Chapter Five: The Club

I needed to go and leave her in peace. I slowly got up, careful not to wake her. I tiptoed out of the room, and quietly shut the door. Time to go home. I went down the stairs and Jean's father was sitting there at the dining table facing me, sipping on tea.

"Can we talk, Nick?" He said.

I already knew this would be a troublesome conversation. He'd say something like 'don't hurt my daughter' or 'why were you up there so long'. I never had a long-term girlfriend before, but I've seen the movies. I prepared for the worst.

I went and sat across from him, making intense eye contact to show I was unafraid. "Of course. What is it, Mr. Wu?"

"It's about Jean. What were the two of you doing up there, honestly?"

"We were just--" I was going to hold off telling the full truth, but decided ehh, fuck it. I'm not guilty. "We were simulating Jason and Jean's relationship, me playing the role of Jean, and Jean playing the role of Jason. We didn't do anything inappropriate. We skipped those parts. I just wanted to know more about what their relationship was like. That's the honest truth."

He ogled at me for a bit, and continued to sip his tea. "I like you, Nick."

I raised my brows. "Really? I didn't think I came across as the kind of guy that people would trust their daughters' hearts with."

"I'm a lie detector, Nick." He smiled. "And I know you're telling the truth. And I also know you're a good man. Jean seems comfortable with you. She seems at ease. Not like that Jason guy. He was a real sleaze-ball."

I nodded.

"Jean has always been so precious to us, and I hope you'll always take her heart into consideration."

"I can honestly promise you sir, that I'm doing everything I can to treat her with decency and respect."

"But do you love her?"

I nearly choked on my own spit. "I don't think we're at that level," I said.

"Mmmm." He eyed my necklace for a moment, then slumped in his seat."When Jean's mom and I were trying for a baby, we were having some difficulties. The doctor said there was less than a one percent chance of her getting pregnant. We tried everything--dozens of things. She just couldn't get pregnant. Mrs. Wu would evenwish on the stars above for a baby. One day we made a visit to some miracle healer. We explained our problem to her, and she gave us a necklace--the one around your neck."

I looked down onto my chest and held the gold-coin pendant in my hand.

He continued. "The fortune teller said that if Mrs. Wu wore that necklace she would miraculously be able to birth a baby girl. She urged us that once the baby was born, we weren't supposed to wear the necklace--only the baby could wear the necklace. One month later, Mrs. Wu was pregnant. It was a miracle. We already had a name planned out for her, but as soon as Mrs. Wu gave birth held her in her arms she involuntarily said 'Jeanie'. She told me we couldn't name our daughter the other name. She couldn't describe it, but she somehow knew Jean was her true name."

Well that explains a lot actually.

"Ah that's enough about that," he said. "You probably don't believe in this supernatural stuff anyway, do you, Nick?"

"I used to think that it was irrational, but now I think true rationality has more forms than people are prepared to be ready for."

"I think the same way. Do you believe in wishing on stars, or on birthday cakes and stuff like that?"

Uhhh. "Sure," I said, attempting not to get too into it.

"Ever since Jean was a kid, she said she believed that when a wish came true, it wasn't by accident."

"That raises a lot of questions. What is an 'accidental' wish? Who chooses it? To what extent can you say--"

"--You're thinking about it too much," Mr. Wu interrupted. "There are some things you can control, and there are times you gotta go with the flow. Otherwise you'll lose yourself trying to get drunk on power."

I had more to say, but it was futile to even try to start a debate. I just nodded politely.

"I should let you go now," he said. "It's already late."

"Thanks for the talk," I said.

He smirked. "No, thank you, Nick. For everything."

With that, I headed out the door and went into my car. I just sat there in the driveway replaying my day. I had a deeper understanding about how she felt now. I was beginning to understand her endeavors. Her pain. It was progress. I think understanding pain is a crucial step in understanding happiness, and what I could wish for to make me happy. I still had no clue.

My mind rewinded the part where I was in her room again--particularly the part where I kissed her neck and when I got embarrassed, which was good. I felt a whole range of things today that I haven't felt in a long time, and it was all thanks to this experiment.

What time was it anyway? I checked my phone. 11:11. I noticed I had five messages from Ryan and they were distorted to the point where they were undecipherable. I called him.

"Yo Nick Wazzap!" He answered. Loud beats played in the background, and there was a lot of shouting.

"Are you at the club?" I asked.

"WHAT?"

"YOU'RE DRUNK!" I said.

"Yeah! I'm looking for a girl!"

"What? I thought you were devoted to Kaylee."

"She left me, man. Women are brutal!" an echo of his voice went in the background throwing idiotic pick-up lines at women.

