𝕕𝕒𝕞𝕒𝕘𝕖𝕕 𝕘𝕠𝕠𝕕𝕤: 𝕒 𝕓𝕚𝕝𝕝𝕪 𝕙𝕒𝕣𝕘𝕣𝕠𝕧𝕖 𝕗𝕒𝕟𝕗𝕚𝕔𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟

ℂ𝕙𝕒𝕡𝕥𝕖𝕣 𝟞: 𝔾𝕠𝕠𝕕 𝕗𝕠𝕣 ℕ𝕠𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕘

The morning after Tommy's party, Billy woke up to the sound of his father screeching his name at the top of his lungs.

"Billy!"

Billy groaned, rubbing his head. "It's Sunday, Dad. I don't have work today."

"The cops want to talk to you. Again."

That was enough to get Billy to roll out of bed and put on a decent shirt. What had he done this time? Speeding? Sure, he was drunk driving home from Tommy's party last night, but he hadn't hit anything. Right?

Billy walked into the kitchen to find Detective Hopper with his arms crossed. It took all of Billy's strength not to roll his eyes. He'd run into Hopper a few times for speeding and stealing a pack of Camels. He nodded curtly. "Hopper."

"Please have a seat." Hopper gestured to the dining table, where his father and stepmother were sitting. Neil eyed Billy suspiciously, while it seemed like Susan didn't know where to look.

As if I don't know where my own dining room is. Billy slouched at the head of the table, with Hopper on the other end and Neil and Susan seated on either side of him. Hopper began to take notes on his notepad.

"You were at Tommy's house party, correct?"

"Right."

"Did you speak with Tommy at all during the party?"

"Some."

Annoyed with Billy's curt responses, Hopper scribbled furiously in his notepad. "When did you last see Tommy before he disappeared?"

Billy scratches his head. His mind was foggy from Tommy's fruit punch last night. "I don't know, around two in the morning."

"Was he with anyone?"

He might have been making out with Tina at the time of Tommy's disappearance, but he could not forget Darcy leaving with Tommy, that good-for-nothing holding her hand. "Darcy. He was with Darcy."

"Darcy Valentín?"

Billy blinked. This was the first time he heard her last name. She wasn't very keen on names when he met her at the pool. "Yeah, I think so."

"Do you know what her intentions with Tommy were?"

Underneath the table, Billy's hand clenched into a fist out of frustration. "I don't know; I'm not Darcy."

"Do you happen to know where they went?"

Billy rubbed a hand over his face. Each of Hopper's questions was igniting his nerves. And it was too early in the morning. "I said, I don't know."

Hopper sighed, closing his notepad. "Thank you for your time, Billy. If you know anything else, give the station a call." Before leaving, Hopper handed Billy his business card.

Neil turned to Billy, angry. "Is there something you want to tell us?"

Billy snorted, standing from the table to rummage through the refrigerator. "That I was involved with Tommy's disappearance?"

"Well?!"

"Well?" Billy unscrewed the cap to a gallon of orange juice, taking a few gulps. "I wasn't, Dad."

"I don't like your attitude—!"

Just as Billy slammed the door to his room to block out his father, Max poked her head out of her room, processing what she just heard and intending on relaying it to her friends.