One

by awalkerlifeforme

Rachel has always known she was adopted; her parents never hid it. But she has a secret and when it nearly comes out, her family moves to the small town of Hawkins, Indiana. Her second chance at life quickly changes as she discovers a secretive government and a girl with a familiar story. But the simplest part of her new life is also the strangest: a handsome young man named Billy.

6. Chapter 6

After the night Billy and I had spent together at Tommy's party, it had been almost impossible for me to focus on my study date with Billy at the library that afternoon. I'd made the right move when I had told him that we had to study in public spaces for now. I had a hard time not blushing as Billy had stared at me pointedly and ran his fingers along my thigh. It was way harder keeping a straight face when I had noticed that Billy still had my lace shirt hanging out of his back pocket.

It did make me happy to see that Billy was taking my offer seriously. He didn't spend the entire afternoon in the library studying, but he had listened to me when I'd snapped at him to focus. He seemed to be trying at least a little harder than he had been in weeks past to get better grades. I knew that Billy was never going to be a straight-A student, but he did seem to be getting closer to averaging C's on most of his quizzes. I couldn't help but wonder if my promise was why he had been getting better grades lately.

The more that Billy and I studied together, the more that I realized that Billy wasn't completely careless about his studies. He knew what he was doing in all of his classes. He had to stop and question me about his problem-solving methods a few times, but he always kept working once I explained. If he would pay more attention in class, Billy could have easily been a good student with a mix of A's and B's. One look from Billy told me that I shouldn't ask why he didn't try harder in school.

We had spent hours in the library that afternoon and well into the evening, attempting to study but failing for the most part. I had kept my feet kicked up in Billy's lap while we had worked and it didn't surprise me that I felt his hands constantly sliding up my thighs. It also didn't help that Billy was constantly teasing me by telling me that we could study anatomy and chemistry, with some in-depth examples. I had warned him that I was going to punch him in the face if he didn't drop the subject.

On Monday morning, Tommy's party had been the talk of the school. I wasn't surprised that my hours-long vanishing into a bedroom with Billy was the subject of much gossip. When I arrived in the parking lot that morning, I heard Tina and the rest of her friends laughing that Billy wouldn't want anything to do with me now that we had hooked up. I knew that I should have let it go but I had always had a big ego. Billy had been seated on the hood of his Camaro waiting for me to show up and I'd headed right for him.

Taking great care to ensure that Tina and the rest of her groupies could see what I was doing, I had pulled off my jean jacket which left me in a thin white spaghetti strap crop top and a tight mini skirt as I'd waltzed up to Billy. His eyes had darkened the moment he saw me as I'd pulled the cigarette from his lips and began puffing on it myself. I'd hopped up onto the hood of Billy's Camaro with him and laid a hand possessively over his thigh, tightening my grip pointedly.

My forward actions had shocked Billy, as I normally waited for him to make the first move and responded to those. Billy had been about to ask what I was doing when he had realized that I was throwing my relationship with him in Tina's face. Billy had responded by pressing a kiss against my throat and dragging my skirt as high up as it could go without flashing anyone. I was positive that Tina would have lit me on fire if she could have.

Unfortunately, the way that Billy and I had interacted with each other that morning had only continued to fuel the rumors that the two of us had slept together. I didn't mind the rumors much - I had slept with a few guys before and had every intention in the world to one day sleep with Billy. They could all think it happened earlier than it actually would. Billy hadn't done anything to quell the rumors either. Instead, he made it known that even if we weren't officially together, I was his.

Our actions toward each other continued throughout the early part of the week. I made it a point to throw my still-friendly relationship with Billy in Tina's face every chance I got. I knew that it infuriated Tina and that pleased me more than I could ever say. I always made it a point to slip my hand under Billy's shirt or rest my fingers in his back pocket whenever we were together. Billy knew what I was doing, of course, and he was more than happy to smack my ass or grab my waist whenever he was around me.

It didn't shock me that Mark came up to me on Tuesday and asked if the rumors were true about Billy and me. I had admitted to Mark that while we had fooled around, we hadn't slept together. Mark sweetly offered to put the rumors to rest but I had insisted that the rumors didn't bother me that much. Mark looked surprised that I didn't mind the image-damaging rumors but he had given up on trying to get me to stop them. The rumors did seem to help my popularity - with the male population of Hawkins, at least.

Though no one would blatantly flirt with me in front of Billy, I did find that the boys in Hawkins High School seemed far more interested in me now that they believed I would sleep with someone casually. It did amuse me that the boys would stop speaking to me and back away as soon as Billy would arrive. They were terrified of him and what he might do if someone started flirting with 'his' girl. Even though we weren't together, I didn't mind the possession. I felt the same way about him, after all.

Steve and Billy seemed to have formed a strong distaste for each other since Billy had arrived in Hawkins. I had noticed multiple times that if I was speaking with Steve, Billy wouldn't be far away. I knew that Billy wasn't threatened by Steve - as everyone knew that Steve was in love with Nancy - but the boys didn't like each other. I had asked Billy what his problem with Steve was, but he insisted that he had no problem with him. I knew that it was a lie but I also knew that Billy didn't want to talk about it.

I had figured by now that their distaste for each other was because Billy was, in his way, threatened by Steve. I knew that he had always been the king of his school. He wasn't used to being in a school where someone else was the ruler. Though that seemed to be quickly changing. Billy had earned the admiration of almost everyone in Hawkins. They adored him. I wondered how much anyone knew about him, though. I oftentimes wondered if I was the only one Billy was honest with.

Even Mark had mentioned that I seemed to be growing closer with Billy than anyone else in Hawkins had gotten with him. Mark had become much friendlier with me since our failed date last week. I knew that we were never meant to be anything more than friends. I was glad that Mark hadn't decided that I was the same horrible person who went on a date with him for no other reason than to make Billy jealous. I had made a mistake, and I knew it, but I was trying to make up for it.

In the meantime, Nancy and I had continued to grow closer. We spent much of our free time together. Usually, when we weren't either with Billy or Steve, we were with each other. We spent most of our afternoons hanging around together and studying or just joking around. We were good for each other with what we had gone through lately. Within weeks of meeting, we now each considered the other our best friend in Hawkins. As much as I desperately missed Casey, I was glad to have Nancy.

It was now Thursday morning of the week after Tommy's party and the students had finally started calming down from the adrenaline rush of the celebrations. I assumed that it wasn't often they were able to get out and party. Indiana wasn't like Florida or California. They didn't have parents always out on business trips or big beaches that were seconds-long walks away from someone's house. Normally, my old high school would have already been preparing for our second big party of the year.

Today, I wasn't in a partying mood at all. I decided to be lazy this morning and wear a pair of low-rise cutoff shorts that showed the top band of my Ralph Lauren underwear. I knew that I would be scolded for it, but I didn't care. I threw on a black cropped t-shirt and my black bomber jacket over that. I slipped on a pair of combat boots and pulled my damp hair from its tie to allow it to air-dry. I only put on a quick swipe of mascara and lip gloss before heading downstairs.

Once I had grabbed my backpack and books, I darted into the kitchen. Both of my parents were sitting and eating breakfast at the dining room table. "Good morning, love," Mom greeted.

"Good morning," I said, hanging at the edge of the table.

"Do you want any breakfast?" Mom offered.

"No, I'm not that hungry. I will take a black coffee to go, though," I said, smelling the brewing pot.

"Here," Dad offered, barely looking up from his paper. He handed over his half-drunk mug of black coffee. "I'm not finishing this and better you take it than let it go to waste."

Fresh coffee would have been better, but I would take what I could get. "Thanks," I said, taking the warm mug from my father. I was about to walk into the kitchen when I realized that two train tickets were sitting on the table. I picked them up, staring at the dates and names they were assigned to. "What are these?"

Dad turned back from his paper and snatched the train tickets back. "Ask politely to see things, Rachel," Dad warned. I stared blankly at him. We stared at each other for a few moments before his gaze dropped to stare at my pants. It didn't take long for a scowl to grace his features. "Next time, I'm taking you shopping."

"You're the best father in the world, but there's no way in hell I'm letting you dress me," I told him. Dad scowled at me as I dropped into the chair next to him and picked up the tickets again. There were only two, which meant that I would be staying right here. "Going somewhere?"

"We were going to tell you. We're going into Indianapolis this weekend," Mom explained.

"Really?" I asked.

It would be the first weekend that I would have the new house for myself. It was very hard not to smile brightly. I already had a plan forming for this weekend. Dad took my silence the wrong way. "I have a big meeting in Indianapolis during the day -"

"And I wanted to see the city -"

"So, we figured that we would make a date of the evening," Dad interrupted, throwing an arm over Mom's shoulders. I smiled at them. I didn't have a problem being alone - as far as they were concerned - for the evening. "We're seeing 'Death of a Salesman' while we're there. The show doesn't let out until nearly midnight so we'll be staying in the city overnight."

Perfect. "Are you okay with that?" Mom asked.

"Having the entire house to myself for the night?" I replied, trying to force my voice to be more teasing than excitable. It was extremely hard not to shriek with excitement. I knew exactly what I would be doing Saturday night. Who I was going to do, more specifically. "I don't know how I'll go on."

My parents exchanged an annoyed look but they were both smiling fondly. "Okay, smartass," Dad said, whacking me on the knee as I laughed. "We just didn't want you thinking that we were abandoning you."

"Believe it or not, I think I can manage to entertain myself for a night," I teased.

"That does not mean throwing a massive rager," Dad warned.

"But a moderate rager is okay?" I shot back.

"Just don't get the cops called," he said.

Hopper would be furious if he had to yell at me again. He was already constantly yelling at me. I laughed as Dad shot me a playful wink. "Deal," I said, taking my mug and standing from the chair. "Okay, I'm going to head out."

"This early?" Mom asked, glancing at the clock.

"I've got a few books I wanted to pick up from the library before class starts," I replied. I was truthfully planning on cornering Billy and cementing my plans for the weekend. "See you later!"

"Have a good day!" Dad yelled.

"You too!" I shouted back.

I grabbed my schoolbooks from the counter and shoved them into my bag before walking into the kitchen and grabbing a thermos. I pouted the coffee from my father's cup into the thermos and took the rest of the coffee that was in the pot. Once I had screwed the lid on, I gathered my bag, threw it over my shoulder, and wandered into the entry. I stood in front of our floor-length mirror, wiping away some lip gloss from the corner of my mouth and fixing my flyaway hairs.

