Our Generation

by greenpeach20

It's the story of Billy and Sarah from when they first met to when they fall in love.

2. 1985 Part 1

1985 Part 1

The Vietnam War was over at last, but the casualties, especially from the reservations, were extremely heavy. Most of Ann's nephews had died in the war. The one who lived, Sam's father, shot himself not long after returning home. He'd done this right in front of Sam, who at the funeral seemed to show no feeling for what happened. To him, it seemed like an ordinary day. The day of the funeral, his mother was so drunk, she was crying hysterically. Not about her husband's death, but over nothing at all. But that was about eight years ago. The boys had all grown and the incident was a matter far from anyone's minds. Instead, Billy and Bobby focused on far more important things. Like their independence.

"Remember, Bobby. When you move out, I'm coming with you." Bobby chuckled and lit his cigarette.

"I know, Billy. I would never leave you behind, kid."

Billy had just started his senior year a few weeks ago. Bobby had finally and just barely graduated from high school. He'd been working at a convenience store in Forks for a few months and was planning to move out the minute he either had enough money or could find a roommate. Billy worked at the movie theatre in Hoquiam, so he was willing to help pay the bills. But he was still in school and Ann was determined Billy graduate too. Their father had never graduated from high school. He dropped out, joined the army, and was married all within two years. The boys, right now, were sitting at the kitchen table eating breakfast. Ann and Will were out at work, even though it was Sunday.

"How many people are you wanting to have move in together?"

"I was only thinking me, you, and maybe one other friend of mine. But it all depends. If our salaries together is enough, then we won't have to worry about having a third roommate." Billy smiled.

"That would be great. Have you decided whether you're going to the junior college or not?" Bobby shuddered.

"Shit. Mom's gonna want to know about that won't she?"

"Yeah, she will." Bobby gave Billy a mean look from his harsh tone.

"She'll also want to know about Angela, won't she?" Billy was confused.

"Who?"

"Don't who me. That white chick you've been dating for…shit, how long has it been?"

"Oh! It's Angelica, not Angela. And it hasn't been long. Maybe three months. Besides, it's nothing serious, so why does mom need to know about it?" Bobby laughed cruelly.

"Because if mom finds out by seeing you two making out on the couch or something, that poor thing will end up burnt on a stake. And if she gets knocked up, spirits be with you, 'cause you'll need it." Billy took the football next to his bed and threw it at his brother's head, who dodged with a laugh.

"I'm not the one that happened to, you ass. You're damn lucky she didn't want that kid either. I'm the one who spends his hard earned money on condoms thank you very much. You watch, Bobby. One of these days, you'll sleep with the wrong girl and you'll catch that weird gay disease that's been going around." Bobby shuddered.

"Don't talk about that. I hear it enough on the news in the morning when I'm trying to eat my breakfast." Billy laughed. "By the way, now that I'm thinking about it. One of my friends is getting a bunch of people together tonight for a bonfire birthday party and First Beach. There'll be booze and pot. You in?"

"You had me at booze and pot." Bobby and Billy laughed together for a few minutes. After they finished breakfast, Billy went with Bobby downtown so Bobby could stock up on his usual supply. Since he'd gotten Billy into it, He needed to buy twice as much until he made Billy pay his way.

The party was starting at nine, but Billy and Bobby didn't arrive until ten. The birthday boy had invited so many people, including people he didn't even know, that he wouldn't have noticed if Bobby was late. The bonfire was already reaching high into the sky with some people dancing around it while other people stayed near the water's edge. A group of guys say Bobby and Billy and walked over to them to welcome them to the party. Billy began walking around the beach looking for Quil, and Harry. Once he found them, he took them with him back to his brother who had the pot and cigarettes. One of Bobby's friends had the responsibility of bringing the beer.

"You remembered the beer, right James?" Bobby asked once they found the guy responsible for the beer. He nodded.

"Yeah, I brought it. I managed to get a few kegs too. The beers are in those coolers over there." Bobby smiled and looked back at Billy.

"You heard the man, Billy. Get me a beer and I'll roll us a joint. Harry, Quil, you guys want some?" Quil shrugged.

"I might take a little." Harry shook his head.

"No thanks. If Sue were to find out, she'd kill me." Bobby rolled his eyes at Harry.

"You see, this is what happens when you get a steady girlfriend. She takes over your life. Then before you know it, you're an alcoholic and she's a loud mouthed bitch." Billy hit Bobby's arm.

"Just because our parents are like that doesn't mean everyone else is. Sue's nothing like our mom."

"You, beer, now Billy." Billy smiled a little and walked away to where the beer was held. After a few paces, Billy took a moment and turned to look at everyone. "From a can or the tap?"

They all said they wanted it from a can, so Billy continued going towards to coolers of beer. There was a large group crowded around the coolers, so Billy had to push through a few people and wait his turn until they moved. Billy grabbed five beers and held them awkwardly as he turned around to make his way back to his group. As he was walking away, he looked towards the bonfire. He saw Harry dancing with Sue. Billy sighed and walked over to the bonfire and waited for Harry and Sue to come around so Billy could give him his beer. Billy spoke to them a little before leaving the bonfire to go back to Quil and Bobby to hand them all their beers.

"What took you so long, Billy?"

"I started talking to Harry. Sorry about that." Bobby waved his hand dismissively.

"Don't worry about it. Less pot for you I'm afraid." Bobby takes the joint from James and hands it to Billy. Billy then takes a drag from it and hands it to Quil, who inhaled a small amount and handed it back to James. Quil started coughing a little and Billy patted his back. Once Quil stopped coughing and was used to inhaling the smoke, Billy took another drag of the joint before handing it back to Quil, who just passed it back to James. "Billy!"

"What!" Billy responded, startled by Bobby's sudden outburst. Bobby began laughing.

"I just…..don't interrupt me. I just had a fucking awesome idea. We should totally cook these into brownies, and smoke them." Billy, feeling the drug begin to affect him, laughed too.

"Then we'd be smoking brownies." Bobby, Billy, and James began laughing together while Quil sat back and laughed a little, but not as amused by the concept.

