Chapter 11

They were out of milk.

Jamie stared inconsolably into the fridge with sweat plastering her hair to her scalp. Doing as Miss Kim had asked, she had been out for a run. She had dressed for a cold day in February, but the weather decided to pull a fast one and it had been almost 50 degrees out. After downing a gallon of water, she got the urge to finish with some ice cold milk and found that someone had put an empty carton back on the shelf.

"Moom!" she yelled and stomped into the living room to show the evidence. "Dustin put the empty mil - Mom? Mom!"

It was early Saturday afternoon, a time Claudia Henderson usually reserved for watching Family Feud with Tews, but her mom was nowhere to be found in the living room. Jamie concentrated and heard voices from the front hall — someone was at the door.

Not just any old someone, though, it was Billy Hargrove. She stopped dead in her tracks when she recognized the voice. It was smoother than usual, with a tantalizing lilt to it, charm poured into every word. Jamie gagged into her mouth and waited for her mom to set him straight. Her spine froze to ice when her mom giggled in response.

Ugh!

"Mom!" Jamie yelled and jumped out from the corner to the hallway where she had been, not hiding exactly, but waiting. Her mom and Billy both looked up from where they were standing and Jamie realized she couldn't berate her mom for a conversation she shouldn't have been able to hear. "Uhh...we're out of milk."

"Okay, honey, I'll put it on the grocery list," her mom said and had the audacity to look embarrassed on her only daughter's behalf. Billy stood leaning on the doorframe with a small smile stretching his stubbled jaw and nodded to Jamie. She squashed the urge to stick her tongue out. Her mom turned to Billy again, who deepened the handsome smile, causing her mom to instinctively smooth over her hair. "Billy was just telling me he transferred from San Diego last semester to Hawkins."

"Uh-huh?" grunted Jamie through gritted teeth. What was he even doing here and why was he downright flirting with her mom? After Snow Ball, she had avoided Billy to her best ability and he'd had the courtesy to do the same with her. And now he showed up at her doorstep?

"And you've had your driver's license for how long now, Billy?"

"Two years now, Mrs. Henderson," Billy said, still smiling and with a voice as soft and smooth as ice cream on a hot day. He might have more buttons up than usual, but there was still a suspicious amount of chest showing underneath his jacket. Jamie made a face behind her mother's back, miming his words back to him. Billy saw it, of course, and it only made him crank the charm up another notch. "Got it straight after my fifteenth birthday, paid out of my own pocket, after working as a lifeguard at the local community pool."

What did that have to do with anything, Jamie wanted to scream. Why would her mom care about his driver's license or how he bought his car or anything?

Her mom lit up."Oh, so you have your own car?"

"Yes, ma'am."

Oh no. No, no, no, no, no! Just now, she noticed the newspaper clipping in Billy's hand. The ad! The private driving instructor ad her mom had put in!

"Mom!" Jamie barked, harder than she had planned and her mom gave her a concerned look. She faltered. "Can I — uh — talk to you for a sec?"

"Well, fine, but you better come in, Billy, it's freezing out there," her mom relented and gestured for Billy to step off the porch and into the hallway. It was not freezing out there, it was a sudden bright day of spring in the middle of winter, but that did not stop Billy for wiping his boots meticulously on the doormat outside and coming in with a grateful smile. "Can I get yo-"

"MOM!"

Her mom smiled apologetically at Billy, while Jamie clenched her fists together and marched her mom further down the hall, out of sight and earshot of Billy Hargrove. Okay, so, how was she gonna spin this? Hey, mom, the guy you have in the hallway punched Dustin and tried to choke me last semester, no biggie, just thought you should know? That wouldn't work, because then she would ask when this happened and berate Jamie for not telling her before and it didn't fit the story that Chief Hopper had spun to keep them from getting in trouble with their families.

"Is something wrong, honey? You're not being very polite," her mom asked while Jamie fumed.

"He can't be my driving instructor!" Jamie snapped and lowered her voice when it echoed in the hallway. "I know him, he's in my year, and he drives like an asshole-"

"Jamie! Language!"

"Well, sorry, but it's true!" Jamie stomped her feet like a petulant child. "Have you seen his car? Doesn't exactly scream road safety."

"Look, is this about you being embarrassed that someone your age will be teaching you?" her mom asked with way too much patience than Jamie could stand. "I checked out his references and he has never even gotten a speeding ticket, Jamie-honey. And he used to work as a swim teacher for little kids, so he-"

"I'm not some little kid," Jamie protested, doing her best to prove the opposite. "He's just- I'm just- he's not a nice guy, Mom."

