slay 'em dead//Steve Harrington

11

I walk down the hallway with Jonathan.

"I see you made it out okay," Jonathan says.

I laugh. "I told you I'm a big girl."

Jonathan nods. "Bob stayed over last night."

"Really?" I ask.

"He took Will to school this morning," Jonathan tells me.

"And you still don't like him?" I ask.

Jonathan sighs. "I don't... I just..."

"I don't think Bob is the problem," I tell him. "I think you just don't want your mom to date."

"No, it's not..." Jonathan starts. I make a face. "Maybe."

"You're gonna have to get over it," I tell him. "Don't you want your mom to be happy."

"Of course," Jonathan tells me.

"Well right now Bob makes her happy," I reason.

I need to talk to Steve. I know he's in gym class right now. When I walk into the gymnasium the guys are playing basketball. I can't help but notice Billy is shirtless. I have to pull my eyes off of him. But I'm too slow. Billy notices me staring and winks at me.

"Steve?" I ask. "I gotta talk to you."

Steve and I stand in the alley between the gymnasium and another school building.

"What?" Steve asks.

"Did you talk to Nancy?" I ask.

"Yeah," Steve tells me.

"And?" I ask.

"And I don't know," Steve tells me.

"Well, what happened?" I ask.

"She didn't even remember that Jonathan drove her home," Steve tells me. "She doesn't remember saying that we killed Barb and I don't care, 'cause I'm bullshit... and our whole... our whole relationship is bullshit, and... I mean, pretty much everything is just bullshit, bullshit, bullshit. Or that she said she doesn't love me."

"She doesn't remember any of it?" I ask.

"She keeps blaming it on being drunk," Steve tells me. "She still wouldn't tell me she loves me."

"Steve..." I start.

"Should I be worried about her and Jonathan?" Steve asks.

"I don't... I don't know," I tell him.

"Your Jonathan's friend," Steve reasons. "You should know. Do they spend a lot of time together?"

"No more than Jonathan and I do," I tell him.

Steve nods. "Alright." he sighs. "What about you and Billy Hargrove?"

I look at him surprised. "Me and Billy?"

"Yeah, you and Billy," Steve says.

"We've talked," I tell him. "I bummed a cigarette off of him."

"That's it?" Steve asks.

"That's it," I assure him. "Why? What is this about?"

"Nothing he was just shit talking is all," Steve tells me.

"What did he say?" I ask.

"Nothing," Steve tells me.

"What did he say?" I ask.

"Just something about your costume from last night. How he would like to spend a night with you," Steve tells me. I take a deep breath. "He's just being an asshole."