Disclaimer: I don't own anything you recognize.

A/N: I got this idea while talking to Clair about how Wally could probably never get drunk for very long, which then led to a conversation about drinking in general. And for some reason this popped into my brain, probably because drinking is part of the typical high school experience and Megan would want that, I think.

I took some liberties here, because don't know anything about the Martian anatomy, but I assume that when they're in human form they're like humans, though I don't know if they can get drunk. And I'm not sure Karen Beecher (Bumblebee) or Mal Duncan (I forget who he is) goes to Happy Harbor High, but that's what fandom is assuming and fandom is always right. ;) Also, let's just pretend that Megan made the Varsity cheerleader, though she might have because she's either a sophomore or a junior, since she's sixteen, or pretending to be. (I do believe that she's forty-four ((Edit: she's forty-eight. Thank you, Sylvichic)) , though, or at least according to a timeline that I looked at.) Anyway, please review, I'd appreciate it.

Challenge: A Time and a Place; Random Word Challenge. Place: Happy Harbor Random Word: Curtain

Just a Bit Tipsy

"There's a party at Jeremy's tonight after the game," Kelly, a fellow cheerleader, told her during half time, after their performance. "Are you coming?"

The idea of a party made Megan's heart beat just a bit fast. A party. She was just invited to a party. Oh, this was just like those movies and TV shows that she watched. Things happened at parties, things that everyone talked about on Monday.

And she was going to be there when these things happen. It was at times like these that she thought that Earth was better than Mars, at least in terms of her social life.

"Of course!"

"Don't bring your boyfriend, though. He's kind of… freaky." Her nose scrunched up at the last word, as if that wasn't the word that she wanted to use but she didn't know what to put in its place.

Megan didn't even bother correcting Kelly's assumption about Superboy being her boyfriend, it had become so commonplace to hear that at this point she barely heard it anymore. Of course, they weren't anything of the sort but…

She wasn't sure how to finish that thought.

The fact that Conner wasn't welcome bothered her, though. Yes, he wasn't the most talkative person in the entire world, but he wasn't a bad person or anything- he wasn't one at all. And if she went he would most likely be alone at Mt. Justice with only the television for company, and bad things happened when Superboy watched too much television.

But it was a party. And she was invited.

Megan's mind played tug-of-war with itself, but there always had to be a victor.

"Okay," she said with a sigh. "I won't."

.x.

"What are you doing?" Conner's voice cut through the quiet of the bathroom. Well, Megan had left the door open. Even Conner knew better than to walk into a bathroom when the door was closed, though he did have to learn that the hard way.

Megan jumped, and in the process drew a big black line going down her cheek. Having done this to herself many times while she was practicing the Martian quickly put some eye make-up remover on a cotton ball and rubbed vigorously until the eyeliner was gone.

She'd done this many times in the privacy of her own room and bathroom, trying to get it just right before permanently moving her supplies into the main bathroom for easy access. Before football games one of the older girls did everyone's make-up, so Superboy had never seen her do her own before.

"I'm putting on make-up."

"It looks like it hurts."

Megan grimaced, thinking of all the times that she poked herself with the mascara brush or the eyeliner. And all the times that she had pinched her eyelid with the eyelash curler. And how badly that cheap lip plumper had burned when she had just been trying to see what it did, exactly.

Of course, she could just shift herself into having longer eyelashes, rosy cheekbones, and plumper lips. But she was on Earth for the experiences and putting on make-up like every other teenage girl was certainly An Experience.

"It doesn't, not really," Megan decided to say, remembering how Black Canary told her once that pain is beauty when she had found the Martian's eyes watering when she got mascara in her eye before showing her how to wield the wand herself.

"Oh." He paused. "Why are you still in your cheerleading outfit?" Superboy seemed to be in a talkative mood tonight.

Megan hesitated, not sure how to answer. The reason that she was in it was because Kelly had told her her to keep it on because all of the cheerleaders wore their uniforms to the party, and because Megan's normal clothes were 'frumpy'.

