The Ties That Bind

Chapter 21

Chapter 21

     It was late when everyone left the library; with the semester in full swing, there was a lot more homework, and more project assignments that had to be done. The friends were all stressed and hungry after the long study session.

     "Why don't we head over to Patrick's Place and grab a bite to eat?" Lennox suggested when his stomach growled loud enough for all the friends to hear. Patrick's Place was a small bar and grill that served cheap, greasy food and beer. They didn't check ID's unless you tried to order alcohol - they were strict about not selling to underage students. The ambiance at Patrick's Place was often loud and entertaining. The food wasn't that great, but it wasn't terrible either - it was both edible, and cheap, which made it the perfect place for a relaxing night out with friends.

     "Any objectors speak now or forever hold your peace. Patrick's it is then." Lennox declared, without waiting for any objectors. "Who wants to ride with me and Lars?"

     "I do!" Penny called dibs before the others could say anything. "Lover boys can ride with Davy and Bernice in the squish mobile, I'll finally be able to ride in style and comfort for a change."

     "Hey! My car's not that bad," Davy objected to Penny maligning his car.

     "Bernice, tell your friend she'd better not be asking me to ferry her around anymore when she needs a ride." He pretended the girl wasn't standing right there, talking through his girlfriend who, in turn, ignored the both of them.

     "I'm not getting involved." She declared, turning back to Luke and continuing their conversation as they walked over to Davy's car joking about their friend's antics.

     For a Friday night, Patrick's was not very crowded when they arrived. They placed their orders with the bored waiter manning the counter and then took a table in the back corner where it wouldn't be quite as loud to wait for their meals to be ready. Their order numbers would be displayed on an LED display screen above the bar when they were ready to pick up because usually the noise was too great to hear anybody calling out the numbers.

     While they waited, they listened to a few people singing Karaoke up in front of the eating area on a small stage. The boy singing, badly, at the moment was slightly tipsy and had trouble reading the words on the machine. His friends at another table were making fun of him, hooting and hollering, egging him on, but that didn't faze him; he was having fun and that was all that mattered - he kept on singing until the song ended when he staggered back over to his friends, who were still laughing at him. 

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     Lennox finished eating before everybody else and stated that he was going to go up and show all those 'amateurs how it was done'. He marched up to the front, picked a song and began to sing "Dancing on My Own". He was better than most of the other people who'd been singing while they ate their greasy dinners.

     "Your brother's pretty good. I like it." Penny told Larsen, then she turned to Kasden. "Kas, you have to go sing me something. I haven't heard you sing for too long. Will you sing Beautiful Mess for me, please? Please, please, please, pretty please? You know it's my favorite song and if you sing it for me, I'll love you forever and ever, I promise!"

     "He's already taken, Penny." Luke glared playfully at his friend. "If you keep trying to steal my boyfriend, I won't help you with your history papers anymore."