Same Drugs (Billy Hargrove)

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"What happened?" Libby asked frantically as she watched tears roll down my face. "I-I, my locker. It's-" I started, but got too choked up to continue. "Fuck!" I exclaimed.

"Your locker?" Decker questioned, not understanding what could've happened to it. Decker ran inside with Oliver, probably going to see what was happening. Libby gave me a hug, still confused, but not about to hesitate in consoling me. She opened her arms and hugged me tightly. I cried, but not for a reason that would've been expected. I didn't want to hype myself up too much, but when I realized what happened, I had no other choice but to get mad.

Oliver and Decker ran back to me and looked at me with a mix of emotions. "Who the fuck did this?" Decker asked angrily. My hand began to shake and I held it up, numbly observing it and how it was moving. "You gotta tell me what's up, man," Oliver pleaded, hoping to get a name out of me. "Hargrove squealed," I said monotonously. "You've got to be fucking kidding me," Decker said angrily. "I never trusted him," He continued. I looked at Decker, watching his eyes nearly roll back into his head, and grabbed his arm. "Please let me deal with this," I said.

"No! He's a fucking dickhead, and he needs to be taught a lesson," Decker seethed. "We don't know the whole story," I reasoned, but Decker seemed to let my defenses go in one ear and out of the other. "But we do know! That douchebag most likely told the basketball team about the next notch in his belt while in the showers," He said, and something inside me agreed and believed him. Another part of me didn't want to, though, and really wished that it wasn't true. I shook with emotion as I thought over everything, "Fuck. I really don't know what I'm supposed to do right now," I said, a small tear rolling down my face. Oliver and Libby pulled me into a hug while Decker nearly kicked a tree over, still raging. "Decker, it's okay. They're words, I'll survive. I just want to get out of here right now," I admitted. Decker nodded, "I'm skipping class and so are you. Let's go have some fun to get your mind off of this shit." I smiled weakly and nodded, pleased with the idea of getting away from the toxic Hawkins High. "Us too," Libby said, speaking on behalf of herself and Oliver, who nodded in response.

"I think that's a marvelous idea," I said softly with a hint of bitterness in my voice. We all got into Deckers car, me getting the honorary front passengers seat. "This is a pity shotgun ride," I said with a pout. Oliver leaned up into the middle armrest and rested his face on his hands, "If you're dissatisfied, I will take the seat." Decker shoved Oliver's face backwards with his hand and I laughed into my hand as I covered my mouth with it. They really were the funniest guys I'd ever met, and Oliver had really warmed up to the group quickly. When we got to the milkshake place, I looked out the window quizzically. "Why are we here?" I asked, and Decker shook his head. "Don't you remember?" He asked as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Yeah, we used to come here all the time as kids!" Libby chimed from the backseat. "Yeah, even I remember that," Oliver chimed sarcastically. I chuckled, my spirits finally feeling lifted. 

"I just want to know why he did it," I said sadly. I looked out the window, my mind wandering, as I thought about any possible motive Billy could've had to tell everyone. I genuinely thought we had a connection, but I could be mistaken. I probably was mistaken, honestly. I knew he was a notorious player, but I thought he liked me as a person and respected me enough to protect me. I'm not stupid either, I wasn't one of those girls who really believed they had changed the bad boy. I was well aware the Billy was a tough nut to crack, and I didn't expect us to date, but I thought he'd at least be a decent human being. "He wanted to brag. You're hot stuff, JJ," Decker joked, trying to make light of the situation. The only other time I had ever gotten sad over a boy like this is when Sam moved away. I knew we were best friends, nothing more and nothing less, but I wanted us to be something more. Anything more. He moved away though, and I never thought I'd see him again. Something was different this time though, I didn't feel the same feelings around him that I used to feel. 

Was I supposed to? 

"He's an asshole, and we'll make sure he gets what he deserves," Oliver chimed in, lightly hitting Decker's arm to include him in his statement. "You spoil me, Ollie," I joked. "Chin up, okay? Good things are coming your way, I can sense it. I'll totally give you a tarot card reading after school if you want," Libby offered. I nodded with a smile, missing spending time with her and her obsession with her "third eye". We got out of the car and went into the small pastel colored shop to order our treats. I walked up to the counter and grinned at the friendly looking elderly woman with the gentle smile. "One Oreo milkshake, please," I said sweetly. She nodded and looked to the rest of my friends for their orders. Once they told her, I began to take out my wallet, fiddling with the zipper attached to the front of it. "I got it," Decker said, and I smiled up at him. "Are you sure?" "Positive, go sit," He assured me. "I owe you!" He smiled at my comment and I turned around to take a seat. Soon, our milkshakes were brought to the table and we began to sip on them. 

"This is a good day to skip, huh?" I said, eliciting snickers from the group. "Great day to get outside, that's for sure," Libby agreed. 

"School's gonna be hell tomorrow," I said sluggishly, internally groaning at what I anticipated was to come. "Totally," Libby agreed with a sigh. "Although, Ollie and Deck are gonna beat someone up for me, I think," I said, a joking smile on my face as I looked at the two smirking boys. "I'm kidding," I said, making sure they knew I wasn't serious about any of it. They settled down and I took my last sip of milkshake, heading towards the garbage bin to throw it away, when I saw a fuming Billy Hargrove getting out of his car, stomping towards me, with a bruised eye. I spun on my heel and ran past my group, whispering harshly for them to follow me, and ran out a back door. "Why's he here?" Oliver hissed from next to me as we briskly walked away from the building we were just in. 

"You think I know?" I said, worry evident in my voice. We eventually lost him, finding our way back to Decker's car stealthily. We drove away faster than we had arrived, driving all the way to Libby's house to hang out. We couldn't go back to school. I couldn't go back yet. We all headed to Libby's room on the second floor, first passing through the kitchen and encountering Mrs. Sommers cleaning the floors. "Heeeeey Mrs. Sommers," I said when she looked up, trying not to sound suspicious. "Hi, honey! Aren't you guys supposed to be in school?" She asked, and I took a sharp breath. "We got let out early today," I said, making something up on the spot. 

"Okay, sweetie!" She said, ignoring the blatant lie and going back to her mindless scrubbing. I felt bad for her sometimes, Libby's father was always away on business, much like my own parents. I looked back at Libby, Oliver, and Decker, and they all waited for me to go up the stairs. We got up to Libby's room, passing through her door.  We all sat down on her carpet after opening the window and lighting up a joint. We passed it around and I thought long and hard about how I was going to make it through the following day at school.