the two guys standing either side of the entrance presumed Josh knew their brother as well.

Josh walked in with no issue. Straight away he looked for where the "bar" was. It was located in the crummy, stuffy basement that was packed wall to wall with people. It reeked of body odor. Quickly he adjusted to the smell and deafening bass booming. He took a couple shots of Bacardi before pouring a cup full to carry around. Josh left the basement and ventured around the expansive interior. Along his wandering, he stumbled across a balcony that surprisingly was not overcrowded. Josh decided this is where he would chill for a bit. That is, until he spotted JJ.

"What are you doing here?" Josh insinuated something was wrong about that.

"Drinking? Why do you say that like I'm not supposed to be here?" JJ queried.

" 'Cause I wasn't expecting to see you."

"Okay." he said still confused. Josh continued to intensively stare him down. JJ mocked, "Got a problem with me daddy's boy?"

"Cute nickname. Did you come up with that one on your own?"

"Did you make any friends on your own?" JJ quipped.

"Yes. What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"God you're dense. You know you wouldn't have any social standing if it weren't for the brand names on your jacket and the rocks on your fingers." JJ nagged and poked at him. Josh showed him a snarky smile.

"Don't be jealous 'cause I've got a fat bank account." Josh retorted with his back turned. He started to walk away. JJ scoffed at him before crying out,

"I hope that bank account hugs you like your daddy never would!"

Perhaps coming to a frat party wasn't such a bright idea. It always seems to bring out the worst in people. Josh was buzzed enough to go to sleep now. He was ready to leave but not without Ethan. Not once had Josh seen him since they entered a half hour ago. With one hand Josh typed out,

> where r u

Sending...

"Ugh, fucking send!"

Sent.

Fifteen minutes went by and there was no response. It didn't even show that the message was read. Josh was going to have to find him on his own. The lack of response was unlikely to be a sign of anything good. Although, Josh's definition of good was alive and/or uninjured. It was easiest to start outside so that's where he went first.

A few people milled around on the lawn and a few more on the porch. To the side some commotion could be heard echoing from the driveway. Curious, Josh wandered over. A bunch of cars and trucks, parked in a configuration so that no one could back out, blockaded a group of ten or so boys all circled around. In the center was some tall, semi-buff guy pinning - none other than - Ethan face first against the big, black truck.

Ethan donkey kicked him in the knee, giving the pinned boy enough room to face himself frontward again. Their hands met mid-air stopping them in the middle. They just stood there pushing against each other like two bucks with their antlers stuck. A snarl squeezed its way through Ethan's gritting teeth. He broke the standstill first by trying to get a cheap shot in. That's when the punches flew until they were both knocked to the ground by each other. Josh continued to drink out of his red solo cup as they scrambled around on the floor. The rest of the group hooted and hollered. A couple guys even had their phones out to film it.

"Time!" Someone shouted, holding up their phone with a stopwatch displaying 60.102 seconds on it. "Okay stop!" A number a guys huddled around the two brutes wrestling to pull them apart. Another guy with pink hair parted in the middle stood in between to keep them distanced.

"James? Decision?" he asked. The man named James simply pointed to the tall guy.

"WOOOOOO!"

"Fuck!" Ethan spat. All the guys started crowding around each other to exchange what could only be assumed to be bets. Ethan stomped over to Josh who was still waiting for him. "It's because he had me pinned for so long. Goddammit." He rolled his left shoulder back and forth.

"Got your phone?" Josh reminded him. Ethan nodded. "Maybe coming over wasn't a good idea. Should've just gone home and watched Netflix."

"Wanna do that anyway?"

"Hell yeah."