Be Mine
Chapter 17
Peer Pressure
Claus and Ness took their alcoholic shot. As soon as the liquid hit their tongue, their faces winced in disgust, however, they forced themselves to swallow it with a painful gulp. The taste was not pleasing at all, in fact, it might've been the worst thing they've ever tasted. It left an intense bitter aftertaste in their mouths, along with a burn that remained in their throats. A shiver went down their backs and shoulders. Claus slammed the plastic shot glass on the table and used his free hand to cover his mouth. Meanwhile, Ness' eyes were closed and his eyebrows were furrowed with agony.
"H-Holy shit," Ninten sputtered. Jeff and Lucas looked at them worriedly.
"It tastes terrible..." Ness was trying his best not to gag. "I can still taste it…!"
"Mm-mmHH!" Claus made that sound with a closed mouth. He kept shaking his head.
Ninten went to their sides to pat their backs. When he did that, Lucas and Jeff came closer as well.
After a bit, the taste soon went away, and Ness and Claus were able to come to their senses without being so set back by the taste. The boys regained their composure.
"S-So... how is it?" Lucas questioned curiously. "Are you guys drunk now?"
Ness wiped his mouth. "Not yet, it has to enter our system first." By 'system,' he meant body. "And it takes way more to get drunk, too. So we need to constantly keep drinking."
"Yeah, I don't feel anything but pain," Claus stated, "that was seriously so fucking gross!"
The capped boy nodded, "I didn't think it'd be that bad…" He inspected the shot glass in his hand. "Jesus, how do people keep drinking shit like this?"
"They must've gotten used to it," Ninten pointed out, "maybe if you guys keep going it won't be as bad!"
From there on, the boys hopped on their conversation train about alcohol until Ness got a text from Paula. The capped boy checked his phone notification.
'Uh hellooo? Where are you guys? -Paula'
"Oh fuck!" Ness said aloud before quickly putting his phone back in his pocket. He turned to the table and started to grab random bottles of alcohol and a stack of plastic shot glasses that he put in his pocket. "Yo Claus, help me out!"
Before his best friend answered, Ness was already putting 2 big bottles in Claus' arms. Claus took it carefully, making sure not to drop it and that he had a firm grip on them. Ness then carried one bottle, as well as a case of canned beer, and started walking off in a direction.
"This waaaay~" Ness sang, smiling back at the boys before walking a little ahead of them. "Follow me!"
Claus caught up and started to walk next to him. "Where are we even going?"
"Paula and Kumatora wanted to be in a private room with just us there," Ness clarified, "das where we goin'."
The boys that trailed behind Ness 'ooo'd.
Claus made a small grin at how silly Ness said that. "Beats being around all those people, that's for sure."
"Yuup." Ness nodded.
After some time passed, the boys found themselves heading out of the big room where the party was, and down a hallway. They kept walking until they reached a door that was a few rooms away. Ness kicked the door as a knock because his hands were full.
From that, Paula answered it and then held the door open for all the boys to come inside. "Hi again~!" she sang to them. The boys greeted her back on the way inside.
When they entered the room, there were a few tables to sit at, a ping pong table with beers on it and other games to compliment the room. Paula sat at a table where Kumatora was chatting with two other girls, and one boy. They were close friends to Paula and Kumatora.
"They're here!" Paula announced, gaining the other kids' attention. The two girls and boy smiled and waved.
"Sit here guys!" Kumatora called over to them to take a seat. The pink haired girl then spoke to Claus, "Claus..! Here!" She kept pointing at the seat next to her.
Claus followed through and took the seat next to her at the round table they were at after putting down the two bottles of alcohol. The boy sat down comfortably.
From there, the boys sat down around the table in this form: Kumatora, Claus, Ness, Paula, Ninten, Lucas, Jeff, the unknown boy, and the other 2 unknown girls. They have yet to introduce each other, which they got to do when they sat down.
"Haay guys, I'm Tony~" the unknown boy sang with a breathy, fricative voice. He wore a black, flat, boater top hat as well as a green suit similar to Jeff's. His overall tone pretty much gave away his homosexual orientation.
