Risky Business ｡ Stranger Things

13 : A Clockwork Orange

The brunette teenager cursed Billy Hargrove's name for the rest of the day as her anger faded and reality set in. Prue still felt loathing in her heart but she had come to the realisation that some of Billy's words held truth. The blond, unpredictable asshole that had plagued her mind for days now was right about one thing: he didn't force her to sleep with him on Halloween, but he was wrong to assume what she was thinking or what her motivations were because they belonged to her and her alone. And while Prue wasn't able to truly come to terms with everything about their conversation or the Incident of Halloween yet, she knew her conflicted state of mind and heart spoke to the stone cold truth that adolescence is a bitch. She wanted to sob, throw a fit and scream into the cold November air all because of Billy Hargrove, but she had bigger things to worry about than some boy, like what her father was hiding at Hawkins National Laboratory.

"Selena said you were murdering a boy? Everything okay?" Veronica Marra was asking while the two strolled to their lockers after the last bell chimed of the day. It was Friday afternoon and the rest of the student body were excited for the weekend. Prue Owens was less excited, but it gave her an abundance of time to delve into Mission Strange.

"Oh, yeah. Buried the body behind the bleachers," she replied, moving her bruised and still aching hand behind her back. The memory of punching Billy Hargrove in the face was flashing in her mind's eye. Prue was still feeling the effects of her violence but was damn impressed with herself too, despite the fact Billy was left with barely a scratch or a bump.

"This body wasn't Patrick, was it? I figured you two would've made up by now," Ronnie continued in a soft and grounded voice, her straight raven hair brushing the tops of her thin shoulders.

Prue frowned, remembering Patrick and their open-ended relationship. "No, it wasn't Patrick. But I did chat with him this morning." Ronnie's eyebrows shot up in a silent question. "We didn't really sort anything out, though," she sighed heavily, her shoulders moving with the action as she reached her locker. "Everything is just so complicated and messy right now."

"Like everything is just upside down, right?" Ronnie pondered and Prue nodded in agreement. "That's being going around lately," the teenage girl added, before smiling sweetly and timidly. "I have to dash, my study group is meeting in ten. Catch you later?" Prue didn't get the chance to say goodbye as Ronnie was already hurrying down the hall with a handful of books gripped to her chest. But her words made Prue wonder what was really happening in Hawkins, and in particular, what was happening in Ronnie's life for her to say that.

Turning back to her locker to fidget with the lock and twist in her combination, Prue continued to worry over just about every little wrong and strange detail in her life. From her friends to her father and of course to Billy Hargrove. As she pulled open the metal door, something slipped down to the floor, landing with a soft thud at her feet. She bent to retrieve the fallen object and her stomach swirled with annoyance. It was her copy of George Orwell's 1984, the very one she had lent to Billy two days ago now. Prue was starting to fume as her first thought was that Billy hadn't read the book and had shoved it back into her locker out of spite after their heated interaction earlier that day, but she noticed a ripped piece of paper sticking out of the top of the paperback novel, that was a centric element of their joint English presentation late next week. She pulled out the ripped piece of paper and read over the boyish scribbles.

You said I had two days to read it.
I'll be at Palace Arcade tomorrow at 10am if you want to study.

Prue was astonished and her heart pulsed a little faster in her chest as she re-read the words. And she was even more astonished that Billy had read the novel and had even bothered to return it to her after what happened earlier in the alleyway behind the bleachers. Was this his attempt at an apology? Because Billy Hargrove didn't seem like the type of guy to apologise for anything. She grabbed what she needed for over the weekend and walked to the carpark with a clouded mind, the paperback in one hand and the note resting in the palm of the other. The carpark was flooded with afternoon sunlight that had warmed the metal of the hood of her car that Prue perched on while she waited for Grey and Jackie. She was still stunned as she looked down at the paperback and the note resting on her lap now. Whenever she thought she had Billy Hargrove figured out he'd turn the table, no wait, he'd flip the table over completely and he'd expose something akin to kindness or decency. Like driving her home on a dark Halloween night, and coming to return Selena's forgotten purse or actually reading the novel she had asked him to and then propose a study session. When she glanced up to check the carpark for Grey and Jackie—who was sleeping over tonight—she found Billy Hargrove watching her from across the sunbathed carpark. He was leaning against his navy Camaro, his arms stretched out on either side of him. He was wearing a thin white shirt with a few of the buttons left open and his classic denim jacket and tight jeans. He looked like he was a daydream and then he nodded his acknowledgement of her with a sinister smirk, knowing she had received the paperback and his handwritten note. Prue's cheeks were flaming with a sudden pinkness and warmth pooled in her stomach; she hated the whirlpool of emotions stirring through her blood. But something else captured Billy's attention then, his eyes snapping away from Prue perched on the hood of her car to Lucas Sinclair and redheaded Max arguing as she stormed towards her ride with her skateboard tucked under her arm.

"...Keeping secrets like we're in second grade or something. I thought you guys wanted me in your party?" Max was shouting, the cold wind tugging at her red curls. The young girl's anger was boisterous as she turned on Lucas Sinclair with the rage of an upset and confused girl, and Prue wondered if how she shouted and attacked Billy Hargrove mirrored little Maxine. Prue noticed instantly how Billy's shoulders tensed, maybe a little too interested in the little fight playing out in the carpark between two children.

"There are things we can't tell you, alright? For your own safety," Lucas Sinclair was trying to explain. Prue spotted Grey and Jackie approaching, the pair seeing the fight and giving them a wide berth as they walked towards Prue, their backpacks bouncing between their shoulder blades. Grey's interest was piqued though, his eyes barely straying from a yelling Max as Jackie said something in his ear.

"Did you keep secrets from El?" the fiery redhead was asking and the conversation struck Prue as strange... there were so many people keeping secrets in Hawkins, her father included. After a few more heated words, Max turned away from her friend, hopping on her skateboard as Grey and Jackie had finally reached the car.

"Hey kiddos," Prue greeted her brother and Jackie, whose dark hair was pulled back into a plait.

"Did you see that?" Grey asked Prue, his eyes wide with curiosity before mouthing out 'Mission Strange' to Prue over Jackie's shoulder.

"Serves Lucas right for treating Max like garbage, I reckon. That party thinks they're so special now!" Jackie complained, throwing her hands in the air. "Your girlfriend deserves a better friend group."

"She's not my girlfriend!" he exclaimed with bright cheeks, his brown hair shifting as he shook his head a little too enthusiastically which undermined his words greatly.

"But you want her to be!" Jackie teased, poking him in the side. However, Prue wasn't focused on Grey and Jackie but Billy Hargrove and his sister who were engaged in an intense argument inside his Camaro. She couldn't see much, not with the sun bouncing off his windscreen, but she got the impression that it wasn't a friendly conversation. Billy pulled out of the carpark furiously, his car roaring and the tires grinding against the gravel before speeding off with a young Max looking more upset than before. Maybe Ronnie was right, upside down seemed to be going around lately.