Drowning • Billy Hargrove

Chapter 5

I couldn't look at Billy the same way that I did before the dream. The sight of him sent shivers down my spine.
Today was the first day I managed to go the whole work day without speaking to Billy.
"Hey Kate! Wait up for me!" I could hear his footsteps getting closer to me.
"Hey." I said, facing him.
"What's up? You didn't say a word to me today and nobody avoids Billy Hargrove." He said, talking in third person.
I laugh. "I'm not avoiding you." I say. "I just have stuff on my mind."
"Well do you wanna hang out later, we could go on a walk and you can tell me what you're thinking about."
"No!" I yell, startling him. "We can hang out, I just don't want to go on a walk." I say, catching myself.
He looks confused. "Okay, you can come over if you want."
I nod my head. "That sounds like a better idea."
Billy smiles at me and we say our goodbyes before heading to our cars.

"What did I say about that boy?" My dad states.
"He was just saying goodbye." I say as I turn the radio up, listening to 'I'm still standing' by Elton John.

When we arrived home, El was patiently awaiting for us.
"Can you drive me to Max's house?" She says.
"Who's Max?" Our dad asks her.
"My friend." She simply responds.
"I can't drive you today. I have things to do." Dad says.
She signs.
"I can drive her!" I pipe up. I've had my license forever, I just didn't have a car to drive and dad was definitely not letting me use his only vehicle.
He sighs. "Okay." He says, throwing me the keys.
"Let's go!" El says, pulling me by the hand out to the car.

El directs me to her house, which wasn't that far from ours.
"Here!" She says.
I cautiously pull into the driveway noticing a familiar car.
"Does Max have a stepbrother?" I ask El, wondering if it's Billy.
"Yes." El responds. "His name's Billy and he treats her like garbage!" El says.
"Oh."
We both get out of the car and lean on it.
Finally, the door swings open and Max walks out.
"I swear if I see you hanging out with that boy again, there will be some serious consequences Max!" I hear Billy yell.
In response, she just flips him off.
"Hey!" She says to El, ignoring me.
"Hey!" El replies as they make their way down the street. Obviously they were going to the arcade which was just a couple of streets away.
"I'll pick you up in two hours!" I yell.
"Okay!" El responds.
"Kate!" Billy says, as I turn towards him. "I didn't know that you were coming by early!" Billy says, uncomfortably laughing. He obviously didn't mean for me to hear him and Max fighting.
"Yeah..." I awkwardly reply. "El wanted to hang out with Max. I didn't know that was your stepsister." I say, trying to break the silence.
"Unfortunately she is." He replies, rolling his eyes. "Wanna come in?" He offers.
I nod my head and walk in.

"Welcome to my humble abode." He chuckles.
I look around at the pictures hung up on the wall. The majority of them are baby photos of Max and photos of Billy's dad and his wife, Susan. Untill one photo stands out from the rest.
"Oh my god!" I say pointing to a baby photo of Billy.
"Let's not look at that!" Billy states, looking embarrassed.
"You were so cute!"
"Were? Am I not cute anymore?"
I look him in the eyes. 'No you're super hot' I think, but don't say.
"I guess I chose the wrong set of words!" I say, causing Billy to smile.
"Billy I didn't know you were bringing another girl to the house!" A woman says, angrily.
I turn around to see a nice woman standing in the kitchen. She has the same hair as Max, so I assume it's Susan.
"Hi! Nice to meet you! I'm Kate." I say walking over to her, shaking her hand.
Her glare turns into a smile. "Oh wow! Billy finally brought home a nice girl!" She says, with a huge smile across her face.
"I'm Susan, Max's mom!" I notice Billy rolling his eyes.
I start to smile as Billy interrupts us by coughing.
"I should let you guys go. Billy I'm just going to run to the store." She says as he just nods.
"It was nice meeting you Kate!" She says as she closes the front door and leaves.
"Sorry, I forgot she was still here."
"No she's so nice!" I say.
"A little too nice at times..." He says. "Anyways, what are we going to do?" He asks me.
"I don't know. What do you want to do?"
"Oh baby don't ask me what I want to do." He says with a wink and a playful smile. "But I do know there's a party going on at Marks. We could go for an hour or two if you want?"
I nod. "Sure."
So, we make our way to Billy's car. As he turns on the engine, heavy rock music blasts from the radio. He backs out of his driveway and speeds down the road to Marks house.

Around 10 minutes later, we arrive. The first thing we saw was a bunch of drunk teens hanging outside on the front porch.
"Are you ready?" He says, looking at me.
"Yeah I guess." I say as we get out of the car.
We walk into the house and so far I see nobody I recognize.
"Billy!" Mark says, coming over to greet Billy.
"Hey Mark." Billy says.
"Who's this pretty little thing?" Mark says, pointing at me.
"This is Kate. Kate, this is Mark."
"Hi." I say shyly.
"I never thought Billy would actually settle down!" Mark says.
"No it's not like that." I say, smiling. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Billy frown.
"Oh okay..." Mark says, before walking away.
"Do you want a drink? Cause I know I want a drink." Billy says.
I shake my head and watch him walk over to the table. "I'll be back!" He shouts.
I decide to sit down on the couch beside some intoxicated teens.
"Didn't think I'd see you here!" A voice yells over the music. It was my old friend, Steve Harrington. Steve, Nancy and I were all really close untill Steve and Nancy started dating. Everything was fine untill we fell out of touch once they broke up.
"I know... I thought I'd give the partying life a shot." I say, jokingly.
"And how's it going?" Steve asks.
I shake my head. "Not so good."
Steve chuckles. "Who are you here with?"
"Me." Billy says from behind Steve.
"Hargrove." Steve says, rolling his eyes.
"Harrington." Billy says, as he sits next to me.
"I should get going now." Steve says, obviously intimidated by Billy.
"Okay, well nice talking to you again. We should hang out sometime." I say.
"I'd like that." He replies turning and walking away.
"Whats your deal with him?" I ask Billy.
"Oh that doesn't matter." Billy says sipping on his drink.
"Oh." I say, looking around. "Damn it."
"What?" Billy asks.
"James is here."