Il libro di Jaylos

why jay loves party

"I don't go to parties."
"I am the goddamn party."

Jay and Carlos spoke at the same time, staring at Evie who was holding out two invitations. She raised an eyebrow, her gaze flicking back and forth between the two.

"Glad you're on the same page," she said wryly, handing Jay one of letters and Carlos the other. "It's not being thrown by me - trust me, it would be a lot better if it was - but everyone is talking about it."

"Oh, yeah!" Jay glanced over his invitation with a nod. "The guys on the team have been talking about it all week! Apparently it's a pretty big rager."

"Rager?" Carlos wrinkled up his nose. "Gross. No."

"It's alright," Evie smiled at him. "You don't have to go. I thought I'd just pass along the message."

"Come on, Pup." Jay ruffled his hair. "Just come for a little bit? Please? It'll be way more fun with you there - I promise!"

Carlos wanted to say no. Carlos should say no. But Carlos had an unbelievable, indisputable, completely pathetic soft spot for Jay. So instead of shaking his head and promising to help him get ready, Carlos nodded.

"Alright, fine."

Shit.

---

The bass was shaking the ground at least thirty feet in front of the actual party venue. Evie looked perfectly festive in black leather boots and red dress; Jay had cleaned up nicely, and even Mal looked more presentable than usual.

Carlos pulled at his white sweater, furrowing his brows. God, why did he let Jay pressure him into coming? He'd so much rather be back in his room with Dude working or reading or... doing anything other than this.

"Come on," Jay grinned. "I can smell the booze from here."

Evie raised an eyebrow. "Make good choices."

"When has he ever made a decent choice?" Mal shot back, earning herself a jab from Jay.

They walked towards Chad Charming's house - an off campus living space purchased for him by none other than Cinderella and Kit of Charmington. Privately, Carlos thought it was ridiculous for their son to have a space all to himself; it only invited trouble. For a moment, he wondered how the boy managed to keep it all clean, but once he walked in, he realized that Chad just... didn't.

Beer bottles, half strung lights, bags of chips, and boxes of pizza littered every surface. The walls and the floor and the furniture vibrated with the force of the music volume and there were people everywhere.

"Holy shit," Carlos muttered under his breath, his feet stalling in the doorway just long enough for the party behind them to bump into him.

"Keep moving!" one of them barked, shoving past Carlos to make a beeline for the alcohol.

Carlos inched towards the corner. He'd always thought holiday parties consisted of hot chocolate and eggnog and soft music and presents, but apparently, those were too calm. The entire school preferred this... rager.

"The island parties are still better," Mal shouted at him over the music. "But this is at least passable."

Carlos only shrugged, inching closer to the corner where - hopefully - no one could step on him or bump him or run him over.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw an orange cat slink along the wall and up the stairs. Finally. Something worth coming to the party. Carlos followed the cat, looking around to see if anyone would yell at him for venturing upstairs. Luckily, everyone else seemed to be pretty wasted.