She didn't want to lie to him, because she knew that he would never lie to her. But if she told him that there was a party then he would want to come. And then she would have to tell him how he couldn't, because people didn't want him to.

That would hurt his feelings, and the last thing Megan wanted to do was hurt his feelings. But she also really wanted to go to this party.

"I'm going out tonight."

"Oh."

It was that easy. Letting out a sigh of relief that she didn't have to explain herself further Megan turned back to her eye make-up, trying to get the black lines just right before finishing. Superboy watched her, not saying anything, just taking it all in as though he was trying to learn how to apply eye-liner by seeing.

She hoped that he didn't try to do this to himself when she wasn't around; he didn't need it his eyes were pretty enough already. It wouldn't be fair if he were more attractive.

Once she was done she admired herself in the mirror, and smiled at her reflection. The body that she had finally decided was pretty and athletic. She could have made herself taller and thinner and blonder like most of the celebrities that she watched dance around on the television screen, but she liked this one. At least she got to choose; humans didn't get that choice and were stuck with what they had.

Passing by Superboy on her way out the door, he had left when she had started doing her hair, Megan gave herself one last glance in the shiny refrigerator. Though her reflection was warped it was still nice.

She was almost to the portal when she realized that Conner was coming with her. Megan bit her lip as she turned to face him, not having expected him to follow her. "I'm going to go by myself tonight, I think," she told him.

Though his face didn't change expressions Megan could still taste his surprise. They did everything together; they worked together, lived together, went to school together. He even went to the football games that she cheered at, though he didn't watch the game much. Mostly he just brooded, or so she thought, she didn't pay much attention to him then.

"Okay." The word was short, and she wondered how much she had hurt him. She had wanted to avoid this so much. Taking a deep breath the Martian turned back to the portal before turning back around again. The image of Superboy in the middle of an empty couch sent a lump to her throat. She didn't want him to be alone.

Parties probably weren't even that great anyway, she told herself. In fact, that was where a lot of drama started, and Megan didn't want any drama. She didn't need any. She had enough on her plate as it was.

She walked back and sat next to him. "I don't think I'm going to go anyway. I changed my mind."

Superboy just looked at her. "Do you want to go?" he asked.

"Yes." She wasn't going to lie to him, but the word came out too fast for her liking.

"Then you should go. I'll be okay."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes," he said firmly. He paused then. "When are you going to be back?"

She wasn't sure. It was ten-thirty now and the party would probably last a couple of hours, at least. "Two, probably."

"Okay." He turned away from her then, silently declaring the conversation over.

Megan got up and left, but she lingered, walking as slowly as she could to the transporter, but he didn't call her back. She glanced back at him once, but he didn't even turn around. So she left.

.x.

Jeremy's house wasn't large: it didn't meet Megan's carefully-constructed-by-Hollywood standards, but his nearest neighbors were several yards away, which was probably why it was chosen. There were people standing around the sidewalk and in the yard, a few couples even going into the alleyways between houses.

All of the people, several were people that she recognized from cheerleading or football or her classes, were mostly standing around and talking and laughing as they took long gulps of whatever it was they were drinking. The music was so loud that the notes practically swirled around the house like leaves in the wind, before disappearing completely.

Taking a deep breath Megan walked to the front door, stepping over a suspicious looking puddle and a rolling can as she went. She paused before opening the door, knowing that this would be the last time she would do this not knowing what to expect.

The first thing she noticed was all of the people. They were everywhere, all near one another. Second was the smoke. There was the distinctive smell of cigarette smoke, which she recognized because after practice some of the cheerleaders smoked, but also something more herbal and sweet. Probably marijuana, which the League had exposed her to so that she would know what it was if and when she needed to when they knew that she was going to a normal high school. She knew it was illegal and not to touch, though it probably wouldn't bother her. Most things that affected Earthlings didn't bother her.

