Fun with Friends

         The shifter slid into first gear with a pop and I let off the clutch, jerking the car forward. This was definately not my Mustang. Randy, my best friend, was sitting in the back seat smoking a cigarette. On the other hand, Randy's friend Chris was sitting in the front passenger's seat quietly. The clock read 2:36 a.m. I was tired.
 
         We were leaving the dance club after five hours of drinking, dancing, talking, mingling, laughing and causing general mischief. It was amazing how Randy and I clicked back into the pattern of our friendship after not seeing each other for over a year. It felt like he had never left.
 
         The evening began with a phone call. It was about 9:00 p.m. and Randy asked me if I was doing anything. I, of course, said no. We had been talking about going out on Tuesday for some time, so it came as no suprise to my girlfriend Rebecca when I told her that Randy wanted me to go out dancing with him.
 
         Randy showed up a half an hour later in his Suzuki Samurai with Chris in the passenger seat. As he retracted his very bulky person from his small car, I shouted from the third floor balcony of my apartment "hey you putz, is that how you're dressing tonight?" He was dressed in a flannel shirt, blue jeans and white sneakers; then again, so was I.
 
         The first thing we did as we walked into the club was order drinks. Coors lights were only 25 cents a draft. Whoah, we were going to get hammered tonight. We proceeded to order twelve, that was only four each.
 
         As we gravitated toward our seats. Randy spotted his first "victim," a blond wearing light jeans and a chest hugging black shirt. Her name turned out to be Angie. Randy talked to her for a while, leaving Chris and I to have a conversation about him. "Who would have thought that the Randy we knew in High School would turn out to be such a partier," Chris said between beers. Admittedly, Randy was slightly "geeky" in school, but he was a good friend to have. If you noticed him, you would see he was the chubby kid with acne. But to those of us that got to know him, he was Randy: the good friend, the person that always listened, the one that heckled us when we were being dumb and my best friend. Now he was tall, barrel-chested, thickly muscled, short brown haired and ready with a quick smile.
 
         After conversing with Angie, Randy sauntered back to the table. She had promised to dance with him later.
 
         "Have you two finished your beers already! I guess I'll have to buy this round," Randy exclaimed as he reached for his wallet. The brunette waitress took his order with a smile as he sat down next to us.
 
         "Man, this feels good. We haven't done this for a while, have we?" Randy asked me.
 
         "Yeah, the last time we did this we got hooked up with those two loosers Jennifer and Faedra!" I shot back.
 
         "Speak not the name of the evil ones. With our luck, they would probably show up as if summoned!"
 
         "Ouch, subject dropped!" I said with a chuckle.
 
         The waitress showed up shortly after our banter, with our beers. Randy and Chris sat in silence, slowly scanning the crowd for someone to catch their eye. There was quite a conglomeration of people that I remembered from High school. I could tell when Randy had found someone, because of the slight nod he would give in their direction. That was his signal for me to check them out.
 
         "Wow! Look at her butt. That is the most curvaceous butt I have ever seen!" he exclaimed as he gestured towards a blond in blue jeans and a flannel shirt walking in our direction.
 
         "I'll buy you a beer if you go up and tell her that." I said jokingly to goad him.
 
         "I'll buy you a shot of Tequilla if you do it!" piped in Chris.
 
         "Really? Well then, I think I must actually tell her this." he said as he left his stool and started walking towards her.
 
         Chris and I both watched as he walked up and began speaking to her. I could see by her shocked expression and her friend's amused chuckling that he had indeed recounted his opinion of her butt. I couldn't help but let out a laugh as I watched this scene develop. I couldn't believe that he was actually doing this.
 
          He had a huge grin on his face as he walked back toward us. Well, there went 25 cents. Oh well, it was worth it. The blond had turned around and headed in the opposite direction of us, obviously not interested in the blunt and direct approach. The night was young, as were we.
 
Fun with Friends
by Dave Powell

This was a fun exercise in using Narrative writing skills. I was very happy with the piece and it brings back some fond memories I have spending time with my best friend Randy.