Riptide

Chapter Four - Begrudgingly

When Billy arrived at my house, I was a nervous wreck. This was the first time my parents would see Billy in years and to make matters worse he's a complete jackass. I was about to run to answer the door when I heard someone talking downstairs, "Shit, Dad answered the door" I thought, bolting downstairs. "Who are you here for?" My dad asked, kinda used to answering the door to our friends. I reached the bottom of the stairs now able to see Billy at the door. "Emma," He answered, putting his hands in his pockets. "He's here to work on our group project," I explained. My dad nodded looking at Billy still. "You look familiar..." My dad continued to look at Billy, clearly trying to figure out where he knew him from, that's when as if on cue my mother chimed in. "Oh my goodness, is that you Billy?" My mother gasped, shocked to see Billy. She went over to him with a soft smile on her face, "Yeah..." Billy nods looking down then back at my mother. "It's good to see you," My mother said, clearly wanting to hug him, but giving him his space. "This is a nice little reunion and all, but we've got an assignment to work on." I said leaning against the stair railing looking at everyone. My mother looked at me, as did my father, "Right, besides I gotta finish up on making dinner." My father said taking the hint that I just wanted to get this assignment over with. Billy looked at my father when he said that but kept quiet before heading upstairs with me. "That was awkward," Billy chuckled as we walked down the hall to my room. "Shut up," I said, rolling my eyes, putting my hand on the doorknob to my room. Billy chuckled a bit, "Oh come on you gotta admit it's-" I cut Billy off, "It's not awkward it's sad, they actually care about you dipshit." I opened the door, "Now get your ass in there so we can get this whole ordeal over with." I pointed to the inside of my room. Billy huffed before going into my room. 

Billy looked around at my posters before simply chuckling, "How is it that you've both changed so much and not at all?" He asked, sitting on my bed. "It's called growing up," I shrugged, getting stuff ready for the assignment. "Or clinging to childish things." Billy said clearly trying to get under my skin. "Look at the two of us and tell me who is more mature." I said with a slight smirk on my face. "What's that supposed to mean?" Billy narrowed his eyes at me, "You go out, fuck every girl whose desperate enough to sleep with you, then you never call her again. You're probably also the type to blow off prior commitments now, hell I didn't expect you to show up tonight." I sighed crossing my arms, "How would you know if any of that is true? You left" Billy said coldly, looking into my eyes, "I had no choice!" I huffed, uncrossing my arms walking over to him, pointing a finger at him as I made my point. "Besides I wrote to you every single chance I got! You're the one who stopped writing!" I glared, and he looked even angrier. "Oh that's bullshit and you know it!" Billy shouted, looking at me as if I betrayed him or something. Without another word I walked over to my closet and grabbed a storage bin from my shelf. I then dropped it on the ground in front of him. "380 letters, 6 birthday gifts, and 6 Christmas gifts. Happy valentine's day, birthday, 4th of July, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and merry fucking Christmas." He looked shocked by this. "Why didn't you send any of these? Why did your letters just stop?" He asked, sitting down and opening the lid grabbing a random letter that read on it "Return to sender," Billy sighed softly, "How many letters say return to sender?" He asked, looking up at me from the floor. "12," I said, knowing the answer. "Why did you keep writing?" He raised a brow. "I kept writing because I promised you I would," I sat down on the ground beside him. "And I always keep my promises." I smiled, "You're weird you know that..." He said looking up at me from the letter, before taking a deep breath and ruffling my hair. "Never change." He then puts the letter back in the bin. "They're all yours...if you want to take them home." I said looking at him as I fixed my hair, "Why do you think they're here? We both know that the return to sender isn't my handwriting." Billy sighed leaning against my bed. "Fair point." I nod, "If he knew you were here, he'd kill you..." I sighed looking down at the floor. "Don't," Billy simply said. "Don't what?" I asked, chuckling nervously. He simply rolled his eyes, "You know exactly what I'm talking about." He looks at me. 

I sighed a bit, "Wow after all these years you can still read me really well." I gave him a half smile, "You're just easy to read," He gets up going to the window. "Like a shitty children's book." He smirked looking at me as he opened the window. "Hey!" I laughed, going over to my desk chair. Billy simply chuckled, grabbing his box of cigarettes and smacking them on his hand. "Those things kill you know." I said looking at the box in his hand then back up to him. Billy gave me a half smile, "Counting on it." He said, half joking. I sighed a bit. "Thanks for opening the window at least." "You have a fire alarm, what choice do I have?" Billy chuckled, putting the cigarette in his mouth and lighting it. He then inhaled and exhaled out the window. He sighed looking around the room, "What's that over there?" He asked, pointing to my white noise machine. "Aren't we supposed to be working on a project?" I crossed my arms, "Nerd," Billy teased, I rolled my eyes. "It's a white noise machine." I sighed, answering his question. He nods, "It's difficult for me to sleep without the sounds of the ocean..." I walked over to him and sat on the windowsill. "You didn't need that before." Billy points out, "Well, after leaving the ocean reminded me of you." I admit, Billy looks at me before chuckling a bit. "Do you want to go get dinner sometime?" He asked, "What? Like a date?" I raised a brow. "It can be if you want it to be." He smirks a bit, "Okay...but it's just as friends." I said looking into his eyes. "Works for me," he said, taking an inhale from his cigarette. "What's with the sudden switch?" I tilted my head to the side. "I don't know, maybe I missed you." He said in a way that was like he didn't mean it, but looking in his eyes I could tell he did. "Yeah, you never forget your first kiss." I teased, "Oh yeah that was you wasn't it?" He smirks, "Oh don't pretend you forgot." I laughed, "Maybe you should remind me." He smirked, "Don't push your luck." I playfully narrowed my eyes at him. Billy laughed, before putting his cigarette out. "I missed you." I looked down then back up at him. "Who wouldn't," He shrugged, he wouldn't admit it, but I know he missed me too. "We should get to work on this project now, shouldn't we?" I get up off the windowsill, Billy nods going over to me and sitting beside me as we get started on our project.