It wasn't long before I saw Mom walk up behind me in the mirror. "What's Billy doing this weekend?" she asked curiously.

My face immediately reddened. I should have figured that my mother would have known what I was thinking of doing in their absence. "How should I know? I don't keep tabs on him," I said unconvincingly.

Mom smirked at my obvious discomfort. "Okay." We were quiet for a moment until Mom lowered her voice to speak again, ensuring that only I could hear her. "We're planning on being home around eleven. I'd go for ten-thirty to be safe," Mom advised.

My body went rigid at her warning. "I have no idea what you're talking about," I said stubbornly.

Mom laughed at my dishonesty. "Drive safe," she warned.

"Always. Love you, Mom," I muttered.

"Love you, too!" she called back.

We exchanged a quick hug as I grabbed my keys and sunglasses off of the counter and headed outside to get the hell out of dodge. It was a balmy morning outside that made my still-damp hair stick to my forehead. I was glad that I had stuck with minimal makeup this morning. It would have melted off otherwise. I walked to my car and threw my things onto the passenger seat as I started the engine and headed out of the driveway. I rolled down the window as I drove down the road, smirking to myself.

It wasn't shocking that my mother knew where my mind had gone as soon as I had realized that I would be alone this weekend. Thankfully, my mother also remembered what it was like to be a teenager. She knew that I was interested in Billy and that I was sick of waiting. I wasn't sure what sleeping with Billy would bring, but I knew that I wanted it. We had danced around our obvious interest in each other long enough. We had to take the next step in our relationship to know what came next.

The possibilities that the weekend could now bring were sending excited jolts through my body. All I wanted to do was grab Billy and drag him off for a private moment. Knowing that we had an entire house to ourselves was making me all the more eager for the weekend. I couldn't wait. I was already wondering if Billy would stay overnight, but I also knew that I was getting ahead of myself. Knowing that I had to make it through the next two days, I tried to force myself to focus on the drive to school.

I'd made it halfway to school when I saw a figure in the distance. It looked like a young girl riding along on a skateboard. I stared at the figure for a moment before realizing that it was Max. My eyes widened. Did Billy force her to skate to school today? They lived as far away from school as I did. I peeled off the main road and headed toward Max, refusing to let her skate to school. It was a long ride and the morning air was way too muggy to be riding in. I pulled up to Max, who hopped off her board at the sight of me.

"Max," I greeted. "Are you okay?"

"Hi, Rachel. Yeah, I'm fine," Max said.

"Please don't tell me that your stepbrother forced you to skateboard to school this morning," I said slowly.

If that was the case, Billy was getting a smack over the back of his head. Max laughed, though I noticed that it didn't quite reach her eyes. "No. Billy's not going to school today," Max explained.

Naturally. "Ah." Something about her comment disappointed me. My favorite part of the school days was seeing Billy. Plus, I had been extremely eager to tell him about our weekend plans. "Is he playing hooky?" I asked curiously.

"No, he wasn't feeling well," Max said.

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that. Well, here, you don't need to skate the rest of the way," I offered. There was no way I would just take off to school without her. I reached into the passenger seat and began tossing my things to the floor as I fiddled with the door handle, pushing it open for Max. "Hop in. I'll give you a ride."

"You don't mind?" Max asked.

"Nah. We're heading to the same place, after all."

"Thanks, Rachel."

A small grin turned up at the edges of Max's lips as she hopped into the passenger seat. "No worries," I said, nodding to the radio as I started back toward the school. "You can change that if you like."

'Anyway You Want It' by Journey was playing. "It's fine. It reminds me of Billy's music," Max said.

"I know he can be an ass sometimes, but he has a good taste in music."

Max laughed. "You know, you're probably the only friend Billy's ever had that would stop and help me."

It didn't surprise me that Billy had never had a friend who would have thought twice about Max's comfort or happiness, but that didn't change that it was unfortunate. "That's a sad thought. You're a cool kid, Max," I told her. Max smiled happily. "I'm not the biggest fan of kids, but I guess you're the exception."

Max laughed again. "I'm honored. I'm glad Billy finally made a halfway decent friend."

We rode in silence for a moment before a thought occurred to me. I could finally get some firsthand knowledge about Billy from someone who knew him. "Can I ask you something?" I said. Max nodded her confirmation. "What were Billy's friends like in California? If you don't mind my asking, what was Billy like in California?"

Max hesitated for a while before speaking again. I figured that asking what Billy was like wasn't an easy question to answer. "Billy's friends have always sucked," Max said. Judging by the fact that he had friends like Tommy, I believed that. "He was always friends with the most popular guys and girls in school. They would be out until the early morning partying. I don't know, he's always been a dick but now he's just angry all the time. Almost all the time, I guess."

"Almost?" I asked curiously.

"Billy almost acts like a normal person when you're around," Max admitted. I smiled to myself, blushing as I stared out at the open road. "I think you're the only real friend he's ever had."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Billy might have always ruled the school but he had admirers, not friends," Max explained.

It was a thought that had occurred to me before; that I was the only person in Hawkins who had truly grown close to Billy. "There are a lot of people like that, I'm afraid. They don't want anyone to know their real selves so they put on this front and that's what people get to know. They become so accustomed to the fame and popularity that they forget about themselves. The real person underneath the façade."

"Billy likes you a lot."

My face flushed with color. It was a little odd to hear someone else say it. "Yeah, I like him too. Don't you dare tell him that," I warned her. "Billy's already got way too big of a head."

Max laughed and said, "Your secret is safe with me. You're good for him."

"Your stepbrother might be an asshole, but everyone deserves to have real friends."

"Yeah, I guess."

The conversation about friends had stirred some curiosity in me. I had never seen Max with anyone but Billy. It seemed a little odd that a young girl like her would have no one to hang out with. "If I'm prying at all, you can tell me to shut up. I was just wondering, have you made any friends in Hawkins yet?" I asked as gently as possible.

Max scowled at her lap. "Not yet. No one here is worth the effort."

That was what I would have said a few weeks ago. I smiled at Max. "Oh, I see. I thought the same thing at first."

"Billy was the one who changed that?"

"He was," I admitted. Max looked shocked that her stepbrother was the reason I was now enjoying my life in Hawkins. "I figured everyone in Hawkins would be the types who never leave these small towns. No one would know what it was like to take long coastal drives or spend way too much money shopping in a big city. None of these people know what it's like to be pulled out of your life and dropped into unfamiliar territory. Billy does. So do you."

"Yeah," Max said quietly.

"We've got a lot in common."

"You're the only person I've ever seen Billy hang around so much," Max pointed out. "Normally, he doesn't hang out with the same girl more than once."

"So I've heard," I mumbled.

"I don't think he would stop hanging around you, though."

I smiled at her faith. "Thanks, Max. I appreciate that." Billy had a real friend in Hawkins now. Max deserved to have one too. "You know, my friend Nancy has a younger brother your age. His name is Mike," I said.

"He's Lucas's friend," Max replied.

It would have been impossible to miss the bitterness in Max's voice. I had to resist smiling at Billy's stepsister. "Lucas, huh?" I asked. I found it mildly humorous that Lucas was the boy getting to Max. "Lucas Sinclair, right?"

"Yeah. Do you know him?" Max asked curiously.

"I've met him once before. When Nancy and I first became friends she introduced me to her brother Mike and their friends. Dustin, Lucas, and Will."

"Do they seem a little off to you?"

A bark of laughter escaped my throat. "They're teenage boys. They're all off," I giggled.

Max joined in on my laughter a moment later. "Do they ever get better?"

"No."

Max groaned. "Something to look forward to."

From what I could tell, men never got much better. Not until they were at least thirty. "They do eventually learn that women are not going to tolerate their shit forever," I said, hoping I hadn't ruined Max's attitude toward love. I noticed something shift in Max's eyes at my comment. "Give them a break. From what I understand, they've had a rough year."

"What do you mean?" Max asked curiously.

"Their friend, Will, went missing last year. They found a body in the quarry that they thought was him. Had a funeral and everything," I explained.

"But they found him alive?" Max asked, shocked.

"Yeah."

"What about the body?"

"Mistaken identity, I suppose."

"That's weird."

"I agree. The weird ones make good friends though," I said.

"I wouldn't know," Max said bitterly.

Max was a young girl and she was at the age that she needed friends. I was hoping I could get her jump-started on the path to finding worthwhile friends. "Well, I'll tell you what. I'll be your first friend. Deal?" I offered.

Max smiled again. "Deal." We continued down the road for a while before Max's eyes shifted toward my wrist. "That's a cool tattoo," Max said, staring at the inked number one.

"Oh, thank you," I mumbled.

It didn't take long for me to start nervously wringing my hand around my wrist. I had never liked people commenting on my lifelong tattoo. "When did you get it?" Max asked.

"Uh, a while ago," I said noncommittally.

"Do you like it?"

"Sometimes."

"Sometimes?"

How could I explain my feelings toward my tattoo that was my sole connection to my cloudy early life? "It reminds me of a kind of weird time in my life," I explained. Max hummed thoughtfully as we pulled into the school parking lot and I drove to my spot. We were some of the only people here this early. "What do you say? Shall we start the day?"

"Do we have to?" Max groaned.

It was the same attitude I had most days before school started. I loved learning but could have done without the stifling air of Hawkins High School. I laughed at Max as I shut the engine off and clambered out of the car. Max stepped out and closed the passenger door, tossing her skateboard to the ground as she turned to the middle school. I locked the car behind me as I decided to head inside. There was no point in waiting outside in the humid parking lot if Billy wasn't coming today.

Before I could head into the school, I called Max back. "Hey, Max! You need a ride home tonight?" I asked.

"Yeah. You don't mind?"

"Not at all. I'll wait out here for you."

"Thanks, Rach!" Max called happily. My eyebrows shot up curiously. Max must have learned the nickname from hearing Billy say it, as he was the only one who called me Rach. Max's eyes widened as she remembered that I didn't like the nickname. She had heard me snap at her stepbrother for it enough times. "Sorry, I mean -"

"No, it's okay," I interrupted, knowing that Max was embarrassed. "You can call me Rach if you want."

My offer surprised even me. I had never let anyone call me Rach until I had met Billy. I supposed that the nickname was beginning to grow on me. I gave Max an earnest smile, trying to reassure her that it was okay. "Thanks. I'll see you later," Max said.

