Games| B. Hargrove

03

The next morning Nicole received a phone call from Steve, informing her he wouldn't be able to give her a ride. Apparently him and Nancy had to talk, so she was more than happy to give them the alone time they needed. However, this left the girl almost no time to get ready before she had to start the walk to school.

Nicole skipped breakfast, since she was already a few minutes behind getting out of the door. She realized that the blue Camaro was parked in its rightful spot, even though she tried to pay no mind. Billy made it clear the day prior that he didn't want anything to do with her. The October air was growing colder by the day, and today just happened to have a heavy breeze. Nicole's hair flipped and flew in all directions around her face, and she just knew she would look like a mess by the time she reached her high school.

The girl had made it quite a ways down the road before she heard a distant roar growing closer and closer. She quickly looked behind her, only to realize that Billy's blue Camaro was racing straight toward her. She quickly jumped out of the way, seeing that he had no intention on stopping and glared as he zipped right past.

Maybe Steve was right.. maybe Billy was a complete asshole and she dodged a bullet. What kind of maniac doesn't even slow down when someone else is on the road? She huffed as she straightened out her red sweater, continuing the walk to Hawkins high.

When Nicole arrived in the parking lot, the first bell hadn't even rung yet. She still had a few minutes to catch her breath after walking the mile and a half it took to get here. She noticed Steve's BMW, and almost went up to it until she saw Nancy and Steve were still talking, and it looked pretty heated. So, instead she started walking up to the school.

"Hey, Nicole!" A high pitched voice shouted, making her look over to Tina who was waving her over.

Nicole hesitantly made her way over. Tina had always been kind to her, but she hung around Tom and Carol and she wasn't wanted to be around the couple at the moment. Still, she kept her head high and made sure to show no signs of weakness.

"What's up, Tina?" She questioned, a smile on her face as she ignored the couple and boy before her.

"I'm having a party next week, you're invited." She smiled warmly as she passed the blonde the orange flyer.

"Oh, thank you. I'll see if I can make it." She shot a small smile back, preparing to walk away.

"Didn't catch a ride from your boyfriend today?" Tommy called out, just as she was dispersing from the group.

"Get a grip, Tommy. I don't have a boy friend and you know it!" Nicole quickly defended herself.

"Oh right, you're just the sleazy side piece, right?" His words cut like knives, but she wouldn't let it show.

"Not at all. But you know, speaking of actual cheaters, you might want to tell Carol that you've been sleeping around with Vicki. Oh, and Elizabeth." She shot back, earning some "oh"s from the group.

"I know you guys think I'm the one ruining my best friends relationship, but I would never sabotage his happiness. It's you that's destroying it. So shut your mouths." She quickly added before turning on her heel and stomping away.

"What the fuck, Tommy?" Carol stared at her boyfriend in disgust.

"You're really going to believe her over me? Come on babe, you know it's only you." Tommy gulped, but tried not to show that he was nervous about being caught.

However, Billy caught on quickly and figured he just got another piece of valuable information to hold above a Hawkins students head. He mainly knew because his arm was slung around Vicki's shoulders, and she tensed whenever Nicole shared that important piece of information.

.·:*¨¨* ≈☆≈ *¨¨*:·.

Nicole made her way to her gym class by her lonesome, for some reason she didn't see Steve all day. She made a mental note to try and find him in class and figure out what was going on. She went through her usual routine for getting ready for gym, before walking out of the locker rooms. After watching the entire gym class fill the gymnasium, she almost gave up on the thought that Steve was still at school. However, Billy still hadn't emerged from the locker room.

Nicole was biting her nails, nervous about why the two boys were no where to be found. A few minutes passed before Steve emerged from the locker room, looking pissed as ever. Billy followed shortly after, with a smug smirk on his face. Nicole quickly made her way to Steve, who was sat on the bench to figure out what was going on.

"Steve?" She called out, quietly.

"What?" He sighed, placing his head in his hands.

"What's going on?" She asked, taking a seat but keeping a safe distance between the pair.

"Just.. just rumors, you know? They're getting to Nance and she's starting to think it's true. That you like me, she wants me to back off. Billy's making things a whole lot worse too." Steve explained, not catching the girls eye the whole time.

"Oh, yeah. That's- I get that. I don't want to.. you know- be the reason you and Nancy have issues. I can back off." She smiled, although it was sad.

"No, no you don't have to do that. Nicole, you're my best friend." He finally met her gaze.

"It's okay, Steve. You've got a girlfriend now, maybe it's time we just.. kind of distance. It'll be better for you." She quickly reassured.

"But Nicole.." the brunette looked so hurt.

"It's okay, Steve. It's okay." She somehow mustered up a sad smile and began to stand up, "I'll always be here, okay?"

With that, the blonde headed girl quickly walked into the locker room. She could feel the tears pricking at her eyes, and she was not going to be humiliated by crying in front of everyone. Tears only started to fall when she was sure she was out of sight of everybody, and sobs began to fall from her mouth as she entered the locker room.

Billy had noticed the encounter between the best friends, and even watched when Nicole made her way to the locker room. He could've sworn he saw tears falling down her perfectly flush cheeks, and almost felt bad. He figured his words got to Harrington, and he had to cut off the friendship. That only made Billy believe that there was something more going on between the two even more and he was sure to spread this around the school.

One point Hargrove, zero for Harrington.