Quil sat there not saying anything while Bobby and Billy had their high banter as if he were waiting for something. A few minutes went by of Quil looking around until he found what he was looking for and left the group. Billy watched Quil walk to a girl that looked familiar to him. But at the moment, he wasn't in a position to recall who she was. But whether Billy remembered who she was or not, he still thought she was really pretty. She was wearing a bright red one piece bathing suit and a pair of blue jean shorts and sandals. Quil pointed in his direction, and then the girl gently sneered and looked right back at Quil. This surprised Billy, of course. Quil talked to the woman a little longer before hugging her and walking back to the group, the woman walking to Harry and Sue.

"Who was that?" Billy asked, his voice harsh.

"Sarah. You know. My cousin. She's in the same English class as you. How do you not remember her? You can't be that high already." Billy sighed.

"Oh, right, Sarah. Why the fuck did she sneer at me? What the fuck did I do." Billy said angrily, but eventually began laughing. Quil sighed.

"She wasn't really sneering at you. She just didn't like the smell of pot. She's a good girl, Billy, and she has a high degree of morality."

"Sure, sure." Billy said. He wasn't angry anymore. Now he was laughing for no reason in particular. "How's she been?"

"Fine I guess. She's dating that one guy from the Makka reservation. Michael Redbird I think. I never really talked to him. I met him once."

"Cool. He sounds nice." Quil laughed at the unintended sarcasm in Billy's voice.

"I can't really say. I don't know him. He doesn't go to our school. What's funny is he's just ten feet or so out of district." Quil laughed a bit. "Oh well."

Billy stopped listening after that and took a gulp of beer and a drag of the joint. He finished it off and threw it in the sand and James crushed it. After they were done, Billy made the excuse that he wanted a cigarette and walked away from the group to go over to the water's edge. Sarah and Sue were playing around in the water together. Sarah's curly hair was now flat and hanging to her, and in Billy's now high state, he found it erotic and pleasuring to look at. Sue and Sarah didn't really look in his direction, so they didn't notice Billy was watching them. Harry ended up walking over to Billy, wanting some of his cigarette. When Harry was sitting next to him, he looked in the direction Billy was looking, then back.

"That's not Sue you're looking at is it?" Billy didn't answer. Harry waved his hand in front of his face, which made Billy jump and yell a little. Harry rolled his eyes. "I should've known you were high. I suppose a dog would look sexy in your condition."

"I'll have you know," Billy began, "that some dogs can get pretty hot. That doesn't mean you sleep with them. The amount of pot and booze it would take for me to do that would kill me first."

"No need to get defensive, Billy. I'm just teasing you. But seriously, Sue's mine. And don't bother trying for Sarah either. She's taken."

"So I heard. And what makes you think….….wait, what was I talking about?"

"Nothing important, Billy." Billy laughed a little to himself and fell onto his back resting in the sand.

"Would you get me a beer, please?" Harry nodded and went to the coolers, coming back with Billy's beer. Billy sat up to take the beer and opened it with his hands. Then he took a huge gulp with Harry watching him.

"Someone was thirsty."

"More hungry….I'm horny." Harry laughed.

"That's nice, Billy, but I'm not the one to talk to about that. I suggest you talk to Nikki. Is she here?" Nikki was the girl Billy had been dating for a few months now. They didn't have much else in common but sex and the occasional shared joint, but that was enough. Billy grinned.

"Oh yeah. I forgot about her." Harry rolled his eyes.

"You're an ass sometimes, Billy. You know that?" Billy nodded.

"Yep! Lend me your keys. Bobby drove us here."

"Billy, you're high and after that beer you'll probably be drunk. I would sooner let my twelve year old sister drive my car."

"Fine, I'll walk." Billy stood up too fast, then instantly fell over again.

"Are you sure you can even do that? Maybe you should at least let the pot wear off before attempting to go anywhere." Billy shook his head.

"No, I need to get there while I'm still high." Billy forced himself up again, managing to stay up this time, and started walking away from the beach. Harry and Billy waved goodbye to each other while he walked away. Billy managed to remember to tell Bobby that he was going to Nikki's house and Bobby reminded him to make sure to go through the window and not ring the doorbell. Nikki's parents hated Billy and refused to allow him in their house. So if he needed to go to her house, it was always a sneaking method of getting laid, as Billy sometimes put it. Once Billy arrived at Nikki's house after stammering around a little. Once he found Nikki's window, he knocked gently until she finally came to the window, opened it, and bent her head down slightly to bring it out.

"Billy? It's one in the morning. What are you doing here?" Billy grinned, bent down, and kissed Nikki.

"You know why." Nikki sighed and smiled.

"Are you high or drunk?"

"It's a little of both. Can I come in?" Nikki grinned wider and moved aside so Billy could step into her room through the window. When he was inside, Nikki closed the window and pushed Billy onto her bed.

"The condoms are in my nightstand. Fetch one and we'll get started." Billy nodded dumbly and hurried to fetch a condom so they could get on with what he wanted to do for the night. Billy reached into her nightstand and pulled out two condoms, taking one of them with him. Once he showed it to Nikki, she smiled and went right to business.

She started by pulling off Billy's dirty white t-shirt and tossed it off to the side. Then Nikki kneeled down on the floor and tickled Billy's chest. She dragged her nails down his chest and nipped at his skin. Not wanting to wake up her parents, Billy bit his lip so he wouldn't laugh while she was tickling him. She tickled him more by using her tongue on his stomach. When she reached the top of his pants, she licked around and unbuttoned his pants with her teeth, even trying to unzip his pants with her teeth. Once his pants where unzipped, Billy did the rest himself and pulled off his pants and boxer shorts. Once that was all off, Nikki took his member into her mouth and Billy laid back and enjoyed.

About ten minutes later, Nikki undressed herself, grabbed the condom from Billy's hand, put it on, and straddled Billy, taking him inside her. Billy held onto her hips and controlled most of her movements while she was on top of him. They both kept themselves quite, the only noise coming from the squeaking coming from the bed. Wanting to rectify this problem, Nikki told Billy to put her on the floor and be on top. Billy complied and the noise was finally gone and Nikki stopped worrying about her parents hearing. Nikki and Billy were finished after about twenty minutes of humping and when Billy was done, he immediately fell asleep. He woke up to someone nudging him. He was under a blanket with a pillow under his head. Billy turned his head and saw Nikki smiling.

"I hate to bug you, but you better get going. I don't want my parents catching you here." Billy groaned. His head was throbbing and he was starving.

"What time is it?"

"It's five o'clock." Billy's eyes widened and his voice was quiet and harsh.

