Young Writers Society

Well. Kazimir had never been the most organized person in the world, but he was admittedly very social, so figuring out how to organize a meetup shouldn't be too hard. He had everyone's numbers now, too, so that made things simpler.

He just had to ask Mel for places to go. She mentioned something about going somewhere... or something. Right? Now he couldn't remember. Maybe she'd only said she'd message him later. He couldn't quite recall.

He opened up his phone, about to text her, when he got a message ping on his computer.

He looked up at the screen, seeing a notification on Teams from Mel.

Oh, right. She's said they could pretend to be working. That was smarter.

Mel wrote:so what's the latest verdict on the coffee? does it pass the smell and taste test?

Considering he was now very energized but also took the biggest shit of his life, he felt mixed reviews. It tasted good but he wasn't sure if it was worth the cost. He was beyond jittery.

Kazimir wrote:It passes

Mel is typing...

Mel wrote:do u still have a mustache?
and im not talking about hair

Kazimir wrote:?????
what else is a mustache made of
is this code for something

Mel wrote:haha
check your face, silly 😜😏

Kazimir wrote:ok
no one cares about me because i ran into like five people and no one told me but its okay

Mel wrote:wait so you actually still had it?
LMAO

Kazimir wrote:I GOT IT
it was just a little foam in my stache but you know how it gets crusty

Mel wrote:PLEAsE tell me u wiped ur hands afterwards
the keyboard isnt crusty too right
right????

Kazimir wrote:ooga booga caveman type with crusty hands

Mel wrote:omggg ewww hahah
you are so weird!! 😝😝

Kazimir wrote:ok so i met the other interns
and we agree we should all hang tonight. figured you'd be down but i figured you'd have ideas for where to meet up

Mel wrote:oh yay that's great!!!
yeah i have some places, let me send you some
one sec

A minute later, Mel sent Kaz three different links. They were absurdly long. Kazimir didn't really feel like looking at them and he wasn't sure if that kind of thing would show up in his search history. Did they watch your search history at work? That seemed like a thing. He had to watch out for Big Brother.

Mel wrote:ok which one looks good to you? i've always wanted to check out the first one

Eh, sure.

Kazimir wrote:let's do that then

Mel wrote:ayooo sounds like a plan
what time are u thinking? happy hour is at 6!

There was a pause.

Mel wrote:we get off at 5 btw
in case u didn't know

Kazimir wrote:6:30
in case people gotta do stuff idk

Mel wrote:ooo true hopefully commutes won't be long
6:30 sounds good to me tho!

Kazimir wrote:mel this is NY

Mel wrote:hey i live in long island okay
on a good day it takes an hour to get here ugh

Kazimir wrote:lmao
you're not going home are you???

Mel wrote:nah that would take too long
i might stop by to see a friend nearby
but we'll see
why what are you doing?

Kazimir wrote:idk
want to hang before we all meet up?

Mel wrote:yes let's goooo

Kazimir wrote:cool meet me in the downstairs lobby after we get off
i'll find you
also i'll send a group text to everyone with that link and the time

Mel wrote:sweet will do!!
now get back to work, ya intern

Kazimir wrote:what do you mean we're working on a project right
im working

Mel wrote:Hello Kazimir,

I would like to inquire about ten data entries rows. Please print them at my desk at your earliest convenience.

Sincerely,
Mel

Kazimir wrote:Hello Mel,
Thanks for your correspondence. I'll get you those data entries by tomorrow morning.

Officially,
Kazimir

Mel reacted to his last message with a laughing-crying emoji then sent him a two gifs.



Closing Teams IMs, Kazimir pulled out his phone, quickly typing up the group text before he forgot. He named the group text: "Comicorpterns."

Kazimir wrote:Hey guys. Let's all hang tonight. 6:30pm, text if u can make it. Mel, shoot the address plz!

And sent. Mel was quick to reply.

Mel wrote:hey everyone, this is mel! can't wait to meet the rest of you soon 😊
address is 10 W 32nd St! it's in the city so not tooo far away from here

Perfect. Cool.

Kazimir put his phone away and looked up, staring at his work computer screen blankly for a moment.

Right. Inputting data. For another... three hours. Sigh.

Here we go.

Kazimir looked up at the sign right outside the bar.

"Huh," Kazimir hummed, standing still with his hands in his pockets as he stared up at the cutesy, neon pink sign that had Korean characters he couldn't read. But there was english signage underneath that said in bright colors: "Karaoke Bar."

He didn't know what he expected, but maybe that was it. He was expecting maybe an average bar or something, or maybe a restaurant. But this was new. He'd never stepped into a place like this before.

"You know, I'm kind of surprised you picked this place! I've been wanting to check this place out for forever. Come on!" Mel said with a giggle, pulling him inside.

Right. Well, that was on him for not actually clicking the link and choosing blind. But after spending the past like, two hours or so with Mel, the fact that the place she really wanted to go to was this made a lot of sense.

