To Justine, the entire situation is a blur of questions and hypotheticals.
Yes, she laughed at that invitation. Of course she did. Joey inheriting some kind of mansion from his old superrich dead Uncle/Cousin Moneybags-sure. Why not. She'll buy that. But "it only exists in the 1920s?" What is this, a fantasyland or something?
So she shrugged it off-he's probably just trying to set the "theme" or whatever, typical Joey-and hit the malls with her sister to buy the outfit she's currently wearing.
But now...she's here, in the freakin' 1920s, and she was just in 2016, and there was a car and a flash of light and it's all too much for her to process and omigod did I just travel through time?!?
She thinks she knows what's going on. Honest to God, she does. But she's not really sure, and it's the not-sureness that's beginning to gnaw at the back of her mind. Am I really in the 1920s? What even is this place? And what kind of people would leave Joey a house in the wrong freakin' time period?
Yeah, old Uncle Moneybags Graceffa clearly had a few screws loose, that's for sure.
Well, whatever the case, she's here now, and there's no point in stressing over the details. Not when there's partying to do, friends to chat with, and fun to be had. She's the Gambler, and goddammit, she's gonna deal some cards and they are gonna gamble tonight.
Matt has never had much time for parties. Between running his YouTube channel, managing his 100 Thieves competitive gaming team, and of course honing his skills in Call of Duty, he doesn't get to go out too much at all. So now that he's here at Joey Graceffa's 1920s-themed extravaganza, he intends to kick back and relax for once in his life.
Only one problem: he doesn't even know these people.
Oh, he knows some of them. He knows iJustine, obviously, and he's acquainted with Timothy DeLaGhetto, and his friendship with Joey is honestly the only reason why he's here in the first place. But everyone else...they're a sea of strange faces and far-too-fancy outfits. Heck, with all of the bling and glitz everyone is wearing, his own outfit looks positively dorky by comparison.
Ah, well. No time like the present to get things done. He can do this, he can make some friends, all he's got to do is make a good first impression, strike up a conversation, and he'll be set. How hard can it be?
"Anyone have any mints? Any gum? Mints? Mints?"
Well, it's a start.
By the time Joey comes down the stairs, everyone's gotten over their initial fright and/or confusion, and now they're all standing in the foyer chatting up a storm. Lele and Sierra appear to be bonding over their equally extravagant outfits, Andrea's deep in conversation with her longtime friend Tim, Eva's talking to both Oli and Justine simultaneously, and Shane is laughing at some outlandish story GloZell is currently in the process of telling. Only Matt has yet to find someone to chat with, but even he seems to be enjoying himself.
Time to make my entrance.
Joey takes a deep breath, turns to face his guests, and grins. "What do you guys think?"
Everybody cheers. Several people clap. GloZell blows kisses in Joey's direction.
So far, so good. "Welcome," says Joey, spreading out his arms and indicating the splendor around him, "to my new house."
"This is yours?" Justine sounds incredulous, almost as if Joey told her that he was now the owner of the Capitol Building.
Lele raises an eyebrow. "This isn't your house!"
"This is rented," Tim insists.
Joey shakes his head. "I actually have inherited this house," he continues, slightly surprised that no one seems to remember his invitation but willing to overlook it nonetheless, "from a distant cousin twice removed."
"My cousins get me nothin'," GloZell complains.
Everyone laughs.
Joey gives everyone's outfits a good once-over and boy, did these guys go all out tonight. He knew he could count on them to play up the whole 1920s thing-after all, they do talk into cameras for a living, of course they would know how to look their best. "You all look amazing tonight in your 1920s attire."
The compliment earns Joey more cheers and several "thank yous". Eva takes the opportunity to show off her legs, which Joey has to admit do look nice. He's pretty sure he hears Tim say "rented" again, but he brushes it off as Tim being Tim.
"I want to introduce you all to my wonderful staff that actually came with the house." Joey gestures to Arthur and Sarah, who have been standing unnoticed against the wall this entire time. "Arthur, who is head of staff..."
Arthur is immediately greeted by a chorus of "his" and "hi Arthurs". He nods and bows.
"...Sarah, the maid..."
Sarah curtsies as the guests shout her name.
"...and then there's Marvin, who's the groundskeeper," Joey finishes, feeling slightly awkward considering Marvin isn't there.
"You and your staff!" teases GloZell, her tone good-natured despite the mockery.
"Dinner is almost ready," Joey lets them know, "but until then, let's get to know each other a little bit more..." A grin sneaks its way across his face. "...and have some drinks."
