Drowning • Billy Hargrove

Chapter 28

First, Billy took me to the diner to have lunch. After we were finished, we hopped back into the car.

"Where are we going now?" I queried.
"That's for me to know and for you to find out."
I sighed. "How do I know you're not planning on taking me somewhere to murder me?" I asked, jokingly. I looked out the window and we were surrounded by a giant forest.
"Yeah right!" Billy started. "I'm taking you to somewhere I've been before. I think you'll really like it."
We drove for about half an hour, singing along to the radio.

Billy finally pulled the car over onto the side of a dirt road.
"We're here." Billy says, putting the car in park.
"It's just trees!" I say, wondering what we must be doing.
"We have to walk to get there. Come on." He states, unlocking the car doors.
I jump out and catch up to him. I hold onto his hand and we begin walking down a dirt hill.
When we reached the bottom of the pathway, we stared at a beautiful lake.
"Wow." I say, quite impressed Billy would do this. It was very romantic.
"You like it?" He asks, looking at me.
I nod my head and smile. "Yeah! Where'd you find this from?"
"I came to a party here once when I first moved to Hawkins."
I nod. That was why I noticed a few beer cans scattered around.
"I didn't bring a bathing suit." I say.
Billy shrugs. "Neither did I."

I walk onto the wooden doc and turn around to look at Billy. "What are you waiting for?" I say as I begin to undress into my bra and underwear.
He smirks at me and does the same.
When we were ready, we stood at the end of the doc, staring at the water.
"Ready?" I asked Billy, extremely excited.
He sighs. "I guess so."
I grab onto his hand and jump into the cool water. Doing so, I ended up tugging Billy into the water with me.
"Holy shit." He says when he reaches the surface. "I wasn't expecting that."
I start to giggle. "I know you weren't." I say, brushing the wet hair out of my face.
I began to float closer to Billy. He grabs onto my waist and I wrap my arms around his neck. His eyes flutter between my eyes and my lips. Mine do the same.
Finally, I kissed him. He kisses back and puts a hand on my cheek, slowly stroking it.
This is what being in love felt like.
"I love you." Billy says, breaking the kiss. "I've never loved anyone like this until you."
I smile. "I love you too."

He dropped me off at my house four hours later in the evening. We spent the whole day splashing eachother and making out.
Even though it was simple, Billy was right, it was the best day of my life.
"I'll see you tomorrow, bright and early." Billy says, leaning out of the car window. He offered to help me load my luggage into the car and drive me to my new apartment, two hours away.
"Yep." I say, walking away from the car. I noticed Mike's bike was here. He was obviously keeping El company.
"Good night!" He calls out.
"Night!" I say, waving at him as he disappears down the driveway.

I enter the house to hear El and Mike giggling in her room. The door was shut and I know dad hated when it was closed.
"Three inches!" I yell.
The door finally creaks open as I walk to my room.
I packed up most of the stuff I needed a couple of days ago, and now my room was full of boxes. El's room was also packed up because she was moving in with the Byer's tomorrow as well.
I decided to pack last minute things that I would probably need. Doing this without a parent was definitely hard. I had no adult to tell me what I was forgetting to add and to give me guidance and advice.
So, I walked over to the linen closest and grabbed some clean bedsheets and towels. I also grabbed some framed photos and carefully layed them down in a seperate box.

"Hey." I look up to see El standing at my door.
"Hey!" I respond. "Did Mike go home?" I question.
She nods her head. I could tell she was upset about something.
"What's the matter?" I ask her.
"I don't want you to go." She mumbles out.
"I don't want to leave you either, El." I was now getting upset. "But if I were to become your guardian, you wouldn't be happy. Joyce can support you financially. Trust me, I wish I could but I just can't."
She nods her head as a tear slips down her face.
I stand up and walk over to her. She hugs me within a second. "Plus, you can call me whenever you like. I'll always pick up."
"I know." She says, sniffling.
"I'll come and visit you all the holidays I can get. Maybe, you can come up and see me on the weekends too. Or I can come down and see you guys."
She begins to smile. "Really?"
I nod my head up and down. "Yeah!"
Her smile slowly starts to fade away. "How would I get there?" She asks.
I think for awhile. "I'm sure Billy wouldn't mind you coming with him."
A smile forms on her face again and she hugs me.
"I'm going to miss you, El."
"I'll miss you too, Kate."
"I think we should head to bed. We have a big day ahead of us."
"Okay." She says, leaving my room.
"Good night!" I call out to her.
"Night!" She responds.

After brushing my teeth and washing my face, I lay in bed.
I couldn't believe I was finally leaving Hawkins. I always imagined dad being there, driving me to my first apartment and sending me off to the next chapter of my life. Obviously, that wasn't the way things played out.
I sighed and set my alarm for 10:00 o'clock. I closed my eyes and drifted off to sleep.