"He seems a lot more polite than most of the other kids at your school. Look, sweetie, I asked if you wanted to have Steve help teach you-"

"A guy whose family makes six figures does not need to use his afternoons teaching me how to drive for five bucks an hour," Jamie told her mom, once again. She hadn't actually asked Steve, because it just seemed insulting. That guy had sunglasses that cost more than Jamie's combined wardrobe.

"Then I don't see the problem," her mom concluded and Jamie knew she had lost. Claudia sighed at Jamie's face. "Look, Billy's the only one who responded that seemed like a decent guy. Just try, one lesson. If it doesn't work out, we'll find someone else."

Sometimes, her mom's tendencies to be rational and understanding drove Jamie up the wall.

"Fine," she snapped and stalked back to the hallway where Billy studied the family photos hanging on the wall. "I'm gonna change clothes, go wait in the car."

It was a wonder the hallway floor didn't stain from the grease dripping from Billy's smirk. "Yes, ma'am."

Fifteen minutes later, she sat sulking in the passenger seat of the Camaro as Billy drove them out of the neighborhood.

"I just don't get it." She reached over to turn the radio off, the song cut off in the middle of a guitar solo. "There are easier ways to ruin my life, you know. What ever happened to good old fashioned bullying? Fill my shoes with snow or steal my homework or something."

Billy shrugged. All traces of his overpowering charm had disappeared the second they were out of the vicinity of her mom. He turned the radio back on. "I need the cash."

"I bet, all that hairspray can't be cheap,"Jamie muttered with her arms crossed. She turned the volume down on the radio, but refrained from turning it off completely. "Can you at least stop flirting with my mom? It's gross."

A lazy grin spread on his lips. "She didn't seem to mind."

"I stand corrected," Jamie said with a curl in her upper lip. "You're gross."

"Just to be clear, your dad's out of the picture, right?" Billy asked and Jamie knew it was only to get a reaction from her and she still had to squeeze her fingers into the car seat to stop herself from responding. "That Mrs-title is just old habit? Only, I didn't see a ring."

He's goading you, he's goading you, Jamie repeated to herself. It didn't help that Nancy had confided how Billy had charmed her mom too, back in November, and that Mrs. Wheeler had been the one to disclose Max' location.

"She looks good for her age, your mom, she could probably teach you a couple of things on how to take care of yourself. You know, so you're not mistaken for a guy all the time."

Jamie was so busy repeating the words: one lesson one lesson one lesson that she almost missed the last part of that statement. "Who's mistaking me for a guy?"

"Could've fooled me," Billy said and leaned back in his seat to drive with one hand, not a position usually favored by driving instructors. "Do you take after your mom or your dad the most? Because if you look like your mom underneath that sweatshirt..." He trailed off and bit his bottom lip, his gaze deep and penetrating from beneath hooded eyelids. "Well, it's a shame to cover up curves like that, 's all I'm saying."

"You know what I look like underneath my sweatshirt." Jamie shook her head with a curl in her lip. Billy had raised his eyebrow at her and she stumbled to explain: "First time we met I was dressed up as Madonna, remember?"

"Oh I remember," he said slyly and Jamie rolled her eyes so far back she was afraid they would get stuck back there. They finally reached their destination, the old parking lot by the mill, a coveted spot for beginning drivers and skateboarders alike. It was mostly clear, no ice at least, but not in a condition for Max to have any place to practice. It was probably driving her crazy, all the roads covered in slush and snow. Californians weren't used to winters like this.

"Are you ready?" Billy asked and stopped the car. Jamie had almost forgotten their agenda for the day, but she guessed not even Billy had the audacity to try and get paid for just bickering with her. They switched seats and Jamie fumbled to adjust the position, so she could at least reach the pedals.

"You're too close," Billy said after she had figured out how to bring the seat forward. "Push down the clutch, your leg should be almost straight."

Scowling, she did as he told her and found that her leg was nowhere near straight. Without a word, she scooted the seat back a bit. She had driven before, just not very successfully, so she knew to move all the mirrors to her satisfaction. That was the easy part.

The keys were in the ignition where Billy had left them and for a few seconds, they both just sat there after Jamie couldn't find anything else to adjust.

"Are ya gonna start the car?" Billy asked from his position in the passenger seat. He had his back more against the door than the seat, draped across the corner and almost facing Jamie head-on.

"Uh-huh," said Jamie and cursed the nerves that were building in her stomach. She knew how to do it, in theory. Clutch and brake down, put it in first (which was where Billy had left it), turn the key, release the brake, and slowly slip the clutch before hitting the gas in one smooth movement. It was what she did and still the car jumped forward with a violent lurch and died.

