We all head into the Keel-Bridge together, and we all sit at the counter, a small pack of fans slowly recognizing our presence—many I vaguely recognized as the remnants of the moshpit we had left in our wake-and surrounding us as we order our drinks.

“I’ll take one of… whatever Teller’s having, thanks.” I didn’t know much about alcohol, and I figured Teller would be the lightest drinker here.

“I think I’ll be taking one of the… Black Flag rum, yeah.”

“My, my, Teller’s reaching for the hard shit from the start!” Felch adjusted his hat.

“Looks like our boy’s knuckling up!” Nork let out a hearty laugh, like I’d expect a sailor to after hearing a half-decent joke. I move my eyes over to Sard, and realize that he doesn’t seem to be paying as much attention to us as he is to a pair of blond girls further down the bar from us, conspicuously unaccompanied by anything resembling boyfriends. I turn my sights back to the others, as they get handed their drinks and realize that I had inadvertently ordered rum. I didn’t know much about alcohol, but I was under the impression that rum was among the more powerful drinks, up there with vodka, and enjoyed chiefly by hard men such as sailors and pirates. The liquid was of a brownish hue.

I watch Teller take a swig of his own rum, as he leans back and then shakes his head. “WHOOH! That taste is… nuts.” Looking dubiously at my own rum, I cautiously sip it, and find a shockingly sophisticated flavor profile with a strong caramel-like foundation, almost too strong for my liking. I shiver as I let it hit me. Teller then looks over to me. “First time?”

I nod before staring back at the brown beast in the glass. “Yeah, I guess you could say that. Didn’t have many friends back home, so I never really got into the deep end of drinking. Not exactly the most comfortable introduction...” I sigh, picking up the drink and downing a fifth of the glass in one go. The taste was almost overwhelming again, but I knew what to expect this time and swallow it with more ease-though it was definitely not a good idea as I slam my fist on the counter, fighting the urge to hurl it back up. How the hell did a fifth of a glass do this much to me?

Teller chuckles. “God, ain’t that one hell of an experience?” I let out a light chuckle as I finally keep the rum down, and commit myself to focusing on pacing myself as I hear one of the fans get closer-they’ve clearly had a few drinks, judging by their demeanor.

“Heeeeyyy, man, that was a hell of a show you lot put on there! Especially the female, she’s pretty cool!”

“Oh, who, her? Yeah, she’s new to Dirty Diamond. Doesn’t even have a proper stage name yet.”

“She’s still super cool, can I, like, have her number?”

“No.” I sharply interject, not even turning around to dignify his inquiry. My eyes turn back to where Sard was, to find that he’s now sitting next to the two blonds I noticed earlier, trying to chat them up with limited success. I focus on watching him, morbidly curious at how strong his charisma really shined.

Nork looked behind him, finally seeing the small crowd of fans gawking at us, as his eyes almost literally light up, and piped up; “Holy hell, we have actual fans! If this holds up, we might just be real rock stars!”

“Well, it’s not like we’ve been working at this for over 6 months or anything...” Felch sighed, resting an elbow on the table. “Still, it’s nice to have some recognition.” I catch him smile almost smugly as he readjusts his hat.

“I mean, maybe if we write some shit of our own, but lyrically everything Sard’s ever put together is kinda bad, and Nork’s writing is even cornier.”

“At least my writing’s actually funny, unlike his.” Nork takes another drag at his beer.

“Can’t say I’m any better at writing, gentlemen, but speaking of being real rock stars...” A smile spreads over my face as I point over at Sard, who at this point appeared to not actually be having much luck with the girls. “This guy thinks he’s already hot shit, angling for a threesome.” It was the most juvenile thing I think I’ve ever said, but after drinking some rum, I was doing a much worse job of thinking before speaking. This line gets a serious laugh out of the others, and I admit I had to laugh as well. I could catch Sard looking towards us briefly, before looking back to the girls he was talking to.

As the night goes on I realize I’ve downed three whole glasses of rum, by the time of the third glass I’ve worked my way up to being able to take on a quarter of a glass without flinching too much. I’m actually starting to like this Black Flag stuff. Another thing I take note of is that with each drag my nerves loosen more and I over-analyze less.

“Alright, my tab’s up, how about you?” Felch crosses his arms, leaning into the counter to get an angle on the rest of us.

“My tab isn’t quite up, but I should probably just stop now.”

“I feel like you should’ve stopped a pint ago, my guy.” Teller chuckled, slapping a hand onto Nork’s shoulder.

“Ahh, one minute guys.” I lean over the counter, flagging a barkeep over. The barkeep wore a tied handkerchief around their neck, and a dress shirt that gave them a charming blue-collar aesthetic. “Do I have enough left over on my tab for a bottle of that Black Flag shit? Like, to go?”

He picks up a sheet of paper hidden from my view, looking at it. “You’d need another $12 to cover the difference.”

“Say no more.” I pull out the money from my wallet, pushing it over the counter. He fetches a bottle off the shelf for me, and I grab it. I look back over to Sard, and though I don’t have a concrete reason why, I think he’s getting a little pushy with the girls. “Teller, hold my Flag. I’m gonna get Sard out of here.”

He takes the bottle from my hands. “Damn, Teller, you got her hooked on the good shit, how could you!?” I hear a laugh from all three of the other band members as I walk off to Sard, putting a hand on his shoulder.

“Hey, enough chasing girls, we’re headed out.”

He snaps his vision over to me, frowning. “None of your business, I’m my own man!”

I still knew, even as tipsy as I was, that getting physical with Sard was probably a bad idea, but with the influence of liquid courage, I went for it, grabbing his vest and pulling him closer. “Didn’t you say you were the party face? You chasing after girls like a thirsty little shit makes the rest of us look bad.” Just past Sard, I see two men emerge from the bathroom, and I see their vision immediately snap to the girls-and us. “And, I think their boyfriends just came out of the bathroom.” I muster up the most near-psychotic smile I can manage, but inside I could barely keep a straight face, not entirely believing my own guess. Regardless of how convincing I felt, Sard clearly takes the hint as a look of muted panic comes over him. “Better run, Sard.” I help him out of his stool and walk him to the door where he leaves with the rest of the band as I turn around to find the two men from before right behind us.

I make a split-second decision and stand in the doorway, slipping a hand into my pocket. “Looking for someone, gentlemen?”

They look to each other, clearly confused and unsure what to do with a woman blocking their way. I’m sure they would’ve just shoved me aside without blinking if I was just some scrawny dude. “Thought so.” I walk out the door, meeting up with the band as they walked down the street.

I take my Black Flag back from Teller. “Good save, June. Seriously.” Felch tilts his head over to me.

“Well, I just felt charitable-and a little drunk, if we’re being completely honest.” The rest of the gang laughs, even Sard. “Anyway, I’m gonna scram, boys, see ya.” They wave to me as I go my own way.

Back at the dormitory, I enter my section, setting the bottle down and staring at the clock. 11:23 PM. A thought hits me, like a bullet sent straight from the dark. I can’t seem to remember the last time I was ever able to just hang out with a nice, big group of friends like that, much less drink rum and be cheered on by an entire crowd. What’s even more troubling was that I was practically a different person after drinking-would I have had friends if I was just… different in my conduct? What’s left of my inebriation manages to take the edge off the mixed pangs of loneliness and sorrow I felt before I finally went to sleep that night.