If you ain't gettin' drunk, get the fu-

[MurderWeasel]

Travis and Joey took things pretty well, which was good. Susan knew Travis well enough to know that he probably wouldn't be thrilled about not being able to be imbibing every chemical within reach at any given moment, but he wasn't the host and he wasn't the one who'd be in the worst trouble if everything went totally wrong. Besides, whatever his feelings, Susan was pretty sure that he wouldn't get too unpleasant. At least a veneer of civility came with history.

She and Travis had been together for a little while. That didn't make him that unique; Susan had had her share of boyfriends. She'd dumped her share of boyfriends too, Travis included. Her view on dating was that it was a good way to get to know other people, but at the same time she accepted that having standards and self respect meant a lot of people wouldn't end up being very good matches. Travis had a fixation on sex and drugs, and Susan hadn't been interested in partaking of either with him. A split had been pretty much inevitable, but she didn't begrudge him their incompatibility. All the same, smoking everyone out wouldn't be cool, and she wasn't going to sit quietly by just to avoid a slightly awkward conversation.

It seemed Mallory agreed. It was nice to have some backup, especially from someone cool. Mallory was somebody Susan liked. The girl had pretty good taste in music, and her heart was in the right place. She could be painfully socially oblivious sometimes, to the point where Susan privately wondered whether she was perhaps slightly developmentally disabled in some fashion or other, but that didn't matter very much. Hanging out with the softball team meant Susan had a pretty thick skin, and it was better to have someone tell it like it was than to have to guess at intentions. Anyways, given Mallory's views on bullying, Susan knew that she never meant any meanness.

Seemingly defeated by common sense and courtesy, Travis and Joey retreated to the kitchen to smoke, Travis with only a slightly bitter comment. Susan smiled at their backs, then turned to Mallory.

"Well, that'll make this all a lot nicer," she said. "How're you doing tonight? Oh, and give me a sec. My drink's empty."

She deposited her empty can in a trash bin, then took a small step to the refreshment table to nab another can of O'Doul's. After a moment's thought, she took two instead. Best to make sure to have plenty to drink rather than risking someone else grabbing all the good stuff.

[Hunt11†]

(Sorry about taking so long to update)
For a second Ethan looked away from Jaq to focus on Claire as she dashed for the bathroom Looks like somebody has difficulty holding down their liquor.

Turning back to Jaq Ethan buckled as she recounted what she had to do to get to the party.

"With my parents being out of town for the weekend I didn't have nearly as much trouble getting here." Not like it would really matter if they were here, but still. Ethan thought to himself as he finished his beer.

"Well it looks like I am done with this beer so I would love to another one with one."

[ViolentMedic]

Almost right after Mallory walked into the conversation, Joey and... what's-his-face... wandered off into the kitchen to smoke. Awesome. Having smoke filling the air everywhere wouldn't have been so good, because then if a real fire happened they'd just think it was smoking-type smoke and then everyone would die. And that would suck.

Susan didn't run off to the kitchen, though, so that was good. Susan was cool to hang out with. She didn't get angry so much when Mallory said stuff that probably wasn't so polite in retrospect but that seemed like a good idea at the time.

While Susan grabbed another couple of beers, Mallory saw Claire run past to the bathroom. Already? It'd been hardly any time at all. Sad alcohol-holding abilities. Unless Claire had attempted a keg flip while Mallory wasn't watching. Keg flips were tricky.

"I'm doing okay," Mallory said. "I mean, it's a long walk here and it took ages to get out of the house because Dad was all 'nooo, you'll get drunk and bang people,' and I'm like 'no, Dad, that ship has long since sailed, and then it was a kinda awkward, painful ship so I jumped off and went back to shore.' And then I ran out of the house while he was figuring out what the hell that meant. Other than that, though, awesome."

Mallory took another couple gulps of beer before continuing. "Aaaanyway, how're you? Things all chill and stuff?"

[Laurels]

Claire continued to sip the water from her hands when R.J. appeared, checking on her status.

M-maybe we should find something else to do, yeah? Somethin' that doesn't need you to drink... You need anything, like a cup or some food?

"I'm okay" she began to say, wiping her hands on a hand cloth. "Just had a tickle in my throat as I was drinking, made me gasp for air and begin to cough. I'm fine, I coughed it all out. I don't think I'll drink anything else tonight."

