CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
"So, are you excited?" Bella asks as she sits down next to Jay at their usual table in the cafeteria.
"For Jake to teach me more about motorcycle rebuilds? Stoked." The younger girl nods and then smiles sarcastically as she looks at Bella, knowing that that's not what she's talking about.
"Ha ha. No, for our plans after." She looks at her. "Your annoyance with this party is kinda funny."
"I got drunk at the last party I went to, woke up hungover and friendless." Jay says as she glances at her again. "Not really looking forward to a repeat."
"So don't drink." Bella says. "Is there gonna be alcohol there anyway?"
"Not as far as Kim's plans, but do you really think that a bunch of teenagers are gonna go to a party on the beach and not bring booze?"
"I don't know. Parties have never really been my thing." She tells her. "Is there usually a lot of alcohol involved?"
"In my experience." The little brunette nods. "Teenagers like getting drunk and acting stupid. I think it makes them feel older than they are."
"Why would anybody want that?" Bella asks as she stabs her salad with her fork.
"Everyone wants to grow up faster than time will let them, and then, once they're the age they wished they would finally get to...they long to be as young as they once were."
"I don't think it's the age..." She disagrees. "People think they want to be grown, do grownup things... Then they're old enough to do those things, and they miss the naivety of when it all seemed so much cooler than it really is."
"Mm... This conversation got way too heavy. Let's just focus on being young and dumb while we still are." Jay says as she then gets to her feet.
"Where are you going?"
"To spread the wealth."
The younger girl walks over to the table that has some of the kids Jeremy used to hang out with, as well as Angela — a Senior that she met in her fourth period elective class. Angela smiles when she sees the younger girl approaching her friends' table.
"Hey." The raven-haired girl greets.
"Hi. You mind if I sit for a minute?" Jay asks, and she motions toward the empty seat beside her.
"What's up?"
"There's a party at First Beach on the reservation tonight. Are you guys coming?" She asks as she glances around the table.
"I didn't even know that there was a party." Angela says, and she nods.
"A friend of mine has been organizing it. I'd have invited you sooner, but I was against going myself for awhile. It was supposed to be a birthday party, but we've dropped the birthday part, and we're all just gonna have some fun. There's gonna be a bonfire, it might actually be fun. You should all come." She tells them.
"When's everyone showing up?" Angela's boyfriend, Eric, asks.
"Uh, I don't know the exact time. Between four and five — somewhere in that window. But we'll all be there awhile, so..." She says, and he nods.
"Is Bella gonna be there?" Mike asks, and she looks over at him.
"I'm dragging her over, yeah."
"Cool." He smiles.
"We'll see you there." Angela tells her, and she smiles.
"Awesome. See you guys tonight." She drums her hands on the table as she stands up and then walks back over to where Bella's still sitting.
—
"Drunk teenagers by the ocean." Jake nods as he and the two girls that he came to the party with look around. "Who's bright idea was that again?"
"Kim didn't bring the alcohol." Jay defends. "That's not her fault — she just planned a bonfire."
"Right."
"Hey, do me a favor — make sure that Bella actually has some fun tonight. Don't let her sit alone all night long."
"Yeah, 'cause you're so much more social than I am." The older girl looks at her.
"I fake it better than you do." She says before walking away from them and going to find Kim.
The older girl smiles when Jay finds her and Jared. "Jay!" Kim's eyes are drooping and her smile looks lazy.
"You're drunk." She looks at Jared. "Already?"
He shrugs. "Mike brought beer, and she found it early... She's a lightweight." He tells her, and she nods.
"Yeah, I can see that."
Kim walks over to her and drapes her arm over the younger girl's shoulders. "I love you." She says, and Jay smirks as she looks between her and Jared. "You're not just my best friend. You're like the sister I never knew that I wanted."
"Oh, yeah?" She asks, highly amused. "Who do you love more — me or Jared?" Her question makes him start laughing just as he's about to start taking a drink from his own red cup.
"Jared." She smiles as she looks at her boyfriend. "He's just so sweet. Isn't he sweet?"
"Yeah, you got yourself a good one." Jay nods, trying not to laugh at the slurred s's. "Don't lose him."
"Never." She shakes her head, her brow furrowed. "Me and my imprinter are good as gold. You'll understand—"
"You know, I should probably get her to drink some water." Jared says as he quickly steps forward and reaches for his girlfriend.
"Uh... Okay." Jay looks between the two of them as he starts whispering something to Kim.
"But Paul—" She's cut off by her own screams as Jared picks her up and throws her over his shoulder.
"Okay then."
