Admission by Travis Thrasher Read Free Book Online Page A

college-imposed counseling because of getting in trouble. I know the symptoms and the signs and all that.”
    “I’m just asking that you take a hard look at yourself.”
    “I have. And I’m a college student who isn’t hurting anybody and who is just trying to have a fun time.”
    “And consequences?”
    Jake didn’t reply. He didn’t want this morphing into a theological question about morality and God and sin. Ms. Peterson knew better than to drag them down that path.
    “You’re not a bad kid, Jake.”
    “Thank you,” he replied cynically. “You’re not such a bad dean of students either.”
    Ms. Peterson sighed. She looked ready to say something else, then tightened her lips. “That will be all,” she finally said, her face and body language raising the white flag of surrender.

    The moving pictures blurred alongside of him. Jake rode like a gliding bobsled unable to stop, the icy world outside lifeless this time of night. He smoked and flicked the ashes on the dirty carpet of Alec’s rickety Jeep.
    The drive was longer than he’d expected. He knew Alec was drunk, but how drunk was the question. The can of Coors Light in Alec’s hand didn’t help Jake’s curiosity, but he had oneof his own, so he couldn’t say anything. They had reached Lake Shore Drive after heading up I-55 and now drove between the glowing city of Chicago on their left and the dark waters of Lake Michigan on their right.
    “You didn’t tell me we were coming in to the city,” Jake said.
    “Sometimes the ’burbs can be suffocating.”
    Jake didn’t like the way his friend stared at the road ahead, his glassy eyes serious, the usual cocky smile absent. He wondered if maybe Alec was taking him to a strip joint—the only decent ones were downtown—but he didn’t think so. Something else was up. Alec just wouldn’t say what.
    They turned off on an exit and began heading down a side street. It felt crowded for a Thursday midnight. Alec drove for a while and Jake finished his beer, the second one he’d had in the Jeep. Alec started looking for a parking space.
    “So what’s this all about?” Jake asked again, this time with more frustration.
    Alec had showed up at the apartment an hour ago, where Jake had actually been trying to study. That had meant sitting in front of the television drinking some beers and occasionally looking at his business textbook. Alec said he wanted to take him somewhere, no questions asked. His deliberate tone got Jake’s attention, so after a few minutes, Jake agreed. His first class didn’t start until eleven anyway.
    “I said no questions allowed,” Alec said.
    “Come on. What’s the deal?”
    “The deal? You want to know the deal?” Alec slowed down the Jeep and stared at him a minute.
    “What?” Jake asked, defensive.
    “I’m tired of your attitude.”
    Jake watched the way Alec sucked on his cigarette and tightened the grip around the steering wheel. The violent industrial music blaring through the speakers didn’t help his mood.
    “And this is going to help it?”
    “Well, it’s sure going to help mine.”
    “So why not go alone? Why do you need me and my attitude?”
    “Because you’re part of the package deal tonight. Without you this wouldn’t work.”
    Alec parked the Jeep in a narrow spot between two cars. They got out, and Jake followed Alec down the sidewalk lined with dirty snow. The windchill was below zero.
    It took five minutes to reach the bar on the corner of an intersection. A small sign said
Four-leaf Clover
.
    “If we wanted a fake-Irish pub we could’ve gone to Shaughnessy’s,” Jake said as they entered the warmth of the bar.
    “First, this is the real deal,” Alec said. “Plus, we’re not going to run into anybody from Providence here.”
    It took two seconds for Jake to spot the two girls sitting at a nearby table, empty seats beside them.
    “Well, nobody except her,” Alec said.
    “We’ve been waiting here for an hour,” Laila greeted them,