Same Drugs (Billy Hargrove)

up up and away

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Over the summer, Billy and I saw a lot of each other. He picked up a job at the community pool as a lifeguard, and I worked alongside him as a day-camp counselor for little kids. It was hard not to stare at him every time he walked to his station. I had to be responsible though and make sure the kids didn't fall into the pool or something. 

I told him he might want to shave his mustache, but it was there to stay. I ended up not minding it though. Just like it grew on him, it ended up growing on me. Also, I would never say something like that again, that was gross. 

On a hot Saturday morning, the pool was packed with people and almost all of the girls, at least the straight ones, were looking at Billy as he dangled the red whistle in his mouth. I smiled and watched his mannerisms as the cougars started to pour in. 

I watched Mike and Nancy Wheeler's mom walk in with a flashy bathing suit and tilt her sunglasses downwards to get a better look at my boyfriend. That's right. We made it official once the summer began. He asked me to be his girlfriend and I swear, my knees went weak at that moment. 

Anyway, as Karen Wheeler strutted her wrinkly stuff towards Billy at his lifeguarding station, I began to watch a little closer. The kids were eating a snack, and another counselor, Tammie, was watching over them so I chose to take my five-minute break to walk over to Billy. As Karen flirtatiously looked up at him and twirled a piece of hair in between her fingers, I smirked to myself and walked up behind the tall white chair to simply watch the exchange. 

"So, Billy, does it get really hot up there?" Karen asked, staring at him as he rolled his eyes underneath his sunglasses. "If it's hot down there and everywhere else, it's the same temperature ten feet off the ground," Billy quipped back, making me smile to myself. 

"Well, yeah, but I-" She started, but he sighed to himself, causing her to stop talking. "Don't you have an invalid husband running around somewhere?" Billy asked, leaning towards her slightly in expectance of her pathetic answer to come. She sniffed slightly and walked away angrily, head still held high somehow. 

"That was entertaining," I said from behind him, walking towards where he could see my face and running a hand across his dangling leg as I walked. He smirked and looked down at me, licking his lips hungrily, "You liked that?" 

"Did I like watching Karen Wheeler get rejected after spending her dumb husband's money on a bathing suit she thought would make you want to fuck her brains out? No. I didn't just like it, I absolutely fucking loved it," I answered, making him smile more. "Is someone getting a little jealous?" Billy asked, watching as I threw my head back to laugh. "If this is jealousy, then yes, I am extremely jealous. I'm even feeling a little possessive," I admitted.

We talked for a little longer until I had to go back to the children at the day camp. I said goodbye to Billy and began to walk away, hearing a wolf-whistle from behind me. I turned, smiling, and saw Billy looking at me and motioning that I was hot. Giggling, I kept walking to the kids until I once again heard their obnoxious little screeches. They must have been bored with whatever they were doing and their minuscule attention spans weren't helping. 

***

After work, I did what I usually did. I met up with Oliver, Libby, Decker, and Billy at the diner for food. Recently, a girl by the name of Robin started to come with Libby, and I really liked her. She was super nice and Libby really seemed to like her. Turns out, Steve knew her too. They worked together at Scoops Ahoy in the new StarCourt Mall in Hawkins. The thing was a monstrosity, but that didn't stop me from going there to shop whenever my parents gave me money for "classier" clothes. 

When I got to the diner, my friends were already there. We all talked, hung out, and had a good time. We talked out how our summers were going, which was nothing super different considering we talked about it almost every week. 

Sam McCallister had been keeping his distance from the group. He knew he screwed up at prom, and even though he never formally apologized for what he did, I could tell he wanted to shit his pants whenever he saw me or any of my friends. When Steve finally caught up with him after prom, there was little I could do to stop him from pummelling him. He gave him one hell of a black eye, and now that everyone knows what he did, no girl will even go near him. 

We granted him a life of abstinence, whether he likes it or not. 

Billy was hard to convince not to fucking kill Sam. I made him think about what it would mean. At school, Billy was already in deep shit for fighting from time to time. This would just make matters worse for him, and I couldn't be responsible for that. I begged him, and begged him, and begged him to just leave it alone.

I even took matters into my own hands and found another way to persuade Billy to leave the matter alone. It certainly made him happy, what I did, and I had no problem with it. It was our little secret, though, so don't expect to hear any more about it. 

After eating, we all went to the reservoir and went swimming, which was great for this hot day. We all jumped off the tall cliff to the right of it, and we splashed around and had fun for the rest of the hours we spent there. Summer was off to a righteous start, that was for sure.