"What happened?" Angela gets her attention as she makes her way over to Jay with Eric at her side. The couple is walking hand-in-hand.
"Kim's making drunken confessions about how much she loves me. I think her boyfriend got a little jealous." Jay says with an amused smile, but her mind wanders back to what her friend had said — imprinter. "He's getting her some water. He's a bit like a mother hen."
"How sweet — him being so attentive." She smiles as she looks in the direction that the loving couple disappeared in.
"Where are your other friends?" Eric asks, and Jay looks at him.
"Bella and Jacob are around here somewhere." The younger girl says as she looks around the party at the people surrounding the bonfire.
"And what about the guy that I saw you with at the diner before?" Angela asks, a teasing smile on her face as she nudges Jay.
"I haven't seen him, but I'm sure he's here."
"You two didn't come together?" She asks, and the younger girl scoffs. "It seemed like you guys liked each other that night."
"I thought so too." Jay shrugs.
"Well, what happened?"
"Not any one thing, he's just..." She smirks. "Have you heard that song by Katy Perry, uh... Hot N Cold?" She asks, and Angels nods.
"Sometimes he likes you, sometimes he doesn't?" She asks, and Jay nods.
"One day, he's flirting with me, and then the next, he doesn't even want to talk to me." She tells her. "I don't get it, and I'm really not interested in trying to figure it out. He's cute, and sometimes he's sweet, but... My life gets complicated enough without the added boy confusion."
"I know!" Eric gets their attention. "Let's stop talking about boys and go to get something to drink." He starts pulling Angela's hand, and she quickly reaches out to grab Jay so that she'll go with them.
The three of them are walking over to the keg that's sitting with the very bottom of it shoved into the sand. Mike starts talking to Eric as the two girls trail a little farther behind him, they're laughing about something that happened in their fourth period as they get closer. Then Eric sees something that gets his attention and he reaches out to smack Mike's arm.
"Hey, isn't that the guy that hangs around with Jay?" He asks, and his friend looks over at Paul and the girl that he has sitting in his lap. "The one that Jeremy says is always flirting with her?"
"Yep." Mike shakes his head. "Guy's a jerk if he hurts her."
"If who hurts who?" Angela asks as she and Jay walk up behind Eric.
"Oh, uh..." He looks at the younger girl, and she raises her eyebrows. "Don't take this the wrong way, but you should find someone else...who doesn't treat you like he does." He motions over to Paul and the girl who goes to their school in Forks.
Jay looks over and sees Paul whispering into her ear as she smiles. She's sitting across his lap with a beer in her hand, and she clearly likes whatever he has to say. The little brunette turns away from them as the girl looks up, and she looks at Mike.
"He can do whatever he wants. He's just Jared's friend." She says. "So, what are we drinking?"
"You want what's on tap?" He asks as he grabs a red solo cup from beside the keg.
"Sure." She smiles, and he chuckles as he pours her some.
"There's our girl." Mike gives both Jay and Angela a cup, and then the four of them walk away from the keg.
They each occasionally go back for refills, and Eric's the first one drunk. He walks over to the radio that someone brought and then turns up the music before making his way back over to his girlfriend. The two of them start dancing, and then Mike convinces Jay to dance with him. As the night goes on, and the sun goes down, Jay ends up in his letterman jacket. He makes a joke about how it's way too big for her, and she ends up locking eyes with Paul as she's laughing.
"I need a refill." The little brunette walks away from him and heads back over to the keg.
"I didn't take dimwitted jocks as your type." Paul says as he walks over to the little brunette.
"Yeah, 'cause you know so much about me." She scoffs as she takes a drink from her cup, turning to face him. "But, hey, I'm surprised that you could notice anything around the ditsy cheerleader in your lap."
"How do you know she's a cheerleader?"
"She goes to my school." Jay tells him. "But you knew that."
"I know a lot of people. I don't keep track of where they attend classes." He says, and she nods as her phone starts ringing. "Does my flirting with other girls bother you?"
"Should it?" She raises her eyebrows as she pulls her phone from her back pocket, then she looks at the caller ID. "Oh, damn. Why does he have the worst timing?" The little brunette mutters as she brushes past Paul, moving away from the drunk teenagers and loud music.
"Jay?" Ric's voice comes through the phone as she makes her way toward the water.
"Hey!" She smiles. "I haven't heard from you in awhile. How are you?"
"Are you alright?"
"Mhm." Jay nods. "I'm fine." She hiccups.
"Are you drunk?" He asks, remembering how she was last time, and she hesitates for a second.
"No."
"Judith Jane." He scolds, and she sighs.