He proceeded to shake Jeff's hand and then Lucas', but when he saw the other boys he told them, "You guys are too far away to handshake, but you get my point."
The boys chuckled a little, then the girls started to speak.
"Ahm, uh I'm Pippi!" The girl in a pink dress introduced herself. She had red hair that was styled into 2 low pigtail braids that went over her shoulders.
"And I'm Ana," a calmer voice came in after. She had blonde hair and two short pigtails placed high on her head.
Overall, the 3 new kids in the group looked happy to be there and meet new people. The boys, despite being more introverted, were kind of glad to meet them as well. Except for Claus, who felt awkward whenever he met new people.
"I'm Jeff." The bowl headed genius fixed his glasses.
"Lucas," the shy blond boy followed after.
"Ninten." The scarfed boy held out a hand. "Charmed I'm sure," he said with a fake British accent. He earned some laughs.
Ness already knew them, so the introduction then went to Claus.
"Aaand I'm Claus," the boy chimed in, "basically the copy of Lucas over there."
"Wooah what!" Pippi said out loud with amazement. She looked at Claus, then at Lucas. "I've never seen twins before!"
"That's so cool!" Ana added in.
From that, Lucas and Claus couldn't help but feel a little flattered.
"Woah hey, Ness and I are twins, too!" Ninten jokes.
"We are not." Ness couldn't help but laugh. "Don't listen to him, he's crazy."
The group giggled. Afterwards, as they all talked and got to know each other better, Paula and Ness got up to pick up the drinks they formerly brought in. They left the table and carried it over to a man that was in a black tux; he was Paula's bartender. Currently the older man stood behind a counter, watching over the kids and making sure they're okay.
"Hans!" Paula smiled at him. "Can you do the thing where you make these drinks taste good?"
"Haha! Sure, give me a second. And the term is called 'mixing,' young lady."
"Mixing? What." Paula didn't understand what that meant. Neither did Ness, who was listening right next to them.
"It's when you mask the taste of alcohol with another drink. Maybe something sweet like Guava juice or any other juices. Here, I'll take care of it, you two go back and have fun—I'll serve you guys." The man turned the couple around and scooted them in the direction of their friends.
"Okay." Paula beamed. "Thank you so much!"
"Thanks, Hans!" Ness also tossed in before going back.
Paula and Ness then went back to the group, who seemed to be in the middle of a conversation.
"So have you guys ever dated before?" Ana asked curiously. Jeff, Lucas, and Ninten were looking a bit nervous.
"No…" Jeff scratched at his neck nervously. He spoke for them. The conversation was fine before Ana brought up the random, personal question.
"Oh…" Ana made a nervous smile. She didn't really expect them to not have dated before, and felt bad right after. "That's surprising… you guys are so cute!" She complimented them as friendly as she could. She made Jeff and Lucas flush from that.
As they continued on their conversation, Claus still remained silent. He noticed that Ness and Paula came back, and wondered what they went off to do. He saw them talking to that butler-looking guy earlier.
5 minutes later, the same butler, Hans, came back with a huge tray of beverages. He balanced the tray on his fingertips as he professionally walked in. He caught the attention of everyone when he came to the edge of the table and said, "Excuse me."
Everyone stared at him as he passed around multiple glasses that had some sort of pink liquid inside, topped with ice that were accompanied by two thin black straws. The students helped him pass them out as he laid them on the table. Afterwards, he gave them all glasses of water.
When Hans was done, he smiled and bowed to everyone before leaving. The kids said their thanks when he left.
"Ooo guuurl," Tony said in his accent, aiming at Paula. "Now it's a party!" He picked up the glass of alcohol with familiarity. Ana and Pippi did so as well, but refrained from drinking quite yet until everyone was ready.
Although, the boys still felt tense about drinking.
"We should cheers, guys!" Paula encouraged. "To a great start at Onett High!"
She was energetic, but her response did not receive the same kind of energy back. Only Paula's close friends, which were Kumatora, Ana, Pippi, and Tony, were hyped on drinking. Ness was already set on it, and Claus already committed to drinking as they were already one shot in. The rest, however, kind of just sat there awkwardly.