They'd had a good time. Kazimir found Mel bubbly and interesting. He had a feeling sometimes she was laughing just because she thought he was hot, but he didn't really mind it, at least, not for now.

Mel seemed really sheltered. He danced around a lot of topics that he didn't think she'd really want to get into because he got the feeling she'd get scared away or something. She seemed to find his mysterious and vague answers fascinating, but he didn't know how long that'd last.

Truth was, he'd never really been around a lot of people like her before, nevermind gone on a spontaneous date with a pampered city girl. It was weird, if he was being honest. Sure, it was fun, and new, and she was nice and hot which was obviously a plus, but he didn't know where this was going.

Not that he ever thought that far ahead.

When they went inside, Kazimir felt like he was in another world. A world in which he didn't belong.

It was very... cutesy. Maybe it was meant to be a cutesy cool but he felt like he walked into what he imagined a 12 year old girl's room to look like if it was just, like, turned into a bar.

That was a poor description, but he didn't know how to describe it.



Mel, though, was overjoyed. She pulled him in with so much excitement and the biggest smile on her face, and for a moment, Kazimir wondered if this was what it felt like for opposites to attract.

He smirked, his hand still in hers as she led him.

"It looks like we're the first ones here," she said as she led him to an open table.

She was referencing their intern group, of course. The bar was already about half full. Someone was singing some cutesy Japanese song for everyone to hear.

"That's because we're early," Kazimir said.

Mel looked at her phone and scoffed with a smile. "Yeah, like five minutes. We can get a drink though. What do you want? I can order you something. Maybe I can get a free drink."

Kazimir looked across the bar at the menu, squinting at the options.

There wasn't anything quite like he'd normally get, and he didn't want to get anything absurdly expensive.

But he didn't recognize any of the drinks.

Nitro peanut butter beer? Chocolate IPA? Blueberry cider? Apple beer? Raspberry seltzer? What was this? A candy store?

He didn't want something fruit flavored. He wasn't interested in drinking candy.

"Sparkling beer," he said, having no idea what the hell that even meant.

Beer and sparkling water? Eugh.

"Oooh, I didn't even know that existed! 'Kay, I'll be right back," Mel said before she went to the bar.

Kazimir stood to the side, leaning against an empty spot on the wall as he idly observed the room. The crowd here seemed to be a lot of really normal, soft people.

His attention was drawn back to Mel when he noticed she had sparked up a conversation with the bartender. He noticed she was being really flirtatious - maybe to get a free drink. She did mention that.

Well, that was nice. Even if she was spoiled she was still savvy. He liked that.

Kaz tuned in to whoever was singing the Japanese song. He had no idea what they were saying, but they had a good voice. The microphone then got passed to someone else. They also had a good voice.

Was everyone here a good singer? Were there Karaoke songs in English? He wondered if they had any in Russian. Probably not. Not in a place like this.

Finally, Mel came back with a pitcher of bubbly beer, two chilled glasses, and a cocktail. Kaz recognized the cocktail to be a white russian.

"A white Russian for my white Russian," she said with a laugh as she set everything down. She seemed to carry everything with ease. Perhaps she had been a waitress before.

"Joke's on you," Kazimir said. "I like white russians. The drink. Sometimes the people."

He took it along with the bubbly beer, assuming it to be his.

Mel snorted. "Hilarious," she said. "Do you also like bubbly beer? Is this like, the new seltzer trend?"

"I have no fuckin' idea," he said.

Mel laughed. "But you ordered it!" she exclaimed.

"I didn't see anything normal on the menu," Kazimir shrugged in his defense. He decided to take a sip of the bubbly stuff.

He made a face. That was weird.

Mel poured herself a glass of the beer. "What's normal to you?" she asked, then took a sip. "Oh my god. This is terrible."

"Never thought I'd experience carbonated horse piss," Kazimir said.

Mel made a sour face. "We have a whole pitcher of this stuff. How are we supposed to finish it?"

"I bet you Skull's the kind of guy to like sparkling shit," Kazimir said with a smirk, seeing Skull walk in through the entrance.

"Who's that, one of the interns? His name is Skull and he likes sparkles? I already like him," Mel said.

"Yeah, I think you'll love him," Kazimir said, catching Skull's eyes and waving him over.

This could be funny.

Skull took one look at the inside of the karaoke bar and immediately turned around. Skull, for the most part, didn't get to places on time, so it was already impressive that he had gotten there as early as he did.

But he was not going to a place like this.

Right as he went to step out of the door, Puck appeared in said doorway.

"You got here before me," Puck said, surprised.

Skull crossed his arms. "Why do you sound surprised?" They had only just met that day.

"You remind me of someone," Puck said, and Skull's eyebrow twitched at that. Maybe it was just a coincidence. The world wasn't as small as it seemed to be most days. "Where are you going?"

"Home," Skull said. "Something came up with my roommates."

He hadn't even checked his phone yet, so that was a terrible lie on his part. But most people weren't exactly a fan of him, so he didn't expect Puck to push it.

Puck looked him over.