"Kim planned a party at the beach for my birthday, and I might have had a little to drink." She reluctantly tells him. "But we have a designated driver — a few, actually. Jake isn't drinking, and neither is Bella. I'm pretty sure Jared isn't drinking...much." She says as she turns to look over at the party. "I'm being safe, I promise. And I haven't had as much as I did at Elena's party."
"Well, I'm glad to hear that you're drinking responsibly...being under age and all." He says, and she chuckles. "Please tell me that you'll remember this conversation in the morning."
"It's just a slight buzz, I swear." She insists. "Why, what's going on?" She asks, and he sighs.
"Damon told you about my ring and the evil alter ego that I've been dealing with?" He asks, and she nods.
"Mhm."
"Well, apparently, Klaus' mother was with me each time I died while wearing the ring, and she had a lot to do with how bad my alter ego is, and..." The silence that follows scares her.
"Ric?"
"She cast a spell to turn me into a vampire like the originals, and then she killed me. I'm in transition, and I'm not gonna complete it." He tells her, and tears fill her dark eyes. "I want to die as me, and I don't want to hurt anyone else."
"You're dying..." She's choking back tears.
"I'm sorry, Jay. I didn't mean to ruin your party, but I wanted to say goodbye."
"Then there's something that I want to say." She nods. "I've been wanting to say it for a long time, but I didn't know how to word it. So, I-I'm just gonna say it... Thank you for...for letting me know what it's like to have a father. I don't know anything about mine, but... If I could choose, I'd want him to be you." She tells him, choking back tears.
"My life with you, Elena, and Jeremy is the closest thing to the life I always wanted." He says. "I always wanted kids of my own, so... Thank you for letting me be your father. I wish I could be with you longer, but... I love you, kid."
"I love you too." She presses the back of her hand to her lips, still clutching her beer cup.
"I should go. A doctor friend of mine gave me something to put me to sleep, so I won't feel a thing." He tells her. "I hope that that's some comfort."
"It'll be peaceful." Jay says. "You're not in any pain?"
"None. I'm just tired." He says, and she nods. "And Damon's with me, so I'm not alone."
"Good. Good."
"Goodbye, Jay."
"Goodbye, Dad." She sobs, and a smile crosses his lips as tears pool in his eyes. "I miss you." She hangs up the phone and then stuffs it into her pocket.
Jay takes a deep breath as she squeezes her eyes shut, and she focuses on the sound of the waves crashing as she tries to steady her breathing. She looks out at the water and then chugs the remainder of her cup's contents before making her way back over to the keg.
She catches Paul's attention, passing him on her way back up the sand, and he sees that her eyes are now all red and puffy. "Jay?" He abandons his conversation with the girl that he's been flirting with and goes after her. "What happened? Are you okay?"
"Like you actually give a shit." She mutters as she uses the nozzle connected to the keg to refill her cup. "Just leave me alone."
"I do care about you. Talk to me." He says, and she shakes her head.
"Just go back to your ditsy cheerleader."
"Excuse me?" A female voice behind them gains their attention, and Jay rolls her eyes as she turns to walk away from them. "Hey!" She grabs her arm to make her stop.
"Let it go." Paul says as he looks down at her, but Jay's already turning back to face them.
"Yeah, you should listen to him, 'cause you're not gonna get a fight." The little brunette says as she looks at the older girl. "I have real problems, so I don't do petty jealousy. Especially over a guy who clearly doesn't give a shit about anybody but himself. You want him? There he is, knock yourself out. I have better things to do."
"Like talk shit about other girls that you don't even know?"
"Okay, here's what I want you to do. I want you to look deep inside yourself, find just a modicum of self-respect, and then get over yourself." Jay tells her. "'Kay? 'Kay." She nods and then turns away from them again.
She grabs Jay's shoulder and pulls her back, and the younger girl ducks under the fist that comes flying at her. She then shoves her shoulders hard, and the other girl loses her footing and falls into the sand. They've drawn a crowd, and Paul's too stunned to intervene.
"Here's what you're not gonna do — you are not going to lay a hand on me. Ever." Jay says as she looks down at her. "You don't know a thing about me, sweetheart. Even drunk, I will kick your ass six ways to Sunday, and then be ready to go again. Don't test me."
"Alright, I think that's enough." Bella says as she walks up behind Jay and pulls her back a step, away from the others. "Time to go home, huh?"
"No, I wanna stay. This is my birthday party, after all. It'd be rude to leave so early." She says. "I haven't had enough fun yet." Jay walks over and grabs a new cup, her original one now laying sideways in the sand, then walks away from them.
"Okay then." Bella glances at the others and then follows after her friend because she knows that she's only going to get even more drunk than she already is.