Sorry guys.

I've read up and researched and know that teens under 18 or 21 are not allowed to go to bars in the US and also can't get alcohol. But in Europe you can already go to bars and clubs or discos from 16 and in Germany (and in other states) you can drink wine and beer at this age without any problems; from 18 you can also consume high-proof alcohol.

Since the story was written for German FanFiktion - and no one thought of a translation - this was of course not taken so exactly. In order not to have to take out the whole chapter - which is simply not possible - you should please just overlook this law and read how someone can fare if one drinks too much ... wink!

Verena

Chapter 52

Party Time

Leah

"Come on, tell me!" Lisa asked me as I clutched the box of tissues on her small sofa.

I thought I had finally got the crying under control, but fiddlesticks. As soon as Lisa told me that Ben got along excellently with Natalie this afternoon and that they had supposedly also kissed, tears welled up in my eyes again.

We were together for so many months and it only took him two days to get over it? That was crap!

"I can't," I stammered between my sobs.

Lisa had already tickled it out of me to the point where we really had a secret.

"I am your best friend. If you can't talk to me about everything, who else can you talk to?" she smiled at me encouragingly.

She was right about that. Otherwise, we also told each other everything. But my secret was too much. Even if Brandon had understood all this like that, it didn't have to be like that with all our friends. With Ben it had been completely different.

"I really can't," I slowly reassured myself. "It's something to do with my heritage. We can't tell anyone," I tried to explain.

With that, she was appeased as my best friend - the one who usually knew all my secrets. She would still be quite curious, but would no longer come hell or high water drilling for it. No matter how much she didn't like not knowing something, she had respect for family secrets - and apparently also tribal legends. No idea why. Who knows what skeletons her family hid in their closet?

"I was going to tell Ben. If we were together, he would have found out eventually. But he didn't really get it at all, and then he broke up with me."

"It can't be that bad! Becky also knows about it, though," she now stated soberly.

Against it, however, she still had something. That someone else knew better than she did.

"Yes, but it's different with Becky. She's descended from the Quileute, like us, so she knows," I explained.

"Oh well ... So, whatever it is! If Ben can't handle it, you better find someone else. Someone more understanding," Lisa took me in her arms.

I nodded a tortured smile.

"Edward said that, too," I muttered thoughtlessly, immediately biting my lip.

"Edward?" Lisa pricked up one's ears.

Crap. She was still out to get Edward. However, at home, I knew that was a pretty unsuccessful venture. The way he looked at Mom was already very ... special. I couldn't think of any other word for it. I had never seen that there could be so much emotion in a boy's gaze. To call Edward a boy was also not appropriate. He looked like us in age, but when you got to know him, he was so much different. He appeared level-headed and experienced in life, grown and mature. Sure. He was over a hundred, I thought, chuckling.

"Put Edward out of your mind!" I said simply.

At some point, at least in front of our friends, there was no hiding the fact that he was together with Mom. I was already pretty tense about what they would say about it. Terms like 'boy-toy' or 'cougar' ran through my head. They would see that they were wrong with such terms with Mom and Edward. They were so cute together and I liked Edward a lot.

"Do you know something I don't?" Lisa asked more specifically.

I nodded and said he was pretty much spoken for.

Of course, this made her curious and she wanted to know how I knew that so exactly.

I invented a story that I had been jogging with Jake on Sunday, and had met him by chance with his flame on the outskirts of town, and that he had looked pretty darn in love. Lisa asked for exact details about the girl and I pretty much stuck to the truth. Except for the age. And that it was my mother. Lisa was offended. Not unhappily in love, just miffed.

"Well, you two! Do you want a ride?" Jason rumbled into the room, squeezed himself between us on the sofa and put an arm around each of our necks.

"Where do you want to go?"

"Bran and Jenny are at the 'Twilight.' This new trendy bar on Factory Island."

"Maybe then you'll get out of this mood!" Lisa looked at me past her brother.

I nodded.

"And where's Jake?"

"No idea!" I said played accusingly, already pulling out my cell phone.

My jaw dropped in surprise when he said where he just was.

