Innocent// billy hargrove

two

"So there's this party-"

"No."  I shut my locker door and glared at Nancy.  Nancy Wheeler is dating my brother and is one of my best friends. After she started dating Steve, she was never really her old self again. Never did she use to go to parties or drink beer, try to get me to do stuff I don't want to do. Nancy was a totally different person.

"Why not? It'll be fun, I promise."

"No, I don't want to go." Before Nancy could protest, Steve came out of nowhere and kissed her. I didn't want to interrupt so I walked to my next class alone.

***
I had just finished my last lesson for the day and was now headed toward the gym to wait for Steve to finish.

Entering the gym, there was an intense basketball game going on between my brother and Billy. I sat down on the bleachers and watched. Steve was pushed to the ground as Billy got the ball and made the layup. The coach blew his whistle and most of the boys jogged off the court to go home. I could see Billy muttering something to Steve before he got up.

"If you want, you can go wait by the car. I'm gonna shower real quick, though." I nodded in response to Steve's words and tugged on my skirt as I stood up. Carefully, I made my way down the bleachers and out of the gym.

"You know, if you keep wearing skirts like that, you're going to be getting more than just my attention." Billy smirked at me as he walked over to where I was leaning against Steve's car.

"What's wrong with my skirt?" A pout formed on my lips at the thought of lung cancer as he inhaled deeply from his cigarette.

"She speaks! There's nothing wrong with your skirt, it's just really sexy..." A small gasp escaped my lips as he spoke his words.

"I thought we talked about this, man. You're supposed to stay away from her. Bella, get in the car." I quickly got in, not wanting to be on Steve's bad side the whole ride home. Through the window I could see Billy stepping on his cigarette and muttering something toward my brother.

Steve got in the car and drove us home.

"What was he saying to you?" Steve pulled up in the driveway and looked over at me.

"He was just talking about my skirt..." I shrugged and went to open the door, but Steve grabbed my arm gently.

"Your skirt?" He furrowed his eyebrows waiting for a better explanation.

"Yeah, something about getting his attention." I shrugged once again and this time, Steve let me out of the car.

***
"So, how was school today?"  I looked over at Steve, waiting to see if he would answer our mom's question or not.  He simply ignored it while slightly moving the food around on his plate.

"It was good.  Mr. Clarke is teaching us about the human brain...". I plopped a small broccoli stem in my mouth.

"Interesting, Steve, honey, what about you?"

"Fine." 

Something is wrong. Steve was never quiet nor never hungry.

The sound of the landline ringing broke the silence, my dad answering, and Steve taking the chance to leave and go to his room.

"Arabella, Nancy wants to talk to you."  My dad held the phone out to me and I grabbed it.

"Hello?"

"Ok, so Barb and I are on our way. Get ready quick."

"Wait- wait, get ready for what?"

"The party tonight!  Now hang up and go get dressed."  I sighed deeply, hung up the phone, cleared my plate from the dinner table, and headed towards my room.

I quickly picked out an outfit and got dressed. 

"Sweetheart! Nancy and Barb are here!"  I grabbed a jacket and sped down the stairs to see the two of them waiting for me at the door.

"Bella? Where are you going?  And Nancy? What-" Steve wore a confused look as he walked down the stairs.

"A party. Wanna come?" Nancy asked. He nodded and grabbed his jacket from the coat rack before saying goodbye to our parents.

Well, this ought to be fun.  A party that I didn't want to go to.

-blazingdemon