"Have a good day!" I called after her.

"You too!" Max yelled back.

Once Max had skated away from my car toward the middle school, I turned to my school. I quickly settled on heading to the library first. I hadn't gone to the library inside the school yet and I figured that it might have been an interesting trip. Plus, without Billy hanging around I now had some time to kill before classes started. It was a good time to get some work done. So, I grabbed my backpack and slung it over my shoulder, marching into the school.

Only a few students were lingering in the hallway this early in the morning. I walked past them, throwing a few greetings to some acquaintances as I headed to my locker, tossing my books inside. I wasn't carrying them around all morning. I was about to close my locker when I stopped. Since I had the time, I would do it now. I grabbed my old notebooks from years past that I kept in my locker in case I needed to reference old material and brought them with me.

From the things that I needed for my morning classes, I kept my copy of War and Peace that I was reading for my AP Language class with me along with a notebook and pen. Once I was satisfied that I had everything, I turned and headed for the library. There was a set of double-doors that led to the library. It was larger than I was expecting. I thought about what I was doing for a moment before deciding to help Billy. I wanted to see him succeed and I knew that he couldn't do that without some help.

Since we were constantly together and studied frequently in our spare time, I knew Billy's schedule and what classes he took. It was work that I would undoubtedly end up helping him with anyway, so I may as well have done it now. I grabbed my old notes from The Great Gatsby, which I knew Billy was reading in American Literature. I starred the more important plot points for him. I also pulled out my notes on radicals, which Billy should have been starting today in Algebra II.

Though U.S. History had never been my best subject, I did take out my few pages of notes on the comparisons between Marxism and Socialism. According to Billy, that was going to be his next quiz and he was confident that he was going to fail it. Not if I had anything to do with it. Seeing as we were only a few weeks into the school year, I knew that Billy should have still been working on the classification system of plants and animals in his Biology class, which I had detailed notes on.

Once I was satisfied that I had gathered all of the notes Billy would need to study for the classes he had missed today, I placed the paperwork into a folder that I could give Billy later. If I got the chance - and I hoped that I would - I would pop in on him when I dropped Max off later. With ten minutes still to go until classes began for the day, I wandered into the physics section of the library. I didn't get much of a chance to browse before I nearly trampled a student as I rounded the corner to look for a book on string theory.

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" I gasped as the boy I'd run into dropped his belongings.

It wasn't just books and notepads he had dropped; the boy also dropped a very expensive-looking camera. "No, it's okay," the boy said, straightening up as he grabbed his things. That was when I realized that I recognized the boy I had just assaulted. "I wasn't watching where I was going."

"Is the camera okay?" I asked.

"It'll survive," Jonathan Byers said.

Though I had never spoken directly to him before, Nancy had pointed him out to me when I had first started at Hawkins High School. I met eyes with the nervous-looking Jonathan Byers and smiled. "Hi," I greeted politely.

"Hello," Jonathan replied.

"You're Jonathan Byers, right?" I asked, already aware that he was.

"Yeah. You're Rachel," Jonathan said.

My only assumption was that the rumors of my arrival had spread to Jonathan. I wasn't sure how much Nancy and Jonathan were still speaking. "I am," I confirmed. "Nancy told me about you."

"O - Oh, yeah," Jonathan stammered nervously, his face reddening. I smiled at him as he stumbled over his words, unsure of how to respond to me. Judging from what Nancy had told me about Jonathan, he wasn't used to people starting up conversations with him. It was obvious to me that Jonathan still had feelings for Nancy, which he hadn't realized yet that she returned. "I - I've you hanging around with her."

It figured that Jonathan was still watching his crush at least semi-closely. "She's my neighbor so she was the first person I met in Hawkins. She's been a good friend to me in the few weeks I've known her," I said.

"Nancy's good like that. She's friends with everyone," Jonathan said.

That was the truest statement I'd heard in a while. Nancy didn't seem to be able to make enemies. Everyone loved her. "She mentioned that you two got close when your brother went missing," I said curiously. No one spoke much about Will Byers's disappearance. I noticed Jonathan jump at the mention of his brother. It didn't take a genius to sense the nerves coming off of him in waves. He was hiding something. "I was sorry to hear about that, but I'm glad you found him."

"Thank you," Jonathan said, swallowing thickly. "It's been good to have him back."

It would have been easier to let the conversation drop, but I wanted to know what was going on. Hawkins was a strange town and I had a feeling its strangeness connected to Will's disappearance. "Funny story, I thought I heard a rumor that they found his body," I said as gently as possible.

Even though I had tried to be kind about it, Jonathan nearly jumped out of his skin. "N - No. It was a different young boy from another town. He looked a lot like Will. I saw the body. It would have been easy to mistake them."

"I see," I said slowly. A brother who didn't know his sibling's body? Unlikely. "That's a fascinating story."

"Story?" Jonathan repeated.

Fear was prominent in his eyes. "Not a story. Sorry, that was a poor choice of words," I backpedaled.

Jonathan must have known that I was suspicious of his story as he seemed eager to end the conversation. "I'm - I'm sorry but I - I - I have to go," Jonathan mumbled, backing away from me slowly. "Can you tell Nancy that, uh, that I said... You know what? Never mind. I'll see you later, Rachel."

"Bye, Jonathan," I said.

"Goodbye, Rachel," Jonathan replied, backing away.

Jonathan Byers wasn't just shy; he was hiding something. It meant that Nancy was also hiding something. I didn't have much time to think about it now as, just minutes after the end of my brief conversation with Jonathan, I heard the bell ring to signal the start of the day. I wandered toward my AP Literature class with only one thought in mind - Billy. Max had seemed nervous speaking with me this morning but she hadn't given me any clues regarding what was wrong with her stepbrother.

It would have been one thing if I had noticed Billy looking a little out of it yesterday, but he hadn't been. It was making me nervous that Billy suddenly wasn't in school when he had given me no indication that he wasn't feeling well before. I had seen Billy only hours earlier and he had looked as normal as ever. What had happened that had made him so sick in just a few hours that he now had to miss school? Did he have food poisoning? I had a terrifying feeling that it was something far more nefarious.

Though it wasn't a lingering thought, it did briefly occur to me that there was a chance that Billy may have just been skipping school because he was bored and had threatened Max to not dare tell anyone the truth. Something about that thought bothered me, though. If he was going to skip school, couldn't he have at least offered to take me with him? He had joked about the two of us missing school plenty of times before so that we could hang out together. I would have loved to ditch my classes today.

Throughout the day multiple people asked me where Billy was - notably Tommy and Carol. I made it as clear as possible that I didn't know and not to keep asking me. I snapped at Liam (a nasty basketball player on the team with Billy) that it was none of his business what was wrong with Billy. Liam snapped back that Billy must have been avoiding me now that we were hooking up since it must not have been that good. Liam hadn't liked me since I had flat-out turned down his offer of a date a few weeks ago.

It seemed that Billy's absence was the talk of the school, though I wasn't sure why. Was it that abnormal for students to miss school? I hated that I kept overhearing jokes from fellow students about Billy being too tuckered out from hooking up with me over the last few days to come to school. I tried to laugh off the jokes (even through the comments that were thinly veiled insults) but I found my nerves growing more and more frayed throughout the day. Something was wrong.

Any moment now I was sure that I was going to collapse from my nervousness. I was thrilled when the bell finally rang, signaling that it was lunchtime. At least now I could hang around with my friends and try to get my mind off of what was going on with Billy. I gathered my lunch while chatting amicably with Mark and Isaac (who had become much nicer to me since Tommy's party at Mark's behest). Once we had our food, Mark and Isaac cleared off to sit with the football players as I headed off to sit with Steve and Nancy.

"Hey, guys," I greeted, dropping to the table.

"Hey, Rachel," Steve replied.

"Hey," Nancy chirped. "Where were you this morning?"

"I went to the library," I explained.

"Oh," Nancy said.

"I ran into your friend Johnathan," I told her.

It would have been easy to let the conversation drop, but I was curious about the secrecy surrounding Will's disappearance. Nancy and Steve exchanged a stare that looked like it was a cross between nervousness and irritation. "Was that the first time you ever spoke to him?" Nancy asked curiously.

"Yeah. Nice guy. He seems a little nervous though," I said carefully.

"His entire family has been through a lot in the last year," Nancy reasoned.

No matter what the truth was regarding what had happened to the Byers, losing a family member (especially one so young) must have been a horrifying experience. "No, I know. He just got so jumpy when I mentioned that I'd heard Will's body was found," I said.

It wasn't just Nancy to react to my careless statement. Both Nancy and Steve's heads shot up. I stared at them as the couple exchanged a surprised glance before looking back at me. "Can you blame him? The guy thought he had to bury his little brother only for him to come back from the dead," Steve said.

"Steve," Nancy chided sternly. "He was never dead, just lost."

"Lost in the woods?" I asked.

It was one thing to get lost in the woods. It happened to plenty of people. How did someone get lost in the woods, have a body that looked identical to theirs found, only to return a few days later with supposedly no memories? There was no way. "Yeah. Will doesn't talk about the ordeal much," Nancy said.

"Does Jonathan?" I asked curiously.

"No," Steve and Nancy said together, without hesitation.

"It's a sensitive topic," Nancy said, much gentler that time.

"Clearly," I chuckled.

"Billy's not here today?" Nancy asked.

It would have been impossible to miss how eager Nancy was to change the subject. It was another confirmation to me that the couple was hiding something. "No," I mumbled.

"Where is he?" Nancy asked curiously.

What was it with everyone asking me where Billy was today? I didn't have a tracker on him. "You know you're like the tenth person to ask me that today. Why does everyone assume I know where he is?" I growled irritably.

"You're the only person who seems to be real friends with him," Steve pointed out.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"You've never noticed that Billy isn't friends with anyone?" Steve said. I stared at him blankly. Billy had plenty of friends. Within weeks he had become one of the most popular students at Hawkins High School. "He orders his guy friends around and doesn't speak much to his female friends other than to shamelessly flirt with them."

"He shamelessly flirts with me too," I countered.

"But everyone knows he likes you," Nancy said.

It wasn't like Billy had tried to keep his interest in me a secret. "Right now, they're all laughing because they think I tuckered him out from sleeping with him," I growled.

Steve coughed up some of his soda into his lap. "Thanks for that image."

"Anytime," I chirped, grinning at him.

