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Its two days before Christmas. Charlie and I were hanging ornaments on the tree while listening to Christmas music on the radio in the background. Collin was in the kitchen making the three of us hot chocolate. "Here we are," Collin enters the living room with three mugs of hot chocolate in his hands. "Charlies' is the one with extra marshmallows." "Thanks, Collin." I smile and take a mug. "How do you like the tree so far?" He looks it up and down and gives an approving nod. "It looks amazing. I'm just happy we could even afford a tree this year." "Do you think we'll be able to afford one every year from now on?" Charlie asks. "We could make it our first family tradition." "It looks like we'll be able to." Collin smiles. "That is, if Whit gets a job in the summer." "Yeah, Yeah." I grumble. "Maybe I could work at the arcade." "And then you could let me and my friends play for free!" Charlie beams. "That's not how it works, Charlie."
The next day is Christmas Eve. Collin has to work today, but at least he gets tomorrow off for Christmas. Charlie is at his friends house for some cookie decorating thing. He tells me the only reason he's going is because the girl he likes is going to be there. So, I'm alone for the day. I dress in a white tank top, high waisted jeans, and a huge flannel to cover up my tattoo. After quickly brushing my hair I slip on my shoes and run out of the house. There's light snow on the sidewalk but nothing that will keep me from being able to walk through it. What I'll really need to worry about is the ice. I walk into town. I'm craving soda and doughnuts. I reach the store not too long later. "Whitley! I didn't expect to see you here." Ms. Byers smiles from the checkout station. "Ms. Byers! I completely forgot that you work here." She chuckles. "How's everything going?" I shrug. "It's going okay. I've just really been craving soda all morning." "Well, we have a wide variety of sodas down aisle three." Ms. Byers laughs. "I'll even give you a discount for helping my boys." "That's really nice, Ms. Byers, but I'd feel guilty if I don't pay full price." I say as I grab a pack of Spite. "Alright then! Y'know, Jonathan's been asking about you. He's really happy to have a friend like you." "He mostly uses me for relationship advice with Nancy." I laugh. "But I'm happy to have him, too." She raises an eyebrow. "Oh, so he and Nancy are dating? He's been refusing to tell me." I snort. "I don't even know if they are myself. Just that there's some unspoken thing." "He needs to man up and properly ask her out." She chuckles and starts to check out a man's items. The store's door jingles open and a rush of cold air enters the store. I find the fresh baked doughnuts in the back of the store. I look over each of them, trying to decide on what I should get. "Go ahead and grab me a maple bar." A familiar voice says from behind me. I turn around and standing before me is the one and only Billy Hargrove. "Are you stalking me or something?" I frown and turn back around to grab a maple bar for him and a glazed doughnut for me. "No, I just saw you come into the store as I was driving around town." He says and follows me to the checkout station. Ms. Byers checks out the items while looking from Billy then back to me. "He's cute," She whispers to me and I groan. "Thank you, Ms. Byers. Tell Jonathan to call me." I tell her after I pay for the stuff. "Take care, hun!" She says, and then nods towards Billy and winks. If only she knew how complicated he is. I follow Billy to his car because I know either way he'll drag me in it if I refuse to go with him. After I buckle myself in, I hand him his maple doughnut and a sprite. "Do I need to pay you back for this?" He gestures to the doughnut. "Nope." I say. I'm feeling generous today. He raises his eyebrows in a surprised manner. "Okay then." And then seconds later, "Thanks."
After he finishes his maple bar he puts the car into drive. "Where to?" He asks. I shrug. "Wherever." He drives through town and then through a neighborhood. A few minutes later he pulls into the empty driveway of a house. "Is this your place?" I ask with a frown. I'd have never thought he'd take me here. He nods. "My father and Susan are gone until tomorrow, so we have the whole place to ourselves. Unless Max is home." I gulp. I'm just hoping he doesn't think I'm here to do anything with him. Bringing the pack of sprite with me, I follow him inside. When we enter, Max is sitting on the couch watching a movie. She glances over at us and seems surprised when she sees me. "Whitley! Hey." She says in a surprised voice. "Hey! How's everything?" I ask. "I-It's going okay, what are you, um, doing here?" Max glances between Billy and I. "I have no idea." I elbow Billy. She seems surprised by my answer. "Oh." There's an awkward silence. "Do you... wanna finish up this movie with me?" "Sure–" I start to say when Billy cuts me off. "No, Max. She's not here to have a play date with you." He spat and starts to drag me in the direction of what I'm guessing is his room. "Hey, you don't need to be an asshole to her!" I say as he pulls me down a hall. He ignores me. We reach the end of the hall. He opens the door, pulls me in with him, and immediately closes it behind me. "This is my room. No one is ever allowed in here." He says as I look around. It smells just like him, like cigarettes and cologne. His room is nice, with his queen bed is tucked in a corner of his room. "Great posters." I sarcastically say, gesturing to the posters of half-naked women. With furrowed brows he looks to see what I'm looking at and then mutters, "Shit." He quickly tears them down, crumples them up, and tosses them into his trash can. "Okay then." I firmly press my lips together. "I forgot to take those down." He scratches the back of his neck. "Why do you care that I saw them?" I question. He sighs and lays down on his bed. "I don't want you to think that I'm just a horny sleezebag." I raise my eyebrows, surprised by his choice of words. "I don't think that you're a... sleezebag." I say. He then smirks. "Aww, are you too innocent to say the word horny?" "Okay, I've changed my mind, you are a sleezebag." I roll my eyes. "I'm kidding. Sorry." He quickly says. "You can lay here, if you want." He pats the spot next to him on his bed. A blush rises to my cheeks. He wants me to lay next to him? On his bed? "Am I making you blush, Princess?" He smirks. "Shut up." His smirk grows even wider. He pats the spot next to him again. I take a deep breath and lay down next to him. He wraps an arm around me, which makes my face heat up even more. "So I do make you blush." He chuckles. "I've never been this close to a guy before," I blurt. He raises his eyebrows. "Huh?" "Oh my god. Why did I say that out loud?" I facepalm. He smirks again. "I'm glad you did." "Why did you bring me to your house?" I quickly change the subject. He shrugs. "I've been trying to talk to you since the Snow Ball." "But... why your house?" "I don't know." He's probably lying. "Okay, then. What have you wanted to talk to me about? Did you want to apologize to me for nearly killing Steve? Because you should probably apologize to him if you want that apology to mean anything." Billy sighs. "Noted." "So that's basically what you wanted to talk to me about?" I frown. He glances at me. "I want to explain to you my side of the story." "Whoa, wait a second." I stop him. "You're not trying to convince me that what you did to him was okay, are you?" "No! Jesus, no. Just listen." Billy growls. "You don't know why I'm like this. There's–" he's cut off by the door to his room flying open. Billy's body goes stiff.