"In the morning? Are you out of your mind, woman?" Nikki rolled her eyes and sighed.

"You know Billy, if you want my dad to shoot you in the ass with his shotgun, you're welcome to stay and sleep in." Billy sighed heavily and sat up on the floor. Nikki retrieves Billy's clothes and tosses them at him.

"Fine, I'm going, I'm going."

"You know Billy, I prefer you when you're baked or drunk. You're nicer when you're not sober."

"Shut up." Billy said, putting his clothes on.

"My point exactly." Billy rolled his eyes and snuck out of Nikki's window without another word to her. His head was throbbing and he wasn't in the mood to talk at the moment. Billy passed the convenience store on his way home, so he stopped in to get something to eat. He looked through the aisles trying to find something good. Billy touched his back pocket, then realizes his wallet wasn't there. Billy checks his other three pockets, but his wallet wasn't there.

"Shit." Billy mumbled to himself. He wasn't too worried, though. He probably just forgot his wallet on his nightstand. But still extremely hungry, Billy glanced towards the register to see if the cashier was looking at him. He wasn't even at the register. Billy took advantage of the lack of supervision and grabbed a back of crackerjacks and ran out of the store. He wasn't followed, so Billy took a deep breath and began eating, tossing away the toy ring in the bag.

Billy finished the bag before reaching his house and tossed the bag in one of Ann's flowerbeds that she never attended to. When he walked in, the first thing he saw was his dad sleeping in her chair with a beer in his hand. Billy sighed and took off his shoes before walking towards his room. Bobby was still asleep and snoring loudly. Billy took off his pants and went right to sleep the moment his head touched his pillow. He was eventually woken up by a sting on his arm. His eyes shot open and saw Ann standing above him, her arms now crossed and a sneer on her face.

"What the hell are you doing home? It's nine thirty in the fucking morning, Billy! School started an hour ago!" Billy heard Bobby groan in the background.

"Mom," Bobby said, his voice thick and groggy, "you don't have to scream. Some of us can sleep in now, you know."

"You get your ass out of bed too, Bobby! You have work in an hour!" Bobby sighed.

"I'll get out of bed when I want to, mom." Ann eventually rolled her eyes and looked back at Billy.

"Your ass better be dressed and ready to go to school in five minutes, or so help me God, Billy,"

"Alright, alright! Jesus mom, calm the fuck down!" Ann slapped Billy.

"Don't talk to me like that, Billy." Then Ann walked out of the boy's room so Billy could get dressed. He ended up just putting on his pants from last night and leaving on the shirt he slept in and left the house with a strawberry poptart in hand. Billy and Ann didn't say anything to each other and Will was already at work.

Before leaving, Billy reached for his wallet on the mantel, then remembered he didn't have it. He went back to his room to look for it and asked Bobby if he'd seen it, but came out with nothing. Billy cursed out loud before marching out of the house to go to school, despite now being almost two hours late for school. He walked in, saying hello to the hall monitor, and walked right to his second period class, English. The teacher thanked Billy for finally gracing the class with his presence before returning back to the lecture and Billy sat in his seat. He didn't pay attention to the lecture at all. He had a seat in the back, so he could get away with sleeping here and there. When the bell rang, Billy was about to get out of his seat when Sarah of all people walked over to him. He looked up at her confused.

"What?" Sarah reached into her purse and pulled out a wallet. It was his wallet! He grabbed it from Sarah and put it in his back pocket.

"Don't say thank you or anything." Billy looked at her awkwardly a moment before standing and smiling for a second.

"Sure, thanks." Billy then walked away from her, leaving Sarah glaring at Billy for being so rude. He didn't even ask why she had his wallet in the first place. But instead of staying mad, she brushed it off as water under the bridge and left for her third period class. Billy got a chance to hang out with Nikki during lunch, but all they really did was make out in his car for the whole lunch period.

After school, Billy went straight to work and didn't come home until eleven at night. Billy liked hardly being at home. It was more peaceful that way. When Billy woke up the next morning, he was sure that it was at eight so he wouldn't have to listen to Ann yell at him. While Billy got dressed, Bobby stayed in bed, snoring like a lawn mower. Any normal person would never be able to sleep through that. Billy, on the other hand, had adapted to it. Billy got himself some breakfast from the pantry and walked out of the house. Ann and Will were already at work. But halfway to school, Billy stopped. He didn't really feel like going to school today. He decided to turn around and instead make his way to First Beach. He found a spot where a white log had started growing and died, making a makeshift bench in the sand. He took a seat, took out his brother's weed, and lit up. All that was missing was a beer, but that he could live without.

After a half hour, Billy was high and feeling a lot better. But after an hour, he ended up falling asleep on the white log and not waking up until he heard the sound of people laughing. Getting back into sitting position, Billy rubbed his bloodshot eyes realizing he just slept through his high and he wasn't happy about it. He'd only brought enough for the one, so he instead pulled out a cigarette and smoked that. The two people laughing were approaching closer, but he ignored them. He ignored them until one of them, a man he'd never met that was probably from the Makka reservation, came to Billy and cleared his throat. Billy looked up at the guy, his mouth in a hard line and his eyebrows furrowed slightly trying to be intimidating. It usually worked. It certainly made this guy hesitate to talk.

"Listen, I hate to ask you to leave, but would you? My girlfriend and I would like to be alone." Billy looked behind the guy and saw Sarah standing a few feet away. She looked nervous. Billy actually laughed a bit.

"My, my, Sarah. And all this time, I thought you were a good girl."

"Hey," the guy, who Billy realized must be Michael, spoke in her defense, "what she does with her boyfriend is no business of yours."

"I was actually referring to how she seems to have skipped school to hang out with you." Michael looked confused.

"What are you talking about? It's four. School ended an hour ago."

"Oh. Well….fuck me, then."

"Look, would you please just go? I'm asking you nicely."

"And I'm telling you 'no' nicely. I'm sure one of you has a perfectly good car or home to go to for this." Sarah walked to Michael and took his arm in her hands.

"Let's just go, Michael."

"I'll take care of this, Sarah." Michael said to Sarah, dismissing her comment. "What my girlfriend and I do is our own damn business and where we chose to do what we want is our own damn business too. All you're doing is smoking. You can do that anywhere." Billy sighed and took another drag from his cigarette. Then he stood from the log and went to Michael with an apologetic smile. Michael was relieved to have won.

