"Growing Pains" hit 150k words and 40k+ views last chapter!

Chapter 34 - You Learn Something New Everyday

They day had barely started and Shepard had already been emotionally drained. The picture frame that her aunt had gotten her had been beautiful, but it had dredged up many painful memories and feelings. She was grateful for the gift though, and as soon as they had finished in the kitchen she took the photo upstairs and cleared off a space for it on her nightstand so she'd be able to see it clearly every day. Shepard was glad that Sadie had woken her so early because it had allowed her some time to settle her emotions and collect herself before heading to school.

She'd decided to take the hand-drawn picture that McKenzie had made her and hang it up in her locker at the Academy. She stopped by it often throughout the course of the day to change out datapads for different classes and store her lunch in and it would be nice to see the picture every time she opened it up. To be on the safe side though, she also scanned the picture so that she'd always have a copy of it on her omni-tool in case something happened to it.

Kasumi had been standing with her when she hung it up in her locker and inevitably asked what it was. "Cute pic, Shep, what's it for?"

Shepard sighed, knowing that somehow, someway, someone at school would eventually discover that it was her birthday. It's not that she didn't want people knowing, she just didn't want to be in the spotlight that day and knew that people would make a big deal out of it since her life was still quite interesting seeing as how she was still the 'new girl'. "It was a gift from my little sister, McKenzie," she replied, hoping that Kasumi wouldn't push any further.

"Aww, how cute! Why'd she give it to you? Not that she needs a reason, I guess. I've always wanted a sibling, you know? Must be nice to have a little sister. So what's the occasion?"

Shepard fought back a laugh at Kasumi's rambling, not interrupting her friend since she knew the other girl would eventually get back around to the question she had initially asked. "She made it for me as a birthday present."

"Birthday? Shepard! It's your birthday and you didn't tell me?! You wound me!" Kasumi cried dramatically, throwing her hand up to her heart and pretending to be in pain.

Shepard didn't fight the laugh that time and chuckled at her friend's whining. "This is why," she teased. "It's really not a big deal and I didn't want any more attention than I usually get."

Kasumi quit her dramatics but smirked at Shepard. "Well too bad now, Shep, I know, and I'm not going to let you down play such an awesome day!" she announced, and Shepard knew that there was no way she was going to escape it now. She knew Kasumi would tell everyone at lunch and then she would definitely be getting the attention that she didn't want.

"Alright, alright, don't get your panties in a twist," Shepard mollified, resigning herself to the occasion and letting a grin slip onto her face. Maybe it would be nice to be fawned over a little bit. Her birthday last year, while enjoyable and full of friends, had been shadowed by her mother's death. Maybe this year she'd be able to relax a little more and have fun. "Just don't make a big deal out of it, yeah?" she said, counting on the fact that she knew Kasumi would do the complete opposite.

"Fat chance of that, Shep," Kasumi quipped. She was about to say more but then the warning tone for class rang out and interrupted her. "I'll see you at lunch," she called as she walked away, and it sounded more like a threat than a goodbye.

Shepard just shook her head and tried to mentally prepare herself. She figured that as soon as Kasumi sat down in class, she would be messaging everyone at their lunch table about the news she had just discovered. She shut her own locker and headed to her third and last class before lunch.

-.-.-.-.-

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!"

Oh Lord... It was as bad as she thought it was going to be. Not a second after she'd walked up to the table, everyone there, well besides Wrex, since he just sort of grumbled a bit, shouted out and made a huge spectacle. They were all smiling and laughing at her reaction and exasperated expression.

Outwardly, Shepard pretend to be huffy about the whole thing, telling them to keep it down and rolling her eyes, but secretly she was elated and warmed by their excitement and friendship.

"So how old are you, Shepard?" Kaidan asked as she sat down.

"Sixteen."

"Cool! Ash and Joker are sixteen too," James said.

"Still older though," Ashley smirked.

Shepard laughed since she knew Ashley liked to make everything a competition. "At least I'm older than Tali," she joked, teasing the quarian.

"Hey!" Tali pouted. She wasn't really angry, having to constantly fight off jokes and teasing about her being the youngest of their group.

"Don't worry, Tali, we'll just band together against our elders," Shepard smiled.

