Drowning • Billy Hargrove

Chapter 32

Days passed and it was now Saturday morning. I decided to take the train down to Hawkins to surprise El and Billy.
I planned on telling them about the dream I had, that still has me shaken and traumatized. The words 'help me' kept repeating over and over again in my head, causing me to lose focus in school and work.
Meanwhile, the last time Billy and I spoke to eachother was when he called me on Monday night, acting all suspicious.
I was excited to see him but nervous at the same time. I wasn't sure what I'd be walking into.

I arrived in Hawkins at 11:00am. I called up Officer Powell in advance, to see if he could give me a ride to the Byer's house. Luckily, he was able to.
"Hey kiddo!" He says, picking me up.
"Hey! Thanks for the ride." I respond.
"No problem! How's everything going?"
"It's going okay. I'm a little homesick, but it's fine." I reply, throwing my bags in the back of the police cruiser.
He nods his head. "When I went away for school, I was homesick too. But eventually, you'll get over it and move on."

Around ten minutes later, he dropped me off at the end of the driveway. We said our goodbyes and he drove away. I walked to the front door, and gently knocked on it.
"Hey!" I say as El swings the door open.
"Oh my gosh! Kate!" El screams, pulling me into a hug.
I laugh and hug her back as Max walks into view.
"Hey Max!" I say, finally letting go of El. I ended up bonding with Max quite a bit, because of how much time I had been spending with Billy and El.
"Hey!" She responds, seeming happy to see me.
El invited me in and we sat on the couch and caught up with eachother.
"Where's Will and Joyce?" I questioned.
"Joyce is at work and Will's out with Mike, Lucas and Dustin." She responds.
I nod my head. "How's Billy doing?" I ask, looking over at Max.
Max lets out a long sigh. "Not good."
"Oh." I say. "What's the matter with him?"
She shrugs her shoulders. "I don't know. It all went downhill after you left. He turned into the person he was before, always angry and mean, and kind of scary."
I was worried I caused Billy to act this way, because I left and nobody was there to keep him grounded.
El nods her head. "Angry and mean. He even ripped our magazine into pieces."
I began to feel angry that Billy was taking his anger out on the girls. If I really did cause it, I'd rather him take it out on me.
"Have you talked to him recently?" Max asks.
"He hasn't called me since Monday night. He said he's been extremely busy, since he's got a job now."
Max starts to laugh out loud. "No he doesn't."
I nod my head. "Billy's a terrible liar." Max and I both say in sync, causing each of us to giggle.
"I'm going to talk to him." I finally say, getting up from the couch.
"I'm coming too." Max says, getting up and standing beside me.
I smile at her. "I think it'd be best if I went alone."
She returns to sitting on the couch. "Okay."

I left the Byer's house and walked to Billy's, since they didn't live that far.
Cars zoom by me as I walk along the sidewalk, until one specific car catches my eye. It was Steve's. He seemed to notice me as well because he put his car in reverse and backed up to greet me.
"Kate!" He yelled from the window.
"Harrington!" I reply, walking over to his car.
"You're back! Do you want to hop in and I could give you a ride?" He politely asks.
I nod my head and walk over to the passengers side.
"So where are you going?" He asks.
"Billy's." I say, knowing he wouldn't like that.
"Okay. Anyways, how long are you in town for?"
"I'm leaving tomorrow at 8:00pm."
"Okay. Too bad you couldn't stay longer."
I nod my head. "I know. Where are you working now, since they closed the mall."
"I've got a job with Robin at the arcade."
I was a little shocked because Steve was never into things like that. "Oh wow. How's that working out for you?" I ask, giggling.
He shrugs his shoulders. "Robin does mostly everything, so great for me." He chuckles.
I smile at him. "That doesn't sound too bad."
He returns the smile. "It's not bad at all. Well, we're here." He says, pulling into the driveway.
"Thanks for the ride, Steve." I reach over and hug him.
"No problem. Maybe tomorrow if you're free we can hang out at the arcade?"
I nod my head. "That sounds like a great idea."
He grins at me. "I'm full of those."

Steve carefully backs out of Billy and Max's driveway, being extra cautious of Billy's Camaro parked on the side of the road.
I walked up to their front door and knocked. Nobody was responding, so I knocked again and again.
"I'm coming, God dammit!" I can hear Billy yell from inside. He finally opens it and looks shocked to see me.
"Kate! Uh, what are you doing here?"
"What?" I respond, a little hurt by what he just said to me.
"I just mean, you have school and work."
"Oh." I reply smiling and relieved. "I took the weekend off to visit you guys!"
"Oh, okay!" Billy responds, checking his surroundings. "Come in." He finally says.
I walk through the front door and smell a strong scent, reminding me of a perfume store at the mall. "What's that smell?" I ask with a disgusted look on my face.
He stops and turns around to look at me. "Nothing. I don't smell anything."
I look at him, a little confused about why he's lieing to me. "Um, okay." I say, pushing past him and walking over to his bedroom.
"What are you doing?" He yells before I could reach the door handle.
"I haven't seen my boyfriend in over two weeks! What do you think I'm doing?"
"Um, not in there!" He responds, running his fingers through his hair.
"Why not?" I ask.
"Because it's a mess." He quickly replies.
I let out a laugh. "So? That's never stopped us before.
"Kate, I said no." Billy says, raising his voice at me like I was his kid.
"Okay fine! We can stay in the living room." I walk over to him and throw my arms around his shoulders. He stares back at me, looking panicked.
I ignore his panicked eyes and  reach up to kiss him. Before our lips could meet, he pulled away.
"Not right now." He says, seeming very angry.
I roll my eyes, getting fed up with him. "What's your problem?"