"Aww, guys, what's wrong?" Paula tilted her head and made a little frown. She was referring to Ninten, Jeff, and Lucas, who were just staring at their drinks.
"Uhh… we're not much of drinkers…" Jeff said with a little nervousness.
"Have you ever tried it before?" The blonde girl asked.
"Well—no… but I just don't want to." Jeff stayed true to himself.
"Hm, okay, I see." Paula left it alone because she didn't want to bug him on it. She looked at Ninten and Lucas instead. "How about you guys?"
"..." They looked away, but Ninten returned to Paula's gaze. He finally decided on what he wanted to do. He will admit that seeing Claus and Ness take a shot of alcohol gave him more confidence. At this point, he felt like he was going to miss out on something if he didn't.
"I, I think I'll give it a try," Ninten said. It earned a small little squee from the girl.
"What?" Lucas turned to Ninten with wide eyes.
"It can't be that bad, ya know?" The scarfed boy tried explaining himself. "At this point, why not?"
"Mmm…" Lucas made a small groan of uncertainty. He couldn't believe Ninten's doing it. "Darn it…"
Ninten snuck a little hand into Lucas' from underneath the table. "Hey, you don't have to do it if you don't want to, no one is forcing you." He gave a comforting half-smile to the fragile blond. This made Lucas feel a little better.
A smile broke out onto Lucas' face. "O-Okay, thanks."
"Yeah, no worries guys!" Paula said. "I just want everyone to have a good time, no need to go out of your comfort zone here!" She stayed positive. "If you ever change your minds [Jeff, Lucas] then help yourself!"
"Thanks Paula…" Lucas trailed. He looked deep in thought momentarily before looking at Paula then finally to Ninten. "W-Well I guess I'll just do it."
"...Are you sure though?" Ninten rose a brow as he looked into Lucas. "You don't look like you wanna."
"It's not that, I just want to try new things… with you…" Lucas turned a little pink as he said that last part really quietly. Those words itself also made Ninten blush that he needed to look away.
"Wow, you guys gave in so easily." Jeff fixed his glasses. "Me too though. Guess I'm drinking. There is no way I'm going to be the only sober one here and possibly stay sane." His sentence earned some laughs.
"YO!" Ness smiled excitedly. "Everyone's drinking! Now this will be hella fun!" Nothing could explain how happy the raven haired boy was that his friends were all giving alcohol a chance just this one time.
"Yaaay!" Paula cheered. She smiled at them, then stood up in her seat. "With that said, how's about a cheers, guys?" After saying that, she held up her glass for everyone to clink their drinks together. The group complied happily as they cheered for their first year at Onett High.
Clinks echoed through the room before the kids took their first sip of alcohol.
[A few drinks and a couple of games later…]
Currently, the group of friends were playing a game called Flip-Cup. It was a team vs. team game that involves chugging a shot of beer before placing their plastic cup on the edge of the table and flipping it on its rim. Once a team member downs their beer and successfully flips the cup onto its rim, it proceeds to the next team member that has to do the same thing over again. The first team that finishes wins.
The teams were Ness, Ninten, Jeff, Lucas, and Claus vs. Paula, Anna, Pippi, Kumatora, and Tony.
Currently, Ness' team already shuffled through Ness, Ninten, and Lucas, while Paula's team went through Paula, Pippi, and Anna. The rest were still in the rush of flipping the cup on time whilst being utterly wasted.
"C'MON CLAUS SHOW THESE GIRLS WHAT'S UP!" Ninten was shouting over Claus' shoulder, urging him to go faster. His face, along with everyone else's were pink from their drunkenness. Their bodies were fumbling to stand where they were.
"FUCK HIM UP KUMA!" Paula screamed back. She raised both of her arms in the air from excitement.
From there, shouts and yells enveloped the room. Their voices were very loud and overlapping one anothers', making it hard to tell what anyone was saying, really. Stray disposable plastic cups were littered about the floor, along with some spills that a few kids accidentally made earlier on; however, no one seemed to care.