"That's true I suppose." When Michael breathed in relief, Billy put out his cigarette on Michael's arm and walked away when he yelled in pain. Sarah went to his side and stopped him from going after Billy to fight. She told him Billy wasn't worth their time. Later that night, after Sarah said goodbye to Michael, she went straight to her room and called Sue and Kelly and told them to come to her house immediately. They were both there in five minutes running out of the rain that had just started pouring.

"What's so urgent that you had to call us this late, Sarah?" Sue asked while taking off her jacket.

"I'll tell you in my room." Sarah didn't want to talk about this in front of her parents, who were in the living room watching a movie together. They hated the Blacks, and today's events would make things worse if they heard about it. Sarah wasn't fond of them either and today had certainly made it worse for her. Once Sue and Kelly's jacket's were off, they went straight to Sarah's room, who closed the door behind her and sat on her bed with her two friends.

"So what's the big issue?" Kelly asked. Sarah sighed and looked at her friends.

"I went on a walk at First Beach with Michael, and we ran into Billy Black while we were there. Michael asked him nicely to leave so we could be alone and he put out his cigarette on Michael's arm!" Sue was wide-eyed, but Kelly wasn't too impressed.

"Oh my God, he did?" Sue said. Kelly shrugged.

"Sorry for my lack of reaction. I see Sam do it to himself all the time. I guess I'm a little desensitized by that sort of thing." Sue scrunched her nose.

"I don't know what you see in that man. He's worse than Billy. At least Billy has a soul." Sarah laughed without humor.

"That's debatable." Sue shook her head.

"You don't know Sam very well. When you talk to him, he's really charming and all, but he's so…I don't know. Something about him just isn't right."

"A lot of people think that, but there's nothing wrong with him. He had a hard life is all. Come on, his father committed suicide in front of him and his mother's an alcoholic. He's bound to be a little disturbed, but he's still really nice."

"And am I the only one who remembers he didn't cry at his dad's funeral? That's not right."

"He never knew his father to begin with. You can't mourn for a person you know nothing about. Stop chastising my boyfriend, Sue. We're here because Sarah's having a crisis." Sarah rolled her eyes.

"It's not a crisis per se. I just can't believe he would have to audacity to do that to Michael. He wasn't getting aggressive or anything, so he didn't deserve to have his cigarette put out on his arm."

"Exactly." Said Sue. Kelly, on the other hand, shrugged again.

"Yes, the cigarette thing was in bad taste, but in Billy's defense, he was there first and you and Michael came out of nowhere and started telling him that he was in your spot? That's not going to blow over well with anyone."

"We didn't force him," Sarah said, getting defensive, "we asked him nicely to leave."

"Yes, and he said no. Instead of stomaching it and walking away to go somewhere else, Michael persisted, and frankly, I have a hard time believing you and Michael were polite to him through that whole conversation. You have a bad habit, Sarah, and that's thinking you're better than certain people. It's an unhealthy thought to have and it'll get you in trouble one of these days. You're nice in every other respect and to anyone else, but the minute you're encountered with someone like Billy Black, Bobby Black, or Sam Uley, you start acting like you're better than they are."

"No I don't." Kelly sighed.

"Yes you do, Sarah. And it's not intentional, I know. I blame your parents for how you act around the Blacks and the Uleys. You're parents don't like them, so you don't either. It's a basic example of Monkey See, Monkey Do." Sue looked at Kelly surprised.

"When did you get so philosophical?"

"Psychological is the word you're looking for, firstly, and secondly, this psych class I've been taking is really getting to me." Sue sighed.

"She's in a psych class and she still doesn't see anything wrong with her boyfriend." Sue said to herself. Kelly didn't respond and Sarah sat back thinking about what Kelly had said.

"Am I really that mean? To the Blacks and the Uleys I mean?" Kelly nodded.

"Not verbally as much as mannerly, but yes, yes you are. Remember when Sam and I went on a double date with you and Michael not long ago? I had to spend the rest of the night apologizing to Sam because the way you spoke to him was offensive. He said he didn't care, but whether or not he did, I did."

"So what, I'm supposed to apologize to Billy about what happened? I didn't say anything to him. I tried to tell Michael he wasn't worth it."

"A-ha!" Kelly yelled, interrupting Sarah. "That's exactly it, Sarah. Who are you to judge Billy? To be frank, Sarah, you don't even know the man. Quil and Harry insist he's a nice guy, so there must be a reason. They both care about Billy and try to help him and have been trying for a year to get Billy to quit smoking marijuana. If they didn't care about Billy, they wouldn't do any of that. You, on the other hand, stayed mad for a while after that ball incident in kindergarten, then heard from your parents how mean his parents were and how Billy and Bobby were both rotten seeds, you see him from a distance and see nothing but a druggy, which he isn't by the way, and a drunk and presume you have a right to judge him despite knowing nothing about him."

"I know plenty about him."

"Enlighten me then." Kelly challenged. Sue was now leaning against the wall trying to stay out of the argument.

"He smokes, he does pot, he's a drinker, and he's dating that Nicole…..Driftwood was her name?" Kelly shrugged.

"Yes, he's dating Nicole, yes he smokes, pot as well, and he drinks on occasion. Why does he do these things, Sarah?"

"Because he thinks it makes him cool." Taking Sarah by surprise, Kelly reached over to her and slapped her. Sarah looked at her shocked. "What was that for?"

"You just proved my point, Sarah. You know the outside, but you make no effort to understand the inside and you assume he's a rotten bastard just because his life has been taking a bad turn. You have no right to do that. I admit, I don't know the man very well, either, but at least I have the common decency to understand that I don't know enough about him to pass judgment. I would expect more from you, Sarah."

"That doesn't mean you slap me!"

"Sorry, but it's what you deserved. You confront Billy tomorrow if you want, which I suspect is what you wanted to talk to us about, but just remember this: until you know the man, say nothing foul of him. Chances are, you've been wrong all along. I'm going home. I have a test tomorrow." Kelly got up from the bed and walked out of Sarah's room, closing the door behind her. A moment of silence passed with Sarah looking at her bed covers feeling a little ashamed of herself. Sue eventually cut the silence.

"I still say something's not right about Sam."

The next day, Billy still wasn't at school. Thankfully, Quil was and she took the opportunity of lunch hour to pull Quil away from his usual seat with a group of friends and pulled him outside to talk.