"Do you know where he is?" Steve asked.

"Home. Max said he was sick," I explained.

"Who?" Nancy asked curiously.

"His stepsister," I said.

Nancy's dark eyebrow raised. "I didn't know you knew his stepsister."

"Yeah, she's a sweet kid. She reminds me a little bit of Mike," I said. I wondered if Max would give Mike and the rest of his friends a chance to be her friend today. "I bet they'd be good friends."

Nancy shrugged. "Maybe, but Mike's been a little weird since El -" Nancy's voice immediately dropped off as she cleared her throat, the color draining from her cheeks. "Will," Nancy finished.

"El?" I asked curiously.

"Frog in my throat," Nancy said, her voice oddly high-pitched. "Will, not El."

Steve was nodding his agreement but he wasn't meeting my eyes. "Right," I said slowly. Now I was positive that the two of them were hiding something. What were they hiding, though? It didn't make sense. If I was going to figure out the secrets of Hawkins, I was going to need some more caffeine. "I'm going to get coffee. Anyone want anything?"

"Can you get me a pack of Twizzlers?" Steve asked, draining the rest of his Coke.

The last thing he needed was more sugar. "How old are you?" I snapped.

"Please!" Steve whined.

I laughed and rolled my eyes as I stood from the table. "Sure."

The couple waved me off as I headed back to the kitchen. The moment that I couldn't hear them anymore, they pressed their heads together and began whispering again. I was about to zero in on the conversation when another voice called my attention away. "Where's Billy today?" Tina asked, appearing at my side.

"I'm not his keeper. I don't know," I growled, wanting Tina to be anywhere but near me.

A vicious grin spread over Tina's lips. "Did you finally manage to drive him away?" Tina asked happily. I curled my hands into fists so that my nails were biting into my palms. "Did he finally realize that you're not as hot as you think you are?"

"I'm going to tell you this one more time, Tina," I hissed loudly, turning to face her. "Get over yourself. You fucked Billy and that's all it was destined to be. He's not interested. Get a clue."

Tina's jaw was practically on the floor. "You're a bitch."

It wasn't the worst insult I'd ever had thrown my way. "Fair," I commented blandly. I turned to leave without another word, but I was barely a step away when Tina reached out. I assumed that she was trying to grab my hair and make our argument a typical chick-fight. We weren't playing that game. I turned back and grabbed Tina's arm in my hand, tightening my grip to the point that it must have been painful for her. I yanked her into me. "If you lay a hand on me, I'll break it."

Any rational thought I'd had flew out of my head as I tightened my grip on Tina's arm even further. I could hear the breath of air and whimper of pain escape Tina's throat. I knew that it wasn't a smart move on my part, but I was so sick of people like Tina. She needed to be put in her place. All it would have taken was one little flick of the wrist and I could have shattered the bones in her hand. Tina tried to pull away from me with fear in her eyes. It was only when the ceiling lights in the cafeteria began to flicker that I released her.

Hawkins couldn't become like my home in Florida... I couldn't do it again... Tina let out a sharp breath of air as she stumbled a few steps back away from me. Tears were building in her tear ducts as she cradled her hand carefully. I hadn't done any permanent damage, but she was afraid. The flickering lights evened out as I took a step back. The cafeteria had grown completely silent as the students were staring wildly between us. My vision was flashing red as I quickly realized that I had to leave.

I needed to get somewhere I could be in private. With my eyes pointedly aimed at the ground, I fled from the cafeteria as quickly as I could and practically threw myself into the girl's bathroom in the hallway. I slammed the door closed behind me as I leaned breathlessly against a sink. My eyes were shimmering white as I tried to blink away the appearance, willing myself to return to normal. I began repeating a mantra that I had known as long as I could remember; perhaps the only remnant I had from my birth parents.

"Чему́ быть, того́ не минова́ть. Чему́ быть, того́ не минова́ть."

I'd been muttering to myself for nearly two full minutes when the bathroom door slowly opened. I stopped speaking immediately. "Rachel," Nancy called, carefully pushing into the bathroom and closing the door carefully behind her. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," I said, releasing my white-knuckle grip on the sink. Calm down, Rachel... Make sure Nancy doesn't get suspicious. I cleared my throat and checked my reflection in the mirror. I was beginning to regain my normal appearance. "Sorry, just had a weird moment there."

"Eh. Everyone's wanted to punch Tina at some point or another," Nancy said carelessly, making me laugh. I appreciated that she was trying to make me feel a little less awkward. "Here's your coffee. Decaf. I thought you might need it."

Nancy extended her hand as I grabbed the cup of coffee. "Good call on making it decaf. Thanks," I said.

"Sure," Nancy said. We stood together in silence for a moment as I focused on my breathing, trying to even it out. When Nancy spoke again, I noticed how careful her words were. "Were you speaking Russian?"

"Uh, yeah. It's an old proverb," I said slowly.

"What does it mean?" Nancy asked curiously.

"You can't avoid that which is meant to happen," I explained. Nancy arched a dark eyebrow. "I remember hearing it as a kid and… I don't know. It's always made me feel better."

"It's a good saying," Nancy said reassuringly. She must have known that I was nervous that she'd caught me speaking Russian. They weren't the most trusted country in the world lately. "Just be careful that people don't hear you speaking Russian these days."

"Yeah," I agreed, laughing humorlessly. "What's it like out there?"

Normally, it was easy to hear the chatter from the lunchroom even inside the bathroom. I couldn't hear anything now. I figured they were all still shocked by what had happened. They would start whispering and rumors would be rampant around the school in a few hours. "Quiet. People are trying to figure out what happened," Nancy explained. I let out a deep breath. The cafeteria would fall silent again the moment I walked out of the bathroom. "It's going back to normal, though. You're not the first person to fight at lunchtime."

"Good to know," I laughed awkwardly.

Nancy and I exchanged a small and only somewhat awkward smile. The smile on Nancy's face dropped quickly. "Oh, Rachel. Your nose is bleeding," Nancy said worriedly, stepping into me.

"Shit," I groaned, turning back to the mirror. She was right. There was a thin stream of blood running out of my left nostril. I'd been hoping that the nosebleed side effect would stop as I grew older. "Yeah, I hit my nose on the door when I yanked it open."

It wasn't my best lie, but I didn't have time to think about it. "Right," Nancy said slowly, handing me a paper towel. She stared at me curiously as I dabbed away the blood, waiting for the stream to stop running. In the reflection of the mirror, I noticed that Nancy's eyes had dropped to my wrist. "That's a cool tattoo."

Nancy's voice wreaked of suspicion. "Evidence of poor life choices," I chuckled awkwardly.

The air had shifted a few moments before. Something had occurred to Nancy and I wasn't sure what it was. "Rachel," Nancy said. Her voice wavered with nerves. I turned from the mirror to meet her eyes. "Did you do that? The lights?"

Why would she have jumped to that very correct conclusion? I laughed awkwardly, shaking my head as I ran my fingers through my tangled hair. "Nance, I can't make the lights flicker. We're not in a sci-fi movie," I said as convincingly as possible. Nancy didn't look any more convinced than she had been a moment before. "It's windy out today. I'm sure it's messing with the power grid."

Nancy laughed nervously, shaking her head. "You're right. I'm sorry, I guess I'm a little out of my mind these days," Nancy breathed out, shaking her head. She looked as nervous as I had been when I'd first walked into the bathroom. "We're coming up on the year anniversary of Barb's disappearance."

As sorry as I felt for Nancy, I didn't believe that her question was because of Barb. She had seen what I'd done before. The question remained though; where had she seen it? "I get it, Nance. I'm sorry about Barb," I said, desperate to change the subject.

"Thanks," Nancy said. I could figure out where her suspicion was coming from later. "It's just taking me more time than I expected to get used to it."

"Of course."

"Everyone seems to have just forgotten about her."

The pain in Nancy's voice made me briefly forget what had just happened. "Just because Barbara wasn't popular doesn't mean she deserves to be forgotten," I said honestly, resting a comforting hand on Nancy's shoulder. "Let me know if there's anything I can do to help."

Nancy smiled. "Thank you, Rachel."

"Thank you for the coffee and for coming to check on me," I said, taking a sip of the warm drink. "I'm okay, I promise."

"Good," Nancy replied as the bell rang to signal the start of classes. "Ready to go?"

"Yeah," I said.

For once, I was desperate to do some mindless classwork to get my mind off of what was happening. Nancy handed me my bag (which she had brought with her) and we walked out of the bathroom together. The cafeteria noise faltered for a moment as the students stared at me. Steve joined us but didn't speak as we walked, sensing that I wasn't in the mood. Even though no one was talking, it didn't change that they were all looking at me. One sharp glare from me got everyone to go back to what they had been doing before.

We ended up making it into the hallway before I was cut off by Mark. Steve and Nancy backed away to let us have a moment. "You know, I would have paid good money to see you break Tina's wrists," Mark said comfortingly.

I laughed dumbly. "Thanks, Mark."

"Everyone else would too," Mark added quietly. I laughed again. "But now they all think you're some kind of alien."

"What makes you think I'm not?" I shot back. There were some days I thought I was an alien. It was the only thing that made sense. We exchanged a small giggle as I tried to brush off the curiosity over what had happened. "It's a public school. Who can be surprised that we have faulty wiring?"

"Exactly," Mark said.

Even though Mark seemed to buy into my lie without hesitation (as it could have easily passed for the truth), and I was certain that the rest of the school would follow in his thought process within a few hours, I could tell that Nancy and Steve were more hesitant. I wasn't sure how they had put the truth together when they had only known me for a little over a month. The only thing I could think of was that it was because they had seen someone like me before. Could it have something to do with Will Byers's disappearance?

The remainder of the school day went by in what felt like a flash. Fellow students spoke to me and teachers asked me questions, but I was stuck in thought from what had happened in the cafeteria. I knew that I had to be careful. My emotions played a massive role in the secret I carried and they had been tested today. If I wasn't careful, it would only be so long before I blew my big secret to Hawkins. I couldn't do that. Not again. Not when I was just starting to like this town.

I spent a lot of the day wondering what the link was between Will Byers's disappearance and Nancy, Jonathan, and Steve's awkwardness when I brought up the situation. It didn't make sense that only the three of them knew something about Will's vanishing that no one else did. The entire case didn't make sense. The Byers would have known their son's body. How did they mistake it for someone else's? Who was the boy that was buried? The pieces of the puzzle didn't fit.