Claire covered her mouth with her fist and let out a quick burp.

"So, yeah, let's go join the others. See what the buzz is with these guys."

Claire moved out of the bathroom and made her way to the kitchen. She picked up a cup and began to pour some soda into it.

Well Mason, you won.

[umop-ap!sdn†]

Joey heard talking and coughing from the next room, but nothing that seemed attention demanding. He pulled back a stool at his counter and pulled an ashtray closer to them. Having a chain smoking parent paid off.

"Pffft, do I got pot? And here I thought you knew me better!"

So, what was in it?

"Heheh, I might have some other stuff as well, but we're saving that for later!"

He reached for the backpack, having lost his patience. Travis's ambiguity was killing him. He heard bottles clink and plastic bags rustle. He was about ready to grab the bag and tear it down the middle.

"Dude! Quit teasing! Whatchu got? And how much can I safely take?"


-------------------------------------------------------


"Well it looks like I am done with this beer so I would love to another one with one."

Jaquilyn blinked. Either she heard him wrong, or he'd misspoken. There was no point in asking him to repeat himself. She was pretty sure she knew what he meant. And not just about this, the whole parents being away seemed a little suggestive too.

"Sure, I'll come grab one with ya. I'm a PBR girl, but I'm not picky."

As she got up and walked, she addressed the other fact he'd discreetly mentioned.

"So, parents are outta town, huh?" She felt herself switch in a mischievous tone. She was pretty sure she knew what he was getting at, but she wasn't into it. Hooking up was fun and all, but she wouldn't be screwing anybody she wasn't sure was a perfect hunk. Jaq did not settle, no. Ethan would have to prove his worthiness.

"You should throw a party!"

[Un-Persona†]

"Ah, well that's good then."

R.J. was happy that Claire was Okay, given that he wouldn't know how to handle a sick and drunk Claire. They had made her way into the kitchen where Travis and Joey were.

"And how much can I safely take?"

Joey was probably talking about drugs, of which kind, R.J. didn't know. He hoped it was just pot, but R.J. figured that Joey was a big boy, and that he could take care for himself.

Not wanting to bother the two boys about smoking and seeing that Claire was perfectly fine, he went to grab another beer from the table. Figuring that nobody wanted to play anymore anyway, R.J. took a sip from the cup.

R.J. quietly slumped himself onto the couch and flipped on the TV, hoping that nobody would mind. He couldn't find the baseball Game, but he did find the Bulls playing the Heat, 64-56. He took another sip and tried to enjoy himself.

[Delroy†]

(( People, people, people! I've been gone for almost a month and a half... I can't believe you didn't skip me! So sorry for keeping you waiting! Anyway: ))

Travis grinned at Joey.

"Fine! God, bro. No patience at all. Soooooo demanding."
Now he was just dragging it out to annoy his friend.

He leaned in and whispered into Joey's ear:

"I got a few pills in here, bro. Mdma, bro... y'know, Ecstasy! And my dealer said it was good stuff too."

He leaned back and grinned mischievously, awaiting his friend's reaction.
He continued by answering the second part of Joey's question.

"I've never actually tried it before, but my 'friend' told me it was.... quite something. One or two pills each should be alright. So... you up for it, bro?"

[MurderWeasel]

"Yeah, everything's cool," Susan said to Mallory. She gave a bit of a grin before continuing. "I bet you gave your dad a heart attack, though. I mean, man, that could sound a lot like you were saying you've already been getting drunk and banging people."

Susan was pretty sure that wasn't what Mallory meant. She didn't really seem the type to sleep around a lot. Well, okay, maybe her attention span was short enough, and she possibly didn't have the impulse control and judgement to realize why it could be a questionable idea and then actually refrain from it, but, cruel as it sounded, Susan just didn't imagine guys lining up around the block for a chance to get with Mallory. Anything embarrassing they did would almost certainly get commented on at some point during the event or—far worse for the teenage male ego—to friends at the lunch table. Besides, Mallory was no busty cheerleader with poor self esteem and too many short skirts.

Susan drained another can of O'Doul's, felt the gas building in her stomach, and covered her mouth with the crook of her elbow. Altogether, it was enough to pass the resulting belch off as close to ladylike.

"Excuse me," she said, giving Mallory a bit of a sheepish grin, at the same time aware that it was probably totally unnecessary. Mallory really wasn't the type to get bent out of shape by a minor social faux pas.