"Quil, are you busy after school? I want to talk to you about something."

"I have to work, Sarah. Just talk to me now." Sarah sighed and looked at the floor.

"I wanted to talk to you…..about Billy Black." Quil looked confused.

"About Billy? Why? Did something happen?" Sarah nodded, then she shook her head.

"Kind of, but it's nothing really. Michael and I saw Billy at First Beach and Billy put out his cigarette on Michael's arm after we asked him to leave." Quil sighed.

"Did he hurt you?" Sarah shook her head.

"No, Quil, he didn't hurt me."

"Then what's the problem?"

"The problem is I was really mad about what happened, so I called Sue and Kelly to come to my house yesterday to talk to them about it. I had every intention of confronting Billy today, but Kelly explained that I had no right to pass judgment on Billy because I don't know him. And now, Billy isn't at school anyway." Quil sighed.

"Okay. And what does needing to talk to me have to do with this? If you want me to tell you whether or not you're unfair to Billy, then yes, you are."

"No, that's not why I wanted to talk to you. I wanted to ask you a little about Billy." Quil was dumbfounded a moment.

"Why?"

"Because I feel bad, okay. Kelly really upset me with what she said yesterday and now I feel like I should at least try to understand Billy before I assume anything about him. You've been friends with Billy for years, so I figured you could tell me about him. I'll wait here in the hall if you want to go get your lunch really quick." Quil sighed heavily and walked back into the cafeteria without saying a word. Sarah leaned against the wall and slide down until she was sitting on the floor. Quil came back with his lunch and sat down next to Sarah.

"What do you want to know?" Quil asked. Sarah took a deep breath.

"What's his family like? My parents don't like his, and I never actually knew why."

"His parents are horrible." Quil said frankly, "That I can promise you. His father's usually at work. And when he's home, he's asleep on the couch drunk. Sometimes, he brings other women to the house whenever Ann isn't around. That's Billy's mom. Ann. His dad is usually called Will. Will works for a sewage company I think. And Billy's mom is a nurse at the hospital on the rez."

"What's so bad about his mom?" Quil laughed without humor.

"She a bitter demon's spawn is what she is. Before she married Will, she was one of the most respected nurses at the hospital and was even in line to get a promotion. But when she met Will, they had a one night stand after he'd been released from the hospital for a war injury to his leg and Ann got pregnant. They got married after Bobby was born and Billy came around shortly thereafter. But Ann and Will were never in love. Their marriage started going downhill long before Billy was actually born. They stay together for the boys, but it's done nothing but make things worse at home for Billy and Bobby."

"They're at least good to Billy and Bobby right? Just because they aren't in love doesn't mean they're bad to their kids."

"Ann's delusional. She thinks she's a wonderful mother, but frankly, an Ogre would be a better mother than her. I would sooner trust my children with Charles Manson. She's critical, she yells at them all the time, she argues with Will in front of them, she's hit Billy and Bobby to the point of abuse and in front of me and Harry before, mind you, and a number of other things. I could go on forever explaining everything about Ann that makes her a horrible mother. But most of it stems from the fact that she never wanted to be a mother in the first place. So when that lifestyle was forced on her and she couldn't get an abortion, she became extremely bitter about it and she brings it out on Bobby and Billy."

"Why couldn't she get an abortion?" Quil shrugged.

"She didn't catch it fast enough, plain and simple. She found out she was pregnant after two months and didn't finally find an abortion clinic until she was six months along. It was all the way in Canada I think. By the time she could go, she was so far along, the doctors refused to do it for her and suggested she give the baby up for adoption. But you know the early seventies. If you were black, no one wanted your bastard. And if you were Native American, definitely no one wanted your bastard. She went to an adoption facility and they turned her away on the spot because they doubted her child would ever be adopted by the list of people waiting to adopt, who were predominantly white. So she was left with no other choice to find William Black and tell him she was pregnant. She was a few weeks away from going into labor before she did finally get a hold of him. He'd been really upset about his leg injury or something, so his dad and brother took him to Las Vegas to cheer him up. They got married at the court house the day after Bobby was born."

"How do you know all this?"

"My dad was once good friends with Billy's dad. They were war buddies and such. According to my dad, Will used to be a really fun person and they'd been best friends since school. But when they were both drafted to go to Vietnam, Will didn't handle it as well. He became a little paranoid and the bombs shook his composure and such for life. Then when he got shot and sent home, he was so messed up that they didn't recognize him anymore. And when he married Ann, everything just got worse. She brought out the worst in Will and he became a completely different person."

"That's horrible. What about the boys? Is he at least good to them?" Quil shrugged a bit.

"Will isn't quite as bad, but he's not a saint either. I distinctly remember, Harry and I went to Billy's house twice in our lives. The first time we visited was when Ann got mad at Billy for something and she beat him with a sauce pan in front of us. We ended up running out of the house screaming and I was sobbing when I got home because Ann had scared me so much. A few years later, Harry and I went to Billy's house again. This time when we went, Ann and Will had gotten into a fight that turned physical. Will punched Ann in the face first, then she hit him over the head with his beer bottle, then they started fighting more from there. At one point, Will had Ann on the couch and he was chocking her. He didn't get off her until Ann kicked his crotch and he fell over yelling in pain. Then Ann hit him over the head again with another beer bottle and Will lost consciousness. She just left him there on the floor and went to her room." Sarah's hand was now over her mouth, not believing what she was hearing.

"Why would they do that? And in front of their children no less."

"Ann never cared and Will's too drunk to care. The man lost the will to live years ago from what I know and consequently, he lost any care he had for the boys along with it. Since this was how his parents were acting, Billy became extremely testy and would lash out at other kids. He was always sad, no matter what Harry and I ever did. Every now and then, we would manage to cheer him up a little. Billy was only happy when he was away from the house. Same thing with Bobby. Billy and Bobby both started smoking around sixth grade when Bobby befriended twelfth graders who were willing to buy them cigarettes. And about a year and a half ago, Bobby found a marijuana dealer and started buying from him. Billy got into that too.

"They'd both been drinking for years. The first time I ever saw Billy drunk was when we were thirteen years old. Harry and I have tried for years to get Billy to stop, but nothing we do works. We even did a make shift intervention. All that accomplished was Billy smashing my parent's TV and walking out in a rage. After all this time, Harry and I don't know what to do anymore. I hate sitting back and watching, but what else can I do? He won't listen to anyone except Bobby. Bobby was the only one he ever felt he could really look up to growing up in that house. So if Bobby does drugs and drinks heavily and is promiscuous, then Billy will too, not caring that he'll wither away like Bobby is."

