Quote 61
"How drunk was she?" I asked. "Like, did they test her?"
"Yeah. Her BAL was point twenty-four. That's drunk, certainly. That's a powerful drunk." (13after.20-21)
That is incredibly drunk. Alcohol impairs judgment, and Alaska feels so guilty about missing the anniversary of her mother's death, so we can't help but wonder how much of Alaska's death can be attributed to her drinking and how much can be attributed to guilt.
Quote 62
Alaska displayed two of those warning signs. She had lost, although not recently, her mother. And her drinking, always pretty steady, had definitely increased in the last month of her life. (14after.3)
This complicates matters a lot. Why did her drinking increase? That is, what about her life or thinking changed so that her behavior changed?
Quote 63
It was worse than the Duct Tape Incident, because I already knew that the Kevin Richmans of the world didn't like me. But my teachers had always been card-carrying members of the Miles Halter Fan Club. (110before.11)
Miles ends up kicked out of class and he hates it. He still hasn't gotten used to how the rules at the Creek function, and he's struggling to discover who he wants to reinvent himself as. To some extent he's content to reject the popular social order of students, but he doesn't want his rule-breaking behavior to alienate the teacher he most respects. It's hard to balance on this beam.
Quote 64
I worried about it for a moment as I held the bottle by the neck, but I wanted to trust her, and so I did. I took a minor sip, and as soon as I swallowed, I felt my body rejecting the stinging syrup of it. It washed back up my esophagus, but I swallowed hard, and there, yes, I did it. I was drinking on campus. (52before.7)
Pay close attention to how Miles describes his first moment of rule-breaking by drinking on campus: he's worried, takes only a teeny sip, rejects it, and only through great effort on his part does he successfully violate the rules. We can see this instance as representative of how Miles feels about rules in general—he doesn't particularly like breaking them, but he can do it if he needs to, especially if that need involves social acceptance. Think about whether his stance changes as he progresses throughout the book.
Quote 65
The nice thing about the constant threat of expulsion at Culver Creek is that it lends excitement to every moment of illicit pleasure. The bad thing, of course, is that there is always the possibility of actual expulsion. (3before.115)
And here Miles explains quite clearly why he breaks the rules: it leads him closer to his Great Perhaps. Also, it's fun. But the reward also has its risk, and the risk comes to a head when Alaska takes one risk too many.
Quote 66
The Eagle looked at me. He was crying, noiselessly. Tears just rolled from his eyes to his chin and then fell onto his corduroy pants. He stared at me, but it was not the Look of Doom. His eyes blinking the tears down his face, the Eagle looked, for all the world, sorry. (thedayafter.23)
We can only imagine what sort of thoughts and emotions are running through the Eagle's head as he announces Alaska's death because we're stuck with Miles as a narrator. It wouldn't be out of the question though, to think that the Eagle, much like Miles, feels responsibility for Alaska's death. If only he had been stricter, if only he had meted out more punishment, if only… To what extent is the somewhat lax enforcement of the rules at the Creek responsible for Alaska's death?
Quote 67
As I sat through my classes that morning, I could think of nothing else. Every junior in the school had known for two weeks, and so far not even the faintest rumor had leaked out. But the Creek was rife with gossips—particularly the Weekday Warriors, and if just one person told one friend who told one friend who told one friend who told the Eagle, everything would fall apart.
The Creek's don't-rat ethos withstood the test nicely. (102after.4-5)
This is a really good example of the strength of unwritten rules, deception, and loyalty. Even though the Eagle is the disciplinarian of the school, the pressure of the unwritten rule is stronger. It is arguably the strongest rule, written or unwritten, at the Creek.