It didn't help my nerves to know now that Nancy was getting suspicious of me. I couldn't figure out how she knew about me or why she wasn't buying into the lie that the rest of the school had bought into. I wondered again if it had something to do with Will's disappearance. Nancy had seemed suspicious about everything - the nose bleed, the flickering lights, the wrist tattoo, and my Russian whispering. They were strange things for someone to be suspicious about.

The only thing that made me feel any sense of normalcy throughout the day was the students in the school were speaking eagerly about the near-fight between Tina and me. I knew that people were betting on who would have won the fight if we had come to physical blows. I was glad that it seemed that most students believed that I would have won the fight - which I believed too. I ended up spotting Tina from across the hallway as the bell rang to dismiss us for the day. She curled up and shrank away from me as I passed.

Before the end of the day, I stopped at the front office and collected Billy's homework from his classes. The office clerk stared at me for a moment when I asked for his missed work and asked me if I was his family (of which the thought nearly made me vomit) but I insisted that I was just a friend who was bringing his stepsister home and would have her deliver it. Once I had collected his paperwork, I headed to the parking lot, chatting as mindlessly as I could with Nancy and Steve.

"See you tomorrow, Rachel!" Nancy called as we passed Steve's car.

"Bye, Rachel!" Steve yelled.

"Bye, guys!" I shouted back. I exchanged a hug with the couple before turning around and walking to my car, where Max was already standing. "Ready to go?"

"Yeah," Max said.

"How was your day?" I asked as we jumped into the car.

"Nothing special. How was yours?"

"I almost got in a fight."

Max's gaze shot up from her lap. "With who?"

"A girl named Tina."

Max knitted her eyebrows for a moment before she began giggling. I glanced at her curiously. "She went on a date with Billy once," Max explained.

Even Max knew that the two of them had gone out. Hopefully, she didn't know what the two of them had done. "Yeah. She's very fond of your stepbrother and not fond of me at all," I said.

"She likes him?" Max asked.

I imagined she didn't understand why anyone liked her stepbrother. "She does," I said.

Max snorted under her breath. "He doesn't like her. He much prefers your company."

My face began burning with embarrassment. I was happy to hear that Billy preferred my company (which I'd already known), but it was strange to realize that even his stepsister knew. "Good," I said, trying to keep my smirk as covered as possible. "He's had her over to your house though."

Max shrugged. "Only because no one was home."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

Max's face paled; she looked horrified that she had mentioned her family. Maybe I would be able to get information about her family out of her considering I couldn't get anything out of Billy. "Our family is kind of crazy. Billy wouldn't want anyone to see it," Max said.

Her voice was low, almost as if she was hoping that I wouldn't hear her. "We all have crazy families," I said as comfortingly as possible.

"I guess," Max muttered.

Sensing that Max didn't want to talk about her family any longer, much like Billy would shut down when I tried to bring up their family, I changed the subject. "What games do you play when you go to the arcade?" I asked, trying to play to her interests.

"Whatever's open, but my favorite is Dig Dug," Max said.

Having never been much of a gamer, I had no idea what Dig Dug was. I laughed at the silly name of the video game. "What's that one?" I asked curiously.

"You've never played Dig Dug?" Max asked disbelievingly.

"I've never actually been in that arcade. Your stepbrother can be a little distracting," I mumbled.

Why? Why would you have said something like that to a little kid? Max's face lost all color as mine burned red. Fucking idiot... I couldn't believe I had just mentioned my relationship with Billy to his younger stepsister. "Ugh, I do not need to hear that," Max said, thankfully laughing at my comment.

"Agreed," I said, desperate to change the subject. "Tell me about Dig Dug."

"You have to defeat all of the enemies in each stage by either inflating them with air with a pump until they pop or crushing them underneath large rocks," Max explained.

Even though I tried hard to stop myself, I began laughing uncontrollably. For a game that had won so many awards, it seemed like such a stupid idea. "That's the whole game?" I asked.

"It's fun!" Max insisted.

It still seemed like a silly idea. "Maybe I'll have to come by one weekend and check it out," I said. A small smile appeared on Max's face. She just needed a friend. "Would you teach me how to play?"

"Yeah," Max said happily.

"I'm hopeless with video games," I warned her.

"So, you'll be easy to beat," Max teased.

"That's how it's going be, huh?" I replied.

Max laughed with me as we turned down the road to her house. "Can I ask you something?" she said.

"Sure."

"What are you and Billy to each other?"

It was a question that had often occurred to me. I didn't know what we were and I was too cowardly to ask Billy. "Oh, man. I wish I had a better answer for you, Max. I don't know what we are. I like your stepbrother a lot. I like him more than I've liked any guys in a long time. I've got a vague feeling that he may feel the same way toward me, but I'm not positive." I stopped long enough to gauge Max's reaction, but she didn't give me one. "We haven't said what we are to each other. For now, I think we're just friends."

"But you want to be more?" Max asked.

"Um, yeah, I think I do," I muttered stupidly.

"You should make the first move," Max said confidently.

"In your professional opinion?" I teased.

Max laughed. "Yeah."

For someone who claimed that she couldn't stand her stepbrother, it was interesting that she was so invested in his love-life. "Why do you want us together?" I asked. Max stared ahead and didn't answer me. It was okay, I already knew the answer. "You don't have to admit it."

"Admit what?" Max asked curiously.

"That you want Billy to be happy," I said.

Max glanced at me before looking back at her lap. "I don't think he's ever been with a girl he cared about."

"No?" I asked. Max shook her head. "He mentioned to me at a party that I was the longest girl he'd ever kept around. I'd like to not have that dynamic change if we… get together."

Max snorted through a laugh. "Rach, I know what Billy does when he's alone with a girl."

That was a horrifying thought; having Max know what her stepbrother and I were bound to do. Don't scar the girl even more than Billy likely already has. "Remind me to always call Billy to my house," I chuckled.

"No worries," Max said, making us both laugh. "This is me." I pulled into Max's driveway. "Thanks for the ride."

"Not a problem." I was about to let her go when I remembered that I had brought Billy's work with me. "Wait. Before you go, Max, I have some things for Billy," I said. Max stopped short of closing the door. "Can I bring them to him?"

Max stammered nervously for a moment. Her reaction reminded me a lot of the one that Billy gave whenever I asked about his family. I didn't miss her check the driveway for other cars. Only Billy's was there. "Sure. I'll, uh, check with him that he's okay for visitors," Max said.

"Okay."

The two of us climbed out of my car and walked up to the front door together. Max was fumbling for her keys when the front door sprang open. Max and I both jumped back in surprise to see Neil Hargrove at the front door. "Neil," Max greeted tensely.

"Maxine," Neil greeted coldly. His eyes tracked over to me. "Who's your friend?"

"We've met," I interrupted whatever Max was about to say. He didn't need to bully a twelve-year-old girl. "My name is Rachel. I'm a friend of your son's and I gave Max a ride home today."

"Thank you for getting her home safely. Have a good evening," Neil said abruptly.

It was obvious that he wanted to get rid of me. "I just have a few school things for Billy," I said.

"We can take them," Neil said, extending his hand.

As Neil took a step toward me, I tightened my grip on the paperwork. "Neil, can you check on the stew?" Susan Hargrove, a pretty red-headed woman asked. She stepped past her husband to put herself between us. I didn't miss the nervous smile on Susan's face and the pointedly calming tone of her voice. "I'll take care of this."

Neil sent me a heated glare but said, "Sure."

"You must be Rachel," Susan said, sending me a warm smile as her husband walked away.

"That's me," I said, shaking Susan's hand. "I'll be quick -"

"I'm sorry, Rachel," Susan said, stepping in front of me. Her eyes briefly flickered to reveal a terror hidden underneath her warm exterior. "Billy isn't feeling well and we don't want to accidentally pass anything to you. I couldn't forgive myself and I'm sure Billy wouldn't either."

Max sent me a sad smile as she extended her hands to take the paperwork. "I'll make sure he gets everything."

"Okay. Thanks, Max," I said, handing everything to her. "Uh, so you know, it's all of the classwork he missed today, and I put in all of my notes from old classes I took that I thought might be careful. My phone number is on top too; he can call if he has any questions."

A small smile worked its way over Susan's face. "This was very sweet."

"It was no big deal," I countered. The awkward air between the three of us was stifling. I knew that it was time to leave. "Give Billy my best, please."

"We will," Susan promised.

"Bye, Rach," Max said.

"Night, Max. It was nice to meet you, Susan," I said, waving at the women.

"You too, Rachel," Susan.

The three of us exchanged small smiles as I turned away. I noticed Susan trying to quickly usher Max into the house. I tried to keep my worrying to a minimum as I walked back to my car. I hadn't even seen Billy. I was hoping that I could at least get a glimpse of him before leaving. The Hargrove house was eerily silent as Susan closed the door behind them. I hoped that I hadn't gotten anyone in trouble as I clambered back into my car, starting the engine and heading back to my house.

No matter what I did, my thoughts kept drifting back to Billy. I had felt that nervous twisting in my gut before whenever Billy's family was mentioned. I remembered being nervous when I saw the bloody cuts and bruises on his knuckles at school. I remembered the venomous look Neil Hargrove had shot his son when Billy and I had been caught in our water fight. I remembered the tenseness in Billy's voice whenever he spoke about his family.

The brief meeting today had been enough to confirm for me that the relationship between the Hargrove family must have been a terrible one. I had never seen three people look so awkward. Max had looked terrified, Susan had looked like a scolded puppy, and Neil had looked like a hulking dragon defending its castle. I wondered what the relationship between Neil and Billy was like when they were home together, just the two of them. The thought of what likely happened made my stomach churn.

All of my never-ending thoughts about Billy's family eventually managed to make my thoughts shift to my family. Not the family that had raised me that I loved so much, but the ones who had brought me into the world. I had never asked my parents much about my birth family, but I had found myself steadily growing more and more curious. From my strange tattoo, horrifying dreams, and odd abilities, I knew most of my secrets could only be answered by my birth family.

After some debating, I decided resolutely that I was going to ask my parents about my birth family tonight. It was time that I knew where I had come from. I needed to know, especially as my abilities and dreams seemed to be going haywire. It had been particularly bad since our family had moved to Hawkins, which didn't make any sense. I pulled into the driveway of my house and grabbed my things, closing the car door, and walking into my house.