"Elders? Hardly," Garrus said dryly. Besides Wrex, he was the oldest, at eighteen, with James not far behind since they were both Fourth years.

"We should totally do something fun for your birthday, Shepard!" James said excitedly.

"What? No, no it's fine, really," Shepard tried to say, slightly weary about what James considered 'fun'.

"No, that's a great idea," Ashley agreed, always up for some shenanigans.

In an instant, everyone at the table started talking about what they could do or where they could go and Shepard's, "No really, it's fine," was drown out. It was the last day of the week and they didn't have school the next day, so she knew she would have trouble dissuading them from anything and resigned herself to whatever they were going to come up with.

"Dude, we should totally go to Afterlife!" James said.

"Hell yeah! We haven't been there in a while and hopefully they've forgotten about the shit that happened last time," Ashley agreed.

Woah, say what? Shepard was confused because she'd heard 'afterlife' and the first image that popped into her head was that of the literal after-life, and wondered what Ashley could possibly mean about 'last time'.

"Guys are you sure?" Kaidan said hesitantly

"C'mon, it's been a couple of weeks and we really didn't cause that big of a scene," James argued.

"Jumping onto a table and yelling 'I am MAN!' isn't causing a scene?" Garrus said dryly.

"And then proceeding to fall over and pass out?" Joker smirked.

"Guys!" James whined, which sounded odd coming from his semi-hulking figure.

Everyone at the table laughed at his sulking face. Well, except Shepard, because she was seriously lost. "Um, sorry... But what is afterlife?" she asked quietly.

"Oh, sorry, Shepard!" Tali said quickly, and Shepard could tell she was blushing with embarrassment for leaving her out of the conversation.

"Afterlife is a huge club in Etheai that a lot of kids from the Normandy go to. It often has Teen Night so plenty of students are familiar with it," Garrus explained.

"So, was it Teen Night when James decided to take a nose dive?" Shepard asked, feeling comfortable enough at the table to poke fun.

"Aww, not you too, Lola!" James said as everyone laughed.

"Uh, heh, no, actually, it was not Teen Night when that particular incident happened," Kaidan said with some chagrin. "We, ah, we sometimes go even when it's not since certain... um..."

Ashley interrupted him with a snort. "What he's too much of a pussy to say is that we can't get wasted on Teen Night's because they don't serve booze," she said brazenly.

Shepard couldn't hold back a laugh at the very Julia-Tucker-like relationship between the two. She could totally see Julia jumping into the conversation and cutting Tucker off like that. "Oh, gotcha. Well, is tonight a Teen Night?"

"Nope," James said, and with plenty of glee, too. "No way are we celebrating your birthday without real booze!" he said happily.

"Don't they like, card you guys?" Shepard asked, since on Earth, without a fake ID, getting into a club would be pretty tough. Not that it wasn't relatively easy to make fake ones in the modern day and age, but they still checked.

"What do you mean 'card'?" Ashley asked.

Shepard stared at them oddly like they were messing with her. "You know, like checking your ID to make sure you're not underage and sneaking in?"

"That's a thing?" Kasumi asked.

"Well, yeah," Shepard said. Now they were the ones looking at her strangely.

"Oh, Lola, I guess you don't know that they didn't grow up on Earth. Kasumi, Kaidan and Ashley have never lived on Earth," James said.

"I knew Kasumi hadn't," she said, "but I didn't know that about you two."

"Yup, born and raised on Sanves," Ashley said proudly.

"Oh! That's pretty cool, but, weird, I guess," Shepard said. It was bizarre that even though they were human, they'd never seen Earth. That was a seriously strange thing for Shepard to wrap her mind around since she was 'born and raised' on their homeworld.

"So that's what they do on Earth? There's an age limit to clubs?" Kaidan asked

"Yup," Shepard said.

"I guess that explains why our parents always say we aren't old enough to drink," Ashley admitted. "Not that it stops us, but now I get why they say that," she smirked.

"So anyone can get into the club?" Shepard asked.

"Well, duh, they don't just let little kids wander into the place, but I guess since there are so many different species here it's kind of hard to keep track of what age is appropriate for every race," Kaidan said.

