Risky Business ｡ Stranger Things

39 : Purple Rain

The sky was angry the following morning. Saturated rainclouds hung weighted over the tiny town, so dark and wild that no sunshine broke through. Prue was sitting on the kitchen floor, her knees pulled up to her chest with the phone receiver tucked under her chin as she spoke to Ronnie about the date with Patrick. The brunette teenager had sulked the whole night, shut up in her bedroom with the door locked. The back of the door had been cleared of her research too; Sam Owens had forced her to hand over her gathered intelligence on Mission Strange. She had turned up her music, full volume. She started with the soundtrack of The Rocky Horror Picture Show, then turned to The Clash but none of the songs, none of the tunes were soothing her rapid heart, so she ransacked her nightstand looking for the mixed cassette tape Billy had made for her two months ago.

She remembered the moment vividly: it had a Thursday night and Prue had just finished a shift at the arcade. Billy had been waiting for her in the carpark, waiting for his slice of peace with Prue under the neon glow, blowing out a plume of smoke. She had been speechless when Billy pulled it from his back pocket, offering it to her as they sat on the bonnet of his Camaro. He had tried to be casual about the whole thing, but his facade had slipped at the last minute. Prue's heart had turned to molten, watching as Billy's eyes dropped, like he was embarrassed about giving her a gift, a piece of him that he had spent hours making, hours picking the right songs. Most of the tracks were metal from the likes of Metallica and Iron Maiden and heavy rock, and now the screaming bashed against Prue's bedroom walls as she tried to drown out the world. The song changed to one that was hidden in the mix, one softer and sweeter: I Want to Know What Love Is by Foreigner. Prue didn't know why Billy had chosen this song two months ago but it slowed her heart and she rolled over on her bed to trace the bruises shaped like his fingerprints on her forearms. She fell asleep to the song and Billy Hargrove on her mind.

"I didn't know Patrick could be so... romantic," Ronnie expressed, the astonishment shining in her voice. Prue chuckled, tugging on the phone cord, but she didn't divulge that the idea for a star-lit picnic had been her idea. She supposed Patrick could have this one for helping out with Mission Strange and not demanding answers about the Upside Down from her and Grey. The whole strangeness had seemed to slide off his back like water off a duck and Prue wondered why she couldn't be unburdened about the truth of the Upside Down and the Mind Flayer.

"Sounds like it was the perfect date," Prue replied, trying to conceal the sour note of jealousy in her voice. She knew she shouldn't be jealous of Patrick and Ronnie but she couldn't help comparing her relationship with Billy to her friends' budding relationship.

Ronnie's laugh sounded like bells down the line. "He said something about it being the summer of love. How sweet is that?" She sounded smitten and Prue's stomach twisted.

"Super sweet," Prue agreed. Too sweet that it was sickening to Prue as her eyes wandered back to the bruises on her forearms, now closer to purple than blue with an under colour of gross yellow. Caroline and Sam were both missing from the house and playful sounds drifted through the house from Grey and his girls; they were playing video games on his Atari in the lounge room.

"Did you ever find out why Billy didn't show?" Ronnie asked, turning the conversation around, her voice levelling out with consideration, even though the teenage girl could clearly talk about her star-lit date all day.

Prue let out a frustrated sigh. "No. But something was... I don't know, off about him yesterday," she offered up.

"Off like how?" Ronnie questioned.

"He just wasn't himself. I'm worried about him," she admitted, pressing down on one of the bruises with her fingertips: the pain was a slow ache.

"Maybe you should check on him," she suggested.