Of course, everyone cheers at that, and Joey's confidence crashes through the roof.
Drinks have been had, and now Tim's deep in a card game with GloZell and Justine, trying not to lose the little money he's got.
"Hit me!" shouts GloZell, clapping her hands together like an overexcited two-year-old. "Hit me, hit me, hit me!"
Justine does. "Oh!" she cries, laying her card on top of GloZell's. "Girl, blackjack!"
Tim shrugs and sticks his cigar (fake, of course-no way is he risking lung cancer for a character) in his mouth, surveying the cards on the table. Wow, he thinks to himself as he notices what Justine played. This girl is serious about her gambling right now.
Then again, that does makes sense. Justine's the Gambler, so of course she likes gambling. Duh. And GloZell's the Jazz Singer, so of course she's gonna go around acting like Ella freakin' Fitzgerald. He himself is the Mobster, which honestly isn't too far off from what he is in 2016: coming from nothing, building his own empire...killing people...
...figuratively, of course.
Anyways, he's having fun, and he can't wait to vlog about this trip when he gets home. He can see the thumbnail now: I TRAVELED THROUGH TIME?!? Pair that title with a pic of him looking like that kid from Home Alone when he freaked out, and he's good to go.
It's not like anyone will actually believe him, obviously...but they'll still click on it, and that's all that matters.
Andrea has a problem. Here she is, supposed to be playing the Fixer, and she has absolutely no idea what in the world a Fixer even is.
So now she's standing here listening to Oli go on about how he "just got back from Africa" and has apparently "been hunting for the past couple of weeks or so" (she's a vegetarian, but she'll let it slide, because his outfit's cute), and it occurs to her that all of these people are working so hard to stay in character. Oli, the Big Game Hunter, is talking of hunting and Africa; Lele, the Hustler, is eyeing everyone's jewels; Sierra, the Heiress, isn't ooohing and aaahing at all the rich people stuff around her, because why would she? And then there's Andrea, just being Andrea, and she can't shake the feeling that she's doing something wrong.
She has to play the part. She has to be the Fixer. But how can she be the Fixer when she doesn't know what that is?
"I love the dark mistress look!" Joey says to her, bringing her out of her thoughts and sending her straight into panic mode. "It's gorgeous!"
"Thank you." Get into character, get into character, dangit! "Yeah, y'know, I'm really into fashion, I really like to make things, I like to fix things, so if you have something broken I can fix it."
Is that what a Fixer is? I don't know, I don't know, I don't-
Fortunately, that seems to be enough for Joey. "Really?"
"Yeah." Andrea smiles and crosses her arms. Nailed it.
Lele's made up her mind-she has to be a part of this house. It's so big, so fancy, so...everything anyone could ever dream of. It's like a fairy godmother showed up out of nowhere and was all "Lele, I'm gonna show you what you've secretly always wanted," and yes, omigosh, just...yes.
"Joey, do you own this house?" she blurts out in a rush of excitement and curiosity (and yes, maybe a bit of greed too...it's a nice house, don't judge her).
Joey frowns and shifts his feet a bit. "I don't have the deed yet..."
"So you're not rich?" That doesn't make sense. Mansions are for rich people. Lele ought to know; she's never had one.
"You basically own it," chimes in Oli.
"No, no, no, it's..." Joey's fumbling his words. "It's going to happen."
Next to Lele, Sierra pipes up, an adorable little grin on her face. "He's moving."
"Tonight," says Joey, "it's supposed to happen, actually."
"Oh, really?" Now Lele's intrigued. A guy receiving a brand-new dream house and inviting all of his friends to party with him on the very same night he finally signs the deed...it's like one of those fantasy-romance novels waiting to happen.
"And once I sign it, it's officially mine," Joey explains, "but, like, I've been living here, so..." He shrugs. "It's mine."
Well, sighs Lele to herself, at least a girl can dream.
In the library, Eva's playing darts with Shane and Matt...and failing miserably, but that's besides the point. At least she's having fun with her friends, and that's all that matters, right?
Except...
She's always been far too curious for her own good, which must be why Joey decided to give her the role of the Journalist, and now that she's here in this mysterious mansion, the curiosity has only increased. She's not content just hanging out with the others and being a good little party guest-not when there's a humongous house that's practically begging to be explored. She wants to see everything, and she's not going to do that if she stays in the living room throwing darts at a dartboard.
