Life Ain't A Fairy Tale by Miguel Rivera

very used to. To be honest, there was a part of me that felt
bad about being a loner. However, there was another part of me that
enjoyed having no one around. I felt like a rebel that didn't need
friends to be happy. My video games and the love of my parents were
my true happiness. Often, I felt relief when I sat alone because I
did not feel the pressure and anxiety to impress anyone.
    There were two girls I knew from my middle
school that sat with me. Back then; I was a very shy person who
spoke very little. My shyness was confused with arrogance, but I
was scared of saying something that would turn them off. Being
social has never been my thing. I was the biggest prowrestling fan
when I was young. Imagine how weird it would sound if I started to
talk to these girls about headlocks and pin falls? They would be
sitting there clueless. This also would make me not cool. My
responses to their questions were short. I smiled a lot.
Unfortunately, the girls got bored and didn't come back. I don't
blame them for never coming back. If I were in their position, I
would have done the exact same thing.
    I had a friend in middle school called Mike.
It was highly probable we became friends because my middle school
was small, and I happened to sit near him. Unlike the girls who got
bored with me, Mike knew how to carry our friendship. During a
conversation, Mike initiated it and spoke 90% of the time while I
spoke 10%. It was a friendship I will always remember.
    Mike and I got along pretty well until we
reached high school. He got turned off when we had a phone
conversation where I said that I was feeling okay about starting
high school. In reality, I was nervous like most kids are about
starting something new, but I felt what I said would calm us down.
Instead, Mike did not like my response and accused me of being a
liar because he knew everybody was nervous. He discussed his fears
of not succeeding in class work and not being able to fit in. His
response made me even more nervous about starting high school.
During high school, Mike did not talk to me. Back then; I never
initiated a conversation. As a result, our friendship ended
quickly. It wasn't his fault. We see life very differently. Our
friendship was bound to end.
    In my second year and third year of high
school, I sat with two guys who liked prowrestling. At the
beginning, I was excited that I had found two guys I could relate
to. Unfortunately, they both watched the wrestling show I did not
watch. To complete the icing on the cake, their favorite topic was
comic book heroes. I know nothing about non-mainstream superheroes.
I became a spectator in their conversations.
    As I zone back into the nightclub, I am still
bothered. This excessive pressure to drink upsets me internally. I
do not appreciate it when a bunch of strangers try to impose their
values on me. I said no repeatedly. What disappoints me the most is
Sara joining the chorus. There are a few things on my mind that I
would like to tell them, but I hold them back.
    Personally, drinking is a pointless social
activity. I know too many highly confident people who get drunk
with self-esteems higher than mines. I don't understand them. Do
they suddenly become so scared when they walk into a club that
drinking beer is necessary? A drunk Jimmy is not necessary to have
a good time. I don't care if society thinks it is okay to drink. It
is their free will to make the stupid decision to get drunk and not
remember what they will do this evening. As long as they leave me
alone, I am fine with their decisions.
    From watching them interact, I notice that
Sara and Chad are very close to each other. They have good
chemistry between each other, and Sara is constantly wrapping her
arm around Chad's neck. It makes sense; they are coworkers Monday
through Friday at Biopharm. Chad is like Sara's work husband.
Knowing everyone has a couple of drinks in their systems, I expect
the overt friendliness between Sara and Chad to escalate