Same Drugs (Billy Hargrove)

more of the same

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After my "driving lesson" with Billy, we went back to my house. I knew Steve was there and that we'd have to be extra quiet, so we went into the basement and hung out there for the night. The basement was furnished and had a guest room, so we slept there. In the morning, I rolled on my side and looked at the sleeping Californian next to me. "Good morning," He murmured, his lips creeping into a sweet smile. "Morning, sleepyhead," I said back. He turned his head and saw the time, sitting up slightly. "We have school," He said suddenly. I rolled my eyes, "Since when do you care about school? I want to sleep more." He kissed me again, and I blushed. "You're cute when you whine," He said, simultaneously ripping the covers off of my body. I groaned but got up. He put on the same clothes from the day before, and I stared at him for a minute. "You can't wear those," I said matter-of-factly. "I'll go get some of Steve's clothes, stay here." I ran up the stairs and into my room, putting on my clothes for the day, and then darted into Steve's room, being careful not to wake him up. His alarm would go off in a few minutes, so I made sure to quickly grab a pair of jeans and a shirt for Billy to wear. 

When I was back in the guest room, I handed the clothes to Billy. He inspected them, seemed to approve, then began to change right in front of me. "Woah!" I exclaimed, putting a hand over my eyes. "What?" He chuckled, "You've seen a lot more than this." I chuckled and shook my head. 

I nearly jumped out of my skin when Steve called me. "WE'RE LEAVING IN FIVE MINUTES!" He shouted from the kitchen. I looked frantically at Billy, realizing that he couldn't just walk up the stairs with me. "Shit!" I exclaimed, beginning to panic. "Steve can't know you're here! He'll kill me!" Billy looked around for a second and seemed to think of a solution. "Go to school, but leave the sliding door unlocked. I'll leave right after you and lock it on the way out," He said, and I breathed out a sigh of relief. I thanked him and scurried up the stairs, unlocking the sliding door discretely. I grabbed Steve's keys off the counter to give to him, but he shook his head. "Don't need 'em, Sam's picking us up," He mumbled, half of an English muffin stuffed in his mouth. I nodded and we went outside to wait. When Sam pulled up in his classic convertible, something I always liked, we piled in. I got in the back while Steve sat shotgun, talking to Sam about some football thing. Sam and Steve were really close before Sam's move, all three of us were, so it was only natural that they fell back into their closeness.

As we drove, Steve turn around in his seat and looked me up and down. "You... uh... doing okay?" He asked, probably noticing how disheveled I looked. "Yeah, JJ, you look like hell," Sam said with a laugh after looking at me through his rear-view mirror. "Very funny, guys, but I just didn't get loads of sleep last night," I informed them. 

"That's gotta be it," Sam said in a suggestive tone. I reached up and flicked the back of his head, resulting in a dramatic whine from him. "Hey, you can't distract the driver! I could swerve and seriously damage this car," He said with a mock pout on his face. When we got to school, I saw Billy standing at his car like he normally did, smoking a cigarette. I got out of the car and leaned up against it, doing the same as Billy, waiting for Sam and Steve to go into the building. "We'll be inside," Steve said as they left me by the car. I nodded and watched them walk away until the coast was clear. I made my way over to Billy and saw a smirk form on his face. "Stealthy getaway?" I asked, and he nodded, " Oh, yeah, it was almost too easy. I should do it more often." 

"Don't get cocky, now, this time was lucky. Sam picked Steve and I up, can you imagine if either one of them caught you?" I asked rhetorically. His face grew more serious, and I could tell why. "Stop it," I said before he could say anything. His face softened and he sighed, "Fine." 

He looked at me for a minute until he reached into his pocket and pulled out a bracelet. My bracelet, more specifically. I furrowed my brow, confused as to how he got it, but when he began dangling it in front of my face, I reached up and grabbed it. "I found it out on the driveway this morning. You must've dropped it last night," He said, and I nodded. "Oh, thanks, Billy," I said with a smile, examining my possession. It was a small charm bracelet that Libby had gotten me a few Christmasses ago. I immediately felt bad that I hadn't noticed it was gone, I had been wearing it since it was given to me. Billy must've noticed my face, because he extended his hand and lightly touched my arm, grabbing my attention. I smiled at the sentiment, something I thought was rare for Billy, and took a breath. "I just feel bad that I didn't even know I lost it," I said. "Libby gave it to me. I haven't been spending any time with her or Decker recently," I admitted. "Oh, uh, maybe you should... um... hang out with them... or something?" Billy said, stumbling over his words. 

Not that good with normal people conversation. 

Huh. 

Noted. 

"What do you live under a rock? You have friends, don't you?" I asked, not expecting a real answer. I thought he would laugh, but his face stayed stern. "If you haven't noticed," He nearly hissed, ", no. I don't. I'm not a friendly person if you haven't noticed." I nodded, not sure what to say to something like that. "You could try to be?" I offered, and his lips curled up in a wicked grin. "We were friendly last night, weren't we?" "Can't you be serious for a minute?" I asked, growing fed up with his constant dirty joke-telling. "Don't worry about me," He said plainly, flicking his cigarette butt to the ground and turning back around, abruptly ending the conversation. "Wouldn't dream of it," I scoffed, turning on my heel and walking towards the school. I clasped the bracelet back onto my wrist and headed to my locker. I put all my books away and once I did, I saw Oliver walking into homeroom. I shut the locker and began walking over to him, but didn't very far. Sam's arm extended in front of me, slamming onto the locker row to the left of me. I jumped slightly, looking at him with shock written on my face. 

"What's your damage, Sam?" I exclaimed, still reeling after the slight jump-scare. "What's my damage? We've been best friends forever, and you won't even tell me about your new guy!" He whisper-yelled excitedly. I laughed at him and rolled my eyes. "You saw that?" I asked, and Sam nodded. "What's the dish? You and Billy Hargrove do it last night?" He asked and I could feel my face turning red. "You did!" He exclaimed. I covered his mouth with my hand and laughed more. "You can't tell anyone, okay?" I giggled, and he shook his head. "Scout's honor, JJ," He said with a proud smile. I walked around him, waving goodbye, and went into homeroom. 

The class dragged on for what felt like forever, and after talking to Oliver for what felt like forever, we finally were dismissed. Oliver and I both had a free period, so we went outside to the Decker's car, waiting for him and Libby to show themselves. When they did, we left and got some food from a deli in the center of town. We went inside, ordered, and waited for the food. Once mine was ready, I went up to pay, but soon realized my wallet wasn't with me. "Damn! I totally left my wallet in my locker," I complained. Oliver took out another fiver and paid for my food, "Don't have a cow, I got you," He said with a friendly wink. I smiled and thanked him. We drove back to the school so we had enough time to smoke, but I remembered that my wallet was in my locker. "I'll go grab my wallet, I need to pay you back!" I said, walking briskly towards the brick building. "No, you really don't have to do that!" Oliver shouted after me, stifling a laugh at the same time. I waved off his pleads and went inside. 

I stopped in my tracks as I saw my locker though. Bold, red spray paint spelled out something that made my eyes water. 

TRASHY WHORE. HOW'D HARGROVE TASTE?

I ran out of the school and didn't plan on stopping until I got to the car, bawling my eyes out.