•̩̩͙*˚⁺‧. •̩̩͙*˚⁺‧.˚ *•̩̩͙ ✩. •̩̩͙*˚⁺‧. •̩̩͙*˚⁺‧.˚ *•̩̩͙ ✩. •̩̩͙*˚⁺‧

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐅𝐎𝐔𝐑

•̩̩͙*˚⁺‧. •̩̩͙*˚⁺‧.˚ *•̩̩͙ ✩. •̩̩͙*˚⁺‧. •̩̩͙*˚⁺‧.˚ *•̩̩͙ ✩. •̩̩͙*˚⁺‧

THANKFULLY, THE REST OF THE WEEKEND WAS UNEVENTFUL. Will asked to be taken to Mike's house at 8am, somehow managing to convince Addie to be the one to take him.

Friday night after the party, after Steve had dropped her off, Nancy called and said whenever Will got dropped off, she should just stay too since they were doing a girls night. So when they arrived at the Wheeler home at 8am sharp, she plopped her bag down on the living room floor, and then proceeded to nap on the couch until 10 when Nancy woke up.

She was pretty sure Steve filled her in on what happened with Billy, because she didn't ask a single question. And Addie knew she had to be curious.

Addie also wondered if Mike knew something too. He was the only one of the boys that knew Addie had a "date" and he seemed extra nice to her that day. Not that he was ever mean, but when she woke up from her nap before Nancy, he asked if she wanted to come hang out with them.

(a/n october 17, 2022: the starcourt mall already exists, as i've said in the beginning. just adding this note now because before the re-write people ignored that and said tHe MaLL DiDnT eXiSt! so in my story, it does! just a small detail)

She and Nancy ended up going to the mall for a little bit, and Addie was pretty sure she saw Billy there, so they quickly turned around and walked in the opposite direction. Addie didn't care to see if he was with another girl.

Sunday was even more boring. After breakfast at the Wheeler's, Addie and Will headed home. Will went to his room to work on something for school, and Addie decided she better do the same. She ended up spending nearly the entire day studying and working on an essay, vowing to never again leave an assignment that late because she hated the pressure.

Now it was Monday, and Addie wasn't looking forward to school. Still, she got dressed in record time.

Realizing she never did pay Steve back for the breakfast on their first day, she asked Will if they could leave 10 minutes early to go through the drive-thru that was on the way to Steve's.

"Adeline Byers you are my hero," Steve said as he got into the car and was already eyeing the bag that had been on the seat.

They picked up Nancy and Mike too, and he was even more excited for the food than anyone else in the car. Once they got out of the car, Mike and Will went off to the junior high, and Addie, Nancy, and Steve headed into the high school.

From the corner of her eye she saw Billy's car pull in and park right next to hers, but she pretended not to notice. Instead she made a mental note to sit in front during sixth period, that way when the final bell rang she could beat Billy to their cars and hopefully leave before he had even exit the building.

Once they were inside, Addie rushed to her locker and put half of the textbooks inside, only grabbing those that she'd need before lunch. Not wanting to chance running into Billy, she shut her locker and rushed off to first period.

"Umm save me a seat at least!" Steve yelled down the hall.

•̩̩͙*˚⁺‧. •̩̩͙*˚⁺‧.˚ *•̩̩͙ ✩. •̩̩͙*˚⁺‧. •̩̩͙*˚⁺‧.˚ *•̩̩͙ ✩. •̩̩͙*˚⁺‧

Addie's plan worked for the most part. Up until after lunch, operation "avoid Billy" had been a success. But Addie knew the inevitable was about to happen. They had the last 2 classes of the day together, and the only way Addie could continue her plan was to ditch class forever. As tempting as that was, she was determined to keep up the good grades from last year.

Just as she was about to step into class, a hand gently grabbed her arm. She sighed, knowing who it was before she even turned around.

"Hi," she said, avoiding eye contact.

"Can I talk to you?" Billy asked.

"Umm we have class in like a minute, so..."

Billy put a finger under her chin and tilted her head up, so they finally made eye contact. "Please? I just want to talk."

She went against her better judgement. Why? She had no idea.

"Fine. After school though."

He nodded, and followed her into class, taking his usual seat right next to her. That went by quickly, and Addie made up an excuse on why she rushed out of class, saying she'd see him during the final one, and yes, they could still talk after.

Addie hoped that sixth period would drag on forever, because she was way too nervous for after school. But unfortunately, the final bell rang and everyone rushed out of class. Addie took her time packing up her things, although she could see Billy waiting just outside the classroom.