Megan scanned the room with a desperate tinge, looking for any familiar face. She saw Karen Beecher with her boyfriend, Mal, and another girl on the couch and waved. Hopefully this would be more fun when she could talk to someone. Karen waved back, beckoning Megan to join her.

Before she could, though, a hand reached out and grabbed her wrist. "Megan!" Kelly said, her voice at a higher volume than normal. She tripped over her own feet before righting herself with the help of Megan's shoulder. None of her drink, a clear liquid- water?- however, spilled. Kelly took a self congratulatory sip of it before grimacing and looking back at Mean. "You're here! I, like, kind of didn't think that you would come!"

"Why not? You invited me, right?"

If Kelly had just been inviting her to humiliate her then Megan would probably wither up inside, or something close to it.

"Of course!" Kelly responded, which ebbed Megan's fear. "But I didn't think that you'd get away from that, like, boyfriend of yours. Or, like, that you'd come. You seem like kind of a square, you know. Like you always wear clothes that make you look like you're trying to fit in with my grandmother! That's, like, so sad because you could actually be hot if you tried. You're, like, a cheerleader and stuff, so at least you've got that on your side. If you weren't then who knows what kind of friends you'd have."

"I like my clothes," Megan said as Kelly swayed in place, ignoring everything else that Kelly had just told her about. Even to her own ears Megan sounded hurt.

"Doesn't everyone?" Kelly waved the thought away. "That's not, like, the point. The point is we need to get you something to drink. We can talk about your fashion choices another time." Kelly was almost business-like when it came to talking about a drink, the word 'like' not coming anywhere near her sentences, just as it didn't when she was away from parties.

"Oh, I'm not thirsty, thank you."

For the first time Kelly turned around to look her full in the face. "Trust me, you are. At this kind of party you are always, always thirsty. Capisce?" Her eyes looked deadly serious, but then she snorted. "Did you, like, hear me there? I said capisce. Like a freaking braniac! But seriously, you need something to drink. It'll, like, make you feel tons better."

"But I'm not feeling bad…"

And Megan wasn't, not really. Sure the comment about her clothes kind of hurt, but she didn't think that Kelly really meant it anyway. The blonde girl had said things about her wardrobe before, though never that bluntly. In fact, something seemed to be off about Kelly, though Megan couldn't put her finger on what.

"You'll feel, like, tons better. Trust me! Though maybe we shouldn't start you off with what I've got. Let's go see." Grabbing Megan's wrist once again Kelly somehow managed to navigate her way through the crowd with few accidents to the back of the room, where there was a long table up against the wall.

On the table there were glass bottles of all sizes lined up neatly. Megan could read them all, and from the first she knew they were all alcohol. Wine, whiskey, vodka, and tequila all lined up in a row, the bottles glinting.

But there wasn't as much hard liquor as their was beer. There was a keg, or at least something that resembled the kegs that Megan had seen in glimpses in movies, along with cans all over the place in coolers and in boxes on the floor. Kelly was refilling her cup with vodka- it wasn't water after all- before giving Megan a grin. "Pick your poison," the blonde said.

"Um." Megan bit her lip. This was a dilemma. Black Canary had told her that in the United States drinking was illegal until you were twenty-one years old, and that she shouldn't do it. But everyone here was doing it, and they seemed to be having a better time than she was. Plus Black Canary hadn't told her why she shouldn't drink alcohol, other than because it was illegal and it made teenagers act like bigger idiots than usual.

But Megan wasn't even a teenager. In Earth years she was forty-four years old, having been born forty-eight Earth rotations around the sun ago on Mars. Besides, it wouldn't hurt anything. She was a Martian, she probably wouldn't even be affected at all.

"I don't know. What do you think that I should get?"

Kelly cocked her head. "Ohmigod!" she shrieked. "Is this your first time to ever drink? Are you, like, an alcohol virgin?"

Megan wasn't exactly sure how to answer this. "Yes. I think."

