The Arts

11 - Moving Parts

IVAN

It had quickly become clear to Ivan that staying at the top of the social food chain took a lot more effort than it seemed on the surface. It wasn't enough to just throw a party; the party actually had to be good.

Jack's party had gone sour on account of Ivan's dumb classmates eating too many weed desserts. And also on account of Meg antagonizing her ex. Neither of those things were Jack's or Ivan's fault, but it was coming down on them as if it was.

"Dude, that party frickin' blew it," Jack and Ivan sat at a little table outside. It had been two weeks since the incident. Ivan was ready to move on, but Jack was still ruminating, brainstorming how to make up for it. Was this really what popularity was all about? Being a good party host? That all sounded really lame, if Ivan was being honest, but he clung to the notion anyway. No way was he returning to the alternative.

          "Maybe we should just throw another party," Ivan suggested halfheartedly, keeping his gaze locked on the steam floating off the top of his coffee cup. It was more interesting than listening to Jack complain.

          "But how do we make it good?"

          "No weed, maybe."

          Jack looked at Ivan like he was crazy. "What'cha got against weed?"

          "Nothing. It's just, we don't want another Tyler and Andi incident, do we?" Ivan looked down and picked at the dirt underneath his fingernails.

          "Well, maybe the weed's not the problem. It's the people."

          Slowly, a smile spread across Ivan's face. He was starting to catch Jack's drift. "So we should be more...exclusive, you think."

          "Exactly," Jack nodded.

          Something shifted in Ivan in that moment. All this time, after years of social torment from his peers, he thought he'd finally found the perfect way to flex on them. Host the first party of the year with an upperclassman. He didn't think there was anything he could do to top that.

          But apparently he was missing the key: exclusivity.

          Yes. Nothing would feel better than to exclude those who once excluded him. He remembered the odd interaction he had with Kiara when she showed up to his party. He had all the power, and he had spared her, allowed her access into the world of upperclassmen. Surely, he thought, it would feel that much more satisfying to say no to everyone than to say yes.

          The gears were turning in Jack's brain. Finally, he spoke. "Okay. Homecoming is in a couple of weeks. This Saturday, we throw another party. Like a pre-homecoming thing."

          Ivan perked up and nodded, now visibly interested. The details never mattered much to him; Jack was the one with the experience in hosting events, so naturally it was assumed that those duties would continue to fall upon him until his graduation in May. But that was the thing — Jack would be gone by the end of the school year. Ivan's reputation was now dependent on his ability to be...whatever Jack was.

          The two worked out a guest list: only people with what Jack described as "good vibes" would be admitted. That meant no drama magnets (Meg), no socially inept freshmen (Jacob), and absolutely no Hillside kids. The one exception Ivan made was for Tyler.