She ignored the rising blush, gritted her teeth and repeated the steps. The Camaro jerked so both she and Billy were flung forward in their seats. Billy had of course not put on his seatbelt, but she couldn't look at him to see his expression, the blush had reached her neck and was wrapping its way towards her cheeks.

After the fifth time the car stalled, and Billy still hadn't said anything, she slammed the car door open and got out. "I'm not doing this. I-I-I can't."

The fresh air burned on her face which she expected had taken on a lovely bright red color. She used both hands to shake out her curls, to get some air to her scalp, hoping it would help her cool off. It was so stupid! She knew how a clutch worked, she could take apart any damn engine and put it back together again and she still couldn't figure out how to start a damn car without stalling it! It was doomed. She would just have to go her life without a driver's license, like her Great-Aunt Ruth who took the bus everywhere and never came to visit them because Greyhound Express didn't pass by Hawkins.

Behind her, Billy had gotten out of the car too. "You kinda have to. Starting the car is usually considered the first step to driving anywhere."

Her middle finger came up in an instant in lack of any worthwhile response. She heard him sigh and light a cigarette, but didn't turn around. It was too much to be looking at him in addition to everything else. And that was the problem wasn't it?

"I can't do it with you-you-you watching me!" she stuttered and flung out an arm, like it was his fault.

Billy looked calm as ever. "Then what do you propose?"

"I don't know, a blindfold?"

"How can I figure out what you're doing wrong if I can't look at you?" Billy's face was momentarily shrouded in a mix of cigarette smoke and frosty air.

"I'm not doing anything wrong!" Jamie shouted and caused a flock of birds to leap off the roof of the old mill. She counted on her fingers: "Release brake, slip clutch and hit gas. It's three things! It's not rocket science!"

At least he had the decency to not point out that if she really wasn't doing anything wrong, the car would have started. He was annoyingly patient as he waited for Jamie to pace around the parking lot, muttering swearwords under her breath. He could wait as long as he wanted, Jamie was not getting back behind the wheel again. It was bad enough when it was her mom watching her fail to start the car over and over again, but a boy from her school was in many ways like a hundred times worse.

Billy had finished his cigarette and Jamie was still standing a good twenty feet from the car with no immediate plans to return. She heard him sigh again.

"Can we at least get back in the car so I don't have to freeze my nuts off out here?" he called and Jamie snorted. With jeans as tight as his were, his nuts weren't going anywhere. She remained rooted to the spot though, hugging herself through the sweatshirt and pondering the least pathetic way to ask him to drive her home. He muttered to himself before he called out again: "Jesus Christ. I can't teach you if you don't try, Jamie!"

She spun around. "You're not teaching, though, are you? You're just sitting there being all smug without saying anything! Is that how you teach little kids to swim, waiting for them to drown first?"

Billy's eyelids were heavy and he looked thoroughly unamused at her.

"Okay, fine, I guess drowning is a little more serious than stalling the car," she relented and avoided looking at him any further. "But it's kinda obvious that I suck at this and if you're not going to say anything, you might as well just take me home. This is just wasting both of our time."

"Just get in the goddamn car," Billy said and ducked behind the Camaro to slide into the passenger seat again. Jamie threw her head back and growled, before she marched back and got in.

"All right, let's try this again." Billy had straightened up in his seat, but still faced Jamie more than the windshield. "Left foot on clutch, right foot on brake, got it?"

Jamie sent him a deadpanned stare, which he deftly ignored.

"Now turn the key." The engine revved to life with Jamie still pushing the two pedals all the way down. "All right, put it in neutral." She did and shook the gearshift to ensure that it was, in fact, in neutral. "Release your feet."

The car still purred idly, as expected, and didn't move, because the gear house and the engine weren't connected. Billy nodded and licked his lips with a quick swipe of his tongue.

"Brake and clutch again. All right? Put it in first- keep both feet down!" Jamie had started to release the pedals, but stopped at Billy's outburst. "Now keep the clutch down and release the brake, you don't have to go slow, brake doesn't care." Oh God, he was projecting human emotions onto car-parts. "Okay, you see, we're still good. Now I want you to slowly, and I mean slowly, take your foot off the clutch - not all the way, just until I tell you to stop. And keep your hands on the wheel, Jesus Christ."

Jamie stared and slowly placed her hands back on the wheel. Slowly, as slow as she could, she withdrew her foot, a fraction of an inch at a time.

