As the night went on I flitted between hanging out with Robin, Vicky, Steve, and Linda, or chasing Nancy around -she was thoroughly smashed and showed no signs of stopping. Do I want to admit that I was also seeking out Eddie in the crowds? not particularly, but that's exactly what I was doing. When he was perched next to me by the pool, and had hold of my hand, my insides felt like they were on fire. In a good way. Anyway, I barely saw Eddie. Every now and then I would catch glimpses of him, but he was mostly always with the rest of Hellfire Club - plus Max. I was pouring myself a large drink when a bunch of frat guys and the 'it' kids began howling and chanting. Wearing my 4 inch platformed black boots wasn't even enough for me to see over the sea of people, so I pushed myself onto a kitchen counter. The animalistic noises grew louder as Chrissy Cunningham and Jason strode in - so they were on again it seems. Jason was high fiving everyone he walked past, Chrissy looked slightly awkward but smiled at the warm welcome from her fans. I rolled my eyes and went to the dining room where Robin and Vicky were. "Guess who just waltzed through the door." I said to them. "Oh we heard it. Fashionably late as always" Vicky replied, looping her arm around Robin's shoulders.
We remained there when Steve and Linda reappeared from Linda's bedroom. "I'm gonna get all the outsiders to leave, there's too many strangers messing up the place" Linda slurred slightly, a megaphone in her hand. Robin, Vicky, and I pushed our fingers into our ears as Linda marched around her house with Steve yelling into it, "Party's over - Hawkins people only go to the basement!" We stayed put whilst swathes of people poured out of the house. Once it had died down, we retreated to the basement. Picture an ordinary basement. Now forget that image, because this was not an ordinary basement - it was like a whole damn bungalow. I leant against the wall near the steps, waiting for Nancy to fumble her way down. I recognised everybody now - it was exclusively Hawkins high alumni. Mike, Lucas, Dustin, and Max came down too; I stood in a little group with them and Nancy, joking together, when I heard Jason shouting "No kids allowed. It's past your bedtimes, lil guys." Dustin and Mike were ready to hurl back at him, but Lucas put his hands on their chests and said, "not worth it guys, he'll just get more amped up. Let's go." I turned to Steve and Linda, wondering if one of them was going to step in. Steve wandered over to us, "Sorry guys, Linda agrees, no kids at the afterparty." I stared at him open mouthed ready to argue, but Mike butted in "Rain, it's okay. Max's isn't not far from here. You can take Dustin's walkie - we'll radio when we get there." The kids waved goodbye and climbed back up the stairs to leave.
Nancy touched my hand, "Oo there's Samantha, we had physics together, bye." and she shot off in the direction of a curvy girl with black hair. Samantha was making a cocktail at the fully stocked mini bar across the room - that's why Nancy shot over to her. I walked further into the basement, lit by fairy lights, until I found Robin and Vicky. "Why do you think we're all down here?" I asked, gazing around the room, totally not looking for Eddie. "Maybe so Linda can perform a ritual sacrifice and kill us all." Robin suggested seriously. A hand brushed across my back causing me to flinch, I rotated my eyes and saw Eddie passing me, very closely. During the milliseconds that we made physical contact, I once again got locked into his eyes, which were piercing into me. "Coming through, don't mind us." he said in his jokey voice. The three of us slightly moved out of the way to let Jeff and Gareth pass; my eyes still on Eddie. "The bangs suit you - you should keep 'em" Eddie quickly nodded at me, I felt colour flushing to my cheeks and I put my head down to hide it.
Vicky and Robin were giving eachother a look, then turned that look to me. "Yup, you're right. They're absolutely crushing on Eddie Munson." Vicky asserted. I stared open mouthed at Robin, "DUDE...NOT COOL." Robin threw up her hands and said, "I can't keep secrets from her! she pulls them out of me." I screwed my eyes shut, shaking my head, then felt a drink being pressed into my hand. "Hey strangers" a deep and friendly voice rung through my ears. Opening my eyes I saw Nathan - he'd been in band with Robin and Vicky, and would sit with us at lunch. Nathan had grown a lot since graduation - clearly now a gym buff from the size of his biceps. He'd brought us all over Vodka Cokes. "Hey, when did you arrive? it's good to see you" I said, having to crane my neck to look at his face. "been here since the beginning, but the place was so flooded I'm not surprised we didn't see each other." he laughed. The four of us stood in a little circle, catching up, when Linda called out "Everyone grab a drink and sit in a circle on the floor!"
We walked to an area of the basement that was stuffed with bean bags, loveseats, huge cushions and lots of throws; people were assembling themselves in a circle, as told. I sat cross legged on a couple of cushions, Robin was on my left and Nathan on my right; Nancy was sitting next to Vicky on Robin's other side, and Steve and Linda were opposite them. Directly opposite me sat Eddie Munson, his friends flopping down next to him. I distracted myself from looking at Eddie by continuing to talk to Nathan about his gap year - He'd gone travelling around Europe. Linda's hands clapped together - "Alright Hawkins! who wants to play Never Have I Ever!"