I was a little offended because he hadn't asked me if I wanted to come along. I would have loved to go. I thought they were all so nice, I thought Emmett in particular was totally cool. Not sexy or anything, just kind of cuddly. A real 'good mood' bear. I could have used that after Lisa's story. But so be it.

Jake was thus otherwise occupied and we then drove to the 'Twilight'.

Jenny and Brandon had saved seats for us after we texted to say we were coming. It was full.

"And where's Jake?" asked Bran immediately, grinning.

At the same time, Lisa and I each had a cocktail placed in front of us.

"He's not coming ... And what is that?" I asked immediately.

I hadn't ordered anything yet, but apparently it was 'Ladies Night' here. Each girl got a 'Pink Lady' to welcome her. Well, yeah. ID checks were probably not followed very meticulously here. A small cocktail! What the heck! It was delicious.

I quickly drank it empty and I soon felt the pleasant tingling in my fingertips.

We didn't usually get drunk. We didn't need to. But I always found this tingling sensation exciting, and since we so rarely got really wantonly drunk, this one drink was already enough to feel the alcohol.

"Has anyone asked Becky?" wanted Lisa to know.

Becky was accepted by our friends as I had expected: as if she had always belonged to it.

Oh well. As long as Jake had already been after her, the rest of us had had long enough to deal with that thought. But Becky also fit in well with our little group and was just super nice.

Jenny had asked her if she wanted to come, but she was in too bad of a mood and didn't want to spoil it for us.

I could understand that. Whereas this would have been an opportunity for Becky and Jake to see each other despite the ban. I wouldn't have told on him to Mom.

Brandon pulled me outside briefly in between.

He had had to tell Jenny a little bit. No details, nothing about wolves or vampires, but that we had a Native American secret, which was also to blame for Ben and I being apart. He told me this so that I wouldn't accidentally tell Jenny more in case she asked me about it. So far Lisa also knew - so it was okay.

My own mood was getting better and better and the atmosphere was great. The music exactly to my taste, the 'chicken wings' kept coming, we danced and gabbed.

Ben had quickly disappeared from my thoughts ... until he then appeared, himself.

I held onto my chair convulsively as he entered the place. He saw me, looked through the round of our clique, looked me in the eyes, and turned his gaze in the other direction. He walked up to a high table at the other end where two pretty girls stood. I did not know them. He greeted them with a short hug.

I clenched my jaw together until Brandon sat down in the line of sight in front of me.

On purpose.

"Forget the ass," he whispered to me, gesturing me to refocus on our own little group..

I did it, but kept looking over to the other corner.

When a waiter came by, I ordered a 'Caipirinha'. Then a 'Mojito', a 'Sex on the Beach', a 'Cuba Libre' and a 'Cosmopolitan'. In that order. Within an hour. Everyone said enough was enough and tried to talk me out of it with each new order, but today I was going to drown Ben. I knew how much alcohol I could handle and I prevailed. By now I had really warmed up, the tingling in my hands was more exciting and I felt completely free and weightless. My cardigan hung over my chair and I danced exuberantly dressed only in a thin top. I was calling out my next order to a woman with a tray - 'Tequila Sunrise'.

"No! She's had enough!" said an angry voice directly behind me, and two rough hands pushed me rudely out through the door.

The cool evening air immediately got into my head.

"Are you stupid to shoot yourself off like that?" he ruthlessly turned me in his direction and immediately a little away from him.

Too much ...! Movement ...! Suddenly ...!

Everything around me spun unnaturally and swayed, and as everything stopped again, I sank to my knees and braced myself with my hands on the ground.

Only slowly did I raise my head.

Ben.

He looked down at me with an impassive expression and my stomach rebelled.

I jumped up, ran the few feet to the end of the parking lot, and puked in the bushes.

Ben disappeared.

More sober than I wanted to be, I leaned back against the wall of the club.

I closed my eyes and thought about how shitty life was.

"Feeling better now?" asked Ben, handing me some napkins and a small bottle of water.

"No," I replied, but accepted the handed items. "What do you care anyway?" I asked bitterly and rinsed my mouth. That was disgusting! Now I knew why I never drank so much alcohol.