There was a collective silence between Sarah and Quil after that. Sarah was staring at the floor, now feeling really ashamed of herself. She'd always assumed Billy was just a bad kid and didn't like him because she thought he was a bad influence. Quil's story shed a new light on Billy and she realized she couldn't help pity him. She couldn't imagine how horribly that life would really, deeply scar him. She could understand his hostility and the habits he'd developed and she felt awful that she'd assumed something as stupid as him doing what he did because he thought it made him cool. After thinking for a few minutes of silence and rested her head on her knees.

"I can't believe I wanted to yell at him."

"Don't pity him, Sarah. The last thing Billy needs is pity. He needs something to force him to give up everything he's been doing and turn himself on the right track." Sarah sighed.\

"Do you know where he is?"

"No idea. Sometimes he just doesn't come to school. Don't go out looking for him if that's what you're thinking." Sarah shook her head.

"That's not what I was going to do. I was just concerned is all. I owe him an apology." Quil nodded.

"I know. Wait until tomorrow. If he isn't here tomorrow, then you can try his house, but I wouldn't count on him being there. Billy usually works after school anyway and he works as late as he possibly can."

"Where does he work?"

"Hillcrook Theatre in Hoquiam. He's one of the ushers." Sarah lifted her head up and started looking at her hands. "I mean it, Sarah. Leave Billy alone. I don't want you going in with good intentions and coming out having been barked at for meddling. Wait until he's at school, just apologies and tell him why, and let that be the end of it. You are not to brae the word that I told you all this stuff about him, do you hear me?" Sarah nodded.

"Yes, Quil, I hear you." Quil finally smiled and hugged Sarah, wrapping his right arm around her shoulder.

"Thanks, Sarah. Sometimes, you make me worry too much, you know that?" Quil stood and helped Sarah to her feet. She said she wanted to stay outside for a little while, and Quil went back in with his lunch and let Sarah be alone.

Sarah went through the rest of the day normally. But after school when she got into her car, the guilt she was feeling became even worse. Sarah then took a deep breath and turned on her car. She went straight to Hoquiam and asked for directions until she finally found the Hillcrook Theatre. She went inside and bought a ticket for the first movie she saw on the bulletin and ran in. She didn't she didn't even care that she had bought a ticket for The Return of the Living Dead. She hated horror movies. But this wasn't about seeing a movie. This was about making amends and making herself stop feeling guilty.

"Your ticket miss." The ticket vendor said, trying to get Sarah's attention. Sarah handed her his ticket, then he tore it down the line and handed her back the portion she needed.

"Hey, would you happen to know if Billy's working today?"

"Billy who? We have three Billys who work here."

"Billy Black?" The vendor smiled.

"Oh yeah, him. I like him. He's a hard worker. He's really quiet though."

"Is he working today?" The vendor nodded.

"Yeah. He just got here an hour ago actually. Did you need to talk to him or something? Better Off Dead… just let out, so he's probably in there cleaning. If he isn't there, I can have someone find him for you." Sarah shook her head.

"That's okay. I'll look for him. Thank you…Jerry."

"Not a problem, miss. Enjoy the movie."

"Thank you." Sarah walked past the ropes and went to the screen that claimed was showing Better Off Dead… an hour and a half ago. She walked into the theatre and looked for Billy. She found him at the top rows cleaning up popcorn in black dress pants and a white polo shirt that probably had the theatre's name on the chest. She decided to wait for him to be finished and went back outside to wait for him. She looked at her ticket, which said her movie was in theatre 17. She shoved it in her pocket and waited outside theatre 12 for Billy to come out. She waited about five minutes and when Billy came out, he was talking to the other person who had been cleaning.

"I've cleaned after this movie so many times, but I've never actually watched it." The other guy said. Billy smiled.

"I know what you mean." The other guy sighed.

"I remember when Return of the Jedi was showing here. I cleaned up after every showing, but I didn't see it until the night before we were going to stop showing it. Were you working here then?"

"No. I didn't start working here until last year."

"Oh yeah, that's right." Billy ended up glancing Sarah's way and was a little surprised to see her, but otherwise said nothing to her and appeared to ignore her. Sarah took that moment to get his attention.

"Billy." Billy looked at Sarah. The other guy glanced at her and took the cleaning bin from Billy's hand.

"I'll take care of this, Billy." Then that guy walked away, leaving Billy alone with Sarah. Billy turned his body to face hers and leaned against the way, his arms crossed, his mouth in a hard line.

"You didn't come all the way here just to demand I apologize about yesterday or something did you?" Sarah shook her head.

"No. That had been my original intention, but I've thought about it and I realized I owed you an apology." Billy looked at Sarah intently and dumbfounded. They were both quiet a moment until Billy cut the silence.

"What?" Sarah sighed.

"I wanted to say I was sorry. I had planned on confronting you about what you did yesterday, but when I told Kelly about it, she grilled me for the whole thing. She told me I had no right to judge you so harshly when I didn't know you. I thought about what she said all day and I felt horrible about it, so I came here to say I was sorry. So…..sorry." Billy and Sarah stared at each other a moment without speaking. Billy was looking at her critically now.

"Okay. Thanks I guess." They were silent again. Sarah stared at the ground awkwardly while Billy looked at her and the floor back and forth. Eventually, he sighed. "And I'm sorry about the cigarette thing. That was rude of me." Sarah looked up at Billy, a little surprised. Eventually she smiled sincerely and Billy realized she had a beautiful smile.

"It's okay."

"And," Billy interrupted, "thanks for…you know. Apologizing. It means a lot to me to have someone do that." Sarah smiled a little more.

"You're welcome." They were quiet again until Billy looked at Sarah's hands and didn't see a ticket.

"Did you get in without buying a ticket?" Sarah shook her head.

"No, I had to buy one." Billy chuckled, then reached into his back pocket, pulling out his wallet. Then he pulled out a $2.30 and handed it to Sarah. Sarah looked at the money surprised. "What's this for?"

"It's your money back. I'm sorry you had to pay to see me." Billy's voice was teasing and Sarah laughed a bit with him.

"You don't have to do this." Billy shook his head.

