Suburban Blues // Billy Hargrove

III - smokes

"I said no"

Kat let out a frustrated groan as she dramatically hid her face on the kitchen counter as her mom shut down all her suggestions.

"It's just for a few days, i'll be back before school on Monday" Kat whined.

"You are not going by yourself, end of discussion" Her mother replied.

Kat was angry, furious in fact. First her parents moved her out to the middle of nowhere against her will and without even asking and now they're prohibiting her from seeing her boyfriend's biggest show ever.

"That's not fair!" Kat stropped.

She didn't care that she sounded like a bratty toddler, she wasn't asking for much and they were being totally unreasonable. She had grown up in New York, if anything she was safer wandering the city than this new town that she barely knew.

"Kat, I don't want to hear it" Her mother quipped, tired of her daughter's behaviour.

"Fine" Kat replied.

She stormed her way back up to her bedroom and slammed her door for the full effect. She flopped down on her bed and fixed her attention to the ceiling, taking deep breaths to calm herself.

Kat wasn't used to not having her way, even when she was told no, she would eventually work a way to get what she wanted. With this case however, she relied on her parents to help get her to New York. There was no way she would be able to get there herself, she didn't have the funds to get there and they sure as hell weren't going to take her.

She had promised Jacob she would be there, it was going to be his biggest crowd yet which meant a flurry of new girls trying to shoot their shot and grab his attention. Kat didn't like the thought of that one bit especially when she wasn't going to be around to turn them all away.

It wasn't that she didn't trust Jacob, of course she did... but she couldn't help the small naggling feeling that he might realise how inconvenient it was that she was states away from him especially when he loved to be physical with her.

She grabbed a pack of cigarettes out her beside table drawer and chucked on her boots before climbing out her window. She was practically a natural at it now, expertly swinging her legs over and jumping down with an unlit cigarette hanging off her lips.

She was surprised to be face to face with her favourite neighbour who seemed shocked to see her standing there also. His eyes trailed down to see the carton of smokes in her hand and his brain craved the sweet release.

"Got a spare?" He asked nodding his head towards the box.

"Sure" She replied handing him one.

She turned back to look at her house worried her mom or dad were by a window watching, they of course didn't know about her little filthy habit and she was not in the mood to be doubled down with another lecture.

Billy noticed her concern and motioned for him to follow, she seemed apprehensive at first but still felt annoyance towards her parents so she walked beside him as they made their way to a secluded spot a few minutes away. It was an alley with a small internal wall for her to jump up on and sit as Billy fetched his lighter sparking up his own as well as her cigarette.

She watched him silently as he leaned down, their faces in close proximity as the flame attached to both ends of their cigarette. She breathed in and let the relief gloss over her, she needed the release badly.

She noticed Billy wasn't his usual cocky self, his face was plastered with a scowl as well as what looked like a fresh bruise forming just under his eye. It was obvious that something was also playing on his mind, riling him up so much so that he was puffing away at the stick without any breaks.