Claus' face showed confusion, yet determination as his turn was up. He felt very competitive at this moment as he was going against Kumatora. As soon as it came to both their turns, Kumatora and Claus immediately downed their shot of beer before clumsily trying to flip their plastic cups onto its rim.
"Fuck fuck fuck!" Claus kept cursing as he missed his first 4 flips. "H-h-how the hell do youdoooo this?!" He kept attempting his flips clumsily as his words slurred.
"Aaaa!" Kumatora made a small scream because she was missing a lot of flips, too.
About half a minute passed with constant hype from the teams before Kumatora was the first to get the right flip.
"Hahaaaa, laterrrr~!" Kumatora taunted Claus before letting Tony take his turn to drink his shot of beer.
"CLAUS… YOU. SUUUUCK!" Ninten drawled. "You HAVE to fucking flip that shit right NOW!"
"I'M TRYIN' BROOO." Claus yelled back frustratedly.
"Claus pleeeaaasee!" Lucas started to yell with Ninten.
Then Ness popped up next to the orange haired twin. He couldn't help but slap the shoulder of Claus'. "YOU'RE GONNA GET THIS NEXT FLIP, WATCH!"
The orange haired boy felt his adrenaline rush even more when Ness came in. Although, Claus still misses. He quickly picked the cup and repositioned it for another flip.
"Nah nah NOW IT'S THIS ONE!" Ness corrects. Everyone couldn't help but laugh at Claus and his team yelling at him. They laugh even more when Claus misses again.
"AIGHT IT'S THIS NEXT ONE!" Ness kept on going; he could've gone on forever, but finally, Claus got his flip in and everyone cheered for him.
"WE IN THEREEE!" exclaimed Ness with his arms out for the orange haired boy. He gave the boy a momentary hug, which was strange at the moment, but since everyone was intoxicated it didn't really matter. A smile broke out onto Claus' face after the raven haired boy let go of him to push Jeff into the picture. Now it was Jeff's turn to face Tony; the first to finish would determine the winner of this game.
However, instead of being caught up in the games like he was earlier, Claus stood behind the group of kids surrounding the table to watch Jeff and Tony. Claus was new to this drunk feeling and felt like he was seeing blurry figures of everyone. As for his body, it felt so light. His overall mental attitude was different as well; he felt like he could say and do anything he wanted without worrying about the consequences, as if he had no filters or inhibitions. This feeling felt so… good. This was what everyone felt.
Ness noticed Claus isolating himself to the back of the group and decided to talk to him. "Hey~" he sang out. "How's my best buddy doin~?"
Claus couldn't help but giggle at Ness. The raven haired boy seemed to have a smile stuck on his face the entirety of the time being drunk. Ness enjoyed this feeling, and Claus was aware of it.
"Haha.. I'm good!" Claus told him genuinely. "And you?"
"I feel great," Ness emphasized. He again put a hand on Claus' shoulder and kept it there. The raven haired boy stared into Claus' eyes momentarily, and Claus did the same. Both of their faces were noticeably pink from drinking, but it seemed like the shade of pink reached a darker tint.
For some reason, Claus really liked it whenever Ness would touch him just a little bit. The small taps and gentle caresses made him feel comforted. It felt even better when they would look into each other's eyes. It just felt so right when they would exchange any sort of gesture with each other, alone. Claus felt truly conflicted with his internal thoughts on Ness.
"YAAAAS BITCH!" Tony screamed. The two best friends snapped out of it and returned to the group. Clearly, Tony won the flip cup game for Paula's team. The girls and one boy cheered and high-fived each other. The other team groaned, but didn't take the loss to heart. After all, they were all intoxicated.
"Damn, y'all suck," Ninten said to his team.
"Hey, at least we didn't take an hour like someone did to flip their cup!" Jeff said back with a small smile. He was referring to the scarfed boy.
Ninten whistled and looked to the side, pretending not to know what Jeff was talking about, even though he did. The boys chuckled.
"Look," Ninten started. He used Lucas' shoulder as his arm-rest for a second. Everyone waited for him to go on. "... I don't know why I said that, I forgot what I was going to say." The scarfed one stifled a laugh. Lucas giggled at him.