"No, I insist. What movie ticket did you get?"

"The Return of the Living Dead." Billy began laughing. First gently, then the laughter got harder. Sarah started laughing too. When Billy had enough control of his laugh, he shook his head at Sarah.

"I never took you for the type that liked scary movies."

"Believe me, I'm not. I like the movies my mom and daddy watch. My mom's a huge Meryl Streep fan, so I've seen all her movies. Both my parents really like M.A.S.H, so I grew up watching that." Billy grinned.

"It was the only show that my dad and I could ever agree on. We used to watch M.A.S.H all the time." Sarah lost a little of her smile, reminded of all that Quil had told her about Billy and his relationship with his parents. Billy looked at her confused. "What's the matter?" Sarah shook her head.

"Nothing. I just thought about something silly." Then she reached into her pocket to get out her ticket she had purchased. "Anyway, do you want my ticket? I wasn't planning to watch it." Billy smiled and took it.

"Sure. I love B-rated horror movies." Billy looked at the ticket, then chuckled. "This started twelve minutes ago."

"Oh. I'm sorry. I didn't see what time it was playing. I just picked something so I could come in." Billy chuckled and put the ticket in his pocket.

"It's fine. I get to see movies for free anyway. And yet, we usually work so much we don't have time. At least I know I never do." Again, Sarah thought of that afternoon, but she tried not to let on how bad she felt.

"Maybe you could make time. You don't have to go home or anything. Go out with a few friends. Take Nicole out for dinner, or something. You two are dating right?" Billy shrugged.

"That's true I guess. But I don't usually like doing things with Nikki. We don't have anything in common."

"Then why are you two dating?" Billy gave Sarah a slight smile and half closed eyes. Sarah got the hint. "Oh. Well…fuck me, then." Billy laughed and Sarah joined. After they were both done laughing, Billy looked at Sarah a little with a smile.

"I was about to take a cigarette break. Do you want to come out with me and talk?" Sarah looked at Billy a little while, somewhat reluctant to accept his offer. But if they were only going outside to talk, she didn't see the harm in it, so she nodded and smiled.

"Sure. I can do that. I've got nowhere to go."

"Awesome. Meet me at the front then." Billy walked away after that and Sarah used one of the exit doors near where she and Billy had been talking and walked around until she was at the front entrance of the theatre. She waited three minutes before Billy came out, a cigarette in his mouth that he was trying to light. When his was lit, he pulled out his pack and offered it to Sarah. "Want one?" Sarah shook her head.

"No thank you, I don't smoke." Billy shrugged and put the pack back in his shirt pocket.

"So let me ask you something."

"Sure. What?"

"What else brought on this little change of opinion towards me? It couldn't have just been Kelly's little equal rights speech. I have to be honest, she's not usually very persuasive."

"I promise, it was just my talk with her." Billy kept looking at her like he didn't believe her. Eventually, Sarah sighed and leaned against the wall. "I may have also asked Quil about you."

"What?"

"I was curious. Kelly had me realize I really didn't know much about you and I figured I should have a basic understanding of you, so I went to Quil. Please don't be mad at him or anything. I made him tell me." Billy took in a large breath of smoke and blew it out his nose before looking at Sarah again, eventually smiling.

"Alright, I won't tell him I know. Again, thanks for taking the time to get to know me before assuming I'm this vicious prick. Though I guess it depends who you talk to and in what condition you see me. When I'm sober and away from home, I'm fine. That's why Bobby and I are working so much. We're trying to save up enough money to move out of the house and find our own place."

"That's great!" Billy looked at Sarah strangely.

"You wouldn't happen to care so much all of a sudden because you pity me would you?" Sarah shook her head.

"No, not at all. I mean, I feel bad about what your childhood was like, but the last thing you need is pity. What you need is empathy and great friends." Billy laughed at Sarah again.

"Thanks for that, Anti-Drug Ad. I'm willing to bet Quil told you about my pot smoking habit did he?" Sarah sighed.

"I already knew about that on my own, but yes, he specified. You shouldn't do that stuff. Pot's a gateway drug, you know. It won't be long before your brother finds a different drug that's worse than marijuana. And your life will be ruined with that first use." Billy sighed.

"Look, Sarah, I know what you're trying to do, and I think it's adorable. But I'm a grown man who's capable of doing what he wants when he wants."

"That's not the point. It's…..never mind. Just forget I even tried." Billy sighed.

"Okay, I'm sorry. Please don't get snappy with me."

"I'm not getting snappy." Sarah said calmly. "All I'm saying is that Harry and Quil worry about you and it's really selfish of you to go on the way you are because it's a manor of escape." Taking Sarah by surprise, Billy put his right hand against the brick wall and stepped in front of her. His breath reeked of cigarette smoke and the smoke was traveling up from his left hand where his cigarette was being held.

"Alright. I'm being selfish. Fair enough. What do you suggest I do instead, Sarah? Pot makes me feel better and so does drinking and smoking calms me down. Do you know of any healthy alternatives? I'm all ears." Sarah stepped away from Billy, the smell giving her a headache.

"Don't mock me, Billy." Billy breathed out, then rested his back against the wall. He took another big drag of his cigarette and threw it to the ground to put it out while breathing out the smoke. Once it was out, Billy walked a little closer to Sarah and looked apologetic.

"I wasn't trying to mock you. I was just saying." Billy and Sarah both looked at the ground after that. Billy scratched the back of his head before awkwardly offering his apology. "Look, I'm sorry, okay. Let me make it up to you. I can call it quits at seven, so why don't you let me treat you to some food." Sarah's head shot up to look at Billy, her eyes wide and suspicious.

"You mean like a date?"

"No, not a date. I'm just offering to make things up to you. Hell, I'll even throw in free movie tickets for you and the meathead, whatever his name is."

"Michael."

"Yeah. That thing." Sarah was trying not to giggle now. She had to admit, Billy wasn't near as bad as she had thought before. He was humorous and even handsome when he was smiling and being nice. Talking to him this afternoon, she would never remember all the bad things about Billy that had made her dislike him in the first place. Normally, the few times she really encountered him, he was either high and/or drunk off his ass, or really irritable because he was recovering from it. If this was the sober Billy Black, she had to admit she might be able to think of him as a friend. Sarah nodded, still fighting a laugh.

"Fine. Free dinner and a free movie. Who can argue with that?" Billy finally smiled.

