BAD GUY 。BILLY HARGROVE

7: Basketball

A little tapping awoke the traumatised girl from her afternoon nap. She lifted her frame from the bed as a streak of light lit up the room from the open door. Kayla rubbed her eyes tiredly before sitting up and looking at her visitor.

"Kay, me and Seon were gonna go watch the basketball at school, you wanna come?" Jin asked, leaning lazily against the door frame. Kayla nodded, her blonde hair falling from her loose bobble.

"Okay, only to take my mind of things though," Kayla assured Jin, sounding a lot more like she was reassuring herself.

"That's fine, Steve's gonna be there so look nice," Jin said finally before leaving the room. The girl's damp eyes looked around the tiny room before getting to her feet and leaving the room.

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At Hawkins High School, Jin, Seon and Kayla took a seat on the almost empty benches. The sports hall in front of them was fairly large and had an orange tint to it due to all the wood surrounding the room. Kayla sat with her legs and arms crossed like she was closing herself off from the world. She wasn't in such a bad mood until she watched Billy make his way into the court, shirtless. Kayla stood up to leave but a firm hand pulled her back down onto the bench.

"Where do you think you're going?" Jin laughed, taking into account that the girl had noticed the bad boy on the court. Kayla didn't answer, instead, she turned away from the twins and watched as Steve jogged onto the court with a bunch of other lads, including the infamous Tommy H. Kayla felt her heart falter and almost stop at the sight of him. His eyes gazed up into the stands and landed on the guilt-ridden girl, breathing a little too heavy to be normal as her eyes burned into his skull. Tommy lifted his hand and waved with a small smirk, winking at her before turning away. Kayla's peaking eyes looked up and landed on Billy, watching Tommy run away and then turning to look up at her. His eyes filled with scepticism as he hesitantly turned away from the girl and got into place on the court.

The whistle blew, signalling the players to begin. The ball was crippled and passed amongst many of the anonymous boys. Kayla could feel her eyes grow heavy with overwhelmingness, feeling like she should stand outside for a moment. Seon and Jin's eyes remained on Kayla as she sunk in her place. They had been watching her since Tommy rose his unfair hands and waved at the girl. Kayla's head spun in circles like a dog chasing its tail as she felt the need to get up and leave.

"Guys I think I'm gonna go stand outside for a bit," Kayla managed to say, getting up again.

"No, don't leave yet we still have 30 seconds left," Jin frowned, grabbing the girl's shaking hands.

Kayla's vision cleared up just enough to witness Billy muttering to Steve whilst pushing up against him, his sweaty abs, that had been exposed on Halloween, glistening in the sports hall lighting. Kayla continued to watch as Billy snatched the ball away from Steve and shot it into the net. Kayla felt her legs give in as she then decided to leave. She skipped down the steps and fled out the door, them closing dramatically as Billy, Steve and Tommy watched, all assuming something different.

"Woah! Sorry," Nancy shrieked, grabbing Kayla as she almost mowed her down. Kayla shook her head and brushed a hand through her hair.

"No, no, totally my fault, I shouldn't have been running," Kayla stated, moving out of the way for Nancy to go into the hall.

"You good?" Nancy asked, placing a hand on Kayla's shoulder as a wave of sweat came across her head.

Kayla nodded. "Yeah, yeah, I'm fine, are you fine?" Kayla awkwardly rambled, walking backwards, not waiting for an answer as she took off into the alleyway at the side of the sports hall.

Kayla sat with her hands over her face in the dirt flooring the alleyway. Kayla heard one of the doors slam open and pound against the bricks. She lifted her blonde head and caught sight of Billy, lighting a cigarette, as usual. His blonde curls lay on her bare shoulders as he began to walk away from the building. Kayla wanted him, she craved him but so did everybody else. It would have been wrong to push him away and then call out for him the very next day. Kayla took a deep breath and sighed, knowing she didn't have the guts to call Billy over.

But he was already approaching.

"Kayla," Billy breathed out, taking a drag of his cancer stick. Her head shot up so fast it almost hit the wall behind her.

"Yeah?" Kayla rolled her eyes, pretending she didn't want Billy to be there. Billy let out a smirk and looked down at her.

"I, uh, I forgot my top," Billy scratched the back of his neck and took a seat next to the panicking girl.

"Oh, well that would have been a shame, I would have assumed you'd like to spend more time half-naked," Kayla chuckled bluntly, pulling at her sweater.

"Only if you're around to see it," Billy growled, taking another drag. Kayla's face turned swiftly, taking in the boy's features. His lips parted slightly and his ocean eyes gazing into her chocolate ones.

With realisation washing over Billy, he backed away and sat up straight, continuing to watch the girl. "Ohhh, but that's right, you and Tommy," Billy laughed, covering his eyes and shaking his head.

Kayla's hand balled up and opened, revealing small crescent moons engraved in her palms, some bloody.

"W-what? Who told you that?" Kayla choked, a wave of loathing and consternation flooded her veins. Billy's eyes narrowed slightly and felt his heart falter.

"Tommy, you two had sex on Halloween, did you not?" Billy scoffed, a hint of envy low in his voice. Kayla felt the air leave her lungs as she felt as though she couldn't breathe. She gasped, alerting Billy as she pulled her sweater sleeves down, covering the ugly splotches on her scarred wrists.

"You could say that," Kayla whispered, Billy only hearing parts of it.

"Listen, I know it's none of my business, and I know I'm supposed to be Tommy's friend, but I think you can do so much better than him, besides, aren't him and Carol a thing?" Billy questioned, brushing his bare shoulder against Kayla's. She let out a small breath and nodded.

"Then how come what happened between you two happened?" Billy pushed, stubbing his cigarette out on the ground.

"I wish I knew the answer to that too," Kayla admitted, looking off into the distance.

Billy stood up slowly, his torso less sweaty than before, as he leaned down and whispered to Kayla, "Also I just needed an excuse to talk to you."

Kayla sat in silence as Billy walked back into the hall. Kayla's head hit the wall in defeat as she thought about everything Billy had just told her.