CHAPTER FIFTY-EIGHT

in the blink of an eye



"you see, this entire scene is based off of parties i've seen in movies and tv shows," i explained to connor when maeve brought decorations from party city, "because maeve and i have never been to a real one."

the cast arrived at connor's an hour earlier than the extras. we stood at the dining room table, alone in the house since his parents were away. as if we were hosting a real party, the quiet felt like the calm before a storm. it would be called hurricane maeve.

"so we're not using the decorations?" she requested confirmation with disappointment, hands full of golden tinsel, paper lanterns, and glittery streamers. "because it could have looked like a scene from euphoria!"

"more like high school musical," walker teased. he stepped back to dodge the stray end of a streamer flying in his direction. "plus, i don't think we have time to set decorations up."

"it would be a dead giveaway, too," added connor. "my parents would be finding glitter in places i didn't even know existed."

"you remember where the closet is, right?" i said, pointing behind me into the hallway with a storage closet roughly the size of a full bathroom. shoving the junk into another room would be an efficient compromise.

maeve stormed out of the dining room (very fitting) with a huff, leaving just me, walker, connor, and violet at the table. "hey, aren't we missing someone?" asked violet with furrowed brows.

"yes!" maeve's muffled voice called from inside the closet. "jordyn will probably be late -- he's warming up his acting skills by making an excuse to help us film instead of doing homework."

ah, poor jordyn. his nonconsensual one line role and pizza delivery job seemed to be getting in the way of my aunt's requests. as someone who had already willed her parents to support her anti-academic tendencies, i couldn't say i wasn't entertained by the frequent endeavors reported back to me by maeve. plus, he and i hadn't spoken (or texted, obviously) in a good while, so hearing these stories indirectly was like listening to a dramedy audiobook on three times speed.

said cousin showed up at the door ten minutes later with nothing but himself and a relieved yet distressed look on his face.

i was the one who opened it. "hello, jordyn," i said monotonously. then i put on a smile. "thanks for showing up."

"hello, y/n. thanks for... opening the door for me," jordyn said animatedly. he stepped inside at his leisure, carrying an unusual conviviality along with him. "sorry i was late. had to get all my friends to find a pizza place worthy of meeting our needs."

"oh, that's nice-- i thought you were late trying to convince aunt lauren to let you come here," i told him as i closed up again and tried my hardest to reciprocate this unnatural tone of normalcy. we hadn't talked in so long yet he talked now as if resuming a recent conversation.

following me into the dining room, he said proudly, "that's done already. i was thinking all week about how to persuade her."

"really? thanks!"

maeve met eyes with her boyfriend and they greeted each other with a hug. he looked around the room while in this embrace, also in confusion. "wait, where are all the decorations i bought?"

"you bought them?" i exclaimed heftily, joining his befuddlement.

maeve pulled away defensively. "i didn't tell you guys? yeah, jordyn picked them up yesterday, trying to help out."

"i thought you've been to parties before. are you sure you aren't trying to sabotage us?" said walker.

"bold of you to think i would rather drink outside the comfort of my own room," he said, pointing to walker as if delivering a punchline. then he turned to connor. "but even i would know... these extras are going to be bringing real alcohol. this is basically an excuse to have a real party."

connor turned ghastly white. "oh."

"it's okay," i said quickly. "we'll just go through everyone's bags as they enter like we're tsa."

"like that's gonna work," said maeve, diminishing my idea.

directing an entire party of people was anticipated to be a challenge in and of itself, but managing a mob of drunks? connor's backyard was probably big enough to fit a cemetery for us, right? jordyn was definitely on the nose about our peers. even if i had remembered to require an oath on the google form not to drink instead of using props, they would most likely disobey anyway.

"maybe we'll be proven wrong, who knows?" violet lied through her smiling teeth.

before we knew it, kids from our high school began showing up. one by one, six pack by dreaded six pack, they poured in like a single compact bottle of alcohol into a red plastic cup. i told walker to use his influence on them all and encourage staying sober like the actors were through the night. only a few even listened, though, as one senior i recognized came in with a whole boombox resting on his shoulders. of course, music was necessary to keep extras entertained and at least dancing to something. but luckily the ear-rapturing pop-rap would be edited out in post (thank you, final cut pro).

maybe word had gotten around to other, unfamiliar places, and morphed into an invitation to an open house rave, because it started to look like one in the blink of an eye. other people i recognized and some i hadn't seen in all my days completely blew past our attempt at authority. poor violet, maeve, jordyn, and the host were ignored as they hushed the masses. we were just a few of the rest of the stupid high schoolers.

i stood watching from the dining room, frozen with a few pieces of equipment in hand. as the pulse of the "music"'s beat aligning with my heart accelerated, i submitted to the urge to hit the brakes for a moment, escaping into the closet.

the jungle of streamers hanging down like boughs swayed in front of me as i took a few deep breaths, preparing myself for the scene. directors always face hiccups on set, this is nothing but practice, i told myself.

however, my inner monologue was interrupted by a distraught violet owsinski barging through the door. through the blasting tunes that were let in, i thought i heard her say, "y/n, what are you doing? we need you to help get everyone settled down."

"okay-- i'm coming, sorry." i gathered my focus along with a small mic i had carried in with me accidentally, and hurried to join her outside the closet.

almost a second later, the pounding of the boombox shut off, the chatter of the crowd that made its way into the hallway with us dissipating soon after. someone did something that worked, somehow.

jordyn's voice echoed through the foyer, seemingly originating from the boombox. he must have connected my phone to it. smart thinking. "everyone needs to shut the fuck up and tell me what you want from romano's pizzaria." immediately, the house was filled to the brim with responses. he cleared his throat condescendingly, then said, "okay, that's not gonna work. just raise your hands and try not to get too drunk before i come back with your orders."

he proceeded to waiter the whole room, further impressing me. he had been doing a lot for us tonight, and i needed to make sure that didn't go unappreciated.

i turned to violet who was still next to me to vocalize the to-do list. "looks like jordyn's got that covered. but we need to tell them the plan while they're still standing straight up."

she nodded with her emily-antithetical, kind smile, took my hand and led me up the foyer stairs to where jordyn was finishing up his waiting. after the orders were all written down and before the crowd wilded up again, i took my phone to speak. "alright everyone, here's the plan."



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thank you for reading chapter 58!

sorry for taking weeks to update. this chapter had a few scrapped drafts. and holidays + homework is not a good alliterative combo.