Adventures in Equestria: My Little Place

"Tyler, wanna go out and have a drink tonight?" The voice was more nervous than anything, the girl attached to it standing a few feet away from Tyler and looking down towards the floor.

"Jessica, it's Wednesday. No one goes out drinking on a Wednesday. Besides, I have to go to work tonight after Foreign Policy." Tyler never lifted his eyes from Romance of the Three Kingdoms.

"You work literally every day. Don't you ever get a break? You should come out and drink with us. Just this once. Call in sick or something." Her voice was almost pleading, though Tyler was oblivious to it.

"Unless you have the sixty-two dollars I'd miss, and can pay for my drinks, the answer is no. Sorry."

Exasperated, Jessica left Tyler to his book. "You are really blind, aren't you?"

"No Max, I'm just busy and tired."

"She was trying to ask you out. She's been trying to for three weeks now. Jessica's not going to keep taking rejection like that."

"That's not what this is. She's just protective. We've been friends for a while now, and she's worried. 'You work to much.' 'You've got bags under your eyes.' 'I literally heard your knees pop from over here.' 'You've lost twenty pounds in two weeks.' She just wants me to spend some time with people that don't pay me to do so." His voice lacked irritation. He'd had this conversation before, and it felt just like another part of his daily life. Everything was that way. He could even predict what would happen next. Max will start to say something, stop, agree that I'm right, and walk away.

"It's just that... No Tyler, it's not healthy. You can't keep it up, doing this every day. Over and over again. This kind of pushing yourself... People die young this way." Tyler was taken aback. This same routine, or something like it, had gone on every week for almost six months. He had not expected a change, and put his book down for the first time in the conversation.

"I know it's not health. But, unless you have three thousand dollars in your back pocket, there isn't much I can do." Tyler half expected Max to try to argue back, but he was wrong again.

"I don't. And we get that you need the money. Really, honestly, we do. But you're goals... They're all long term goals. You can't expect to live long enough to achieve them like this."

"Yeah... Yeah, I know. Look, I'll think about it. Maybe I could use a night off. And besides, it wouldn't surprise anyone if I ended up sick at this point. They'd believe it. Just one day, after all." Tyler's mind and actions weren't in synch. No, I can't miss a shift. I need that money. I have five months to earn it. And spending money on drinks. God, what am I saying? "Um... give me a call tonight and let me know where. I'll know then if I can miss."

Max seemed shocked, but kept it to himself. "Alright, I'll call at 5."

"Sure."

"Where are we going?" Tyler's voice sounded strange, almost as if it came from someone else.

"There's a small campsite by the river not far from Route 66 and Battlefield. We're gonna hang out there. Few tents, lots of liquor, have a good night, you know."

If we go out here, there's no way I'll make it back for school tomorrow... Tyler looked out the window, fidgeting slightly.

"I know what you're thinking. Don't worry. Tomorrow's Thanksgiving, remember? No classes. No lectures. You can't spend Thanksgiving alone man."

Tyler only vaguely acknowledged the holiday he'd made no preparations for. "I do have to work tomorrow. It's a pretty big day for McDonald's." Everyone in the car chuckled a bit.

"No more. You aren't allowed to talk about work for the rest of the night. No reading. No thinking about it, none of that. Just relax, have some fun with us, snuggle up in the tent with Jessica, and have a good night off for once."

"Come off that. Jessica's not into me. But I'll drop the school and work stuff. If I'm here, might as well enjoy it, right?"