All chapters will now be named after songs from the 80s that inspired the chapter. This story takes place in '85 but I'm gonna use songs after that date because seriously, the 80s had some jams.

Chapter 7 - Poison

Your mouth, so hot. Your web, I'm caught.

Black Sabbath guitar solos and smoke filled Billy's Camaro. Reclining in his seat, he relaxed into its leather and puffed on his cigarette. As much as he tried not to, Billy's eyes slowly crept to the clock on his dashboard. This had been the third time he'd done so and swore to himself he wouldn't look again. He could've been doing better things with his time if all she was going to do was keep him waiting. Sure, it was only eight minutes into the lunch period, but those few minutes felt like hours.

"Knock, knock." Kaitlin popped her head into the opened passenger window. Against her eyes were his aviator glasses and along her lips was a smile that conquered her entire face. "I'm looking for a guy named Billy Hargrove. Mullet, bad attitude, likes to think he's a lot cooler than he actually is."

"Sounds familiar." He lifted the back of his seat and turned his music down low. "King of Hawkins?"

"So I've heard."

"Has a thing for Kaitlin Sinclair?"

Her glossy lips blew a large pink bubble using the wad of gum in her mouth. "If it wears a bra and breathes chances are Billy has a thing for her."

"If that's what you think of me we gotta change that."

Though that big bright smile of hers didn't fade, Billy saw Kaitlin stiffen. His advances were always met with a quiet unsteadiness. He could understand her reservations, he was Billy Hargrove for crying out loud, but there was something between them. He could feel it. A ball of raw energy that would burst if left unchecked. Billy wanted to plunge into the deep end and see where things took him, but only if Kaitlin allowed him to dive in.

"You know why I'm here."

"Yeah, and you're late," Billy reminded.

"I didn't know this is where you ate lunch. I searched the entire cafeteria looking for you."

"Correct me if I'm wrong," he said, throwing his dying cigarette outside his window. "But those sound a lot like you problems and not me problems."

"You know what else this sounds like?" Kaitlin's response was quicker than he anticipated. She lowered her face further into the car and the sunlight sparkled in her brown eyes. "Sounds like someone doesn't want their glasses back."

"Ha, ha, very funny," he faked a few chuckles. "Hand them over, Sinclair."

"No." Spinning around, Kaitlin skipped away with Billy's glasses still in her possession. "See ya!"

Billy's actions were on autopilot. He turned off his car, hopped out, and followed Kaitlin's trail into the school. Tan lockers lined the vacant halls of Hawkins. Only the squeak of shoes scuffing freshly shined linoleum floors penetrated the still air. Teachers were in their classrooms, students were either in class or at lunch, that meant the rest of the school was theirs. Game on.

"I'm down to do this all day if I have to."

"Forget about it, Billy." She whipped her head over her shoulder and stuck her tongue out at him defiantly. "They're mine."

"The longer you make me wait, the worse it's gonna be for you."

"Get real." Her laugh made Billy's own lips bloom a smile. "I've seen you during gym, no way are you faster than me."

"Is that a challenge?"

"More like an irrefutable fact, loser."

She ran like a track star down the hall of the first floor. For a brief moment time stood still and so did Billy. He may have wanted his Ray Bans back but dammit he was still a man and Kaitlin's ass needed to be appreciated during a time like this. He reminded himself to breath. That girl knew how to wear a pair of Levis. It was entrancing.

She made a hard right into the stairwell and left Billy's sights. That's what caused him to crash back into reality. No way was he going to let her out run him. Not after all the shit she talked. Within seconds he was traveling up the staircase with ease, skipping every other step as he made his way to the second floor.

The upper hallways were just as quiet, only now Kaitlin was missing in action. Dammit. There was no way she could've disappeared that quickly. His eyes darted left and right, flying from classroom to classroom. He needed to find her. His heart and his pride wouldn't allow him to give up. Not now and not on her.

