Drowning • Billy Hargrove

Chapter 15

"What?" He says, slowly sitting down.
"She lives in Hawkins with her new family." I say, finally calming down.
"Did you see her?" He asks.
I nod my head.
"Did she see you?"
I once again, nod my head.
"Damn it." He mumbles, pacing around the room. "Stay away from her." He finally says.
"I know." I say, pushing the hair out of my face. She put my dad and I through so much, I don't plan on spending time with her anytime soon.
"Can you go get El, she's at Max's." He says, tossing me the keys. "I don't think I can drive right now."

I knock on Billy's front door.
"Hey!" Max says, opening it.
"Do I have to go now?" El asks, from behind Max.
"Soon." I say heading to Billy's room.
The door to his room was closed, but I could still manage to hear muffled rock music playing.
I barge into his room.
"What did I say about coming into my room?" Billy yells, facing away from the door.
"Calm down." I say softly. "It's just me."
"Oh shit! Sorry babe." He says, finally turning around to see me.
"It's fine." I say sitting on the edge of his bed. I take the time to look around his bedroom. It was full of posters of half naked ladies.
"What's the matter?" He asks, sitting beside me and wrapping his arm around my shoulders.
"I saw my mom today."
He stays silent. He knows all about my family drama and I knew partially about his. "Where?" He asks, knowing she moved away to Chicago.
"She lives here now." I say, looking at him.
"Wait when did you see her? You were at Brandon's house today."
I let out a little laugh. "Turns out she's his stepmom!" I say, throwing my hands in the air.
"Oh shit." He says, inhaling his cigarette.
"Yeah. Oh shit is right!"
"I'm sorry to hear that." He finally says.
I nod my head. "Anyways." I say smiling. "I should get going now."
"No stay!" Billy says, pulling me on top of him, signaling he wants to do something.
I start to laugh. "Tomorrow."
"Promise?" He says.
"I promise."

I couldn't sleep that night. I know my dad couldn't either because I heard him up several times in the middle of the night.
When I woke up the next morning, a wave of emotion came over me. I was angry, sad, and I felt sick to my stomach about what happened last night.
I decided that I'd call into work today and say I was unable to come. I also had to call Billy to tell him to not come and pick me up.
"Hey." I say, quietly.
"Hey, what's up?" He asks.
"I don't think I'm going to go today."
"Well if you're not going, I'm not going!" He says, sounding excited.
I laugh. "Well you can come over later, I suppose." I say.
"Yeah that sounds good." He says.
"Okay I'll see you soon." I say, hanging up the phone.
I tiptoe back to my room, to make sure I don't wake anybody and crawl into bed.

"Kate! Kate! Wake up!" Someone says, gently pushing me.
I opened my eyes to see it was Billy. He was standing beside me.
"What time is it?" I say, rubbing my eyes. I felt embarrassed because I probably looked like a mess.
"It's like two in the afternoon."
"Oh shoot." I say, pushing myself up.
He chuckles. "I got here awhile ago, but I got bored so I decided to wake you up."
"I didn't mean to fall back asleep. Sorry."
"Don't apologize. You look cute when you sleep." He says, climbing into the bed with me.
I smile and rest my head on his shoulder.
Suddenly my bedroom door swung open, causing Billy and I both to jump.
"Kate, and uh, Billy, we've got to go, now!" Nancy yells.
"What the hell is going on!" Billy asks, sitting straight up.
"Long story. I'll tell you two in the car." She replies, turning and leaving.
I hop out of bed and run to my closet. I definitely wasn't going out in public in my pajamas.
I grab a pair of jeans and a sweater from my closet. I look over at Billy, who was starring at me.
"What?!" He says, smiling.
"I need to change!"
"You promised me yesterday that I'd get something." He says, smirking.
I roll my eyes and put on the new clothes.
"Happy?" I ask, pulling my shirt over my head.
"Very!"
"Do you know where El is?" I ask Billy, assuming she let him in.
"Yeah El and Max went to some kid named Mikes house."
I nod my head. "Okay." She was safe.

"What's going on?" I ask Nancy, climbing into her car.
"I was right about the whole thing, Kate."
"The upside down stuff?" I ask, as she pulls out of the driveway.
"Yes, exactly! Cats, dogs, rodents and many other animals are just, exploding and turning into mush!" She responds.
"What?!" Billy questions from the back seat. He received two 'shushes' from Nancy and I.
"So it's open..." I say, nervously.
"I think so."
"But El-"
"Closed it. I know." Nancy says, cutting me off. "Maybe there's another gate. Jonathan told me his mom's theory and I believe it."
I sigh. "What's your plan?"
"I don't know yet. Investigate probably."
"Are you guys out of your minds!" Billy yells. "This is crazy."
Nancy looks at me and smiles. "You have no clue what we've gone through last year."
I turn around and smile at him. "It's going to be fine." I return back to my original spot and hope to myself that I didn't tell him a lie.
"We are going to Jonathan's house to figure everything out." Nancy tells me.
"You two made up?" I question, changing the subject.
"Sort of." She responds, pulling into his driveway.
"That's good." I awkwardly say, hopping out of the car.

"Hey." Johnathan says, greeting us from the porch.
"Hey." I respond, walking over to him.
"This might be a bad time for introductions but I'm Nancy and this is Johnathan." Nancy says sticking her hand out.
Billy shakes her hand and smiles. "I'm Billy."
She laughs. "Yeah I know! She won't stop talking about you!" Nancy says, pointing over to me.
I blush and roll my eyes.