Ketterdam University

{eight}

            The moment the booze came out was the moment Kuwei decided to up and leave the party. "I don't want to start my weekend hung-over," he told them as he gathered his things.

"Well, how else are you supposed to start a weekend?" Nina said, pouring herself a glass of wine.

Kuwei gave Wylan a quick hug and left with good intentions. Wylan secretly wanted to leave with him. He had never seen Jesper drunk and didn't want to start now. Already, Jesper was suckling on a bottle of brandy like it was milk. Wylan cringed at the thought of his morning mood.

"Slow down, Jes, you're gonna kill yourself," Wylan said, sitting back on the couch next to the sober Inej.

"That's the idea," Jesper sang, plopping himself on the floor, already showing signs of recklessness. This wasn't going to end well.

Matthias was drinking, too, but it was just beer. Where the heck did I get all this alcohol? Wylan wondered, and then remembered Jesper got a big fat paycheck this week and stocked their kitchen shelves with whatever he pleased.

"How do you even afford wine like this?" asked Inej, snatching the bottle out of Nina's hand and reading the label.

"With forty plus hours of work this week," Jesper said numbly, finally putting the half empty bottle of brandy down.

Nina choked on her drink. "Forty plus hours? Jesper, are you mad?"

Wylan didn't remember Jesper being absent from the apartment that often this week, but then again, he didn't keep track of Jesper's whereabouts when he had his own to deal with.

"Nah, I'm drunk. Now, drink up. I didn't spend half of my paycheck on groceries so my friends could waste precious hangover juice."

Inej ended up pouring herself a small glass of wine but failed to even finish it. Matthias somehow went through half of a six-pack of beer without even batting an eyelash. Nina didn't seem much different drunk, just a bit louder, but much more put together than Jesper. He practically rocked back and forth while sitting, his words slurring together, and cackling at things that were only moderately funny.

"Wylan, why don't you have something?" Nina asked him, passing him the bottle of wine.

Wylan set it on the coffee table. "No, thanks. I don't drink."

Jesper's eyes bulged out of his head. "What do you mean, 'you don't drink'?"

"Meaning...I don't drink." Wylan desperately attempted to stifle his eye roll.

"Like ever?"

"I'm not a fan of alcohol...or the aftermath."

Jesper clicked his tongue sympathetically. "I'll take you out to get wasted one day, just you wait."

"No, please don't."

"It's settled. We'll all go."

"Leave me out of this, Fahey," Matthias grumbled. "I'm not partaking in the tainting of young innocence."

Wylan flushed pink. "I'm not that young!" his voice squeaked. He tried again, lowering his tone. "I'm not innocent, either. I can handle alcohol, I just choose not to."

"That's what all the weenies say. Prove it," Jesper sneered, sliding the bottle of brandy towards Wylan's feet.

Inej placed a hand on Wylan's shoulder. "Don't do it if you don't want to."