Head Over Heels

II. Not Quite a Party

That same day, Matts heart dropped when he found Steve Harrington waiting at his locker right after his final period.

  Once Matt stopped in front of the other teen, Steve placed a hand on his shoulder, "Hey, uh, did you give Nance the answers to her test or some shit?"

  "What?"

"Because she's really psyched about it. Happiest I've ever seen her."

"Um.. I didn't-"

"I'll tell you what," Steve interrupted, "I'm havin' a party tonight. No parents. No rules. No supervision. As a reward, you're invited. Deal?"

"I'm not really a party person," Matt dismissed the idea.

  "Yeah, well, this party's gonna be sick. I'm telling you now, best party of the year. What do you say? Hm?"

"I- um... sure," he sighed in defeat and Steve grinned.

"Great. I'm sure everyone will be thrilled to see you there," Steve mocked and punched Matt's shoulder in a 'friendly' way.

"Great," he muttered under his breath.

  "My house at 8:00, ok? Be there," he sternly said before exiting the school to meet a grinning
Tommy H. and Carol.

—
  The rest of Matt's evening went by quickly. He was trying to figure out what to wear and how to act. What did people do at parties?

   He'd never been to one. Not a high school one at least. The last party he could remember attending was his friend's eleventh birthday party.

He argued with himself on what to wear, but eventually threw on a sweatshirt and jeans. Instead of getting to the party on time, he decided it wouldn't hurt to arrive only fifteen minutes late. It's not like he wanted to go anyway.

Matt took a deep breath when he parked his car on the side of the road across from Steve's house. He looked at the house, fixed his hair, and climbed out of his car.

Hearing talking coming from Steve's backyard, Matt walked along the pathway that lead to the back of the property.

   At the time, the only people there were Steve, Tommy H, and Carol. It didn't seem like 'the best party of the year' to Matt.

  "Shit," Tommy H. snickered, "he actually showed."

Steve was seated at one of his lounging chairs, an empty can of soda on the end table next to him.

"Party boy!" Steve shouted and stood up. He grabbed a full can of Coca-Cola that was sitting on a different end table, and handed it to Matt, "Nance and her friend... Bob.. Bar.. Barry-"

   "Barb," Matt corrected.

  "Yeah, Barb. They're comin' soon," Steve didn't seem to care about getting Barb's name right, and Nancy bringing her best friend to the 'party' obviously wasn't his idea.

Matt stared down at the soda can in his hand, debating whether he should drink anything that Steve Harrington gave him.

"Do you need someone to open it for you?" Carol mocked with a snicker.

"No, I've got it," Matt narrowed his eyes at the can, not having enough confidence to place his glare on Carol. He popped open the can and took a quick sip, grimacing at the taste of the carbon. Matt had never been a huge fan of carbonated drinks.

    "Nance!" Steve grinned as he watched his unofficial girlfriend turn the corner with Barb. Nancy gave him a sweet smile in return and allowed him to lift her off of the ground and spin her around. Barb gave Matt a silent look of surprise when she spotted him, letting a relived smile cross her face.