So when Shane pulls her aside and asks, "Are we allowed to look around?" her heart is practically screaming yes, yes, yes! How Shane Dawson of all people read her mind she doesn't know, but yes, let's look around, let's see every room, touch every fancy thing, do everything this place has to offer before it's too late and we gotta go home!
But she keeps her cool, looks Shane in the eye, and smiles. "I'm down if you're down."
"Hmmm." GloZell stares at the cards before her, her mouth turned up in a determined snarl. She's been wowed by this place the moment she walked through the door, and yes, she kinda sorta might want it for herself. Just a little. But first things first: she can't lose all her money to Justine's gambling self over there, otherwise how in the heck is she even gonna afford to live here?
"Whatcha gonna do, GloZell?" Tim's voice is laced with an unspoken challenge.
GloZell responds by doing what a Jazz Singer does best: breaking into song. "Hit me one more time!" Of course, her furs choose now to fall off her shoulder, so she has to stop the song in order to put them back in place. Jesus Christ, it's hard bein' pretty. How on earth do these folks stand it?
"Hit you with my best shot!" sings Justine, slapping another card onto the table.
"Um, I'm the Jazz Singer here, sweetheart," GloZell reminds her.
Justine does that cute little flounce that makes it damn near impossible to stay mad at her. "Sorry."
GloZell smiles but doesn't let up. "I know you sing pretty, but I don't do duets." She laughs for a split second before shooting another pointed stare in Justine's direction.
Justine, to her credit, stares right back.
To be honest, GloZell was hoping that she was the only one invited by Joey. Y'know, that maybe he'd throw a just-her-and-him kind of thing, and then maybe they could live in this house together and she could be rich too, or something like that, she doesn't know. At any rate, she wasn't expecting all these other folks to be here too, and yeah, she'll admit it, she's a wee bit disappointed.
But it's fine, she decides as Tim chortles and Justine deals another round. I'll do whatever...'long as I get my man...
...and my mansion.
"So would you want to live here your whole life, then?" Oli asks Joey, genuinely curious. He's as impressed with this place as anyone, obviously, and he's having loads of fun at this party and all, but living here...forever...If Oli was in Joey's position, he isn't sure if he'd be up for it.
"Yeah!" Joey replies. "Why not?"
"Alone?" Lele's got a strange, almost hungry look in her eyes, and it's making Oli a little nervous. "Do you have a girlfriend?"
Oh, no. Oli winces, suddenly feeling sorry for Lele. Poor thing's probably going to feel like a complete idiot in the next minute or so, and he is so glad he's not in her shoes.
Joey seems a bit taken aback, but he smiles politely nonetheless. "No." He turns to Oli, Sierra, and Andrea, grimacing slightly. "I guess she didn't watch my video."
Andrea and Sierra burst out laughing, and even Lele bursts into a grin. Glad that no one got embarrassed or offended after all, Oli smiles too.
As Shane hangs out with the others in the library, he can't help but remember what's wrong with this picture.
Don't get him wrong-he's super grateful to Joey for inviting him here tonight, especially considering this is the first YouTube party anybody's ever invited him to. (He can only assume everyone else in the community thinks his very presence is a fun-killer.) And he loves being in the 1920s-he doesn't have to text people back, he doesn't have to worry about keeping up his Snapchat, he doesn't have to make any videos...this is great. This is vacation.
But he knows that all is not as it seems. There's something up with this house, and he's determined to get to the bottom of it before anyone gets hurt.
Unfortunately, just as he's about to sneak off with Eva to "look around," Joey shows up and immediately asks how the dart game's going, so Shane has to spend the next several minutes pretending to play darts with the gang. Despite the fact that he's not really trying, he still manages to get the dart extremely close to the center (which is better than Matt did when he thought it was a good idea to throw it over his shoulder, but hey, to each their own).
Once that's over, he pulls Joey aside and gets to the point. "Can we, like, look around?"
"Look around?" Joey seems a bit taken aback by the question, but he recovers quickly. "Uh, no, I think we should just stay down here. Dinner's almost ready, so I think we should just...hang out here..." His eyes dart away from Shane and towards the mahogany floor. "Yeah."
But Shane can tell that he's lying just by looking into his eyes. There's something Joey Graceffa does not want his guests to see.
Shane steels his nerves and prepares to venture into the unknown. He doesn't want to face whatever's out there, especially considering some of the stories he's heard about this place. But he has a mission, and he's gonna get it done or die in the attempt.
He hopes it's the former, though. He has another week's worth of videos to edit when he gets home, and the last thing he needs is for some stupid house to go and screw it all up.