"I can't stay long, my brothers at the junior high and he's gonna be waiting for me to walk over and get him."

"That's okay. I gotta give my step-sister a ride home too." They walked out of the main building, and slowly made their way down the steps. Eventually they made their way to their cars, where thankfully, no one else had arrived yet.

Addie hopped up and sat on the trunk of her car. "So... you said you wanted to talk."

Billy put his things in his car, and stood directly in front of Addie.

"Look, about Friday night... I shouldn't have reacted like that. I... I'm sorry, okay? I didn't want to move here in the first place so I guess I take it out on anyone who shows any interest in my life."

"Well thanks, I appreciate that. But why did you ask me to go with you to the party if you knew you were just going to hook up with another girl?"

He shook his head. "We didn't actually have sex. We kissed and stuff but didn't... my point is... God why is this so difficult for me, look I just mean I didn't plan it. I asked you to go with me because I wanted you to go with me, and I just when I got so upset... I know I shouldn't have done that. It was disrespectful to you."

Addie smiled, appreciating that he seemed genuine.

"But look I gotta be honest. I don't really do relationships, and all that kinda stuff. I was never good at it back in California. I'm not really a boyfriend / relationship type of guy. But I like you—"

This confused Addie. "So what, you want to be friends with benefits?" When Billy shrugged, she scoffed, and shook her head. "I don't really do that kinda stuff. I guess the difference between us is that I am the girlfriend / relationship type."

Billy was surprised at himself. How much he liked Addie in the short time they'd known each other. And he was surprised because he wasn't ever like that with girls. He saw someone he thought was attractive, he flirted, they hooked up, and usually that was it.

But at the party on Friday, he knows she saw him with that girl, and something about how she looked at them made him immediately get up and tell the girl sorry, he wasn't interested.

But still, he wasn't one to be really romantic or show a lot of affection. And he didn't think he could ever be. It's not like he could ever bring a girl home to meet his family, he didn't even want to think about how his dad would behave.

"Hey are you okay?" Addie reached out and put a hand on Billy's cheek, turning his head ever so slightly so she could get a better look at a bruise.

"Yeah I just fell," he lied, knowing he couldn't tell her that his dad was pissed when he got home after curfew. The lights were off when he got home so he figured it was safe to use the front door, but his dad sat waiting for him.

"Oh, it looks pretty bad." She still had a hand on his cheek, and when she moved it away he almost took her hand in his and held it there.

"Yeah, I'm pretty clumsy sometimes. It's alright though."

"But look, I didn't mean to pressure you into anything or make you think I was trying to force something between us. You don't do relationships, that's part of your boundaries and I need to respect that. But you also have to respect that I'm not interested in hooking up or anything like that. We can be friends, I mean we see each other every day at school so it would be nice if we got along, but I think that's it." She shrugged, a sad smile on her face.

He sighed, knowing that would have to be enough for now. But still, something about her, and the way she looked at him. It wasn't pity, or lust like half the girls in school who made it clear they did want to hook up. She looked at him with kindness, something he wasn't used to at all.

Addie looked behind Billy and saw Nancy and Steve finally exit the school, and Will and Mike were walking towards them too. Everyone was so engrossed in conversation with each other, that neither looked at Billy and Addie.

Before she lost the courage, she leaned forward and gave Billy a kiss on the cheek. "I'll see you tomorrow." She hopped off of her car and smiled before getting into the drivers seat.

Billy got into his car and drove away as soon as Max got in the car, luckily for him before the others approached. He spent the entire ride home thinking about what just happened.

What was Addie doing to him?

"Do you like that girl?" Max spoke up.

Normally that alone would've caused Billy to snap at her. But he felt different today.

"She's just a new friend." He smiled to himself.

"Oh, we'll she's pretty."

At the school, once everyone else got in the car, Steve turned to Addie. "What was that about?"

"Nothing," she shrugged. "We were just talking."

"Did he say anything about Friday?" Nancy leaned forward in her seat.

"Yeah, he apologized. We're cool."

Steve started to say something, but stayed quiet.

Addie knew he had questions, but she herself needed to process everything. She turned on the radio and was thankful that no one else spoke up.

Until Mike leaned forward in front of Nancy.

"So did you guys kiss yet??"

•̩̩͙*˚⁺‧. •̩̩͙*˚⁺‧.˚ *•̩̩͙ ✩. •̩̩͙*˚⁺‧. •̩̩͙*˚⁺‧.˚ *•̩̩͙ ✩. •̩̩͙*˚⁺‧