LIKE I CAN ━ Steve Harrington ✓

05 - BASKET CASE

BASKET CASE

THE PARTY HAD ALREADY STARTED WHEN GRAYSON ARRIVED. Dramatic as always, he chose to be fashionably late. He stepped through the unlocked front door and followed the sounds of laughter and banter to the backyard. Lit cigarette in his mouth, he cleared his throat.

Steve was the first to look at him, having just finished shotgunning a beer. He looked shocked for a moment, the party going silent. Finally, the Harrington boy smiled and exclaimed, "Grayson! You made it!"

It was impossible to have Steve smile at him like that and not want to beam in his direction, so Grayson offered a smile in return, "Yeah, yeah I guess I did."

"More the merrier!" Tommy yelled, tossing a beer in the boy's direction.

He caught it with ease and made a motion for Steve to hand him the knife. The boy did, so Grayson cut a hole in the can and chugged. Everyone cheered as he finished the can in less time than Steve. Throwing it aside, he settled on an unoccupied pool chair, Tommy clapping him on the back in a very boyish congratulatory motion. Nights like this brought Grayson back to the summer when he would hang out with Tommy, Carol, and Steve. Where he and Steve would sneak away and have their own moments in the shadows. Grayson really needed to forget those nights, but Steve was making it so much harder to do so.

"Was that supposed to impress me, Harrington?" a brunette girl, who Grayson assumed was Nancy Wheeler, asked, "Because I think Grayson's got you beat."

"Oh, so you aren't impressed?" Steve asked, lighting the cigarette he just placed in his mouth. The boy remembered when they used to smoke on the rooftop late in the night. God, just being around Steve and watching his stupid, heterosexual, mating practices was making him remember everything he had tried so hard to forget.

Nancy laughed, "You are a cliche, you do realize that, right?"

"Oh, that's the thing he's most proud of, Wheeler," Grayson cut in, earning a playful scoff from Steve. The boy just laughed at the other's attitude.

"Whatever, you're more cliche than I am, Nance," Steve sighed, "What with your... your grades and your band practice."

The girl just giggled again, "I'm so not in band."

Grayson internally rolled his eyes. Nancy was so Steve's type, it was almost laughable. She was just like Grayson except she had boobs. Steve, as always, was incredibly predictable.

Steve put his lighter down, saying, "Okay, party girl. Why don't you just uh, show us how it's done, then?"

Now, this was something Grayson wanted to see. There was no way a girl like Nancy could shotgun a beer more had she ever done so before. Nancy, however, accepted the challenge, grabbing the knife Steve handed over.

"You gotta make a little hole in—"

"I got it," Nancy insisted.

"Yeah, she's smart, you douche!" Tommy interjected, his voice significantly louder for no apparent reason. Grayson just sat and watched, sipping his own beer, one he grabbed after he chugged the other one. He never was much of a conversationalist when Tommy and Carol were around and he definitely wouldn't be when Steve's new girlfriend is around. Nancy finally cut the can and everyone started chanting "chug," Grayson included. He had to admit, it was entertaining to see a girl like Nancy go all out like this. Clearly, she was just trying to impress Steve, most girls were, but it was entertaining. He remembered when he had been like this. He remembered when his whole life revolved around Steve. Now, here he was. An outsider looking in. It took him a moment to remember his own boyfriend. He should be happy Steve was moving on, after all, he had. So why wasn't he?