Bottoms Up !

"Dude, it's time. Take the first sip." S said, nursing his own glass.

"I don't think I want to bro" R gave a dirty look at the liquid

"Hey c'mon da! How could this be your first ever! Just drink already" J huffed. She was already half way through her first drink.

R gingerly picked up his glass, took it close to his lips, took a deeeeep breath. And kept it back down immediately. "It smells so bad bro" he pleaded, looking at S.

S was busy trying to suppress laughter. Not really succeeding. "Just try it. It grows on you."

Not many knew this side of R. Or expected it either. The big guy, who was built like a defender shirking away from a drink.

R tried J with a different strategy this time; "I'm sure it tastes bad. What's the point of drinking this!"

When met with just a steely glare, he resigned himself to it, and took a teensie weensie sip.
"Eeewww. Why why why!!!"

J and S laughed away, amused at R's theatrics.

"I don't want it anymore. You have mine"

"Drink"

"Fine" - Another minuscule sip

"You know this is good for you" J tried

"I don't think so"

"I've had twice as much as you. S has finished his. Just drink dude!"

"I don't want to" bordering a whine

"Come on da, you can do it. Just think of it as medicine" S Suggested. Still doing a bad job of suppressing his laugh.

R sighed deeply. It's like they were alternating good-cop-bad-cop routines just to make him drink! He'd evaded for so long, and lived in peace. Why start now? Why bring this upon himself?! Giving into peer pressure was not a good feeling.

He took a bigger sip. And immediately covered his mouth, so he didn't spit it out.

"It's so much worse as it goes down my throat" this time, it was a whine.

"Be a man!" J commanded

"I don't think this is worth it" He sounded so sad, that J gave up her fake stern expression and doubled up laughing.

"Watch how I do it..." S tried, sympathetically

R looked at S with almost a hero-worship level respect. All he could manage was another small sip. But he'd downed almost half by now sip by sip. Small mercies! He kept his glass down, and some liquid splashed over and on the table. He looked at it with evil glee, hoping the other two didn't notice - only to look up and find four not so amused eyes trained on him, boring into his head with disapproving looks.

"That was by accident" he sounded like a wimp even in his own head, he knew. But a man's got to do what a man's got to do.

"Okay that's it! Bottom's Up! All three of us now." J said finally.

R took a deep breath and held it in. Picked up his glass with determination gleaming in his eyes. The contents of the three glasses were emptied ... chugged down.

S was snickering away, looking at the look of disgust on R's face.

"God! All this to make a grown man drink a glass of green tea! Sheeesh!"