"I'm coming to get you!" I said.

"Okay! We can get you a girl too!"

"That's not what I--"

I drove up to the club he went to, Marty's. Thankfully I still had my fake ID on me and was able to get in. I searched around for Ryan among all the crazy, drunken faces, and it didn't take long to find him making an ass of himself at the bar.

"You wanna go back to my place?" He was asking a girl.

"You're really cute, but you're like fifteen," she said.

"I'm sixteen," he clarified, nodding off and grinning.

It was too late though. She laughed at him and walked away.

"Ryan," I said.

"YO, NICK! MY MAIN MAN!"

"You're so wasted right now. Let's go home."

"Nahhh . . . You and I are gonna find girls tonight."

"You and Kaylee broke up, huh?"

"Yeah, she found out that I hacked her. Forget about that though. When's the last time you got laid? Come on! Join the fun."

Then I thought of it. Sex was a biological need for humans such as eating and sleeping. Perhaps I actually 'needed a lay'.

"Okay, I'll do it."

He smacked my back. "Fuck yeah!"

"Let me do the talking though. Also, let's find girls our own age. I don't wanna jail-bait anyone."

"Didn't you get the memo? This place is crowded as hell tonight because half of the people here are from our school using fakes. Every one that cares about having a social life is here."

"Alright then let's find someone."

We walked around the dance floor for a while looking for girls, when Megan and a friend of hers started eyeing us.

"Found someone," I said.

I danced with Megan, and Ryan danced with the other girl. It got very provocative. I was trying to focus on the girl in front of me, but I couldn't help but get lost in my thoughts.

Ryan on the other hand, was very into his girl. He pulled her body close to his and rolled their bodies in a groove together. Eventually Ryan and his girl went outside together, and I didn't need much imagination to wonder what happened next.

"Let's go outside too," Megan whispered in my ear.

I was still trying to get into the mood, but I wasn't. I needed to built myself up a bit more. "Let's go after this song," I tried to excuse myself.

Megan rolled her eyes. "Wanna head over to the bar and get some drinks?"

"Sure."

We went to the bar and she ordered two beers and passed them to me.

"I saw that you and Jean were really cozy today," Megan said. "Why are you here with me? She didn't put out or something?"

I took a sip of my beer. "We just aren't exclusive," I said.

She smirked. "Good to know."

We talked and drank for not too long before I started to feel drunk. I knew I hadn't had anything to drink in a while, but why was my alcohol tolerance so low?

"I feel dizzy," I said.

"Lightweight. Let's go outside."

I couldn't think properly, and all the colors around me seemed to blend into each other. In the midst of all this, I thought of Jean. I wondered what she'd think if she knew what I was doing. I wanted to stop.

"I want to go home," I said.

"Come with me."

She grabbed me by the hand and pulled me with her. I was just walking and walking, and it's as if somehow we teleported into my car.

Megan got on top of me and licked my neck up to my ear, and blew in it. I thought of Jean again. I thought of how I wanted to just see her. It's not like I was actually her boyfriend, but somehow I still felt guilty about this.

"I think we should call it a night," I said. "I don't feel right. I think I'm sick."

"You're fine," she said. "Do you have a condom?"

"I don't."

"Ugh. I'm gonna go to the convenience store and buy one. You stay right here."

As she got out of the car, something fell from her pocket. I was too dizzy to read it, but it looked like empty wrappers for pills. I think she roofied me. I tried to get up, but I couldn't stand. I looked for my keys, but I think she took them. I tried calling Ryan, but he didn't pick up. And then I called Jean.

"Hello?" She picked up the phone.

"I'm at Marty's," I whimpered. "Help."

And then I blacked out.

I woke up to screaming and shouting. I looked out of my car window, and Megan was laying there crying on the ground looking up at Jean, who was holding her by her hair. Hundreds of people were gathered around to spectate.

"Stay away from Nick," Jean said. "Understand?"

"Y- yeah," Megan replied.

Jean took the hand that was full of Megan's hair, and threw it on the ground. Megan wept and moaned in pain.

There were sirens and then the police showed up. They started checking ID's more thoroughly, and they were arresting teenagers left and right. Everyone started running around from the police. It was chaos.

In the midst of it all, Jean got in my car, and calmly drove out of the parking lot. She was talking to me, but I was too drowsy to hear what she was saying. I fell asleep again.

I woke up in my bed the next morning. My dad explained that on that night, Jean drove me home and he carried me up to my room. I spent the whole weekend in bed. Jean and Ryan kept trying to contact me, but I didn't respond to either of them. My body was sore and I wasn't in the mood.