"You… are so eff'd [fucked] up right now," Lucas was referring to how drunk Ninten was acting. It seemed like the scarfed boy was a dumb drunk.
"You toooo!" Ninten stopped resting his arm on the blond and went to place it around him in a half hug. "Just look at yourself. Your face is so red!" He used a hand to pinch Lucas' cheek.
"...Nu uh!" From that point on, Lucas' already red face got even redder. The blond looked embarrassed in front of everyone that was staring at him and Ninten.
"Hah, GAAAAY!" Ness bellowed out randomly as he cupped his hands around his lips. A smile instantly curled up on Claus' face before he laughed at Ness' comment. The rest of the boys chimed in as well with their laughs and giggles.
"How about another shot just cuz?" Ninten yelled out loud. "Whoever backs out IS WEAK SAUCE!" He gave a thumbs down. After, the boy went over to the side to pour a shot for everyone of a branded alcohol that he didn't even bother to read. The group of kids began to flock over to the scarfed one, who seemed to be dancing while he was pouring.
"Can you handle another one?" Ness asked Claus. They stood behind the group of kids that were surrounding the table to grab their shot from Ninten.
"Er, well." Claus sounded unsure. He didn't get to answer the question before Ness continued on.
"Because…" Ness kept going as his voice became a little more deeper. He whispered in Claus' ear for the next part. "I think your face is just as red as Lucas'." Afterwards, he spaced away from Claus' ear to look at the orange haired boy in the face. Ness smirked at him, eliciting a redder face from the boy. Afterwards, the raven haired boy playfully brushed up against Claus' arm before he walked off on his own way to Ninten. Ness' actions were filled with confidence, and he didn't hold back.
Fuck…! Claus thought in his head. He was completely caught off guard. What the hell was that!? The orange haired boy felt his heart racing faster. He was surprised, but at the same time… he really liked it.
The orange haired boy turned in the direction Ness went, only to find that he was already chatting it up with Ninten at the table with the rest of the kids, while also carrying two shots of alcohol. Claus hesitantly walked over to join them.
As soon as Ness saw Claus arrive, the boy immediately called him, "CLAUS! This one is yourssss!" He didn't even let Claus take the shot glass himself; Ness took Claus' hand, held it, and placed the shot glass in his hand so he had no other choice but to take it. Without much effort himself, Claus received it.
"Take this one with me," Ness leaned on the table with one arm while holding his shot in the other. His face was slightly flushed as he looked at his best friend with a silly smile. He was definitely far gone at this point.
"S-Sure!" Claus replied in a more embarrassed tone than usual. He couldn't help but smile a little at Ness. When Claus gave that confirmation, Ness got closer to him and then gently wrapped his arm holding his drink around Claus' arm that also held his shot. Again, Claus didn't expect this action from Ness, either. Their arms were intertwined now. Somehow he felt nervous, but in a good way.
"Hm, what should we take this shot for?" Ness asked his orange haired friend. One of Claus' brows went up in curiosity.
"What do you mean?" Claus asked, confused.
"Like, a toast," Ness clarified, "what should we take this shot for?"
"Oh!" Claus used his free hand to rub the back of his head as he looked away. "Well to be honest I can't even begin… to think of anything right now!" The boy giggled a little bit. The two still had their arms together.
Ness chuckled at his response. "Okay, fair point!" The raven haired boy then tapped his chin with an unoccupied finger. "How about… mmmm…" he trailed off for a bit. Claus could see his eyes wander off from him, to the side, then back to him.
The raven haired boy was thinking hard. As he was doing so, his body was swooning back and forth slightly, showing Claus he was barely keeping his balance as he stood.
Ness' eyes widened with excitement as soon as he was able to think about what to take the shot for. He impulsively yanked Claus closer then talked in a lower voice so no one else around them would hear.
"This shot goes to being friends forever!" Ness beamed at him. Claus couldn't help but giggle more.
"Whaaat…! That's so lame, dude!" Claus' mouth widened with a happy grin. He was clearly joking and was more than happy to hear that from his best friend.