"I think you're just trying to get out of karaoke," Puck guessed, and Skull froze. Puck, of course, was right. Skull wanted no part of this for many reasons, one of which would not be shared here. "Are you scared?"

Skull snorted. "Of this place? My apartment looks scarier."

"Then why are you trying to leave?" Puck asked, still blocking the doorway.

"I already told you," Skull said, done with all of this. "My roommates need me."

Puck crossed his arms and gave Skull a long, hard look.

"Sounds like you're scared to me," he said.

Skull's eyebrow twitched again.

"I'm not-" Skull turned back to face the inside of the bar. "Fine. I'll stay. My roommates can handle things themselves."

Skull marched over to where Kaz and the other intern, Mel, were with a scowl on his face. Puck followed with a grin on his. Not only was he a fan of this place specifically, but pushing Skull's buttons was strangely a good way to let off steam. It reminded him of doing the same with someone else, but he just couldn't figure out who.

“Speaking of the skeleton,” Kazimir said. “This is Skull. He’s a janitor at comic corp. He’s cool.”

He started pouring one of the sparkly drinks for Skull, offering it to him.

“And that there’s Puck,” Kazimir said, nodding to the guy with his head.

"Hey hey, I'm Mel!" Mel said as she lifted her glass of bubbly beer. "Grab a seat. I hope you like weird seltzer beer."

Skull took the drink and eyed it. He didn't make any move to drink it, and didn't make any move to sit down.

Puck, meanwhile, slid into a seat right next to Mel.

"Can you pour me one of those?" Puck asked Kaz. "That looks good."

He looked at Mel, then.

"I'm not sure if I like it," Puck said with a grin, "but I don't have any problems with trying it."

Kazimir watched Puck expectantly as Puck took a drink of the seltzer. Puck pulled the glass away from his lips, stared down at it for a second, and then drank it again. Then he finally put it back down on the table.

"Could be stronger," he decided.

"So, Skull," Mel said with curious eyes, staring at Skull who was still awkwardly standing next to everyone, hovering around. "Is that your real name?"

A ghost of a smirk appeared on Skull's lips.

"It might be," he said. He didn't elaborate further.

Mel hummed, grinning. "You're kind of weird. I like you." She gestured at the open seat next to Kaz. "Come on! Sit."

Kazimir patted the seat with a grin.

Skull eyed the seat, then reluctantly sat down where Kaz was patting. He didn't make any move for the seltzer.

"I'm surprised you showed up," Kazimir said to Skull, taking a sip of his white russian. "Since you're being such a party pooper."

Skull narrowed his eyes. Puck had to agree with Kaz's assessement of Skull's actions right now, though he didn't say it. He was just content with watching.

"I don't like karaoke," Skull said.

Puck quickly coughed something that sounded a little bit like "coward" underneath his breath, just to really emphasize why Skull had decided to stay. Mel giggled.

Skull straightened.

"But I can do it," he said, shooting Puck a look. "And I wasn't going to turn down the invitation."

"Good," Kazimir said with a wide grin.

"Ooh, you should go next!" Mel cheered.

"Yeah!" Kazimir encouraged, elbowing Skull in the side. "I'll go with you. They probably only have really popular songs in the thing. Maybe Led Zeppelin."

"How about this? I pick the song and you go on the stage to sing it. It'll be a surprise. You'll totally know it. That would be so funny and cute," Mel said.

"Challenge accepted," Kazimir said.

"Yay! I'll tell the DJ!" Mel said without waiting for Skull's confirmation, already leaving the table to skip over to the DJ in charge of the karaoke queue.

Skull stared after Mel. His face was unreadable.

"If she picks something like 'Let it Go,' Kazimir said, leaning closer to Skull to speak quieter," he said. "We've gotta commit to it."

Skull was still for another second. Then he nodded.

"Of course," he said, with all of the confidence of someone who sounded like they didn't know what Let It Go actually was.

"I'll go after you two go," Puck offered. He thought for a moment, almost like he was debating if he should go up to claim a song, too, but decided to stay in his seat anyways.

"Do you want us to pick a song for you too?" Kazimir asked Puck.

Puck mulled it over for all of a second.

"Yes," Puck decided. He gestured at Kaz with his seltzer. "Give me your worst."

"That, I can do," Kazimir said with an evil grin.

At that, Mel rushed back with a big smile, excitedly sitting back on her seat as she brushed her hair to fall behind her shoulder.

"All done," she sing-songed. "It's the next song."

Kazimir jumped out of his seat.

"Gotta hurry up there, then," he said, grabbing Skull's shoulder and giving it a little shove before he spun around and weaved through the crowd of tables, finding his way to the karaoke stage. The person currently singing was just finishing up their Disney song.

Not wanting to be outdone, Skull followed Kaz up to the stage. He stood on the very edge of it. As the current singer finished up their song, Skull squared his shoulders and prepared for the worst. No one, after all, had picked up on what he had been oh-so-careful to hide.

"You ready?" Skull said, glancing over at Kaz with a ghost of a smirk on his lips yet again.