finals; phan

Teenagers

-Chapter 2 (unedited)

'they're gonna clean up your looks

with all the lies in the books

to make a citizen out of you

because they sleep with a gun

and keep an eye on you son

so they can watch all the things you do'

"Hi, my name is Dan. What can I get you?" the bartender says, a rather bored and impatient expression growing on his face as he awaits my response, which does take a while to come up.

I study the boy in front of me, with what I can feel is an edge of confusion as I do. He looked a little younger than me, maybe a year or so, which is what made me wonder why he was allowed to be at a bar, let alone work there. He had a brown side fringe, and the same colour eyes. There was something else about him, though. Something else I couldn't quite put my finger on.

"Well? Are you going to get anything or are you just going to stand there creepily staring at me like I have a placenta growing out of my ear?" he said, pulling me back to reality.

"What? Oh, I'll just get a glass of water, thank you," I reply, trying to hide my face from embarrassment. What was I doing? Wasn't I supposed to get an actual drink, like the others? Why did I just get water?

"Hmph," Dan grumbled, walking to the back of the bar to get my water.

He comes back half a minute later and gently places my glass in front of me, and I sit down on one of the bar seats.

"So," I say awkwardly, trying to start a conversation while I slowly sipped my water.

"Oh, you're one of those people,"

"What?"

"You're one of those people, those annoying ones who try to make small talk with the clearly uninterested worker," he bluntly explains. What bad impression have I already given? I could already hear the saltiness in his voice, and I sure as hell wasn't going to tolerate it. But I didn't know what to do about it either.

"Jeez, must've woken up on the wrong side of the bed. Or maybe his dog might've died, you never know," I muttered under my breath, intending for him not to hear, but somehow, even in this strangely crowded bar, he picked up on it.

"You're right, you don't know. Now leave me alone," he says, walking away to tend to someone else.

"Wait!" I yell, still curious as to how he's allowed to work here.

"What? I'm trying to work!"

"I just have one question - bear with me, but how are you allowed to work here? You look like you're, like, sixteen or something," I blurt, immediately regretting it as I do.

"That's because I am, and it's my dad's bar. Now piss off."

I get off my seat, and walk towards Pj, when I trip on air and hit something really hard.

"Oy, mate! Watch where you're going, or I'll give yer' a pounding!" I looked up to see a huge, burly man filled with piercings and tattoos.

Crap.

Not again.

"Uhh, sorry dude, but look, I gotta run, I need to—"

"Nobody runs into me and get's away with it! You're gonna regret you even stepped foot in this place!" he roared, picking me up by my shirt collar, spit flying in my face. It was gross.

"Look, I'm sorry, but I really need to—"

"Dane, let him go. He's a good kid," a voice speaks up from behind me, which I can already recognise as Dan's.

"Whatever you say, Danny boy. Just don't let him get in my way," he grumbles, dropping me on the floor while in midair.

I pick myself off of the ground, and turn around to say thank you, but he had already left.

What a shame, he was kind of cute.

I loitered around a little more, just to make sure that 'Dane' won't come back (and to see if Dan will come back and we'll run into the nonexistent sunset together) and made my way to Chris, which by the looks of it, was already wasted.

"Hey, Phillyyyyyy! Have you...have you picked up any girls yet. Or guyssss...I don't know what you're intooo," Chris slurs, his figure very wobbly, while walking toward me.

"Uh, no, Chris. Are you already drunk? We haven't even been here for an hour, yet!" I say, slightly disappointed, but even more concerned for his well being. I know how he gets when he's drunk.

"Yessss, Philly join meee!" he grins, pulling me towards him, "Loosen up, that's why we took you here!"

"Um, no thanks, I'm going to go find Peej, instead..."

"Fine then, suit yourself," he mumbles, and gestures to one of the bartenders for another drink.

I search the room to find Pj, and find him with some guy that I can't see the face of.

"Hey, Phil! Come over here!" he gestures for me to come forward.

"Phil, Dan, Dan, Phil," he explains.

"Yeah, we've already met. He was the one who ran into Dane," Dan says, his eyes from excited ones before I came, to a bored one.

"Yeah..." I reply, still standing awkwardly between them.

"Sit down, I'll get some drinks, since Dan's shift is over."

//song of the chapter - teenagers by my chemical romance//