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☆︎ AUGUST 1995 ☆︎
It was another late night for Billy as he got home after midnight, knowing he'd need to be quiet to not wake his parents up. His dad would be so pissed if he knew he was out with Stu so late — both because his parents hated Stu and because they agreed he'd be home at a reasonable time for the week leading up to school starting back. So, his best bet was to climb through his window. Not an easy task, but not impossible thanks to the tree planted near that side of the house.
However, Billy never made it to the tree, getting too distracted by someone else who was up as late as he was.
Indiana wasn't in her room, rather she was sitting on the portion of the roof that was under her window, covering the garage that her room was built above. Unlike the tree, it was perfect for climbing up and down to sneak in and out of the house — not that Virginia was home constantly enough that Indiana had to do any sneaking.
From the dim streetlight, Billy could make out Indiana sitting cross-legged on the roof with a guitar perched on her lap. It wasn't the bright yellow one that he'd seen at a handful of her band rehearsals, but rather a plain acoustic one made of dark wood. She was strumming softly, and though he couldn't hear her, she was humming a song to herself.
"Care for some company?" Billy asked, only raising his voice enough for her to hear.
Indiana stopped playing instantly, startled a little. She leaned forward a bit to spot Billy and smiled. "If you can make it up." He rolled his eyes playfully and began making the climb that was even easier than it looked.
While Billy was getting on the roof, Indiana subconsciously tucked her hair behind her ears, making sure it didn't look too messy. The last month of her summer had disappeared in a blur of working at the diner, rehearsing with the band, and hanging out with Billy and Stu — and Casey Becker, but the girls chose to ignore each other. They had other friends, too, like Randy Meeks and Tatum Riley. But Tatum hated Casey too and was never around because of that, and Randy spent most of his summer babysitting his little sister.
Indiana liked spending time with Billy. He was a bit quiet at times, preferring to observe rather than contribute like Stu often did. But he was funny and sarcastic, and they liked the same movies and tv shows. He'd leave a larger tip whenever she served him at Cricket's. He'd always tell her how good she was when he was free to watch the band rehearse.
So, Indiana liked Billy. It was hard not to when he was the perfect boy next door, as cliche as it sounded. And it certainly didn't help that any time she glanced through his window, he was walking around without a shirt on, showing off the abs he'd earned from football practice.