That's when Billy noticed a plain wooden door that no one would've thought twice about. No one except a smarty pants like Kaitlin. Written in a faded yellow on the upper half of the door was the title 'Janitor's Closet'. Luck had always been a kind friend to Billy.

He thought of a proper opening line for when he saw her. Something lewd? He could be sweet and see where that lead him. Nothing he rehearsed sounded good enough to him. What type of girl was Kaitlin Sinclair. The type who could punch him in the face but had never been to detention. Someone who could dance carelessly to synthy funk music, but grew tense whenever showed attention. The woman was an algorithm he desperately wanted to solve.

Upon opening the door, Billy allowed fate to work itself out.

"So what now?" he teased, closing the door behind him. He leaned against the exit. "There's only one way out and that's through me." The closet was pitch black. He couldn't see his own hand outstretched in the darkness, but within those four walls he could feel Kaitlin's presence. She was waiting, lingering all the way in the back.

On cue, a pitchy wail curled throughout the closet. It was low and guttural sounding exactly like an apparition you'd see in a horror movie. Billy couldn't help but laugh. What a nerd.

"It is I, the ghost that haunts the Janitor's closet." Kaitlin masked her voice to sound two octaves deeper than her usual light tone. "Leave now or risk the stealing of your soul."

"I can't," he said. "A friend has something of mine. It costed a pretty penny. Kaitlin Sinclair. You know her right?" He used her moves against her. "Curly hair, so sweet she could give a man cavities, helluva right hook?"

"There's no one in here besides - okay, forget it," Kaitlin dropped her terrible shtick in the middle of her sentence and her voice returned to normal. "Talking like that hurts my throat and it smells like bleach in here. I think I'm getting high off the fumes because my head feels like a hot air balloon. You win."

"Not yet. You know what I want. Come give it to me."

He heard her footsteps clamber over to him with little grace. The thwack of a mop's wooden handle hitting the floor, a bucket rolling into a corner, she knocked into several things on during her journey. This time he waited for her patiently, and like a wave against the shore, Kaitlin crashed into Billy. He refused to let her out of his gravity and he caught her hips with his hands.

"Looky what I found," he said. "I thought you said I wouldn't catch you."

"I was wrong, which is actually really shocking, but it guess it happens from time to time."

"You wanna know what I think I deserve, a prize."

"Your glasses?"

"Not cutting it any more."

"My dignity after a shameful defeat?"

"Delicious, but you have something else that I want."

They'd been in a similar position before, holding their breath, bodies fitting as perfectly as a ball to a glove, anticipation lingering between their lips. He was going to revel in the moment. Billy wouldn't allow her to become sand slipping through his fingers again.

"I'm into you, Kaitlin," he whispered, mouth positioned by her ear. "Tough."

"I..." Her words were lost somewhere in her mind. Her caress inched along Billy's chest and he succumbed to the tide of electricity that sparked beneath her touch. The softness of her fingers traced his jar until she cupped his cheek. "You're trouble."

"Of course, I am." He dipped his head closer to hers. "Come get you a taste."

He kissed her, softly in the beginning, savoring the moment. Deeper he delved once he felt her push back. Softness wasn't what she wanted. He learned that as her fingers tangled into his hair and pulled ruthlessly. Their kiss became a war. A battle of whose mouth could capture the others. Her nails raking down his back, his hands closing in on her throat. She tasted of fire and it consumed him. He would gladly swim in her flames.

Then the bell rang.

He groaned as Kaitlin removed herself from him. Their hard breaths filled the void and the voices of students flooded the halls.

"Say something," she demanded.

He slid the glasses off her face. "Go out with me."

"What time?"

"Friday. Eight O'clock."

"Saturday is better."

"Saturday night it is."

"I should get going to class," Kaitlin breathed. "See you at gym."

That's how Billy scored a date with Kaitlin and he couldn't have been happier.


Thank you so much for reading.

What type of date would you want them to have?

I have in mind what I'm going to do, but I would love to incorporate some of y'alls ideas in there too because this is about us!