Excerpt: We All Fall Down

Every week I come to the same bar at the same time and down a couple of drinks in order to drown the sorrows of my daily life. I’m not suicidal or depressed or anything like that, I’m just your average American worker who likes to get drunk Saturday nights without the promise of an early morning the next day. That’s all this is and nothing more.
Okay, I lied, there’s a lot more to my weekly outings to this particular bar. No, it isn’t some handsome man I’ve fallen madly in love with but haven’t gotten up the courage to ask out and so I sit here drinking as I watch him flirt with all the other ladies. Nor is it for the charming bartender and owner of this place, at least, it isn’t completely about him.
The main reason I’m here is for observation. Every week, on the same night that I coincidentally come here, five friends meet up here as well. I know the bartender, Walter, organized this because he told me so, and also, because they are his friends from High School. Now all of them are college age and beyond, but their lives seem to be stuck in the perpetual drama that is known the cling to the high school years. And I am the one who listens to them every week as they discuss, or avoid doing so, their problems. Every week I learn a little more about these strangers who I will most likely never even talk to. But they’re fascinating people, so I don’t mind.
I always arrive at a different time. Sometimes it’s before all of them get here, and other times they’ve already started talking before I manage to saunter in here, looking care-free and light-hearted. This week, I’ve managed to get here early despite the fact that my boss insisted on my staying late to do some extra paper work.