Kelly laughed then, but it wasn't her normal laugh. It was louder and longer than anything the Martian had heard the girl do before. "Oh, you poor thing. Since we're popping your cherry over here I think we'd better start small then. Here."

She reached down and handed Megan a can that had Bud Light written on the side of it. The first thing that happened was that Megan felt a flash of disappointment because there weren't any shiny red cups in sight, and those were always present in Earth movies with parties in them.

The second was she figured that this wouldn't be a night that she would ever forget.

.x.

Megan wasn't quite sure if this was her third can of beer, or her fifth. It might have even been her fourth. Something like that, though. She definitely knew that it was somewhere around those numbers.

She wasn't quite sure if she liked this feeling either. From the very first sip of beer, which had actually been kind of revolting but Kelly had told her that that was just what it tasted like and to drink it fast, she had felt a little bit off, almost like she was floating.

In fact, the Martian had checked her feet several times to make sure that her feet were on the ground, which they always were.

And, somehow she kept getting beers handed to her whenever she finished one, which hadn't helped her keeping count of her beers either. Drinking this much made the whole world seem different, almost duller. Everything moved differently, seeming slower and she felt like for once she could feel the speed of Earth's rotation as it made its way around the sun Nothing was still, anymore.

It was kind of nice in a way, though, like a whole other side of Earth that she hadn't been able to access before. Taking another sip of her third, fourth, fifth beer Megan hiccupped and swayed to one side. "Hey, do you need a hand?" a blond football player said, helping her steady herself. He smelled really nice, kind of like the boy shampoo that the League bought for Superboy, having taken a shower after the game.

"No I'm fine…" Megan tried to bring his name up to the front of her mind, but she couldn't access her memories. It started with an 'F', though, she was pretty sure. "Fred!" she exclaimed. His name was Fred. "I'm fine, Fred. Have you seen Kelly?"

After her third, possibly fourth, beer Megan had lost her in the crowd and had begun wandering around outside. It was kind of funny,k but right now everything seemed extra hilarious.

"My name is Francis."

"Oh! Well I'm Megan!"

He smiled at her, seeming amused for a reason that Megan couldn't even begin to imagine. She took another fast sip of her beer, which was pretty much gone now. "I know."

"How?"

"It says so on your uniform."

"Really? Wow! That's amazing. Earth is so cool."

There was a lull in the conversation, Francis didn't seem to know how to respond to her last comment, so Megan decided to fix that. "Did you know that my beer is empty?"

He raised his eyebrows. "No I did not. Do you want me to get you another one?"

"Yes please!" Even though it was kind of disgusting and made her feel funny, Megan was still wanting more beer. An Experience indeed.

It didn't seem to take long for Francis to bring her another beer. Or at least it didn't seem like it. Time passed in weird ways now, or so Megan was realizing.

She smiled at him, a nice big smile like that one that she had given herself in the mirror earlier, before opening the tab. When she took a gulp, fast again so she couldn't taste the beer, her stomach turned and she could feel the slice of pizza that she had eaten during half time along with the rest of the squad wanting to come back up.

"Excuse me!" she told Francis, who she could hear laughing behind her as she ran to a toilet, her can being dropped behind her. There was no one in the bathroom, thank goodness, and as soon as she was sure that she had a clear shot to the porcelain she opened her mouth and threw up.

The vomit didn't look anything like pizza. In fact, it didn't even look human. Instead it was green and almost glowing, even in the bright fluorescent light of the bathroom. Megan had never thrown up before, in fact she hadn't even known that she could, but beer apparently didn't do kind things for her body.

Another wave of nausea hit her like the tsunami hit Japan, but this time she managed not to vomit, catching it in time. Megan groaned and laid on the floor after flushing the toilet. She began playing with the shower curtain, wondering why they didn't have any curtains at Mt. Justice. Probably because there were no windows.

"Megan?" There was a knock on the door before it opened. Without even pausing Karen Beecher walked up to her. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just, I don't know, it all kind of came out of me and I don't even know what it was. I'm kind of glad I got to the toilet in time, though, because otherwise that would have been really bad."

