California Secrets (Billy Hargrove)

- 𝚏𝚘𝚞𝚛 -

- Katherine Witherfield -

"Bye beautiful," Billy says as he walks out the door. I smile to him and wave as he walks off. Then, I close it, slamming my back against the door and taking a deep breath.

Why did I let him in my house? It's like he manipulated me somehow. Put me under a spell. It's not like we did much, just talked and asked each other basic questions. We caught up on little things that happened the past years. But what really got me was when, at first, Billy went up to James. I felt like I couldn't breathe. My heart was pounding out of my chest. James was meeting his father for the first time, and neither of them were aware of it.

I really want to tell Billy, I do. But I am way too far gone for it to be a casual conversation. What would I even say? 'Hey bro, I kind of had your kid and ran away with him for three years.'

This whole situation was a mess itself. All I can pray is that word won't get around to him that I have a kid. When I came to Hawkins, I was still pregnant with James. Everyone knew. It was unavoidable. It was the talk of the time. Hopefully now, though, people will get over it and keep their mouths shut.

The best thing I can do is stay away from Billy. I don't plan to let him into my house again.

🌊🌊🌊

I walk into Marine Biology, holding my breath in hopes that Billy won't talk to me too much today. I don't plan to initiate any conversations, and hopefully he won't either.

Billy is late today again, as per usual. He walks in, plopping down onto his seat. The smell of cigarettes radiates off of him, and I can smell it all the way from my chair. I cringe at the smell, kind of annoyed at the strongness of it.

"What's wrong, beautiful?" Billy asks, whispering to me from his seat.

"Nothing."

"Right," he says. I can hear the smile in his voice. "What are you thinking about?"

I sigh. "About how you should wear some cologne."

He chuckles a low chuckle that has me struggling to focus. It is insanely hot. "You are very judgmental, you know that?"

I turn to him in my seat. "Look, I'm just trying to listen to what this assignment is about-"

"Witherfield," Mr. Winfrey snaps at me from the front of the class. "If you want to talk to Hargrove that much, he can be your partner."

"No, actually I wasn't-"

"Sounds good," he concludes. He continues his speech to the class, and I let out an exasperated sigh as I slouch back in my seat. I give Billy an annoyed look, which he returns with a big grin. I roll my eyes and decide to listen.

The assignment turns out to be a poster board project. For it, we need to choose a shark and give a detailed description on the animal. It will be a lot of work, and I just know I will be doing all of the work since Billy won't do shit.

The bell rings and I stand up, grabbing my backpack and swinging it onto my back. I go to walk out the door, but Billy stops me.

"What do you say I come to your house tonight to work on the project?"

"Why can't we just do it in the library or something?" I argue.

"Libraries are boring. Plus, you probably have more materials."

I sigh. "Can we just go to your house?"

He raises his eyebrows at me and sighs, putting a hand in his pocket and looking at his shoes. Then, he makes eye contact with me again. I let out yet another sigh, giving into him, since I know how it is with his father.

"Fine. My house. But come through my window."

"Sounds good, partner," he smiles at me.

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Sorry for the short chapters y'all. There will be more soon!!

THANKS FOR READING!!

-Liz<3