Escape the night

The Calm Before

To Justine, the entire situation is a blur of questions and hypotheticals.

Yes, she laughed at that invitation. Of course she did. Joey inheriting some kind of mansion from his old superrich dead Uncle/Cousin Moneybags-sure. Why not. She'll buy that. But "it only exists in the 1920s?" What is this, a fantasyland or something?

So she shrugged it off-he's probably just trying to set the "theme" or whatever, typical Joey-and hit the malls with her sister to buy the outfit she's currently wearing.

But now...she's here, in the freakin' 1920s, and she was just in 2016, and there was a car and a flash of light and it's all too much for her to process and omigod did I just travel through time?!?

She thinks she knows what's going on. Honest to God, she does. But she's not really sure, and it's the not-sureness that's beginning to gnaw at the back of her mind. Am I really in the 1920s? What even is this place? And what kind of people would leave Joey a house in the wrong freakin' time period?

Yeah, old Uncle Moneybags Graceffa clearly had a few screws loose, that's for sure.

Well, whatever the case, she's here now, and there's no point in stressing over the details. Not when there's partying to do, friends to chat with, and fun to be had. She's the Gambler, and goddammit, she's gonna deal some cards and they are gonna gamble tonight.

Matt has never had much time for parties. Between running his YouTube channel, managing his 100 Thieves competitive gaming team, and of course honing his skills in Call of Duty, he doesn't get to go out too much at all. So now that he's here at Joey Graceffa's 1920s-themed extravaganza, he intends to kick back and relax for once in his life.

Only one problem: he doesn't even know these people.

Oh, he knows some of them. He knows iJustine, obviously, and he's acquainted with Timothy DeLaGhetto, and his friendship with Joey is honestly the only reason why he's here in the first place. But everyone else...they're a sea of strange faces and far-too-fancy outfits. Heck, with all of the bling and glitz everyone is wearing, his own outfit looks positively dorky by comparison.

Ah, well. No time like the present to get things done. He can do this, he can make some friends, all he's got to do is make a good first impression, strike up a conversation, and he'll be set. How hard can it be?

"Anyone have any mints? Any gum? Mints? Mints?"

Well, it's a start.

By the time Joey comes down the stairs, everyone's gotten over their initial fright and/or confusion, and now they're all standing in the foyer chatting up a storm. Lele and Sierra appear to be bonding over their equally extravagant outfits, Andrea's deep in conversation with her longtime friend Tim, Eva's talking to both Oli and Justine simultaneously, and Shane is laughing at some outlandish story GloZell is currently in the process of telling. Only Matt has yet to find someone to chat with, but even he seems to be enjoying himself.

Time to make my entrance.

Joey takes a deep breath, turns to face his guests, and grins. "What do you guys think?"

Everybody cheers. Several people clap. GloZell blows kisses in Joey's direction.

So far, so good. "Welcome," says Joey, spreading out his arms and indicating the splendor around him, "to my new house."

"This is yours?" Justine sounds incredulous, almost as if Joey told her that he was now the owner of the Capitol Building.

Lele raises an eyebrow. "This isn't your house!"