"Though we do make sure baby-voice over there doesn't talk when we walk in," Ashley laughed, motioning to Tali, "I guess she'd be what is considered underage, huh?"

"Technically, all of us are. Well, except Wrex... kinda," Shepard said.

"What?! We wouldn't be able to get in?" Ashley hollered, looking at Shepard like she was crazy.

"Nope. 21 is the legal age to drink. Or, at least where I am from it is. It varies from country to country," Shepard explained.

"What's a country?" Tali asked.

Shepard stared at her blankly and then just shook her head. "Jeez, I'm not even getting into that," she laughed, though her brain kind of hurt from that statement. "I guess there are some things that we all just naturally have in common, like' booze'," she said with a pointed look at Ashley, "and other things are just really, really foreign," she realized.

"Kinda freaky, huh?" Joker said.

"Totally," Shepard agreed.

"You're all ridiculous," Wrex grumbled. His gravelly voice was a bit of a shock since he hadn't spoken during the entire conversation, but after a brief pause they all laughed and finished eating.

And Shepard wasn't certain since they hadn't said so explicitly, but she was pretty sure that they'd all be going to this Afterlife place. She was excited but totally terrified.

-.-.-.-.-

The noise was deafening; a mad cacophony of music and people. The bass was almost more felt than heard and the higher notes of the songs rose above the voices of all the patrons. People had to lean very close in to speak to one another, shouting into whatever passed as an 'ear' for each species. Though the overall hue of the club was red - almost black in some of the less-than-illuminated corners - different colors of light flashed non-stop, making the sea of alien bodies writhe strangely in the strobe lights. Every race seemed to be represented save the vorcha, though it was predominantly asari. Almost all of the servers and dancers were asari as well, with few human women mixed in and one turian bartender.

Shepard hadn't really known what to expect when they neared the club since she had learned that assuming things on Sanves often led to her looking foolish. She'd been to one or two clubs on Earth, having been dragged along by Julia, but she was in no way 'educated' to what these places were supposed to be like. The club atmosphere was definitely present, and Shepard was glad that she'd at least been to one club so that the lights and sounds didn't overwhelm her. The music was like nothing she'd ever heard, but the deep, steady bass beat transcended cultures and felt familiar. She'd only been to a couple small clubs, so the amount of levels in Afterlife were freaky, but in a good way. She could see the appeal of standing up higher and looking down at the crowd.

She'd been nervous about getting in since the line had seemed very long, but the elcor (Kenzie would have flipped) at the door seemed to know James and let their whole group in. Shepard laughed quietly to herself at the exchange because it didn't surprise her one bit that James personally knew the bouncer of the club. He just seemed like that kind of guy. They'd walked through the outside doors and into an enclosed tunnel-walkway flooded with blood red light and people milling about, probably waiting for others from their group or talking where the noise volume was muffled. She'd felt the music vibrate up through her feet as they'd neared the end of the tunnel and excited but somewhat nervous jitters had engulfed her.

Those jitters were still there, but they'd settled somewhat once they'd navigated through the mass of bodies and found a large enough table for their whole group to sit down at. Being able to take a deep breath and allow herself the chance to look around and observe everything calmed her nerves. When James said he was going to the bar to get drinks, everyone put their orders and credits on his omni-tool so that he could get them. Shepard was still a little too nervous for alcohol so she just told him to get her something sweet without booze in it.

None of them had driven since their skycars had auto-pilot capabilities, so she didn't have to worry about drinking affecting her driving, she just didn't want to get too messed up. When she'd gotten home after school, she'd debated whether or not to tell her aunt about their plans to go to the club. Her Aunt Karin had been raised on Earth so the stipulations about underage drinking were something she knew about and Shepard wondered if her aunt would be strict about it. Obviously she'd never told her dad about her drinking during the year that had followed her mother's death, but he'd never have noticed anyway in his wallowing. In the end she'd decided against telling her aunt where she was going since she had no idea how she was going to react. Shepard told her that she'd be staying over at Kasumi's house instead. She felt bad about lying, but she didn't want to pass up an opportunity to hang out with her new friends since she was still forming bonds with them and she didn't want them to think she was a party pooper.

