precarious ; jonathan byers [2]

chapter two- party hardy

Casey

Jesus Christ, what did I get myself into?

I had never seen such an overcrowded party in my life. There had to be at least a hundred people here already and it wasn't even ten o'clock yet. My eyes scanned through a crowd surrounding a keg in the driveway before widening slightly as I noticed the people packed inside the living room like a can of sardines. I hated crowds.

On the brighter side, I could hear the beginning guitar riff of Shout At the Devil from the legendary Motely Crue playing from the giant speakers.

"Damn, Casey, they're playing your song!" Riley exclaimed, almost as if she had been reading my mind. She quickly threw her car into an empty spot along the curb before putting it in park and turning the ignition off. "We gotta get in there!"

"Yup, totally," I muttered with no enthusiasm present in my tone. She wasn't wrong though, I fucking loved Motely Crue. 

We all exited the car and Jonathan waited for me to walk around the trunk, holding his hand out for me as I got closer to him. I smiled at his gesture, lacing my fingers within his before we headed for the front door. He knew I hated crowds and he knew that I've been trying to avoid a party like this since Barb disappeared. He just gets me. 

"Wait, who's going to be DD?" Riley then asked us.

"I will," Jonathan volunteered. I raised an eyebrow up at him and he just shrugged. "I'm only here for moral support, it's fine."

I cracked a smirk at his response while Riley was almost squealing with excitement. "You are a lifesaver, thank you!" She said, tossing the keys to him. "But on a side note, I hope that new hottie is here."

I opened my mouth, going for a snarky remark but was cut off by the crowd surrounding the keg as they were chanting "BILLY! BILLY!" nonstop. As if to answer Riley's prayers, the mullet-wearing intimidation of a man was currently holding a handstand on top of the keg, guzzling the beer down like it was ice water on a hot, summer day . Someone screamed "Forty-two seconds! We have a new keg king!" as Billy hopped down from the keg, spitting out some leftover beer as the crowd cheered him on.

"I'm just gonna go out on a limb here and say the hottie's name is Billy," I retorted, earning a snort from Jonathan. 

"Holy mother of balls, dude's got abs!" Riley whisper-shouted our way, not willing to rip her eyes away from Billy's exposed chest under his leather jacket. 

"Are you really surprised?" Jonathan questioned.

The expression within Riley's features then changed completely, almost worried and embarrassed as she stopped walking. "Oh my God, OHMYGOD!" She exclaimed, turning her body the away from Billy, which was the total opposite of what she had been doing mere seconds ago. Jonathan and I eyed each other in confusion before we stopped alongside her. "I'm dressed as Frenchy, fucking Frenchy, pink wig and everything! He's over there looking like a damn GOD and I probably look like Strawberry Shortcake to him!"

"Riley, who cares-" I went to protest her, but she cut me off. 

"He's never going to talk to me when I look like this!" She continued on. "I doubt he's even looking over here. Is he looking?!"

Despite not wanting to check, I quickly glanced over to him. "He's not lookin-" I began but stopped when I noticed he was literally looking our way; more specifically at Riley. It wasn't like a "Jesus, who is this freak?", it was more of an intrigued glance as he looked her over. "Oh my God, he's totally looking."