High Life / A WEEKLY FORUM FOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS : Espresso Yourself : Teens are drinking in the exchange of ideas--and phone numbers--that cafe culture has to offer. And instead of Friday night beer parties, more students are finding that coffeehouses are their cup of tea.

I take one final glance in my rearview mirror to make sure my hair looks OK. Casually I get out of my car and approach the crowd. As I get closer, I am besieged by “Hey, Alison!” and “How’ve ya been?”

“Oh look,” I think to myself, “it’s everyone I’ve ever met in my life.”

No, I’m not at a class reunion. I’m at a coffeehouse, and it’s trendy.

Outside Rock ‘n’ Java, located in Costa Mesa, a group of teen-agers clad in jackets bearing slogans such as “Fight War, Not Wars” are huddled around a faux-marble table, sipping cafe mochas and talking about the degeneration of life as they know it.

Next to them, three young high-school girls are shrieking about how “rad” the waiter is.

In the far left corner of the patio, beneath a heat lamp, a college student sits strumming a 12-string guitar and dodging Ping-Pong balls.

Inside the coffeehouse, on the maroon velvet couch, sits a young couple. He is furiously scribbling what appears to be poetry on a legal pad while balancing a cafe latte between his knees. She is staring intently at this month’s collection of surrealistic paintings on the walls.

Because it’s a Friday night, the coffee bar line wraps around the interior of the coffeehouse, threatening to spill outside onto the patio’s table tennis area.

The conversation among those waiting ranges from inquiries about the “sledgehammer” (it’s four shots of espresso and cream) to the T-shirt depicting the “Evolution of Drug Use,” which starts at hallucinogens, progresses to uppers and ends with coffee.

Though humorous, the shirt does bespeak a trend. Where once a Friday night might find a group of teens gathering at a party, clutching beers and smoking cigarettes, now they’re seated in coffeehouses, clutching coffee and smoking cigarettes.

“Coffeehouses are trendy, but the people are interesting and it’s not the ordinary scene where you have to drink,” said Steve Iannello, 23, who attends Orange Coast College.

As teens become increasingly aware of the perils of underage drinking, coffeehouses foster a safe, entertaining environment without actually being intended for an underage crowd. This, by the way, translates into “cool.”

“I think the popularity of coffeehouses have a lot to do with the popularity of sobriety,” said Erin McKeown, 21, a waitress at Rock ‘n’ Java. “Kids in high school just don’t have many places to go. A coffeehouse is a good place to come and listen to music and be social. It’s a healthy environment.”

Coffeehouses everywhere are becoming more and more crowded, and Diedrich’s in Costa Mesa, which boasts live music every Friday and Saturday night, is no exception.

“When I first started coming here, it was virtually empty,” said Julia Todd, 17, a junior at Newport Harbor High School. “Now I always see tons of people I go to school with.

“At the beginning, there was a certain type of person who would hang out at coffeehouses--an artsy, melodramatic kid who wasn’t into the regular high-school scene. Now, coffeehouses are the high-school scene.”

Well, yes and no. Coffeehouses do seem to be filled with high school students, but many of the negatives associated with high school are nowhere to be found.

“I go to coffeehouses because the people I meet are friendly, open and interesting. High-school parties can be intimidating. I feel very comfortable in this environment,” said Tina Wright, 18, a senior at Estancia, while sitting in the Blue Marble Coffeehouse in Costa Mesa.

Those who associate coffeehouses with intellectuals, cynics, depressors and eccentrics need not be worried that these seats are now being filled by teeny-boppers.

The views expressed by two teens at Diedrich’s were as dark and bleak as any expressed during the beatnik era of the ‘50s.

“I’d definitely say the popularity of coffeehouses is increasing. Teens are prone to accept everything the media tell them,” said a Newport Harbor senior who wants to be known as Fifi Montesque.

“The youth of today are coerced by the established stereotype of the ideal adult--the yuppie who drives a BMW, lives in a condo and drinks coffee. I mean, look at what the sign says,” he points to a sign that reads DIEDRICH’s. “It spells died rich .”

Fifi’s friend, who calls himself Uros Seffer, 17, added, “I don’t think people have the motivation to do something requiring physical exertion. They can come here and be reasonably assured that they will run into people they know.”

Questions about why the two continue to patronize coffeehouses when they seemingly dislike the other people who do the same, were met with laughter and mutterings about it being a good question.

Cynics aside, most people seem to genuinely enjoy the time they spend at coffeehouses.

“Coffee stimulates ideas and creativity, whereas alcohol causes belligerence and car accidents,” says James Iansiti, 29, an employee at Diedrich’s. “At a coffeehouse, ideas are exchanged . . . as well as phone numbers.”