Dad wasn't home yet but Mom was standing in the kitchen beginning dinner. "Hi, honey," Mom greeted. "Good day?"

"Uh, it was an interesting day," I said. Now or never, Rachel. Say something before you chicken out. "Mom, can I talk to you about something?"

"Of course. Does this have to do with Billy?" Mom asked, smiling broadly.

Maybe I was getting predictable. "No, actually, this time it has nothing to do with Billy and everything to do with us," I said. Mom raised a brow as she put down her cookware, focusing her attention on me. "I don't want you to think that this reflects poorly on you or that I don't love you and Dad. You're the best parents I could have asked for -"

"Rachel, we always assumed this day would come where you would want to know about your birth family," Mom interrupted, smiling at me fondly.

"I'm sorry," I said awkwardly.

It felt so awkward talking about the people who had brought me into the world with the people who had raised me. "Don't be sorry. We all deserve to know where we come from," Mom said pointedly. I nodded at her as she motioned for me to follow her into the dining room. "I wish I had more to tell you than I do. Sit." I took a seat next to her. "We adopted you from the Children's Home Society when you were three-years-old."

"No, I know the story of my adoption," I interrupted. I knew where they had gotten me from and I knew what had happened from the moment they had adopted me. "What do you know about my birth parents?"

Mom shook her head. "Not much. You were left at the doorstep of the orphanage in the middle of the night a few weeks before we adopted you. No one was there when they found you in the morning and by all indications, whoever had left you there had been gone hours already."

"That's it?" I asked.

It wasn't worth it to ask if that was all she knew. "They did leave a note," Mom said quietly.

"What?" I asked, surprised.

My parents had never told me anything about a note that had been left. I thought I'd been left on the doorstep of the orphanage with nothing. Mom rose from the table and pulled out a piece of paper that was yellowed and worn from time. I could see the black ink on the other side. "It was pinned to your blanket. I never mentioned it because… well, it's written in Russian, first off," Mom explained.

"Russian? I've always been able to read and speak Russian," I countered.

Though I couldn't remember ever learning Russian, I'd always known it. "I know. It's likely a skill you retained from your early childhood," Mom explained.

"Why haven't I seen that letter before?" I asked curiously.

If my birth parents had left me some reminder of who they were, I wanted to know. "It's the ramblings of a madman. I sat with your father one afternoon and translated it. It makes no sense. It's a fantastical tale told by someone who was highly delusional. I didn't want to scare you when you were young," Mom reasoned.

"Can I have it?" I asked curiously.

Mom nodded. "Of course. It's yours," Mom said, handing the letter over. "Try not to dwell on it, okay?"

"Yeah, I won't."

"Can I make you a cup of tea while you read it?"

"Yeah. Thanks," I mumbled.

The letter slipped from my shaky hand the first time I tried to open it. Mom knew that I needed some privacy to read the letter so she smiled and stood from the table, walking into the kitchen and pulling out a mug as she began to brew us a pot of tea. It looked like she was moving slower than normal to give me a chance to read it. I slowly slit the letter open, breathing out shakily as I did so. I wasn't sure what to expect in the letter. It was written in cursive and - like my mother had said - Russian.

Yelena,

You will not understand or remember any of these events by the time you're old enough to read this letter. Please understand that I have brought you here to save your life and give you a brighter future. What's happened to you here has forever altered the course of your life.

You were born to parents who were the designers of and participants in ProjectМКУльтра, a covert government operation with the goal of developing mind-control techniques which could be used against enemies. The subjects, many of whom have been unwitting, suffering extensive use of psychedelic drugs, physical and mental abuse, sleep deprivation, and malnourishment, among many other experiments. I have been trying to free these patients for years.

Today, my goal has finally become a reality as I free you, my dear. You are the first in a line of children born to these participants and designers. They will stop at nothing to make you one of them. If I do not take you now, you will be subjected to torture in its cruelest form until you are what they want. You have been through enough in your short time here. I cannot let you become what they want. Not a human, but a machine. Your only chance at freedom, to be a child, is to be somewhere far away from here.

You must understand that the United States is the only place you will be safe, far from those who will wish to use or harm you. Be very careful, Yelena. I fear they will one day find you again, no matter how hard I've tried to hide you.

One day, I do hope to see you again. Far from this place and in better faith.

Yours truly,
Vladislav

Mom was right about one thing. The letter did seem to be the ramblings of a madman. It sounded like something out of a movie. "So, I'm Russian, huh?" I asked, unable to fully process my thoughts.

"A very cute Russian," Mom said, trying to lighten the mood. I laughed with her. "You don't have to talk about it now. Not if you're not ready, but we're here when you do want to."

"Do you think there are more people like me?" I asked, flipping my arm over to show my wrist tattoo. The number one tattoo finally made sense. I was the first in a line of experiments and according to Vladislav, I wasn't the only one. "This says I wasn't meant to be the only one."

"I think there are others. I'm hoping they all wound up like you," Mom said, handing me my tea.

"Yelena…" I whispered, testing the name on my tongue. It seemed so foreign. "Was that my given name?"

"We believe so. Your father and I believed that Rachel was a more appropriate name," Mom admitted.

"Yeah, I can see why. It's much more Americanized," I said.

"We didn't want you to be more of an outsider than you already would be."

"What experiments is he talking about?"

That question threw her off. "We were never sure," Mom admitted. I stared at her. There hadn't been any indications as to what had happened to me? "When we adopted you, we ran every test science had to offer to make sure that whoever you came from hadn't hurt you. You have slightly higher than normal brainwave activity, but it didn't bother the doctors. Everything else came back negative. Honey, you came from a very delusional group of people."

"Who believed in superpowers," I laughed humorlessly.

Judging from the oddities I held, though, maybe they were right. "It's a branch of very unreliable pseudo-science. These people could have killed you trying to prove a theory that held no value," Mom said.

"What about the dreams I've always had?" I asked.

"They're likely nightmares from memories you did retain of your early childhood in Russia."

"You know that I have… abilities."

We stared at each other for a long time. There was no way to deny that I did have abilities that weren't normal. "There may be some truth in the letter," Mom admitted slowly.

"Did you ever try to find this guy?" I asked, motioning to the signature.

"It would have been impossible. Vladislav is a very popular name in Russia," Mom explained. I supposed it was like the surname Brown in the United States. "It may not even be his actual name. He may have been trying to protect his identity. Are you okay?"

"I think I'm even more confused now than I was before," I said.

"Naturally," Mom said, nodding understandingly. "Know one thing, Rachel. No matter where you come from or what abilities you may have, you're our daughter and we love you. We never showed you this letter because we didn't want to scare you."

"Why didn't I scare you?" I asked.

"Children are not their parents. You are not what they did to you. Remember that. You were an innocent child," Mom promised.

The front door opened a moment later and my Dad walked into the kitchen. "Hello, girls," Dad greeted. I didn't turn around to greet him as my father walked into the kitchen. I heard a sigh escape his mouth when he saw that we were reading the letter. "I wondered when this conversation would happen."

"I'm not angry that you kept the letter from me. I get why you did it," I admitted.

Though I would have rather been shown the letter when I was younger, it made sense why my parents had felt the need to hang onto it. "What are you feeling?" Dad asked kindly.

"Confused," I said honestly.

"I can see why," Dad replied.

"I'm not sure that I'm ready to confront how it makes me feel yet," I mumbled.

"You don't have to. Not now and not ever if you're never ready," Mom insisted. I nodded at her. "If you do want to talk about it, though, just say something."

"Okay. Thanks for being honest," I said.

"Thank you for being understanding. We love you very much, Rachel," Mom replied, running her hand through my hair.

"Come here," Dad said.

Their voices were quieter than I'd heard in a long time. I smiled sadly at my parents as they pulled me into a bone-crushing hug. I held the letter from Vladislav limply from my fingers, unsure of what I should have been feeling. Relieved? Afraid? Angry? Surprisingly enough, I felt a bit numb from the conversation. I had hoped to have answers, but now I only had more questions. I was positive that most of them would never be answered.

For now, I wasn't in the headspace to think about where I had come from. "What do we say we have dinner and forget this? For now, at least," I offered, trying to smile at them.

"If that's what you want," Mom said.

"For now," I confirmed.

"Okay. Why don't you get changed and we'll eat?" Dad nudged gently.

"Okay," I said.

Despite how awkward things were and how jumbled my head was, I refused to get lost in thought. I could think about my childhood and what had happened to me when I'd lived in Russia at a different time. There was no point in thinking about it now. So, I headed upstairs to the shower and stood under the water for nearly half an hour, trying to wash away the thoughts of the day. I didn't want to think of what had happened to me in Russia or the strange situation surrounding Billy's absence from school today.

Once I had climbed out of the shower, I pulled on a thin white tank top, a grey sweatshirt, and a pair of grey track pants. I just wanted to be comfortable tonight. I spread my schoolwork out on my bed and began working on my homework for about half an hour before I was called downstairs to dinner. It was a quiet but peaceful affair. I insisted to my worried parents that I was okay and didn't blame them - I just needed some time to process. They agreed to drop the subject.

The three of us watched Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy together and followed up with a viewing of The Thing. My parents weren't thrilled with horror movies, but I had always liked them. I couldn't help but wonder if some part of me was like the alien from the movie. It made me feel a little sick to my stomach. I made myself another cup of warm tea, trying to pretend that it was what I needed to stay awake. It was just past ten o'clock when I said goodnight to my parents and headed upstairs.

Even though I was exhausted, I didn't go to sleep right away. I stayed up and did some homework for a while instead. I worked until almost midnight when I finally ran out of things to do. I threw my books and notepads into my bag for the morning and pulled off my sweater and track pants so that I could try to get to sleep. Once I had shut the lights off, brushed my teeth, washed my face, and put all of my schoolwork away, I clambered into bed and curled underneath the covers.

Finding sleep that night wasn't easy. I found myself dreaming of what life may have been like if I hadn't been removed from Russia by Vladislav. I wondered what he was like and who my parents were. I had fleeting nightmares about the torture that I had gone through as a baby. I couldn't figure out if they were real memories or if I might have just been imagining things because of the revelations from the day. I wasn't positive that I ever managed to truly fall asleep.

