HEART FLAYER | b. hargrove

CHAPTER 028.

June 30th, 1985

After a terribly rough night of sleep and very vague memories of some nightmare, Arwen crawled out of bed feeling like shit. A strong feeling of dread clung to her although she wasn't entirely sure why. Sure, she was still upset that Billy had stood her up last night, but she was sure something just came up last second. Maybe Neil was being a dick again. She was going to find out one way or another.

So she got ready as quickly as she could before getting into her car and heading down to the Hawkins Pool. She knew he had a shift today so hopefully he would be there and she wouldn't have to tear the town apart to find him. 

She walked into the entrance of the pool and scanned around, her eyes landing on that familiar blonde mullet as he slipped into one of the doors of the building. Hurt and determination bubbled in her stomach and she took a deep breath before following him. 

There Billy stood in the cleaning supplies closet, his back turned to Arwen as she entered behind him. She watched as he slowly set down a jug of what looked like chemicals and she felt her brows furrow at the sight.

"Billy?" she asked quietly, trying to keep her voice from showing how troubled she was. No response. "Hey, why the hell did you stand me up last night?" 

He stood there in silence, not even dignifying her with some kind of reply or even acknowledgement that she was there. His shoulders looked stiff and tense.

"Billy, what -"

Suddenly, he turned to face her. Arwen felt her heart sink to the floor and her eyes widened at the sight of him. Everything about him was off.

For one, he was wearing a shirt. Which wasn't normal for him, especially at work. That boy took any chance he got to show off his body and boost his ego more. On top of that, his hair was a tangled and frizzy mess which was also something he never let happen. He was absolutely drenched in sweat and almost... trembling. His jaw was clenched tight, his breaths were heavy and ragged, his brows drawn together intensely as he stared at her. He appeared so distressed... angry... scared...

"Stay away from me, Arwen." Billy said in a clipped and low voice.

Before she could even say anything else, he'd pushed past her and walked out of the closet. Arwen just stood there for a long moment, trying to process what the hell just happened. 

How had he gone from doting on her so affectionately yesterday to standing her up and telling her to stay away from him? None of it made any sense to her. She had no idea how to feel. 

Arwen walked out of the supply closet and back out towards her car. Before she got in, she looked back over to where Billy sat in his lifeguard chair. He looked so disoriented and completely out of it. Was he sick? If so, why not just tell her that? No, that couldn't be it.

She didn't have much time to stand there and dwell on it. Unfortunately, she had a shift to work at the record store today despite all of the thoughts swarming around in her head. 


-


Arwen's shift had passed in the most painfully slow way possible. Or at least it felt like it.

She couldn't get the image of Billy staring at her like he hated her while soaked with sweat and gritting his teeth out of her mind. She just wanted to talk to him... find out what was wrong and help him. But he clearly wanted her to stay away from him so that was what she would do. Despite how far he'd come in the time that she'd known him, Billy was still a broken and complicated person. If he wanted some space then she'd give it to him. At least for now. 

She returned home that night feeling drained and ready to just sleep. She heard two voices from inside of El's room, so she walked over and knocked, entering when her sister called for her to come in.

"Hey guys." She said with a small, forced smile as she leaned in the doorway. Her eyes landed on Max. "Max, um... have you noticed anything weird about your brother lately?"

"Not really. He hasn't been around much, I guess." Max replied with a little shrug. "Why?"

"Because he stood me up last night and when I went to check on him at work today, he was acting... off. Really off. He told me to stay away from him."

"What?" Max's eyes widened slightly and she set down the magazine she'd been reading on El's bed. "I have no idea why he'd do that. My stepdad hasn't even been giving him any problems lately." 

"Are you okay, Arwen?" El suddenly asked, her brown eyes peering at her older sister with worry.

Arwen shrugged. "I don't know. I'm just... worried about him, I guess. And confused." 

Eleven got up and walked over to wrap her arms around her sister. Arwen's heart squeezed in her chest at the comfort and hugged her back, feeling grateful for the girl. 

"Boys suck." El said as she pulled away from their embrace. "I dumped Mike."

"Hold up," Arwen held up her hands and shut her eyes for a moment, trying to process those words. "Why? What did that little twerp do?"

"He lied to her about a bunch of shit." Max informed with a roll of her eyes. El nodded in confirmation. "We're having a girls night. A sleepover. If you want to join us?"

Arwen felt a more genuine smile form on her face at the offer, but she just shook her head. 

"No, no. It's okay. Thank you, though. I'm just gonna get some sleep. But let me know if you guys need anything, alright?"

The two girls bid her goodnight and Arwen shut the door, walking over to her own bedroom and flopping onto her bed with a long sigh. Her head was throbbing with the anxieties that plagued her thoughts about Billy. 

Maybe tomorrow he'd call her. Or come talk to her. Tell her anything about what the hell is going on with him.

Maybe tomorrow would be better.