Karen raised an eyebrow. "Girl, you are drunk. Okay, you're officially cut off. Mal and I are going to take you home, now, just call me if you want to pick up your car in the morning, because like hell are you driving. We'll just be your DD for tonight."

She helped Megan get off the floor and practically drug her through to the front door, where Mal was waiting, keys in hand.

"Have you seen Kelly? I have to tell her I'm leaving, then."

Before Karen could answer Kelly grabbed Megan's wrist. "Megan! There you are! God, I can't believe that I, like, lost you! Okay, come on, the party isn't over yet!"

Karen snorted. "I can believe it, everyone know that you ditched Megan for Bobby. And it is for Megan, she's drunk off her ass, all thanks to you I'm guessing."

"You, like, can't tell Megan what to do! Just because you're no fun doesn't mean that no one else shouldn't be having fun."

"Megan just puked her guts out, and I am not arguing about this with a person that's as shit faced as you."

"Oh yeah? Just, like, do something!"

"I don't want to have to kick your ass, Kelly. Piss off." Karen looked like she was about to say more, her hands on her hips, but Mal put a hand on her shoulder and she turned to look at him and sighed. "Megan, let's just get you home, okay?"

The Martian nodded, home seemed nice. She followed Karen's lead, even though Kelly was protesting loudly behind her. Karen led Megan to Mal's car, which was in front of the house. The music was still pulsing, but it seemed further away now somehow.

"So, where are we taking you?" Karen asked.

"Well, I'm not sure…" The League had never really told her and Superboy's 'official' address. "All I know is that I live in a mountain."

"Wow, you are wasted, aren't you? No, really, where do you live?"

"I really do live in a mountain!" Megan nodded, trying to drive her point home.

"… Okay, well, we'll take you over by the mountains, is that alright? Do you think that you could get home from there?"

"Oh yes, I'll get right up there."

"Well then." The rest of the car ride was silent, other than the hum of the engine. Once they got to the edge of the mountain the car was turned off. "Is this where you need to be? Do you need to call someone or something?"

"No, I'll be okay." She could fly up there, she hoped. "You can go. Thanks for taking me home."

Megan's head seemed a little clearer now, after she had thrown up. There was still something a little bit off about the world, but it was better than it had been. Now she was just tired. Horribly, horribly tired.

"Alright. Well, see you on Monday." Karen looked at Mal, unsure, and he just shrugged back before turning on the ignition. "Hey, do you want to wait for someone or something? I don't want to leave you out here all alone…"

Before she could finish the thought Megan heard a familiar voice behind her. "I'll make sure she gets home." Superboy's voice was flat, the way it always was when he talked to people outside of the team.

Karen looked relieved. "Oh, good. Okay, well we're going to go now. Bye Conner, Megan." Karen waved as she and Mal drove off, leaving Megan and Conner behind.

"How did you know I was here?"

"I was listening for you." Conner looked down at his shoes, embarrassed. "You didn't come home when you were supposed to."

"Oh." She didn't even know what time it was, but judging by the expression on Conner's face it had been a while. In fact the sky seemed to be lightening, which was worrying. She'd never been up this late before on a night that there wasn't a mission.

Megan took a step, to apologize to Superboy, to give him a hug, she wasn't sure, and fell. Evidently her head wasn't as clear as she thought it should have been, because her equilibrium was still off. Her ankle twisted in the hole and she was headed face first to the ground. Superboy caught her in a fluid motion, cradling her against his chest.

"Do you need help getting to the portal?"

Megan didn't bother to answer, she just put her head against his chest and listened to his pulse. "Take me home, please."

"I'm glad you're back."

"Me too. I don't think I'm going to go to another party without you."

"Okay," Superboy said, but he looked pleased.

Megan was so tired so suddenly that she feel asleep in his arms, the lullaby of his steps singing her to sleep.