SWORD

three

|CHAPTER THREE|
WHAT HAPPENED TO BARB?
ALSO KNOWN AS
PARTY WITH JONATHAN BYERS

"I can't keep doing this"

Armani stood outside the room where Nancy and Steve had hidden themselves in. She knew this conversation would be secretive, so nodded when Steve motioned for her to follow but kept her distance. Even with their hushed voices, Armani could understand most of what they were saying. At first, she dismissed the discussion as an argument about their relationship, so she was confused as to why Steve wanted her to hear it. Then the name struck.

"Barbara"
Armani's eyes widened when Nancy began speaking about Barb's incident, and her parents. Barb had disappeared last year, at a small party Steve had held. That same party where Jonathan had taken unwanted pictures of the group of kids. The same party where Armani had left Barb to become so drunk with Sage and some other boy so she couldn't remember Steve and Nancy upstairs.
Her sudden dismay was increased along with confusion when they began speaking about some dangerous secret, about people who would hurt them if they told anyone. A small double knock on the wall signaled Armani to leave the area before they walked out.

Once Nancy and Steve returned, Armani had begun to leave. Her brain was too busy running through the thoughts of Barb, and how her disappearance was apparently not all Hawkins had claimed it was.

"Are you leaving?" Nancy asked, awkwardness in her tone and she tried to be as polite as she could to Mani.

"Yeah, I forgot I have to meet with Sage, we have this thing to do" she spoke quickly, looking at Steve.

The two made eye contact, Armani giving him a light head shake as Steve sighed. "See you at the party" he nodded, already regretting letting Armani hear the conversation.

"Probably not" the brunette muttered, entering the hallways as she peeked from class to class to find her best friend.

Armani's pace quickened, the bell would ring in a few minutes but the conversation could not be delayed. As she turned the corner, she came face to face with Billy Hargrove.

A cigarette hung from his mouth, he blew smoke out in her direction as he shot Armani a smirk. "Well, skipping class, are we?" Armani rolled her eyes, "Free period." She stated.

"Right. Why were you in the library then? You're too hot to be so much of a nerd" He shrugged.

Armani couldn't stand him, even if this was the first proper conversation the two were in. "I had work to do. I actually don't want to be a high school dropout." She enunciated the words, taking a jab at the boy. "I was helping two of my..classmates" she nodded as she struggled to find the word for what Steve and Nancy were to her.

"Does the chick know you're all over her man? Because it's painfully obvious" he went on, taking a drag of his cigarette.

Armani's cheeks flushed, "what do you mean? Steve? I've talked to him once in the past yea–" "Wait, wait wait. Hold on. King Steve? The guy I keep hearing all about?" Billy placed his hands on his hips.