Brennan clapped him on the shoulder. As an only child, the complexities of sibling relationships was something he’d never fully grasp.
“Cliff will be all right, Alex. He loves you. You guys are going to tear it up.”
Extroverts like Alex always had trouble understanding people like Cliff, like they were an alien species. But he knew Alex loved his brother, so he wasn’t worried.
The server returned with round three of margaritas. Brennan poured them each a refill, not trusting Alex to hold the pitcher steady. Soon, the conversation turned to doing an inventory check of people from high school.
“Did you hear Laura Jensen and Dave Lott broke up?” Alex laughed at the punchline in his head. Brennan forgot what a giggly drunk he was. One of the few things Brennan’s parents had given him was a strong tolerance for tequila.
“Weren’t they always making out in the halls?” Brennan never understood how people could be horny that early in the morning.
“He’s now dating this girl from Brazil. Her family is loaded. Oh, and Grace Hyser apparently dropped out of college.”
“Who was she again?”
“Oh, maybe you didn’t have any classes with her. We were on student council together. She was super conservative and churchy. Apparently, she had too much fun at college and flunked out. It’s always the quiet ones.”
Brennan nodded along with feigned interest. He was mostly checked out of his high school’s social scene, save for the small subset of kids also into artsy shit like him. Alex was the popular one, floating between different cliques with ease. Their friendship was forged in fifth grade when Brennan moved to town and sat across from him in class. They passed notes and doodles and bonded over funny videos on YouTube. Despite their social lives evolving in wildly different directions, their friendship managed to remain strong. Brennan was grateful to have a guy like Alex in his life since the majority of people he was supposed to be close with treated him like an afterthought.
Alex asked if he wanted to play darts at the bar. Brennan remembered that he liked to be active when he was sloshed. He carried their newly filled pitcher and glasses to the dartboard area and rested them on a high-top.
“I don’t actually know how to play darts.”
“Don’t you just throw them?” Alex asked, as if it were that simple. Maybe everything was that simple for him.
“There’s scoring and points and shit.”
“Meh.” Alex scooped up the darts and handed half to Brennan. He threw the first one, and despite his inebriated state, it landed surprisingly close to the bullseye.
“Are you hustling me?” Brennan asked, as Alex lined up his next shot.
“You wish.” Alex’s next two shots barely managed to stay on the board. “How are your folks?”
Brennan knew this question was coming. Alex had enough manners to ask. He searched his brain for a positive answer.
“Oh, they’re good,” he said in a sing-songy way. “My dad and his new wife and kids are going strong last time I checked. He still loves Arizona, even when it gets to 110 degrees.”
“Did he marry someone new?”
“No, no,” Brennan backtracked. “Same wife and kids. And my mom is still working at the salon; she and her boyfriend and her step kids are taking an Alaskan cruise this Thanksgiving.”
“Alaskan cruises are the best. I had so much fun on mine.”
“Yeah.” Brennan gulped. Too bad he wasn’t invited on this one.
His parents split when he was ten, right before he moved and met Alex. Going to Alex’s house after school was a balm away from the fighting and the constant shuttling between parents. They eventually met and married new people and had new families. Brennan was caught in the middle, the living reminder of a time in their lives they wanted to forget.
“I’m glad to hear they’re doing well.” Alex picked up his darts from the board. To him, everything worked out great. It was hard for someone like him to see the cracks in the world. “Your turn.”
Brennan got into position and lined up his shot. His competitive side came out at the strangest times. He managed a tight cluster just north of the bullseye, but it wasn’t like they were keeping score.
“Damn. Have you been practicing?” Alex got up close to the board and studied the positions. “I still remember in gym class when you got the bullseye in archery on your first try.”
“That was pure luck.”
“Sure, sure. I think you’re secretly a jock.”
Brennan cocked an eyebrow at the dubious claim. “How do you even remember that? When was that, tenth grade?”
