Clean cut American kid ~ Stranger things

CHAPTER TWENTY EIGHT

An obnoxious ringing interrupts whatever dreams I had. What day is it? Where am I? An arm reaches over me and swats at the clock. It hits the floor and goes silent. The arm returns to wrap around me. My own arm is itching. What has happened? Right, portals to other worlds, broken arm, people dying and I'm basically a Stephen King character. No problem. And I went to Billy Hargrove in the middle of the night.

Shit.

That could be a problem. Do I sneak out? I don't think I could get out of his hold, his arms are massive. In a very attractive way. Holy shit. My heart rate picks up a little. Come on Sherry, focus. Wait, he switched the alarm off so he must be awake.

"Are you awake?" His warm breath hits the back of my neck. I stifle a shudder.

"Yes." I groan.

"You have to leave, like fast." He sounds stressed. That's not what I was expecting from him. I thought he would be smug. I turn my head and glance over at him. God we're tightly wrapped up. His bed is not intended for two people. Haven't been this close to anyone since I was forced to share a womb with Steve. Billy's gaze is absent. It's uncomfortable. I roll out of his hold and pick up my clothes off the floor. As I pull my shirt over my head I catch a glance of my torso in the mirror. I'm covered in bruises and small scabs. I look over at Billy. He saw but he doesn't comment. The tension in the room could be cut with a razor. Billy sits up and clears his throat.

"Look my dad would have barged in here if I didn't get up in time. But you can wait in my car and I'll give you a ride."

Is that an apology? As close as he would get to one. Still out of character.

"Whatever." I say, waving him off.

He helps me get out through the window. I walk slowly to his car as my body still is just waking up. I sit back against the hood of his car and light a breakfast cigarette. I can hear voices and cars going in the background. The world is normal. As if nothing ever happened. It's both disturbing and comforting. I decide to lean into comforting. The front door opens and I turn my head to see Max come out, backpack over her shoulder and skateboard under her arm.

"Oh my god, thank you for being here!" She sighs. "I don't even care that I know it's actually disgusting."

I laugh at first, and then get concerned. I give her a look.

"He leaves me alone when you're around." She shrugs.

"You told me he wouldn't hurt you."

"He hasn't, and he won't either. I just knew he would be in a bad mood after everything yesterday, I'm sure your brother has told you what happened when you left Will's."

"Yeah but Steve's story doesn't add up. It seems as if he lied about what happened, because Billy is beaten up worse than he is."

"Steve didn't lie." Max mumbles and looks down at her feet.

Everything falls into place.

He threw a fit when Max didn't go home with him yesterday, he's beaten up, he said his father would barge into his room if he didn't get up on time. His father. Key word. Billy's father must've ordered him to find Max and bring her home, and when he didn't he got beaten up.

"Does his dad beat him frequently?" I ask Max.

Her eyes widen.

"That's not what I said, I didn't say that, don't tell Billy I told you that."

The front door opens and Billy gets out, he descends the front porch steps in one long stride. Max looks like a deer in headlights but he doesn't seem to notice.

"What are you two talking about? Get in the car." He growls but it's nowhere near as intimidating as I found it before I got to know him. Max slips into the backseat. Billy shoves a small package into my hands. "Here."

I look down at it. It's a sandwich. I look up but he already slipped into the driver's seat. I fight a smile and lose.

"You made me breakfast?" I ask as I sit down. It's so out of character for him. He shrugs and mumbles something like "just eat it" as he drives off.

I unwrap the paper and take a bite of it. I didn't realise how hungry I was. We pull in to the parking lot at school and I step out of the car to let Max out. She skates off. I turn to Billy. He is leaning over the roof of his car, cigarette hanging from his lips, and staring intently at me.

"What did the little bitch tell you?" He asks in a low voice.

"Don't call her bitch." I reach for his cigarette but he pulls away before I can grab it.

"Are you two best friends now?"

I round the car and make another attempt to grab the cigarette from his lips but he dodges my hand again. Instead he takes it in his own hand and holds it between us. I give him an unamused glare. He's showing off. He wants everyone who happen to see us to know that he got me and not the other way around.

"I tolerate her, but considering what an asshole you are, not calling someone a bitch to their face probably seem like love to you." I smile ironically.

His hard gaze doesn't flicker an inch. Okay, so my attempt to be funny didn't amuse him at all. He looks down at my cast.

"You never said what happened."

"And you never told me what happened to your face." I counter with.

"It's not the same and you know what happened."

I don't say anything.

"Did someone break it?"

I want to ask why the fuck he wants to know that. Why he cares what happened. Why it matters. But I want to end this conversation now. I still don't know how to act around him. He goes from acting like a bitch to being kind in a minute. It exhausts me to be around him because I keep thinking about how I should act. As if I care what he thinks of me. I don't.

"I tripped and fell. It was an accident." I say before I round him and walk away.