Now, half of them were sitting at their table and the other half were dancing close by. Wrex, of course, was sitting in the corner of the booth like a brooding shadow lazily drinking Ryncol and looking at nothing in particular. Kasumi and Garrus were animatedly talking about some new mod for a game that Shepard had never heard of. Joker was at the table too but he was angled towards the mass of people and laughing at Tali's dancing antics. Besides the quarian, Kaidan and Ashley were also dancing; Ashley with a little more abandon and Kaidan conservatively shuffling around. James wasn't in direct view of the table, but they all knew he was around somewhere.

Shepard wasn't doing anything in particular besides watching her friends goof off and have a good time. She snapped an occasional picture on her omni when one of them performed a particularly ridiculous dance move, but otherwise she was just soaking in the entertainment. All of her friends seemed quite familiar with the place, so she wondered how many times they'd been before. She looked sidelong at Wrex and debated whether or not to ask him about her musings. She hadn't interacted with him all that much and wasn't sure how he'd respond to her questions.

Her curiosity was quite strong though and she decided to go for it, scooting a bit closer so she would be heard over the music. "Hey, Wrex?" she half spoke half yelled.

He turned his large head towards her when he realized she was talking to him. "Hmm?"

"How many times have you guys been here?"

"Too many," he said gruffly, but she detected some amusement in his tone... Not that she was an expert on krogan sarcasm though. "We come often enough that I've lost count."

"So it's like a hang out spot for you guys?" she asked.

"You could say that."

Shepard wondered if he was really having fun though since for all outward appearances he didn't seem very interested in what was going on around him. "I can tell they're all loving it. Do you... I mean, are you having fun? It... um, do you just sit there bored?" She was nervous to ask him, but figured it would help her get to know the big krogan better since he didn't speak to her much of his own volition.

He laughed deeply at her comment, so at least she hadn't offended him. "Nah, I'm not bored. Krogan bodies aren't really meant to dance, so you'll never see me out there. I just enjoy watching those silly pyjacks make fools of themselves."

It was probably the most words Shepard had ever heard him say in one sitting. She kept her surprise under wraps though and resolved to keep talking until he didn't feel like it anymore. Most krogan were quite intimidating and Shepard always felt slightly tense around Wrex, but she didn't want to feel that anymore and she figured that getting to know their resident krogan was a good way of getting over it.

She continued to ask him simple questions that weren't too deep so that he wouldn't be offended by anything and would continue to talk. "So how come we were able to get in here so easy? I saw James talk to the elcor at the front and bypass the line."

"Vega comes here more than any of us and knows quite a few of the bouncers and staff," Wrex explained.

"Oh, cool. But why is he here so often?" she asked.

"Ha! He'd deny it, which is why we all love bringing it up, but he's got it bad for the owner's daughter," Wrex said with a burley chuckle.

Shepard blinked at that. "James? Mr. Flirt With Everything That Has Breasts, James?" James wasn't a player, he never went behind girls' backs or cheated on anyone, but that was mainly because he never ever got serious with anyone. He kept on good terms with all of his hook-ups and was an all-around nice guy to hang out with. She couldn't see him getting hung up on one girl, at least not until he was out of his frisky, youthful years.

"The same. He would never admit it, but he really does like this girl."

"Who is she?" Shepard asked.

"She's an asari named Liselle and her mother owns Afterlife and basically all of the other clubs in Etheai. She runs a huge company called Omega as well and has her hands in things all over the planet."

"Wow, she seems pretty important," she commented.

"More than just important. Everyone knows that Aria T'Loak is the backbone to the businesses on Sanves. Even in companies that she doesn't own her word has power. And a lot of her dealings aren't exactly legal," Wrex said.

Just the name 'Aria' sounded intimidating. Shepard wondered how someone so powerful, and apparently dangerous, wasn't in prison if people knew she ran illegal businesses. "How come the police don't arrest her?"

"Just because people know she's a part of dirty dealings doesn't mean they can prove it. And I'm sure it doesn't hurt that she probably has friends in high places," Wrex smirked, admiration clear in his tone.

"You sound like you look up to her?" Shepard joked.

"Eh, I guess. It'd just be nice to have that kind of freedom."

"Wouldn't it get lonely though? I feel like I'd be paranoid that everyone was out to get me if I was that powerful," she admited.