"Anyways," she continued, eager to change the subject, "what are you looking forward to tonight? I mean, what brings you to this sort of party?"

[Hunt11†]

"I don't think I have ever tried PBR before, as the only beer I seem to be able to reliably find at parties is Natty Light."

Ethan was actually kind of glad that the rest of the guys hadn't showed up yet. It had forced him to actually meet people instead of just hanging around the beer, and for the moment everything seemed to be going well, if it nothing went wrong the party could get a whole lot more fun.

Only focussing on the girl besides him Ethan's mind had went into cruise mode until she re-emphasised his point about the lack of parental supervision at his house. And by the sounds of it, he had just shot down any chances he had with Jaq tonight. Though he didn't mean to sound so forward, of course that was how it was going to be interpreted, and he doubted that Jaq, no matter what the rummers said would be game for that after barely meeting him. Before he could say anything to hopefully safe the situation, she threw out the idea that he should host the next party. Well my parents are gone for week so I would have time to clean up the mess, and I do have a bit of money saved up so it could work. The only issue would be getting beer but some of seniors on the team had fake ID's and as long as he gave them a generous tip they should be willing to buy the stuff.

"Getting the beer could be an issue, but I have a couple friend with fakes who would hopefully buy the stuff as long as I pay for it. If they are game to do that then I should be able to throw a party next week no problem."

After finally reaching the table he grabbed a PBR for Jaq, before grabbing a bud light for himself. The die was cast, and all Ethan could do know is pray that nothing would go wrong.

[ViolentMedic]

"Bah, the old man has heart attacks about everything I do. He'll live," Mallory muttered, before draining the rest of her beer. Her father trying to stop her from doing anything 'dangerous' wouldn't be so frustrating if he at least did the same with Riley and Jim, but she'd never seen him try to stop them from going to parties or playing sports. Whenever they got kind of drunk or suffered a sporting injury it was just 'boys will be boys.'

Mallory threw her beer can at a nearby trash can with a bit more force than she'd intended, causing it to miss it by a couple of feet. "Whoops." She picked it up and dumped it in the bin before focusing back on the conversation, where Susan was apologising for burping.

"Nah, it's cool. Better out than in." Mallory gestured at the now-empty can that Susan was holding. "Seriously, how much of that stuff have you chugged? Two cans, three, four? I dunno. S'impressive, though."

Picking up another can of beer, Mallory opened it and, on impulse, tried draining it the same way that Susan was doing with her cans of beer. But she didn't have the skill necessary to do that without choking, as it turned out. Mallory covered her mouth and doubled over as she coughed and spluttered for a little while.

"Gurk... went down the... guh... the wrong way," Mallory insisted.

Figured she'd mess up something as simple as drinking. But Susan made it look so easy. Of course, she made actually being good at your favourite sport and being sociable without being yelled at for being awkward look so easy as well. Mallory was kind of jealous of that, and maybe a little frustrated that Susan was even better at such a trivial thing as chugging beer.

"You gotta teach me how to do that someday," Mallory said, once she'd finished choking. "But uh... what was the question? Right, the... party stuff. I dunno, I'm just here because someone said there was a party. Don't remember who that was, though. But, you know... People. Beer. Fun times. What's not to like?

"I mean, you'd have similar reasons for turning up, right? That's what parties are for. Though, dunno, maybe you have other reasons, I dunno. Can't read minds."

[Laurels]

Claire finished pouring her orange soda and took a big swig of it. It was easier to down than whatever kind of beer was in the beer pong cup. She filled her cup up again and slurped the bubbles up.

Man, this is some good stuff.

Claire looked around the kitchen. She could see a few people were chatting with each other. That's when she noticed that R.J. was sitting on the couch watching TV. Claire thought it was a little weird to watch TV when there were people around to socialize with.

Then again, R.J. is alone. I ought to chat with him.

Claire then looked at the bar of snacks. She grabbed the bowl of potato chips and walked over to the couch.

"Hey man, what's on?" she asked as she sat down, placing the chips on the coffee table.

He was watching basketball. Claire was never that into sports. It was one thing to cheer for the Seahawks, but she never really focused on basketball.

"So, what's happening? Who's winning?" she asked R.J.

[Un-Persona†]

68-76. What in all the living hell. Goddammit, Derrick Rose, The university of Memphis did not invalidate your SAT'S so you could choke in the 4th.

