this reminds me of when I was in highscool, I had a friend who knew literally everyone across several school districts. he would find all the house parties, especially those of people from other schools and we just show up uninvited, saying so and so called us over the two times we were questioned, and just mooched drinks and collected gossip. Most of the time I just stood around while my friend did the talking, but if I felt forced to talk we would also gossip about people they theoretically knew.