"I don't want to have to visit you in the hospital with an alcohol poisoning!"

"You wanted to have NOTHING to do with me!" I nagged and wiped my mouth. Eww ...!

I could already feel the tears of anger welling up inside me and I fought them.

"You must be cold, " Ben's voice became worried and he pulled his sweatshirt over his head.

"Mutants don't freeze!" I snapped at him spitefully, but I really wasn't warm right now.

He looked me in the eyes indecisively, withdrew his hand with the sweatshirt and let his shoulders droop.

"Whatever you say!" he muttered and went back in the bar.

Fortunately, I only now lost the fight against the weeping and let myself fall against the wall of the club. Only two minutes later my friends were with me, helped me up from the ground and Jenny took me comfortingly in her arms.

Bran went back yet again and I saw him speaking to Ben through the windows, but I couldn't understand anything between my sobs. However, it didn't look like a friendly conversation.

Soon we were driving home.

"Would your mom let you stay with us tonight? Surely you don't want to get before her eyes and have to explain to her why you're staggering into your room drunk in the middle of the week!" Jason asked, who was the only one of us who hadn't been drinking.

I shrugged my shoulders ignorantly.

I wasn't sure. On the other hand, Brandon and Jake were also always sleeping over at one or the other's house, even if there was school the next day. And I wasn't together with Ben anymore that she might be afraid I would spend the night with a boy. It was certainly worth a try.

The night was short. I was sober again and had migraine. I felt sick when I grabbed my clothes. They stank of stale smoke and alcohol.

Could there be a better start to the day? I would have to hide them deep in the laundry basket and then secretly wash them so that Mom wouldn't find out.

I splashed cold water on my face, then woke Lisa and left.

I rolled down all the windows so that no telltale smell would settle in the car. And so that I would wake up.

With the bag of rolls in my hand, I crept quietly through the front door at just before six o'clock. Music thundered in my ears and seemed to burst my eardrums.

"Good morning, little sis!" greeted Jake in such a good mood that it gave me more of a headache yet.

He sat grinning on the kitchen counter with a cup of coffee, holding out a cup to me that I had probably never needed as badly as I did today.

How could you be in such a good mood so early in the morning already?

"What did I miss yesterday?" he asked, happy as a lark.

"Don't ask!" I lowered myself to the floor with my cup and leaned against the refrigerator.

"Do you have a headache?" he asked mockingly, and he seemed to like it.

Evilly I glared at him.

"It's your own fault if you guzzling down cocktail after cocktail! Be glad that I was not there!" he announced and I looked against him only more confused. "Jason texted me yesterday," Jake explained, but then jumped off the countertop after a moment and squatted in front of me. "Did it help at least?" he now asked sympathetically, though.

"Somewhat," I admitted, leaning against Jake's shoulder. "Ben was there."

"I know," was all he said, hugging me peacefully.

Slowly tears came to my eyes.

Ben! I had no idea what to think about Ben. The fact that he had made out with this Natalie was only a rumor, even according to Lisa's own statement. Whether it was true, only he himself would know. And he had only hugged the two girls in the bar as a greeting, nothing else. But he had apparently paid attention to me. He had noticed how much I had drunk and especially that it was far more than enough. He confused me. However, if he thought I was scum, why did he care? But that was not the only reason for my tears. I had been absolutely laughable yesterday and was utterly ashamed. The useless drinking - which was why I had lied to Mom then, too. We had already left Mom in the dark about some things, but so directly? On top of that, there was my bitterness towards Ben, although he - in retrospect, admittedly - only wanted to help me. Whatever reason he also had for it. He had even offered me his sweatshirt.

"I was cold last evening," I then remembered with that.

I didn't understand why a wolf would suddenly freeze. We had run with Seth into the mountains, up to the snow, but I hadn't minded at all.

"Might have been the alcohol," he broke away from our embrace and looked at me. "I'll bring Mom her coffee and then we'll go for a run to wake you up. Meanwhile, you can consider what you're going to tell Mom. I'm sure Edward won't keep this to himself!"

Shit! I had not thought about that at all ...

Thanks for reading!