Not Your Baby ║ Billy Hargrove

Chapter Twenty Two

            "Nel... Honey? It's almost 7:15" The faint echoes of what sounded like mom nervously thinking I'd be late for class again seemingly got louder and louder in my dream. My eyes instantly shot open. It wasn't a dream. Footsteps drew louder as I heard her proceed up the stairs. "Nancy is going to be here soon, and I already made breakfast on the table." Adrenaline skyrocketed through my body as I frantically sprinted out of bed and ran towards the lock on on my bedroom door.

"Yeah, uh," I cleared my throat and screamed a few times in my head as I thought of a quick response. "I know. I was just finishing some homework. I'll, uh, be down in a few. Don't worry about me, I'm all good!" I held my breath as I awaited her response.

"Sure thing NellyJelly!" I sighed in relief as I heard her footsteps recede back down the stairs. Running my hands through my hair, I turned in my heels to face Billy who had the biggest grin wiped on his face.

"NellyJelly?" he whispered as his smile grew wide and he had to hide his laughter in his jacket to muffle the sound. I felt my face grow hot from embarrassment as I adverted my eyes from his and focused my effort on getting my shit together for school. Noticing that I wasn't giving him an ounce of attention (mostly due to sheer embarrassment of my mom calling me by my childhood nickname), Billy traipsed over to where I was in my closet and slid himself between myself and my closet door. Feeling his breath on my head, I slowly looked up to see his blue eyes piercing through my own. "You're actually going to school this early?" He smirked as his one hand picked up my chin for a soft kiss on my lips.

"That's the point of school, Billy." I spoke in between kisses as my mind began to drift from being late.

"I don't believe in the first class of the day." His arms wrapped around my waist as he forcefully picked me up. My legs naturally wrapped around his waist, exposing my bare legs. "And besides, I have something better to do." I began to smile as I folded my hands into his strawberry blonde curls.

"Nel, honey. Your eggs are getting cold." Mom shouted from the kitchen, completely ruining every single bit of the moment Billy and I were having. I groaned as I felt Billy slowly put me back down. He rolled his shoulders back and reached for his jacket, fumbling around the pockets until he found a pack of Marlboros with the lighter inside the box.

"Sounds like you have places to be, Miss Penelope." He seductively slid the cigarette in between his lips before lighting it and began walking back to the window that we snuck in to last night. "I'll see you for English." He gave me a quick wink before beginning to open up the window. Impulsively, I quietly ran over to him and grabbed the corner of his leather jacket to turn him around to face me.

"Damn right, you will." I confidently told Billy as his face lit up with my charge. He cupped both of his hands in mine and kissed me with such passion that I felt like we were kissing for the first time again. Billy leaned back and stroked the side of my cheek before making eyes with the window once more and slipping out.

After seeing Billy successfully scale down the house and disappear into the neighbors tree line, I sighed in relief that he wasn't caught by mom. What a catastrophe that could've been... I made a b-line for the closet and threw on the staples: jeans, my white Reeboks and a flannel. I sprinted to the bathroom and threw on some makeup before I almost had a heart attack due to Dustin standing right outside the bathroom when I opened the door.

"Jesus, Dusty!" I gasped as I accidentally threw my hairbrush in the air out of surprise.

"I know he slept over." Dustin began, completely unfazed that he just scared the living hell out of me. "Just because you two know doesn't mean I condone him." Dustin crossed his arms as he stood firm in his argument.

"Listen," I took a few deep breaths in and out to attempt to normalize my heart rate once more. "Don't tell mom and I won't tell mom that you've been sneaking out way past curfew almost every night with high schoolers." I glared at him as I watched Dustin roll his eyes and lower his head in defeat.

"Fine." Dustin mumbled as he slowly walked back to his room. Shaking my head at the fact that he thought he'd win an argument with me, I snatched my backpack before running down the stairs with only a few minutes left until Nancy showed. Grabbing a plate of mom's somewhat debatable egg casserole, I inhaled each bite before hearing her car pull into the driveway. Making it out of the house without another family member holding me up, I slid out the door and booked it for the car.

"So," I closed the passenger door and set my backpack down before shifting my attention to Nancy's inquisitive face. "you need to tell me everything. Start from the beginning."