Beacon Hills 1983

Chapter 4: Billy Hargrove

(Teen wolf + Stranger Things)
28 October 1983, Tuesday

I don't see Billy's blue Chevrolet. Nor do I smell his smokey scent. But he bunks all the time; it's probably just another one of those days.

Lucy and I chat on our way into school. She says she's already got her reply slip signed.
"Dad said it will be a good trip for me. It'll feel like I'm home again."
"Oh wow. I totally forgot about that." I say, remembering about the Riverdale trip.
"Well, you had a pretty rough day." She puts her arm around my shoulder, and we walk into homeroom.

Suprised, I see Billy, sitting at his desk.
Lucy and I exchange confused looks. Then she shrugs and looks into her book.

Billy sits with his head down, and his hand covering his eye.
I stroll past him to get to my desk, and he faces the other way.
What's up with him now?

After registration, we head to our first class.
Instead of hanging around ,waiting for me to enter, like yesterday, Billy rushes off to the bathroom.
Curiously, I follow him, blending in with the crowd, so that he doesn't see.

Billy slams the door.
With my super hearing, a clicking noise echo's into my eardrums, indicating a bathroom stall being locked.
I press my cheek against the cold wall, and can't believe what I hear next.
Sobs. Billy Hargrove is sobbing.
I hear him curse in a strained whisper.

There is shuffling, and the flick of a lighter. He lit a cigarette.
Something deep inside of me turns upside down. I feel a cold shiver down my spine.
Am I actually feeling...sorry for him?

After a few minutes, the sobs slow down, his heartbeat becomes steady- well, as steady as Billy's heartbeat ever gets.
I hear the stall unlock, and unattach myself from the wall, only to turn around and find that I am alone.
Everyone is in class.
I try to walk quickly towards the classroom I should be in, but Billy Hargrove's footsteps are already behind me.

"Nesrin?" Billy calls with a confused tone.
I hear him approaching. His heart beats faster with anger.
He pulls me strongly by the arm and slams my back against the icy wall; then hovers a few centimeters above my face sending that strong, tingy smoke scent directly into my nose.
I sneeze. He ignores it.

"What were you doing just now?" He looks at me furiously with his aquatic, blue eyes.
I notice his right eye is puffy, and a purple-blue colour. The grip is tight on my arms.
"Going to the bathroom, Hargrove." I say flatly. My days of being afraid of Billy ended a long time ago.

Billy narrows his blue eyes in diselief and rests them on my brown ones. I narrow mine back.
"What happened to your eye...?" I lightly graze the under of his eye with my finger tips, and pain shoots through my hand, stinging my veins, and darkening them to an inky black.
I pull my hand back.
"Woah! Billy you're in a lot of pain!" I gasp.
"It's none of your damn business." He says through gritted teeth.

He narrows his eyes at me one more time, then backs away and says, "You better watch out Hale. If I catch you eavesdropping on me again... that's it for you."
I mockingly raise my eyebrows at him.
Billy points his finger at me, "I'm warning you." He turns to walk into class, but before opening the door, says, "And I don't care if you're a girl."
He walks in and I follow.

The whole class turns in our direction. Billy ignores everyone and sits down in the first seat he sees, covering his face, the way he was this morning. I feel myself going red with embarrassment, and quietly walk to the back.
"Mr. Hargrove, Ms. Hale. You're five minutes late." Mr. Frobisher says.
"You don't say." Billy mumbles.
Mr. Frobisher's eyes dart towards the blue-eyed boy.
"I'm sorry Mr. Hargrove, what was that?" He walks closer to his desk.
Billy smirks and looks up straight at Mr. Frobisher.

Please Billy. Don't do anything stupid.
He firmly replies with attitude, "I said, 'You don't say'."
Mr. Frobisher stares at him with rage. "Well," He smiles crookedly, "you just earned yourself and Ms. Hale..." Everyone turns to look at me again. I slide down into my seat.
"Two days of detention."
He leans in towards Billy. "Enjoy polishing the floors Mr. Hargrove."
Then he returns to the blackboard.

Three periods later, the bell rings for lunch time. I find Lucy and tell her about my morning with Billy, leaving out the part about hearing him cry, of course.
"Wait- so you just waited for Billy to come out of the bathroom?" She asks.
"Yeah."
"Why?" She looks taken aback.
"I was...curious." I answer truthfully.
"You've known him for a long time." She pauses.
"Have you ever been curious before?"
Lucy's words hang in the air for a while.

That's a very good question, Lucy. I've never been interested in what Billy does or where he goes.

"No. I don't think so."
She raises her eyebrows at me. "Then why now?"
"Maybe...it's because I've never seen him ignore me the way he did in homeroom this morning. I guess, something felt odd." I say, as I try to make sense of it all.
"Anyway," She says, as if moving on from the topic, "My first period wasn't as entertaining but..."
Lucy's voice drifts off as I look around for Billy's gang.

He is nowhere to be seen. His idiot friends are at their usual table though. They're seriously nothing much without him. They only act like jerks when he's around...to impress him or whatever.
Billy Hargrove is quite the star in Beacon Hills, but he acts as if the whole of California falls to his feet. He has the biggest ego on the planet, and girls are begging to spend even a few minutes near him. He's quite the flirt, naturally, and uses them to his advantage. Billy's dated a number of girls over the years, and none lasted longer than a month.
Being one of his bully victims, I've never found him attractive- knowing his personality.
Although, he's definitely a charmer.

"Nes." Lucy snaps me out of my thoughts.
The bell rings.