Taylor

John gazes across the bar at the large, boisterous man laughing loudly by the pool tables. He frowns to himself and sips his drink, annoyed at this buffoon’s volume. I mean, I know it’s a Friday night, but this kind of behavior is just simply ridiculous.

John grimaces again as Buffoon belches and hiccups. Are you kidding me? That’s just not classy behavior. Again, I totally understand letting loose on the weekends, but there’s other people here. Just because you can be an asshole doesn’t mean you have to be an asshole.

John turns to his partner in crime. “Taylor,” he starts slowly, “why do you think guys act like that?”

Taylor, on her phone, finishes her text before glancing up at John. “Uh, probably drinking.” She goes back to texting.

John, now staring across the bar, murmurs, “Yeah, but there’s something more there.” He turns to her and takes another sip of his drink. “Guys like that have an ego. They think they can walk in anywhere and do anything they want. It’s really kind of pathetic, if you think about it.”

Taylor nods as John speaks, continuing to text. She sighs and puts her phone down, reaching for her glass. “Yeah, you’re right. He’s an asshole.”

John looks at Taylor with a peculiar look in his eye. He smirks slightly as he stands up. Before Taylor can say anything, John makes his way over to Buffoon.

“Hey,” John says to the man. “Can you keep it down? We’re trying to enjoy our night here.” He looks around, hoping for some support from the periphery.

The man focuses on John, amused. “Who is this guy?” He laughs as he takes in John’s confident stance. “Mind your own business, guy,” the loud man says.

John, still smirking, steps closer to the man. “No,” he proclaims, his chin jutting upwards, “I don’t think I will. Now why don’t you shut up?” John pulls back before throwing a punch at the man, hitting him in the shoulder. It lands with a soft thud. Buffoon blinks a few times, looks down at John, and promptly lays him out.

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In the car, John wipes the blood from his nose and looks over at Taylor. “Hey, thanks for driving home. That was pretty intense, huh?” He grins as he looks out the window. “I don’t even care if I ‘lost the fight.’ Whatever that means. People say the only thing that matters is that you don’t back down. And I definitely didn’t back down.”

Taylor frowns and looks at John for a moment. “Yeah, I’m proud of you. That was really cool.” She turns back to the road and doesn’t say anything else.