Ness nudged him a little with his other hand playfully. "Whatever dude!" He clinked his little shot cup against Claus' and the boys held up their drink before downing it. They did it with no hesitation and without struggle— they already went through so many drinks to think about the taste anymore.
After that shot, Claus could feel his dizziness and carelessness doubling, no, tripling. Ness could feel the same. They stood there in front of each other basking in how much that shot made them feel good. They felt very light-headed, and their current thoughts resided in their mind for no more than a good 5 seconds.
Everything and everyone seemed to not matter at this point.
"Claus…" Ness was the first to speak up to the other after their shot. His smile dimmed down into a more serious stare. Claus could feel Ness' violet eyes eating him up a little bit.
"Mmm…" Claus tilted his head at the raven haired boy. "Y-Yeah…?" His voice was more gentle and soft when saying this. His eyes were half-lidded and staring at Ness innocently and curiously.
The way Claus replied to Ness made his heart thump loudly. Ness always thought Claus was so cute.
"Nessssy~!" Suddenly, a voice intruded their one-on-one conversation. The shrill voice belonged to none other than Paula.
The blonde haired girl impulsively hugged Ness from behind lovingly with no restraint. She pushed her cheek against Ness and rubbed it against him. All in front of Claus.
"What're *hic* you up to~?" she tried her best to say. She was also pretty gone from the alcohol as of now. She brought a hand to Ness' chest and started to trace a finger up his chest area.
Ness looked her in the eye. He looked a little bothered and surprised by her presence. He awkwardly let her continue what she was doing.
"Just d-drinking some more drinks with Claus. How're you doin' babe..?" Ness told her nervously with a little smile. It seemed like she just kept getting closer to Ness and the boy just let her. He didn't outwardly reject Paula, but more so dealt with her physical closeness.
Claus watched the two of them together, a little offended that Paula came in to interrupt their talk. Usually, the orange haired boy would stop himself from getting too angry or jealous whenever he saw them together. He would bottle up his feelings and let Ness be happy because that's his best friend and the girl he liked, right? And also definitely because Ness… moved on.
These thoughts kept Claus' emotions from exploding, but only when he's sober. Right now, that doesn't seem to be the case.
The two didn't notice Claus until they heard him crush the empty plastic shot cup in his hand with his fingers. When Ness and Paula's head turned to the orange haired boy, they felt like they saw a dark aura surrounding him.
Claus had the nastiest look on his face. His brows crinkled unwelcomingly and his mouth bent downwards into a scowl. He was looking at Paula directly in the eyes and he didn't break eye contact. His gaze pierced through her.
"H-Huh…?" Paula couldn't help but whimper. She spaced herself away from Ness slowly when he saw the look Claus gave her. The girl was confused with a mix of worry and fear. After spacing away from Ness, she looked from Claus, then to Ness, who was also noticing at how disgustingly Claus was staring at her.
"Is something wrong… Claus...?" Paula said weakly. She instinctively hid behind Ness a little bit; she could tell that something was off.
"Yes, there is…" Claus finally came out with it. "It's you." His voice was low and threatening.
"M-Me?"
Ness' ears perked up instantly at Claus' retort. His brows went up in surprise and awe. He chose to stay out of this one; he was curious about what Claus was going to do.
Claus went silent afterwards. He realized just now that he went too far and committed to what he was saying. Because of that realization, he didn't know what to say next. Instead, he let actions he couldn't help but do, speak for him.
As Claus was passively enraged and unable to control himself, he stepped up to the couple and separated Ness from Paula by pushing them away from each other. From there, he abruptly grabbed Ness' wrist and started walking towards the door that led to the hallways. Paula let him do that, and stood there unmoving.
Just what am I doing…? Claus thought for a split second. He couldn't think clearly; he didn't understand why he was doing these things and why he was so rude to Paula. Regardless, he still held tightly to Ness' wrist. The raven haired boy was in shock, but let Claus do as he wanted.
As soon as they got out of the room, Claus shut it closed behind him with subtle aggression. He continued further down into the hallways; he didn't know where he was leading the both of them, but he didn't care either.
Claus felt lost internally. He didn't mean to be so rude to Paula. Regretfully, he shook his head.
What have I done…?