"Stop there," Billy said and Jamie's foot froze. Already sore from the weekly session with Miss Kim and the earlier 3 mile run, her leg vibrated in the effort to hold it in that awkward position. "Now listen."

He meant listen to the engine, not him, and he made her take her foot a little in and out to make her hear the difference in sound.

"Take a look at the tachometer. It's around 2000 RPMs. That's where the car wants to be when you hit the gas pedal. Okay? Place your other foot on the gas, and try to speed up." The car made an angry vroom. "That's what it sounds like when the clutch and gas go in at the same time. The trick is to release the clutch slowly until you reach that sweet spot at 2000 RPMs, then you take your foot off the clutch while you press the gas pedal gently down. Ready? Now try."

Jamie's left foot was strained with effort, but she took it completely off the clutch and hit the gas at the same time. The car jumped forward, the tachometer going as high as 4000 RPMs, before she panicked and hit the brake instead, without adding in the clutch.

"Okay," Billy said and stroked his stubbled jaw when the car lurched to a full stop. "Remember when I said 'press the gas pedal gently'? Not floor it right away? Yeah, let's try that one more time."

It took two more tries, but then she got the car cruising at about 5 mph on the parking lot.

"Oh my God," she breathed and stared straight ahead at the completely empty space before her. It barely moved at walking speed, but it still felt scary to be steering such a heavy thing like the Camaro, like she could crash into something any second now. But she was driving and let out an exhilarated laugh. "Oh my God!"

Billy said nothing, but gave her a pointed look she chose to ignore. He made her stop and start again half a dozen times, until they were both sure she could get the car running, even if it took her almost half a minute every time.

Since it would actually be faster to walk back to Jamie's house than let her drive there herself, they switched back so Billy was in the driver's seat. Now that she had figured it out, she marveled at how fast he got the car going from 0 to 70mph without even the slightest protest from the engine. It looked effortless.

"So, am I hired?" he asked when they were halfway back. They had spent most of the day at the parking lot and now daylight quickly faded away into twilight. Jamie hesitated. She hadn't thought that far ahead. Even with his sarcastic comments and scrutinizing stares and tendencies to violent outbursts, Billy Hargrove was actually a pretty decent teacher.

"Do you even have time, though?" Jamie asked as if she was trying to convince him to back out of the proposed deal, so she wouldn't have to. "Like, with the basketball team and-", she floundered to think of what else Billy Hargrove spent his time on; homework and chores didn't seem viable options, "-dating and grooming and... stuff?"

"Like I said, I need the cash," Billy said darkly, not looking at her. He shifted gears when they reached another car and made a nervewrackingly overtake before swerving back into the right lane again. "Besides, I figured it'd be a good investment. If you somehow manage to steal my car again at least it wouldn't be my brat of a step-sister driving."

Jamie was glad the dark concealed her face. They had never talked about that night, not that she and Billy talked that much to begin with, but she couldn't help but wonder what Max had given as an explanation. Billy had to have known something was going on, something a bit more serious than the role-playing game Dustin had made it out to be. Either Max had told him a convincing story or he simply didn't care. Jamie suspected Max' knocking him out and threatening him was a harder pill to swallow than any interdimensional monster-tale, but the relationship between him and Max had seemed to improve after that.

"If you want the job, you're hired," she finally said when they reached her street. At least Billy had the sense to slow down, the whole neighborhood crawled with kids. She grinned to lighten the mood. "Don't worry, I'll keep a low profile at school and pretend you're still just some guy I threw up on once."

"Much appreciated," Billy said without a trace of emotion in his voice and kept the car running after he pulled up by their house. His mood switched from hot to cold and back again without warning and suddenly his trademark smile glittered in the darkness. "Tell your mom I said hi."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," she said and waved her middle finger at him while she got out of the car. She heard him chuckle and the second she closed the door, he sped off. The Camaro spun away from sight, looking like a predatory shark in the sea of middle-class station wagons and minivans that littered the nearby streets.

Something caught her eye across the street up by Mr. Abber's house. A glint of light in a shadow darker than its surroundings. It was too far off for Jamie's enhanced night vision to help, but she heard the rustling of cloth and fast footsteps as the shadow moved.

Jamie paused by the front door, almost inclined to go after the shadow. She shook it off. Probably someone out walking their dog or something.

So, whoever guessed Billy was gonna teach Jamie how to drive, ding ding ding! 100% correct.
I'm not sure if this counts as fluff, but I personally like this chapter for its easygoing nature.

But come on, it's Hawkins, how long is it gonna stay monster-free?

Thank you so much for reading and extra big mega-heart to everyone who reviews. You are amazing!