Drowning • Billy Hargrove

Chapter 3

As I walked into the diner, I immediately saw Billy sitting at the middle booth. I started smiling at the sight of him.
'Good' I think to myself. 'He didn't stand me up'
"Hey beautiful!" He says with a smile.
"Hey!" I said, sliding into the booth.
He sits there for a while staring at me, smirking.
"What?!" I say laughing.
"You remind me of California." He says, shifting in his seat.
"Is that a good thing?" I ask, genuinely confused.
"It's a really, really good thing." He says with a smile.
A few moments of silence goes by before I decide to make small talk.
"So you're from California?"
"Born and raised baby!" He says with a chuckle.
"Well Indiana is a big step down from California."
"Tell me about it! It's a complete and utter shithole!"
"Once you get used to it, Hawkins is pretty great. Other than those things..."
"What things?" Billy asks.
"You know... All the Demodogs and Demogorgons?" I say, lowering my voice.
"What the hell are you talking about?" He says, laughing.
I sigh. "It's a really long story."
He leaned back in his seat. "We have a bunch of time."
So, I tell him all about the lab, the Upside Down, Barb, Will, the Demodogs, Demogorgons and the Mindflayer. I exclude mentioning El because not everybody knows about her and we plan to keep it that way.
"You're telling me that evil scientists opened a portal between worlds and these monsters are coming out of it, possessing, kidnapping and killing a bunch of people?!" He asks, absolutely stunned.
"Yeah, pretty much!" I say, nodding.
"Wow." He says, shocked. "Are you messing with me?" He follows up.
"No!" I say, laughing. "I'm shocked you've never heard about it! It was all over the news!"
"Wow..." He mumbles out. "That sounds like it's straight out of a movie."
"I know!" I say nodding. "I just hope the gate is closed for good."
All of a sudden, the lights flicker and it goes completely dark. The backup lights take a few moments but they finally kick in. We sit in each others presence in the dim yellow lights.
"Anyways..." I say, trying to change the subject. "What's your family like?"
He sighs. "Well, my dad's an ass and my stepmother and stepsister, Max are annoying as hell. Enough about me, what about you?" He says as the main lights finally turn back on.
"Just me, my dad and sister."
"Seems like we both got some family issues. What happened to your mom?"
I take a deep breath. "My mother left my dad and I after my little sister died." I feel a wave of anger come over me, knowing she abandoned our family and started a new one with some other guy.
"Yeah, my mom left too. We're both troubled souls." Billy says, opening up to me.
I laugh, nodding my head. "I guess so."
I sip my strawberry milkshake, feeling like Betty Cooper from the Betty and Veronica comic books.
"Hey Kate!" Someone yells out, causing Billy and I to turn and look in the direction of the voice.
"Shit." I curse under my breath, noticing it was my jealous ex boyfriend, James.
 "What is it?" Billy says, looking alarmed. "Want me to beat him up?"
I let out at laugh, then sigh. "You might have to."
"Kate! How are ya! I haven't seen you in forever!"
"Yeah." I say, avoiding eye contact.
'I stayed away on purpose' I think.
"Wow you moved on pretty quick!" He says, staring at Billy.
 "James it's been nearly half a year!" I say, angrily.
"Hold on a minute." James says, still staring at Billy. "Is that Billy Hargrove?" He spits out.
"You bet!" Billy says, smugly.