Courtney sighed and stirred her drink with her finger, looking longingly into the glass.
"Hey," her friend, Miranda, said and nudged Courtney's shoulder, "what's up buttercup? You've barely even finished your first drink and it's Friday night! That's so unlike you!"
Courtney shrugged. "I don't know, I guess I'm just not feeling it tonight?"
"Oh, that is bullshit, honey. The school year is about to end, you have access to all of your favorite drinks and fried pickles, and hay una tonelada de hombres en la casa tonight!"
"Por favor, Miranda, calmate," Courtney replied in Spanish, enjoying the fact that she had a best friend who could speak her language with her.
"Seriously though, what's wrong, mija? Usually, you'd be a couple of drinks in and ripping on your student's final essays by now. I'm concerned."
Courtney smiled, actually managed a laugh, and took a sip of her drink. "Thanks. It's good to know that my lack of negativity alarms you."
"Ugh, you know what I meant!" Miranda laughed and then directed her attention towards the bartender, who was a close friend of theirs by now. "Hey, Jonas, can me and Court get two more margaritas? And make Court's a double!" Jonas acknowledged her and started whipping up the drinks.
"I don't need a double," Courtney said and tugged at her hair. "A damn time machine is what I need."
"And why is that?" Miranda asked, seriously getting worried with her friend's odd behavior.
Courtney fidgeted on her bar stool and nibbled on her lip, hesitating for longer than necessary. "I just — and I know this is going to sound crazy — I just feel like this isn't how my life should have turned out."
"Yo, why is that, hun?" Jonas asked as he set the drinks down in front of the two Hispanic women. "Look around you, you're in the best bar in town with two of your best pals. What more could you want?"
"Jonas, you're only here because you have to be. You work here," Courtney deadpanned.
"Hey! I'd be here for you on my day off, you fiery little beast. Now for real, what's going on?" Jonas asked again, ignoring the two drunk college girls trying to score free shots off of him.
"I mean, you guys know the current me. I had a lot of things going for me when I was younger and I — UGH! Jonas! How much tequila did you put in here?" Courtney said, nearly choking on the heat in her throat.
"A double! Don't be a baby! And hey, it sounds like you need it. So why don't you keep on with that little story? Hang on. HEY CARLY," Jonas shouted at the head bartender, "I'm taking my break!" With that, he walked around the bar and plopped himself down next to Courtney. "Now, continue."
"Do you guys remember that show that I was on when we were teenagers?" Courtney asked, hiding her face in shame.
"Well, you guys were teens. I was already twenty-one at the time and —"
"Probably not the point here, Jonas," Miranda said, "Can it."
"Like I was saying," Courtney continued, "I made such a fool of myself on international television for years! Do you have any idea how hard it was to get into a good law school with all of that out there? I could have had my own law firm by the age of thirty which would have been so amazing. But now I'm teaching historical literature at a university."
"But I thought you loved teaching?" Miranda said sympathetically. "You're still incredibly established for your age and you're a great teacher!"
"I mean, I guess, and I do love it now . But...I just feel like I could have been so much more. It was always my dream to be a lawyer and I ruined that for myself by acting psychotic on that stupid show! All the shit I pulled then seemed so logical at the time, God knows why, but it did. But looking back on it now, it was all just so insane!"
"Hang on here," Jonas interrupted, "this doesn't have anything to do with that Total Drama reunion you mentioned a couple weeks ago, does it?"
"WHAT?!" Miranda screeched. "You went on a bar run without me, and you were hiding something from me?"
"Probably not the point here, Miranda," Jonas mocked Miranda's tone from earlier. "Can it."
Courtney slammed half of her drink, cringing at the amount of tequila in it, then rested her head in her arms on the bar. "It absolutely has everything to do with it. It's next weekend, and I have to go."
"Why do you have to go?" Miranda asked. "If it mortifies you so much then just don't show. I'm sure it won't be that big of a deal."
"No," Courtney whined, fiddling with the lime on the side of her now empty glass, "I already promised Geoff and Bridgette I would go and Bridgette was so excited to put this together. They've always stuck by me and Bridgette's basically the only reason I'm friends with Gwen after the shit I pulled, and I don't want to let them down. I missed their wedding shower a couple years ago so I feel like I should make up for that one, too."
"You want another one of those, hun?" Jonas asked, gesturing to her drink. "I should get back to work anyways."
"Yeah, sure. Gracías, Jonas," Courtney said and handed him the glass.
Jonas scooped the glass from her hand and kissed her on the top of her head. "Anytime, beastie. Coming right up."
"So you're really going through with it then? I mean, we've talked about the show a lot, mija. I know how you feel about it," said Miranda, rubbing Courtney's arm comfortingly. "If it's too much you really don't have to."
Courtney was rubbing her forehead and shook her head. "No, I'm a big girl, I can handle it. And it's just the original cast so it shouldn't be that bad, but I'm still not that excited about it."
"I mean you're all adults now, maybe it really won't be so bad! Maybe you'll even enjoy yourself."
"Yeah," Courtney snorted, "let's see if my drink can convince me of that." She picked up her new margarita from Jonas and raised it to Miranda. "Let's toast in hopes that I don't throw myself off a building next week."
Miranda laughed. "I have high hopes, mija. And hey, at least you won't have to see Scott the hillbilly."
"Yeah," Courtney said and tossed backed a decent amount of tequila, "he's not really the one that I'm worried about."