It must have been the middle of the night when a gentle but annoying tapping sound started on my window. I growled in annoyance as I rolled over. I tried to shove my head under the pillow but the tapping didn't stop. It grew harder and faster. I threw the blankets off myself and walked to the window to see what was making the noise. At first, I didn't see anything. Eventually, I spotted Billy standing in my front yard. His car was nowhere in sight. He had been throwing rocks at my window, which he was now motioning for me to open.

A strange day, indeed... I gently nudged open my window and laughed as I looked down at him. I couldn't make out his figure well from the lack of light. "Hargrove!" I whisper-yelled down to him. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"Can I come up?" Billy asked.

My gaze softened. "Yeah."

My first question was why Billy hadn't been in school today. He didn't sound sick and didn't look sick either. Was he just bored with school? He could have at least let me in when I'd come to see him earlier. I stepped back as Billy began climbing the trellis outside of my window. I took a few steps back and pushed the window open wide enough so that he could crawl in. I flicked on my bedside lamp as Billy made it to the windowsill. I crossed my arms irritably as I watched him climb inside.

"Seriously?" I growled once I could see Billy coming up. "You show up here in the middle of the night after you were supposedly out sick all day? You had better have a damn good reason for showing up here and it better not be because you want to -"

My ranting was interrupted as Billy reached the top of my window and placed one foot on the windowsill. He looked up at me and in the light of the room, I was finally able to see him. I stepped back as Billy climbed into the room. I knew that something was wrong. A deep purple bruise was forming over Billy's right eye and there was a cut on his cheek that looked like it was made from a ring. I could see some bruising and blood on his chest where the neckline of his t-shirt was torn.

Help him, Rachel. You can talk about it later. "Go to the bathroom. It's the second door. I'll be right in," I said quickly.

Billy nodded wordlessly as he followed my directions. He nudged the door closed a bit behind him as I turned around thinking of what I would need. There was a first aid kit downstairs. I gently slipped out of my room and hopped downstairs, skipping the two steps that creaked. My parents wouldn't hear me but I didn't want to risk it. I grabbed the first aid kit from the linen closet and wandered back upstairs. Once I had gotten back to my room, I closed the door behind me and locked it for good measure.

I walked into my bathroom where Billy was waiting for me and closed the door behind me. I placed the first aid kit on the counter and met Billy's eyes. "Take your shirt off and sit over there," I ordered gently.

Billy began unbuttoning the rest of his shirt and followed my directions, sitting on the edge of the bathtub. I took a better look at him as he moved. I could see that there were some bruises in the shapes of human fists over his ribs. There was a nearly black bruise on his right hip. It looked like he had been shoved into something. His back was red and raw from where it looked like he had been thrown against a cabinet. Billy was trying to act like he was fine but I knew that he was in a lot of pain.

Normally, I would have been embarrassed and incredibly turned on by the closeness of the situation and what I was wearing. I was in a tiny pair of grey lace underwear - in a high-waisted thong style - that was easily visible underneath the skin-tight white tank top. It was the only pair I had that were that small and I hadn't worn them since moving to Indiana. I wasn't wearing a bra either. Billy wasn't hitting on me as he normally would have been doing. He was clearly in both physical and mental pain.

"Turn around. I'll get your back first," I told him quietly.

Billy nodded his confirmation silently. I knew that he couldn't speak right now. The fury was radiating off of him. I kneeled at Billy's back and realized that he had scars I'd never seen before. They weren't deep and could have been mistaken for a biking accident or normal childhood injuries, but I now realized that it wasn't the case. These were clear-cut signs of abuse. Likely from his father, who I had gotten a bad vibe from when we'd first met a few days ago.

I cleaned and washed my hands first and then rinsed and cleaned his numerous abrasions. I ran lukewarm tap water over the wounds for a couple of minutes each, gently removing the bits of what looked like dirt. I then applied a thin layer of antibiotic ointment to each woundto keep the areas moist and prevent infection. Once I was done with that, I then used clean bandages to keep the wound clean, prevent bacteria from infecting the areas, and keep the wound from reopening.

Cleaning Billy's back took at least an hour. I worked in silence, the only noise being Billy's seething breaths. "Turn to face me," I ordered once I was done.

Billy switched spots on the edge of the bathtub. I knew that he would have to rest because of the wounds, but I doubted that he would. I placed two ice packs wrapped in towels over his ribs and right hip and told him to leave them in place for twenty minutes. I mentioned that he would need to repeat that process several times a day for a few days. Once I finished icing the wounds, I compressed the bruised areas to confront the swelling using an elastic bandage I found in the first aid kit.

Billy's chest wasn't bad enough for concern right now. I could come back to those wounds later. Instead, I began working at his black eye. "Do you or did you have any double vision?" I asked.

"No," Billy said.

"Any nose bleeds?"

"No."

"Good. That means that there's likely no skull fracture," I said.

Billy nodded carelessly. I knew that he didn't care how badly he was injured, but I did. I wanted him to be okay. Seeing him right now, like this, broke my heart. The beginning of the night had shown me how much I did care for him. I didn't want him to be hurting and I didn't enjoy seeing how little regard he had for his safety. I knew that this was the wrong time to try and comfort Billy, but I couldn't help it. I leaned up to Billy and wrapped my arms around the back of his neck.

Even if this could comfort him for just a moment, I hoped that it would. I was about to pull away from him when I felt Billy's arm wrap around my back. There was no sleazy or mean gesture behind the action. It was genuine. He needed my comfort as much as I wanted to give it to him. His arms almost hurt me from how tight they were but there was no way that I would ask him to stop. I just let him hug me, kneeling in between his open legs, my fingertips gently running along his upper spine.

After a few moments, I felt Billy tuck his head into my shoulder. His nose was pressed against my throat gently. At first, I believed that he might have been crying but I quickly realized that he was trembling from rage. I gently threaded my fingers through his hair as comfortingly as possible. I wanted to calm him down and reassure him that everything would be okay, but I didn't know how. I had dealt with many things before, but I had never dealt with a victim of abuse.

Billy hadn't said it, but I knew that this was from his father. It was easy to tell from the way his father had spoken to him when I'd first seen them together. I gently ran my fingers down his spine as we pulled apart. He met eyes with me as we did. There was no flirtation this time. He wasn't going to say anything sleazy to me this time. This time was all about our feelings - which neither one of us had ever explored before. I ran my fingers gently down his arm to intertwine our fingers.

The last time we had done this, we had been half-naked and in the heat of the moment. This was nothing that I had ever dealt with before. Billy gently wrapped a hand around the back of my neck and pulled me into him, pressing a gentle kiss against my forehead. I smiled, leaning very gently into him to keep any pressure off of his body. As I finally pulled back from him, I placed a hand beneath his right eye. I didn't want to accidentally injure him.

"Can I?" I asked gently, motioning to his black eye.

"Yeah," Billy confirmed.

"Sit down," I said.

Billy sat on the edge of the bathtub again as I leaned in between his legs again. I applied a cold compress using gentle pressure to his upper cheekbone. I didn't press on the eye itself, being very careful to check for blood as I worked. I was glad to see that there was no blood in sight. It meant that there was no severe injury. Once I had held the cold compress against his eye for a few minutes, I changed over to a warm compress, holding that he wouldn't have much swelling.

After a few minutes, I finally got to the last injury. The cut on his cheek was deeper than I had initially believed. Thankfully, it seemed to have stopped bleeding a while ago. I had him apply pressure with a clean cloth for a couple of minutes while I washed my hands thoroughly. I had to make sure I wouldn't cause an infection. I followed through by washing the cut well with soap and water, removing the dirt particles from the area, and letting the water from the faucet run over it for several minutes.

Unfortunately, the wound was deep and had bled a lot. I had to press on the wound firmly for almost ten minutes with a clean cloth. The first cloth became soaked with blood quickly. I had to put a new cloth on top of the old cloth without lifting the first cloth to keep the wound from bleeding even further. Afterward, I applied an antiseptic cream and covered the area with an adhesive bandage. Once I was confident I had fixed his face as much as I could, I turned my attention to the lesser wounds of his chest.

It was mostly bruising but I knew that they would end up turning ugly colors and become very painful as they began to heal over the next few days. I squeezed out some aloe vera into my hands and started gently rubbing the lotion into his skin. I was hoping it would reduce the pain and swelling at least a little bit. I knew that it must have been uncomfortable having me rub at his wounds. I could see Billy wincing a bit, but I knew that he wasn't going to stop me.

I winced slightly as Billy rested his hands against my thighs and began tightening his grip extremely painfully on me. Billy retracted his arm quickly. "Sorry..." Billy muttered.

"No, please," I said quickly. Billy was still pulling his hands away so I grabbed them and brought them back to my thighs. If this was how he had to get his anger out, I was fine with it. "It's okay. I'm okay, Billy." We looked at each other in the eyes for a long time as I gave him a reassuring nod. "This is okay."

After the day he'd had, I knew that Billy needed to take out his frustration and I was okay with it being on me to some degree. If it meant he dug his fingers into my leg - if that was what it took to calm him down - I was okay with that. Billy stared at me as if searching for some part of me that didn't mean it, before seeming to finally believe me that I was okay with his actions. Billy gently placed his hands on my thighs again and started by putting only a little bit of pressure on me.

It didn't take a genius to know that Billy wanted to take his frustration out on someone. I figured that he would have normally reacted violently to his father's abuse. I noticed that Billy was extremely hesitant to tighten his grip. It took almost a full minute before he began tightening his grip. It was tighter but not painful. I knew that he was still holding himself back. I pressed a little harder on Billy's bruised chest and his grip immediately tightened unconsciously.

I'd known that Billy would do that the moment I'd pressed on him. My leg trembled for a moment from the increased pressure. Billy looked like he was about to pull away from me, but I grabbed his hand, stopping him from pulling back. Billy stared at me again and I nodded my confirmation. I was okay with this. I would have rather let him get his emotions out than let them bottle up and have him eventually blow up on someone. Billy held me so tightly that I felt like he might snap my femur.

Any nerves that I'd had vanished when Billy leaned forward and rested his forehead against my shoulder. We remained locked like that for a long time, me resting a hand on Billy's knee as he nearly broke my femur from the pressure and tore through my skin with his grip. Eventually, now more stable, Billy leaned back up and nodded that I could continue. I stared at him for a moment before pressing the towel back against his chest and getting back to work.