"Hey man, what's on?"

Claire had just sat down next to him. It was a party after all, and Ruth did feel weird just sitting here, so it was nice to have a friend. However, Ruth was a little bit mad. It was the conference finals, and the Bulls had previously lost 3 games in a row. If they lost this one, it was all over. His cheeks were even turning a little pink. Or maybe that was the beer. It didn't matter. Of course, he couldn't just have a little fit and throw all that he had at Claire. She didn't deserve that. He just gave a little "Oi" and rested back on the couch trying to think.

Twirling his hair, R.J. said, "Eh, nothin' much, just watching the finals." He tried to take another sip from the cup, but it was practically empty.

"The Bulls are playing The Heat. The Heat's Winning..." Ruth's voice became a little grave once he started that second sentence.

"Gah, I'll be right back."

He left the couch, wanting to get another beer. He clipped his own shoe, almost making his fall flat on his face. When he regained his balance, he raised his hands up in the air like a gymnast, giving a humble bow. He grabbed yet another beer from the table. Ruth couldn't remember which this one was, but it was either 5th or the 6th. After sliding past Claire like he was in the movies, exclaiming "sorry" and moving fast and nervously, he slummed back down on the couch. The commentator sounded very excited. Shit.

"LeBron has the ball, passes it to Udonis Haslem, passes back to LeBron, who passes it back to Udonis. UDONIS SHOOTS FROM THE HALFWAY LINE AND HE-"

"TTTTHHHHHRRREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

"Dammit!" R.J. took a big gulp from the plastic cup.

68-79.

[umop-ap!sdn†]

Jaq's devious smile widened. Ethan was down to host, and she was always down to be a guest. Sure, this party wasn't bad, but Ethan coulp probably throw an even better one. She internally frowned at her ability to think clearly.

"I'll be right back, I'm going to see if there's any tequila."

She patted his knee, reassuring him that she'd return after a shot or two. Drinking wasn't fun. Being drunk was fun.

Joey pulled up the bag of pills. Weed had lost it's exciting charm weeks ago, and these looked temptingingly badass. He pulled two out into his hand, like asprin. Probably a lot for a first time user, but he would NOT be outdone by Travis.

He handed his friend the plastic bag back, holding out his palm with the pills. "On three, then?"

[Delroy†]

Hah. One could always trust Joey to follow along with crazy ideas.

"On three it is, mate." he said with a grin on his face.

"One, two, THREE."

He gulped the pills down with ease. Travis never did need water or any other beverage to swallow pills. He was one of those rare kids who did not struggle with taking their medicine as a child. Now, all they had to do was wait a bit and then... well... things would get a whole lot more fun, that was for sure.

[MurderWeasel]

Mallory commented on Susan's abilities with the O'Doul's. She seemed suitably impressed. Susan gave a little laugh.

"I lost count," she said. She took it as an opportunity to go over to the table and grab two more cans, though. It just helped her get into the right mood for a party. She was edging towards the point of drinking the majority of her own contribution, but she figured it was fine since she didn't plan to drink anything anyone else had brought, and they all probably had better things to chug too.

Mallory tried to replicate Susan's feat with a beer of her own, and instead ended up choking. That was cause for a little bit of concern. Susan didn't want Mallory getting in trouble, or getting hurt, or anything like that. Luckily, the girl seemed to recover pretty quickly. She said that Susan would have to teach her, and then went ahead and answered as to why she was there. It sounded like just general party stuff, nothing too special. Susan hadn't really figured Mallory for the beer type. People, on the other hand, seemed right up her alley. In fact, a party environment was perfect for those with slightly lower attention spans. There were tons of people to interact with, and tons of chances to be wild without irritating everyone else. Heck, that was a big part of what drew Susan to these events. She didn't get to really cut loose and be loud often enough.

"I'm just here for fun," Susan said. "I mean, there aren't even any really cute guys yet. I wish they'd just crank the music so we could dance."

She punctuated her comment by taking a deep breath, then going through another can of O'Doul's. It was more for Mallory's benefit than anything else. The girl seemed amused by it, and Susan had some fun showing off, even if her stomach was telling her that she didn't really need more hydration.

She launched the now-empty can into the trash can, then turned back to Mallory.

"The key to doing that's practice," she said. "I learned on soda water in middle school. My team used to have burping contests."