Besides that, I was ashamed. Interesting. I guess this shame stemmed from the fact that Jean had to save me from a scenario I wouldn't have been in if I hadn't been such an idiot.

Monday came in the blink of an eye. I had no choice but to finally pull myself together for school.My body was healed at this point, but something inside me was still stained with regret.

I drove to Jean's house to pick her up. With reluctance, I knocked on the door. She opened it.

"Jean," I said. I didn't know what to say. I wasn't prepared for this. Should I have thanked her? Should I have pretended it never happened? What was I to do?

Jean's eyes looked hazy. She coughed and put her head on my chest. "Nick"

I was frozen. "What's this all of a sudden?"

"I'm putting my head on the necklace," she said. "I've been away from it for too long. I feel so weak."

I'm such an idiot! I forgot Jean needed to be around the necklace to keep her strength up! How could I have been so selfish?

"I'm sorry I didn't answer you during the weekend," I said. "I was--"

"I get it. You don't have to explain yourself to me."

"You aren't mad?"

She took her head of my chest and looked a lot better than when I first saw her. "Why would I be mad?"

"Stop being so nice. You don't have to be nice to me, Jean. I told you to let me have it if I deserved it, and right now I do deserve it. Because of me, you got sick. Because of me, you had to fight Megan outside that club. If I hadn't been so stupid--"

"I'm not being nice to you because I pity you," she said. "That's the honest truth. Stop beating yourself up about what happened. The blame is on Megan for what happened at the club, and I knew you needed space this weekend so I gave it to you. I can handle being a little sick. If I really needed the energy, I would have visited. I know I come off as helpless and weak, but I'm stronger than you think, Nick."

"I never said that."

"You were thinking it."

"Where is all this coming from?"

She sighed. "When I went looking for you at Marty's, I saw Megan going into your car. You were unconscious, but she started kissing you. When I knocked on the car door she came out and told me to back off. I told her I wouldn't back off, and she pushed me. 'I've seen you around school,' she said. 'Don't try to act tough, I know you're just a little baby.' She pushed me again. 'Do something. I dare you.' I stood there, just glaring at her. She laughed. 'Yeah, that's what I thought.'

"She was going back in the car, and I panicked. I grabbed her by the hair and pulled her away from the car. I blocked the door with my body. She then tried to punch me, but she was pretty drunk. She missed. I pushed her, and she landed flat on her butt. She got up and started choking me, but then I used my body weight to knock us over, and when we fell I elbowed her stomach. She cried. I grabbed a fist full of her hair and told her to leave you alone. Then I drove you home. I don't even have a license, but I drove you home. The police were there. We needed to get out as soon as possible. I'm not much of a rule-breaker, but that night I did so many things I would have never usually done.

"It got me thinking though. For the longest time I've always felt like I was weak, but that night I realized that I'm not. I've only been conditioned to believe that because I've been a slave for so many years. For the first time in a long time, I feel like I'm capable."

"I see . . ."

"It's partly thanks to you," she said. "Thanks for . . . Well, pushing me to say what's on my mind."

"I nodded. "I was also wondering . . . What did you say to me when we were driving home?" I asked.

She turned her head away. "I-- I don't remember. That night was a blur."

I had the feeling that she did remember, but I wasn't going to pry.

When we were at school, everyone stared at us, yet again. In the end it's not like what my peers thought of me actually mattered, but it was still an uncomforting feeling to be singled out like this. I wanted to go back to being another face in the crowd.

The overhead went off. "Students, please head to the auditorium when the bell rings instead of first period. I repeat, students, go to the auditorium when the bell rings. Thank you," said Mr. Brown.

Not long after that announcement, the bell rang. Jean and I walked to the auditorium together, but students were shuffling through every which way, pushing and shoving.

Jean held my hand and I staggered back at her in shock. "So that we don't get separated," she said.

Soon, everyone was seated in the auditorium. It was loud.

"Everyone settle down," Principal Brown said, into a microphone. It was still noisy. "THIS IS NO LAUGHING MATTER! LISTEN UP!" That time, everyone hushed. "Do you know why I called this assembly? Huh?"

"He's really mad," Jean whispered.

"He's always mad," I whispered back.

Principal Brown continued. "Somebody tell me what hundreds of high school students were doing at a club. Drinking and partying. Do you KNOW what the consequences are if you get caught?"

He went on a tangent yelling at everyone that was at the club, and he threatened to suspend or expel anyone that went back. He lectured us for two hours and even had police come in and warn us about the law, and former alcoholics stand up and tell us how they wish they never started drinking.