𝕕𝕒𝕞𝕒𝕘𝕖𝕕 𝕘𝕠𝕠𝕕𝕤: 𝕒 𝕓𝕚𝕝𝕝𝕪 𝕙𝕒𝕣𝕘𝕣𝕠𝕧𝕖 𝕗𝕒𝕟𝕗𝕚𝕔𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟

ℂ𝕙𝕒𝕡𝕥𝕖𝕣 𝟜𝟛: ℍ𝕖'𝕤 𝕀𝕟 𝕃𝕠𝕧𝕖

The Party held onto whatever they could in Billy's Camaro as Billy backed out of his driveway and into the streets at a speed that could break speedometers.

"CHILL!" Dustin grabbed onto the leather seats for support.

"Chill?! You want me to chill out when there's a spider monster the size of a house wandering about?!" Billy barked, slamming the gas pedal with his foot. "It's most likely heading to wherever Darcy and El are, and we don't even know where they went, so don't tell me to chill!"

Lucas's eyes widened. "The fair...what if it's heading for the fair?!"

Billy muttered a string of curses under his breath. "Let's not hope it's heading there. In the meantime, keep your eyes peeled for it."

After a few minutes of driving up and down streets, Will perked up, pointing to his left. "There! In the trees!"

Billy slowed down, studying the moving cluster of trees to his left. It appeared that the spider monster wasn't heading to the fair but rather to Starcourt Mall. Without further hesitation, Billy shifted gears and drove straight for the mall, keeping his eyes on the giant, moving cluster of trees.

Beside him, in the passenger seat, Mike gave Billy a sidelong glance, his arms crossed. "I know you could care less about El. But how could you even care about her?"

Billy slammed his foot against the brake, causing everyone to lurch forward violently in their seats. He threw his Camaro into park and whipped around, glaring at the remainder of the Party. "Rule number two: do not question my motives. If you wanna save your friend quickly, stop making this into a damn interrogation."

Mike scoffed in disgust, immediately breaking rule number two. "You like Darcy, don't you? Just admit it, you're doing this because you thought she was some hot chick you eyeballed at the pool. You don't even know who she is without her powers or without her episodes. Do you even know her at all?!"

Billy tightened his grip on his steering wheel. There was some truth behind Mike's words. He didn't know Darcy as well as he should, but he wanted to after all this was settled. He didn't know if wanting to know her would matter, as most girls he was involved with soon became one-week flings. But whatever he had with Darcy, he knew that he didn't want it to turn into a one-week fling because Darcy taught him to care about things, big and small.

Because of Darcy, he wanted to care for Max; as independent and strong as she was, he always regretted leaving her to fend for herself against Neil, even if he didn't particularly show it. Max was only Neil's stepdaughter, and she was already being treated like the way Billy was. He had always resisted Neil and Susan's relationship because he hated seeing Neil treat Max and Susan the way he treated Billy and his mother. If Neil was never going to change, then it was Billy who needed to break the cycle, and he'd start by caring for Max.

Because of Darcy, he learned that once a person stops caring, they lose everything and everyone that once mattered to them forever. Even though he had very little, Billy did not want to lose the things and people that mattered most to him. As pathetic as it sounded, he prayed that deep down, Darcy cared for him in the way that he did.

Billy took a deep breath and relaxed his grip on the steering wheel. "You're right. I don't know a lot about Darcy. But I do know that she and your friend need our help. And we can't give them that unless we work together. Can we do that for at least one night?"

The Party shared an unreadable glance with each other and nodded simultaneously. Billy sighed and put his Camaro into drive, following the spider monster to the mall.

Behind him, Dustin leaned in close to Will and Lucas, mouthing silently, "He's in love."