Sweater Weather

Chapter 4

I woke up, head bursting, body aching, and my face felt gross. I got up and barely stumbled into the bathroom before I had to puke. I quickly dropped onto my knees and had a hangover party in the toilet. I finally stood back up, flushed the toilet, and looked in the mirror. 

"Shit." I mumbled, looking at my face. Dried blood and tear stains covered my pale face. A gash in my left eyebrow where, I'm assuming, Rob's class ring cut into it, a faint purple bruise under my right eye, and my bottom lip swollen and busted. I stripped down and saw the bruise back on my shoulder. I rolled my eyes and quickly got into the shower, washing away the sweat, alcohol, and blood from the night before. I got out of the shower and quickly pulled on some jeans and rolled up the legs, an old Hawkins High basketball team shirt, and a pair of black Converse. I quickly ran to my desk and went to work on covering the bruising and the cuts on my face. 

I sat in the high school parking lot and stared at myself in the mirror. I covered my face as well as I could but you could still see light bruising. I slowly ate my Cheetos as I heard Billy pull up. I continued to stay seated in my car and watch Billy from my mirror. He got out and leaned against his car, looking around the parking lot. He soon saw that my car was still started and made his way over. He walked to the passenger side, opened the door, and climbed in. 

"Nicky." He said casually. 

"Billy." I said back, more of a questioning tone coming from me. I refused to look over, fearing he would notice the bruise or the cuts. 

"So, I said we would talk about the Nancy thing today. How do you feel?" He asked, pulling out a cigarette and lighting it, rolling his window down. 

"I feel like maybe I got a little too drunk and said some terrible things about Nancy." I said, looking out my window. 

"What's wrong?" He asked, suddenly his attitude changing. 

"Nothing, I just feel like it's weird that you are so concerned with how I feel about Nancy fucking Wheeler." I said, popping another Cheeto into my mouth. 

"Listen doll, I was just checking on you cause you seemed pissed last night but, if you don't want me to care then I won't. I will leave right now and won't talk to you again, just say the words and I'm gone." He said, suddenly seeming rude. 

"I mean, I never invited you to get into my car." I said, turning to face him without thinking. 

"Shit, what happened to you?" He asked, his rudeness melting away. 

"Nothing, I just fell." I said, awkwardly trying to gather my bag and books from my car. 

"Nicole, what happened?" Billy asked again, more firmly. 

"Nothing Billy, what are you, my dad? My brother? My boyfriend? No, you aren't." I said, getting angry. I wasn't angry because he was worried, I was angry because I couldn't let anyone know my secret. 

"No, but I am your friend." He said, also seemingly angry. 

"We hung out once, that doesn't make us friends." I said, shutting off the car and opening my door. 

"Really Nicole?" Billy said in disbelief. 

"Really Billy. Friends hang out more than once." I said as he got out and shut the door. 

"Fuck you Nicole. I was just trying to be kind and caring. I was trying to be a friend but, no, you want to be alone then be alone." Billy said, walking off. I rolled my eyes and slowly followed him towards the school building.

The final bell rang as I gathered my belongings from the desk. I headed into the hallway and down to my locker. I emptied my bag and put away the useless books and notes before grabbing my keys and heading towards the doors. I was walking out to my car when Steve ran over to me.