"Foolish Dreamers" Michael Afton x Reader

𝓗𝓸𝓽 𝓒𝓸𝓬𝓸 𝓒𝓱𝓪𝓽 (Ch.26)

Thursday
November 29, 1984 1:03 P.M.

Y/N's POV

A few minutes later, I found myself slouched in the backseat of Wilson's car, listening to Joyce and Wilson flirt like they were already planning their wedding. Joyce twirled a lock of her hair around her finger, grinning as Wilson drove with one hand on the wheel, the other resting on her arm like they'd known each other forever.

"You know," Wilson said, "a couple of my buddies were talking about a party at Kelvin's place tomorrow night."

I noticed Joyce's expression shift, her nose wrinkling in distaste. "Ugh, I'm not really a fan of Kelvin."

Wilson glanced at her with a similar grimace. "Yeah, neither am I. Dude's a total ass."

That seemed to light Joyce up from the inside. I could practically feel her beaming. It wasn't every day she found someone else who hated Simon's crowd as much as she did. And as far as I could tell, I still didn't have the full story behind that drama.

"When's the party?" Joyce asked, a spark of interest still lingering despite her disdain for Kelvin.

"Tomorrow night. Starts around 10 P.M.," Wilson replied, tapping his fingers on the steering wheel to some beat in his head. "You should come, Y/N. It'd be your first party here in Utah, right?"

Joyce turned toward me, already beaming at  me with a big eager grin. "Yeah, you have to come! It'll be fun. Come on, live a little!"

I raised an eyebrow at her enthusiasm. Sure, the idea of crashing a party sounded... interesting, but I had to admit, the thought of being surrounded by people I didn't know wasn't exactly thrilling. Still, Joyce was practically glowing with excitement. It was hard to say no when she was like this.

I sighed. "I'll think about it."

Wilson chuckled, glancing at Joyce with a playful grin. "Don't pressure her too much, Joy. I get it if it's not her crowd. Honestly, it's not really mine either." He shrugged, shifting gears smoothly. "But hey, free food and free drinks? That's hard to pass up."

Joyce laughed, lightly smacking his arm. "See? Even Wilson knows it's a good idea. Come on, Y/N. We'll just show up, hang out for a bit, and if it sucks, we'll bounce."

I leaned my head back against the seat, staring up at the ceiling of the car. They made it sound easy—like all I had to do was show up, eat some chips, and leave. But we all knew parties like that never stayed simple. It'd be loud, messy, full of people doing things they'd regret by morning. I wasn't sure if I was ready to dive into that scene, even for the promise of free food.

Plus third wheeling these two was already torture, Joyce was giving this guy bedroom eyes while he seemed to be a hopeless romantic. Maybe this might be the one that tames her hyper soul or gets dragged into her interest.

"Yeah, well, free drinks usually come with a price," I muttered, half to myself.

Wilson glanced at me through the rearview mirror, smiling faintly. "Fair point." He tapped the wheel again. "But if it gets too crazy, I'll drive you both outta there. No pressure. Just saying it's an option."

Joyce turned around in her seat to look at me, her eyes hopeful. "We'll stick together, I swear. Just think about it?"

I gave her a small nod, though a part of me still wasn't convinced. Wilson seemed chill, and I knew Joyce wouldn't ditch me. But I also knew how easily things could go wrong.