Friday Night and the Lights are Low

Yes, I just quoted Dancing Queen. No, I won’t apologize for it. Let’s move past it.

Long Island has been experiencing one of its coldest winters and it is driving me insane. Not only have I struggled to make it to work in two snowstorms so far, but going out is especially demoralizing. A sweater does not give off the same sex appeal as a sparkly tank top.

Last Friday, Jessica texted me about going to Nostalgic, a bar in the next town over. Nostalgic was one of the louder, more club-like, bars that my friends and I frequented, but it had good music, usually switching between a live 90s cover band and a DJ. Plus, they had $1 beers from 10-1, which my guy friends took full advantage of.

I’m never actually excited to go out until I start getting ready. I began dancing to Katy Perry while picking out an outfit that would combine warmth and attractiveness when Darlene texted me.

“Ryan is coming tonight!” My excitement grew. Ryan was one of our good friends, but didn’t regularly hang out with us since we graduated high school. Darlene and I would get dinner with him once in a while throughout college, but he was always closer with his family and coworkers. I hadn’t seen him in a few months. I could literally feel the night’s fun potential going up. Okay, not literally.

Before I knew it, Jessica was outside my house with a full car. When we entered Nostalgic, we saw our other friends near the front bar already with drinks. I greeted them all before making my way to the bar myself.

“A cranberry vodka, please,” I asked while fishing money out of my wristlet. Darlene walked up behind me and asked for one, as well. For a while, we stood with our friends near the front bar, practically yelling at each other in order to have a conversation over the music.

I realized Ryan had arrived when Darlene began squealing. She greeted him with an overly enthusiastic embrace. At this point, most of us were a little tipsy so Darlene insisted he follow us to the dance floor. He declined but promised to meet up with us a little later.

Darlene, Jessica, Anna, and I started to dance and sing along to the DJ while drinking our mixed drinks. I knew I was going to have a stomach ache the next morning, but I didn’t even care. During one of my trips to the bar, Ryan walked over to me. He had been hanging out with some of his coworkers who were also at the bar that night.

“Come to the bathroom with me?” Ryan asked as I paid the bartender for my drink.

“Why would I do that?” I asked. “We don’t use the same bathroom.”

“Just wait outside for me,” he responded.

“That’s stupid, Ryan,” I said while practically laughing in his face. “Meet me on the dance floor when you’re done.”

“Just come with me, please,” Ryan demanded. I rolled my eyes and walked to the back of the bar with him. “So, I’m sorry about you and Mike,” he said as we made our way through the crowd.

“Thanks,” I responded with zero enthusiasm.

“So, a lot has been going on with me,” he said as we reached the bathroom. He didn’t go inside. Instead, he took a sip of his beer and blankly looked at me. Ryan was clearly waiting for me to ask him what ‘a lot’ meant.

“Really?”

“Yeah,” Ryan said without looking at me. Why did he seem so uncomfortable? “My mom hasn’t talked to me in like, two weeks.”

“What? Why?” I asked trying to make eye contact with him. Now, I was interested. Ryan and his mom were always extremely close. One of the reasons Darlene and I loved going over Ryan’s house was because his parents were so fun. 

“Well, my dad said she’ll come around,” he said taking another sip of his beer and looking down at his feet.

“But what happened?” I impatiently prodded.

“She wasn’t really thrilled with me when I, um, when I told her I was gay.” Ryan finally looked up at me, just in time to see my eyes widen. Ryan was coming out to me.

I wasn’t that surprised, but I was surprised he was choosing now to tell me. I reached my arms out and gave him a hug. Ryan never really had an interest in girls, but he also didn’t come across as a stereotypical gay guy. People had teased him a little in high school and sometimes, people even asked me if he was gay. I always said he wasn’t gay until he said he was gay and I never really knew if he would come out or not. I stopped hugging him and looked at him. For the first time since I’ve known him, he actually looked relaxed. 

“I’m really glad you told me,” I assured him before finishing off my drink in a big gulp. I nudged my glass at Ryan’s empty beer. “So let’s find you a man,” I insisted. He laughed and shook his head at me as I grabbed his arm and dragged him to the bar.

Upon reaching the bar, I found a target for Ryan. It was a handsome, tall guy, with great arms, wearing an open cardigan with nothing underneath. I looked at Ryan and smiled, but he was still shaking his head at me. I'll admit, I drank too much at this point but I was having fun.

As soon as I opened my mouth to speak to the beautiful, gay man, he grabbed my chin with his hand. What?

“What’s up, pretty lady?” he asked with a wink, totally catching me off guard. Was I wrong about this guy’s sexual orientation? Was he straight?

He let go of my face and smiled. I suddenly felt flustered. Maybe he would be my target for the night.