Four Letter Word..

Chapter Fifty Seven

I woke with a start, my head was on Eddie's shoulder "Shit... I groaned "What time is it?" I asked looking up at Eddie who was fast asleep. The clock on the oven said it was 7am. I stood up and pulled on my jacket. Eddie woke "Hey shit.. You ok?" He asked
"Yeah... Thanks for last night" I told him "I need to go home though" I explained
"No sweat... You know where I am" I nodded "I'll swing by here later... Will you be in?"
"Should be" I waved goodbye and stepped outside into the trailer park. It looked different in the light, much less sinister.

Once I'd navigated my way back to Mom's I stepped inside to find her in the kitchen "Katrina? Where were you? Your Dad called asking if you were ok. I had no idea"
"Nice to see you too Mom" She came over and hugged me "It's great to see you. This is such a nice surprise!.. your Dad told me you were having some issues?" I didn't want to go into it with her right now and frankly I was getting sick of talking about it "No, everything is fine...You're up early"
"Yeah, I have work" I raised an eyebrow
"You got a job?' I asked surprised
"Yeah... The store needed someone. You remember the Byers?" I nodded
"They moved to Los Angeles too"
"Huh... So you got Joyce's job?"
"I did! It's great plus it keeps me busy... Look I need to get ready but give your Dad a call please. He was worried" she kissed me on the cheek before heading upstairs.

I went over to the phone and called my Dad's house number "Hello?" I recognised the voice as Joe's "Hey Joe it's Kat. Just checking in" I told him
"Finally. Peters been going nuts..."
"Sorry.. Is he back from Carol's parents?" I asked
"Yeah, hence why I'm up so early. I had to get them from the airport. Just hold on" I heard Joe shouting Peter
"Kat?"
"Hey Dad, sorry I didn't call sooner to check in. I went out with a friend"
"That's ok. I'm just glad you're safe" I smiled "So listen... Joe told me what happened with you and Billy. I've spoken to the kid and he's coming to collect his stuff today whilst you're not here" I swallowed "I'm really sorry baby girl... It can't be easy for you" I bit back a sob "It's not... But it's great to see Mom you know?"
"Yeah I bet it is.. Just call me if you need anything" I said bye to Dad and then grabbed my stuff and headed upstairs to my old room.

()()()()()

Whilst Mom was working I headed over to Stacey's house to see Penny and Kevin. I was hoping Stace would be back for the holidays already but I'm sure Steve would have said something yesterday "Katrina, hi" Penny greeted me when she opened the door "Hi Penny" she hugged me
"What are you doing back here? Visiting for Thanksgiving?" She asked letting me into the house "Yeah that's right.. I just thought I'd call see if Stace was home yet?" Penny smiled
"She's back Wednesday.. She'll be so excited to see you!" I smiled
"She doesn't actually know I'm here.. it's a big surprise" I told Penny "So keep it hush, hush"
"How lovely!"
"Anyway. I should go. I'm supposed to be meeting Steve" I lied. Penny opened the door for me and I said goodbye, promising to stop by before I went back to California.

()()()()()

I walked around Hawkins for a few hours, trying to find something interesting to do until Mom finished her shift at Six. I walked by the arcade and decided to head in. It wasn't hard for me to recognise Max stood at one of the machine's my heart dropped when she recognised me and ran over, leaving her friends "Kat?" She looked around "I knew I saw you at Eddie Munson's last night... What were you doing there?" I widened my eyes at the younger girl "What?"
"Me and Mom live in the trailer opposite his" I stared at her
"You live in that trailer park... What happened?" She looked over at her friends before turning back to me "Wanna go get ice cream?"
We headed to scoops in the mall, Steve got us two huge bowls of ice cream whilst giving me the side eye. Max was sat in a booth and I placed the ice cream down on the table "I just need to tell Steve something" I told her before going back to the counter
"Have fun with the freak last night?" Steve asked
"Don't call him that. I need to speak with Max about a few things. But we can hang out after if you want?" He seemed to contemplate for a moment "Ok" I smiled at him and headed back over to Max "Why did you move to that trailer park?" I asked her
"Well, when Billy disappeared.. Neil went crazy.. my Mom broke up with him, he left us with nothing.. we don't even know where he went"
"Why didn't you call Billy and tell him this?" I asked her "He could have helped!"
"You told me not to tell anyone where he was" I nodded "Where is Billy anyway and why are you guys back here?" I looked at her and then blinked away "Billy's not here. We broke up" I swallowed "I don't really want to go into it Max" she looked sadder than I felt at the news "It will be ok, you guys will work it out, you always do" I stroked her cheek "I'm sorry Max, it's for good this time. What he did. I don't think I can forgive and forget" she looked down at her ice cream "What did he do?"
"He cheated on me with Jennifer" there was no point in sugar coating it "Asshole!" She announced. I took a deep breath before I started crying again, trying to get the images of him underneath my ex best friend out of my head "I can't believe it. I thought you two were in it till the end" I nodded
"So Did I Max"
"I know he's done wrong but... He loves you Kat. I know he does" she took my hand "Kid... I'm the adult here" I said pulling my hand away "Yeah, well... By the looks of you, you could use a shoulder to cry on... And I don't mean Musons... What the hell were you doing with him last night anyway? You know he's bad news!" I smirked at her
"Pretty sure I can handle bad boys... But nothing like that is happening with me and Eddie he's just.... Well"
"You're taking drugs?" She asked
"Just pot.." I lied smiling
"You don't need to do that Kat..."
"It helped" Steve came over to our table "I have a break now if you want to talk?" I turned to Max
"I think we're finished here" I told Steve "You alright Max?" She nodded "I'll come see you before I got back to LA. I'll get Billy to call you alright?" She shrugged like she didn't care whether she heard from him or not. I stood up "See you" I said before following Steve out of the shop "Did you know about Max living at the trailer park?" I asked him as we walked through the mall "Yeah, it's not been easy on her. She's been kind of closed off" I sighed