I worked at Billy's chest in silence for a while before finally deciding that it was okay to speak. "I have a question." Billy tensed slightly. "It's not the one you're thinking. Not yet," I said, giving Billy a soft smile. We would talk about what had led up to this eventually, but not tonight. Billy nodded for me to continue. "Why did you come here? To me? Please don't get me wrong. I'm glad you came here and if this happens again I hope you come back to me, I just don't understand why."

"You're the only person I trusted to see me like this," Billy answered softly.

"I'm glad you came here. This is why you weren't in school?" I asked. Billy nodded. "It'll take a few days for everything to go away but by Monday it should look a lot better."

Billy nodded. "Okay. Will your parents hear us?"

"No. Remember when I mentioned my old nightmares?" I asked. Billy nodded in response. "When I was younger we realized that I wouldn't have as vivid of dreams when I fell asleep listening to music; the caveat was that it had to be loud. My parents started sleeping with earplugs so I could play the music as loud as I needed. I guess they liked not having to hear each other snore or mumble in their sleep anymore because even once I stopped playing the music to get to sleep they kept wearing the earplugs. They won't hear us."

Billy chuckled under his breath. "I'll keep that in mind."

It was good to hear him sounding like himself. I smiled, glad for the joke that he had made, even though it was half-hearted. "I think this is as good as I can do. I'm sorry, I'm not a nurse," I said guiltily.

Billy shook his head. "This is great, Rach. Thank you."

"It's my pleasure," I said honestly. "I'm going to clean up. Make yourself comfortable."

Billy nodded as I motioned him out of the bathroom. He walked into my bedroom again so that I could clean up the bathroom. I picked up the bloody cloths to throw them away and wiped up the creams and antiseptics. I put my first aid kit back together and walked past Billy, who was looking at the pictures on my desk and around my mirror, back into the hallway. I headed downstairs and slipped the first aid kit back into the linen closet before heading back to my bedroom and closing the door gently behind me.

Billy was where I had left him before, still staring at the pictures around my mirror frame. "Those are my favorite pictures from my childhood," I said, watching Billy's eyes move around the frame. "That was my home in Florida."

"It looks a little bit like ours in California," Billy commented, looking at the next one.

I smiled at the picture. "That's my best friend from Florida, Casey."

"What's this one?" Billy asked, motioning to a picture in the middle of the frame.

It was one of my favorite pictures; the one that gave me the life I had today. "Oh, that was my adoption ceremony. It happened to be on my third birthday," I explained.

Billy's blue eyes went wide. "You're adopted?" he asked, not bothering to hide the shock.

I blushed slightly. I was going to have to tell him eventually. "Yeah."

"Why didn't you ever say anything?" Billy asked.

"Think about it a little bit. When I lived in Florida, everyone knew that I was adopted. My parents had left one evening and returned a few days later with a toddler in tow. They knew that my parents were older and had fertility issues. It was no secret that they were going to adopt a kid. I was raised my whole life with people asking questions that get a little tiring. I don't know who my parents are. I don't know where I'm from. I don't know why they gave me up.

"When we came to Hawkins, I made the conscious choice to not tell anyone that I was adopted. I don't want to deal with the questions or rumors. It's uncomfortable to deal with the stares. If I tell no one, they don't even know anything is amiss. You never thought so. I look enough like my parents that no one questions it. Hell, they are my parents. Anyway, I would rather tell people the truth once I trust them enough and have a private conversation."

The whole story wasn't completely true, but it was mostly accurate. I couldn't tell Billy everything about myself. For the first time since we'd met, Billy almost looked ashamed. "Sorry for asking," Billy muttered.

"It's okay. I would have come up with a lie if I hadn't wanted you to know," I said truthfully.

It was a generic picture that looked like any kind of party. I could have given him an excuse if I hadn't wanted to admit that I was adopted. "Do you want to talk about it?" Billy asked carefully.

"Not tonight," I said.

Too many thoughts were racing through my mind. I was too focused on Billy's predicament. "Okay, we'll circle back to this," Billy teased.

"If we can circle back to what happened tonight," I countered.

Billy smiled as he nodded at me. "Thank you, Rach."

"You're welcome," I said. We smiled at each other before Billy turned away. I realized after a moment that he was heading toward the window; likely to leave. "Wait for a second! Where are you going?"

"I already woke you up in the middle of the night, I'm not going to keep you awake," Billy explained as if it were obvious.

"Are you kidding?" I asked breathlessly. Billy stared at me blankly. I wasn't about to let him go back to his house. Not after whatever had happened between himself and his father. "I'm awake anyway and it'll be worse if you leave. You're not planning on going home, are you?"

Billy shook his head. "Nah. I'll probably head back to our place."

If I hadn't been so thrown off by the events of the night, I would have smiled at his mention of 'our' place. "You don't have to sleep in your car. You're already here. Stay, Billy," I insisted. Billy stared at me for a moment as I moved into him, taking his hands in mine. "Please. It'll make me feel much better."

"You're sure?" Billy asked.

"Positive," I said honestly.

"Okay."

After a moment, Billy and I pulled apart. I watched as Billy grabbed some blankets off of my pile in the corner of my room and started laying them out on the floor. I grabbed Billy's wrist again to stop him. "What are you doing?" I asked.

"I'm making myself a spot," Billy explained.

"On the floor?" I asked. Billy nodded his confirmation. "Don't be stupid. You're not sleeping on the floor. It's a big bed. There's enough room for both of us. Hell, we slept together in the backseat of your car. I think we can share the bed for one night."

"Are you sure you'll be able to resist?" Billy teased.

I laughed. I appreciated the joke, even with the tense air between us. "Are you?" I shot back.

Billy gave me a long once-over. "Not with you wearing those," Billy teased. He was motioning to the tiny thong that was barely covering me. I laughed like an idiot as I threw myself onto the edge of my bed, trying to cover myself up as much as possible. "Don't cover up. What are those?"

My face was burning bright red. "It's a thong. I've never seen people wearing them here but they were popular where I lived back in Florida. I wasn't expecting a visitor tonight," I explained stupidly.

Billy smirked. "Good. You should dress like that more often."

If I dressed like this regularly, there was a good chance that we would never make it out of bed. I swallowed nervously as I laid back against the sheets. "Come on, Romeo," I said, patting the sheets at my side. "We've got school tomorrow."

"Or, we could stay in bed all day," Billy suggested teasingly.

Though I had a feeling he was mostly serious. Billy pulled off his jeans and plopped into bed with me. I started laughing, unsure of what else I was supposed to do. This wasn't how I imagined our first time in bed together to be. I rested against the sheets as Billy joined me. As he met my eyes, I playfully shoved his face away from me. "Go to sleep," I barked.

The two of us made our way up to the pillows so that we could go to sleep. I appreciated that Billy was starting to act a little bit more like himself now that he had calmed down. We remained silent as I shifted underneath the sheets. Billy followed, resting close to me but at a respectful distance. I knew that he was showing me that he wouldn't push things unless I wanted it. I let Billy crawl under the sheets before throwing my comforter over us and flicking off the bedside lamp.

We were immediately plunged into complete darkness. For a few minutes, I wasn't sure what to say or if I should say anything at all. After the days we'd had, maybe we should have just gone to sleep. Thankfully, Billy was the one to make the first move. I felt his arm land over my head against the pillows. I raised my head slightly so that he could move his arm further down the pillow. I rested my head against his bicep to use it as a makeshift pillow as I rolled over to face him. I smiled at Billy as I tucked my face into his bare chest.

"I knew you liked to cuddle," I teased, my words muffled by his chest.

"Shut up," Billy barked playfully.

The two of us shifted slightly as we relaxed. I wasn't worried about Billy leaving me anymore, no matter what happened between us. I knew for a fact that he thought of me as something much more than a fling. If things weren't so serious, I would have kissed him. Instead, I threw a bare leg over his lap. He was only in his boxers and my small underwear didn't leave much to the imagination. Not that he hadn't seen me mostly naked before. I rested my hand on Billy's bare torso.

My heart began to flutter slightly as Billy turned to face me, pressing a soft kiss against my temple. Billy's spare hand was underneath my body and wrapped to the other side around my waist. I felt his fingers running underneath my tank top to rest in the shallow of my spine. I could feel Billy's heart beating steadily underneath my fingers and I smiled as he tightened his grip on me. He wasn't letting go of me. Not tonight and hopefully not for a long time.

A/N: Sorry about the wait! Hopefully I can start updating a little more regularly from now on. I'm working on trying to get a schedule going. In the meantime, thanks so much for the follows and favorites! Please review! Until next time -A

Vincent FGS91: I try to work fast! This one took a while but I hope it was worth it. I have so much fun writing this one. It's a slightly more light-hearted story than I normally write, so it's a good change of pace. Hope you liked this one!

Angryfanfic: Hope this was soon enough!

lilycoco: Hello! Wow, this is some seriously high praise! I want to get into season two but I want to establish all the characters and the relationships they all have before jumping into the main story. I'm so glad that you did choose to read the story!

The details are one of my favorite parts of the story to write. I try to make it obvious enough to immerse yourself but not so much that it gets overwhelming. Yes! Rachel is starting to get more involved in the story and she's going to continue on that path for a while. In my mind, Rachel is a teenager. She's not going to speak or think in these super eloquent phrases. I want her to seem like she could fit into the real world.

I'm so glad you love how I write Billy! He's a tough one to write and I want to make sure I'm not making him too out-of-character. Even as he softens a bit toward Rachel, he's still going to be the tough guy. I'm also really glad that you like Rachel! People can get kind of funny about OC's, so I try to write them as well as possible. She is perhaps one of the most stubborn characters I've ever written - and I'm always writing stubborn characters lol. Rachel is fun and tough but, like you said, she has flaws. She hurt a perfectly nice guy for her own selfish reasons. She's going to have good moments and bad ones, just like we all do.

Rachel's powers haven't been totally explored or spelled out, but I'll get there soon! Correct! She definitely can read minds. I'm still going back and forth over whether I want Billy to know about her powers. That's a good guess for why Rachel's family left Florida. I'll explore that later too. That's a very interesting guess. Like we've said already, her powers haven't been fully discovered but I'll definitely get more in-depth with them as time goes on.

I'm very happy you decided to read the story! I planned on having her find out about her past early-on so I could have two storylines going (Rachel's normal teenage relationship with Billy and the hidden part of her past). She's got a big role, so I'm excited to get further into the story! Thank you for reading! I hope this chapter continued to hold up to your expectations!