"I doubt it. It's no secret that people practically fling themselves at her feet and her bed," Wrex laughed. "I'm sure she never lacks in that department."

But sex isn't companionship... Shepard thought to herself. "So James is pining after the daughter of a crimelord?" Shepard said.

"Basically."

"Wow... James sure knows how to pick 'em," she laughed.

"If you ask him, he says he just wants to lay her, but we can all see the way his eyes light up pathetically whenever he sees her."

"Does she like him back?" she asked.

"Not that we can tell," he snorted. "She just seems amused by all of his attention and just keeps stringing him along."

Now Shepard felt bad for James. Sure, he was a huge flirt, but he was actually a pretty genuinely great guy and it seemed cruel that the one person he seemed serious about wouldn't take him seriously. "That kind of sucks."

"Yeah, it does a bit. But the crazy pyjack doesn't give up. My bet is that he eventually wears her down. Garrus just thinks he's wasting his time," Wrex said, and gave the turian a nudge.

"What?" Garrus said, turning from his conversation with Kasumi to focus on Wrex and Shepard.

"I'm telling Shepard here about Vega and his asari," Wrex clarified, "and how you don't think it'll work."

Garrus sighed and shook his head. "James is my best friend, but he can be an idiot sometimes."

"So you don't support him trying to win over Liselle?" Shepard questioned.

"It's not that I don't support him, I just don't want him to end up heartbroken," Garrus explained. "It takes a lot to get him down since he's so outgoing, so when something does, it's a big deal. I don't want my best friend to get hurt, that's all."

"That's nice of you, Garrus," Kasumi said with a smile.

"Sure, but it doesn't do much good since he won't listen to any of us," Garrus smirked.

"So he won't admit that he likes her, but he still tries to go out with her on a serious date?" Shepard asked laughing.

"Pretty much," Garrus replied, his tone indicating that the irony was not lost on him.

"Alright," Shepard laughed.

Just then James walked back up to their table with more drinks so their conversation came to a halt. Shepard wasn't afraid that he would be mad about them talking behind his back, she just didn't want to make him feel bad about his feelings for Liselle. Even though it was long distance, she knew how great it could feel being in a serious relationship with someone, and she didn't think it was silly for James to want that. Maybe I'll talk to him about it later and get him to open up about it.

Their friends that were on the dance floor came closer to the table when they saw more drinks and each grabbed a glass. James lifted his glass and yelled, "A toast! To our new friend Lola on her birthday." His words were a bit slurred, but he seemed mostly coherent.

Shepard just groaned and shook her head, but all of her friends hurriedly grabbed their glasses and raised them up as well. Kasumi reached over and shoved a glass into Shepard's hand and picked her arm up. "To Shepard!" Kasumi cried, and everyone else followed suit, taking copious gulps of alcohol afterwards.

Shepard laughed and scrunched her eyes shut as she felt the drink burning the back of her throat. Coughing a bit, but with a smile on her face, she dropped her glass back to the table. "Damn that's strong!" she said, and everyone laughed at her watering eyes. "But really, thank you guys for bringing me out tonight. I know I haven't been here for very long, but you all invited me in and have been so great these past few weeks."

"Don't go crying on us now, Shepard," Wrex joked.

She pretended to swat at him playfully but winked. "Sorry, I didn't mean to get sappy. Just know that I'm grateful for your new friendships and that I'm looking forward to the rest of the year." And just to be cheeky, she raised her glass again and yelled, "To us!" Everyone else laughed and repeated it back and they all drank some more.

They spent the rest of the night dancing, talking and laughing and Shepard had an amazing time. She actually got out on the dance floor a little bit, but she hadn't had quite enough to drink to let go and act as wild as Ashley. She enjoyed herself immensely though, and even when she saw a woman that looked like her mom she didn't allow it to destroy her good mood. She just looked up into the flashing lights and allowed a soft smile to light up her face. She still missed her mother, dreadfully and dearly and all the time, but she knew her mom wanted her to be happy. And right now, she was pretty damn happy.

A/N - Sorry this took so long. Finishing finals, coming back home and getting settled for the break. But hey, more new character development and plot lines! Please let me know what you guys think about how I've added in Liselle and Aria.

Happy Holidays everyone :)