Half Past Five.

Chapter Nine: Hellfire.

It's been two weeks now.

Two extremely long, excruciatingly painful weeks, where Elijah has had absolutely no contact with Billy.

The same routine follows day in, and day out. She wakes at five to drive him and Max to school, minimal conversation occuring between the girls. She sits in the car and prays the minutes tick faster, the silence gnawing on her patience.

After Elijah completely blew up on Billy, they haven't uttered a single word to one another. Not a thank you, not a pleasure, not anything.

And since they haven't gotten the ignition cable, they hadn't had reason to converse about the car as well. So any interaction between the pair has been brought to a minimum. They don't even bother to greet each other.

“Are things still awkward between you?” Nancy asks her friend, who's been completely out of it for the last two weeks, who only sulks at lunch and who doesn't seem to say much anymore.

“There can't be anything awkward between us, when there is nothing between us.”

“Weren't you two on the path to friends?”

“Were. Until he decided to be an absolute fucking jerk.” She mutters, throwing her half eaten fry back onto the pile of the other untouched fries. “I'm not sure what I expected really. It's not like he was a very friendly person before we started talking.”

Nancy doesn't have much to say to this. She wished things could have been different for her friend.

“Do you miss him?”

“I didn't know him all that well to be able to miss him.”

“Then why have you been sulking for the past two weeks?”

“I have not!” Elijah counters defensively, Nancy only staring at her lying friend. “I'm just disappointed, I guess. I didn't think we were gonna hate each other after a week. I expected more, and that was my fault. I walked into this with expectations.”

“You can't blame yourself for him being an arsehole, Leah. But I'm not sure how you expected of him to react. I mean, you did slap him, and you are the reason why he's not able to drive his car. Can you blame him for the harsh feelings?”

Elijah takes a moment. She ponders the past few weeks, and how things transpired. And yes, perhaps she is partly responsible for how it occured, and how it unraveled. But it is just as much his fault as it was hers.

“Do you know why I slapped him, Nancy? Or why his goddamn car won't start?”

“Leah—”

“No, you want to go down that road? Let's go down that road.” Nancy immediately regrets bringing it up. “You know how Steve told you he got into a random brawl? Nothing about that was random. He asked Billy to keep the noise with his car down, and Billy pummeled him. That is why I slapped him. And with his fucking car. The first time I snipped the cable and stole the other half, the other time, I only loosened it. Billy was the one who, after he checked, didn't properly fasten the cable and burned it out. Yes, the first time it really was me, but the second time, it was his own negligence to secure the cable. That's why the fucking blue tin won't run. And even after all I did to help him, with him showing up at my house, after I helped him, he was still a goddamn fucking asshole. So yes—”

“He showed up at your house?” Nancy asks her, somewhat trying to divert the conversation.

“It doesn't matter. Point being, I did a lot more than I bargained for, I offered to help where I can, I opened my doors for him, but that wasn't enough. He decided to push me away, he was the jerk. So I'm sorry, if I wasn't being thorough enough. But more than that, I can't physically do.” For the first time, Nancy is silent, and regretful. She feels shameful for basically blaming Elijah.