"I knew you would see things my way. So what movie do you think the meathead would want to see?" This time, Sarah laughed at the chosen name. She couldn't resist the All in the Family reference. It was one of the many shows her and daddy used to watch together all the time.

"He said he wanted to see Better Off Dead…." Billy laughed.

"Everyone wants to see that movie. Alright, two free tickets for Better Off Dead… will be yours after I finish my shift. I'll meet you here at seven, okay." Sarah nodded.

"Sure. I'll meet you here." Billy and Sarah said goodbye to each other, then Billy walked back inside the theatre and Sarah went right to her car. It was five twenty right now, so she had a lot of time to kill. She decided to take the opportunity to start looking for a homecoming dress. She and Michael were going together, the dance was in a week, and she still had no dress for the occasion.

Sarah drove around until she found a dress boutique. Sarah looked through the dresses hoping to find a discount dress that was pretty. She was looking for a pink dress. Michael really liked her in pink. But all the pink dresses she found were either dirty or ugly. From that boutique, she only ended up buying a big gaudy fake diamond necklace and matching earrings that were almost the same size as her ears. She found a mall and went into a Macy's to look for dresses, again veering towards the discount dresses.

She looked through the pink dresses and found a few that she really liked. As Sarah was looking through the dresses, one in particular caught her eye. It wasn't pink. It was actually black. The bodice looked tight fitting until it reached just below the hips where it relaxed and flowed. It didn't look like it would go below her knees and the sleeves were long and right off the shoulder that would most likely cover most of her upper arms with spaghetti straps for support. Sarah took the dress from the rack to look at it more closely and turned it around to see a large bow joining together the off the shoulder sleeves. She really liked how the dress looked on the rack and decided to put it among the dresses she would try on. There was no harm in trying things on.

Sarah found a few other dresses to try on and when she had twelve dresses together, she went to the dressing room. She tried on all the pink dresses and didn't like any of them. They were mostly too poufy or something. When she got to the black dress though, she put it on and fell in love. It hugged her figure beautifully, showing off her generous hips and breasts and small waist. The color complimented her black eyes and naturally curly hair that she always amped up with hair spray. With the dress on, Sarah began playing with her hair trying to picture what up-do she would have with this dress. Eventually, she looked at the price and grinned. It was discounted 50%. When she asked the store clerk about it, she told her it was an old style, so it was discounted. Sarah wasn't about to complain about it.

When she was done shopping, she looked at her clock in the car and panicked a little. She had five minutes to get back to the theatre. So she floored it and got back as fast as she could. She hated being late to anything. She got to the theatre ten minutes after seven and went straight for the entrance. She waited another ten minutes before Billy finally came out dressed in his normal clothes, wearing jeans and a Led Zeppelin t-shirt, his hair no longer held back in a ponytail.

"Sorry I took so long. I got caught up."

"No worries, it's fine. So where are you taking me for my free food?" Billy chuckled.

"What are you in the mood for? I admit I can't really afford more than a burger joint or something. Or pizza."

"Pizza sounds great. I haven't had pizza in forever." Billy smiled excitedly.

"Great. So do you want to drive with me or take our separate cars?"

"Separate cars are fine. I'll have to go home right afterwards anyway. As it is, I still need to call my house and tell them I'm out dress shopping."

"A dress? For what?"

"Homecoming. Remember?"

"Oh, yeah. I forgot about that. So what kind of dress are you looking for?"

"I actually already found a dress. I was looking for a pink dress, but then I found this really nice black dress that fit beautifully. I can't wait to see what Michael thinks of it." Billy smiled.

"Can I see it?" Sarah giggled and shook her head.

"If you really want to see it, you'll have to wait until homecoming like everyone else." Billy made a fake pout.

"Well, damn. Okay, let's get going then. I don't want you to get into too much trouble for being late. Do you have money for a payphone?" Sarah nodded.

"Yeah, I have some change. Are you okay with waiting for me to finish?"

"Yeah, that's fine." Sarah smiled and looked around until she found a payphone and walked over to it and paid the fee to call her parents. She told them she was sorry for forgetting to tell them about her plans and that she would be home after she had some dinner. Her parents believed her and couldn't wait to see her dress when she got home. After her talk, Sarah looked at Billy, who told her to wait in her car for him to drive around so he could drive around and show her the way to the pizza place he wanted to go to.

Billy was extremely surprised by today's turn of events. He'd been so certain that she was planning to bitch at him about the cigarette thing. That's why he didn't bother going to school today. So when she came to the theatre, he thought his day was bound to be miserable. Then she surprises him by apologizing! He couldn't think of anything to say in response, but what. Now he was taking her to dinner. Today had definitely been an interesting day. It didn't take long to get to the restaurant. Sarah parked right next to Billy and they both got out around the same time and she followed him in. The waiter told them to sit anywhere, so they picked a booth that had a large window looking out to the busy streets. They were quiet at first until Sarah remembered something she wanted to talk to him about.

"There's something I wanted to talk to you about. When I gave you your wallet back the other day, you just took it and walked off without a word. I admit, I was extremely offended that you didn't at least ask me how I had it." Billy groaned a bit.

"And here, we were having such a nice talk a few hours ago." Billy stayed quiet again and eventually answered with a sigh. "I'd been forced out of bed , first at five when Nikki kicked me out of her house so her parents wouldn't catch me, then when I got home and went to bed, mom forced me up around nine. And I'd still failed to get over my hangover by then, so I was cranky and tired and I'd realized a while ago my wallet was missing, so when you gave it to me, I assumed you stole it or something and I didn't want to deal with you. Truth be told, I kind of stole my breakfast that morning too and I didn't want to get myself in trouble somehow."

"Oh." There was an awkward silence again after that. Billy eventually broke the silence trying to change the subject.

"So what do you want on your pizza?" Sarah smiled guiltily. "What's wrong?"

"I like anchovies." Billy kept his internal disgust hidden and just laughed.

"That's gross." Sarah blushed.

"It is not! It's a nice salty bite and I love it. And it's the only fish whose bones won't hurt if you eat them."

"Doesn't matter. They're still gross. If it's a salty bite you're looking for, pepperoni's the way to go." Sarah shrugged.

"Pepperoni's good too. But I prefer anchovies. Daddy likes plain cheese pizza." Billy sighed.

"It's still gross." Sarah crossed her arms challengingly.

"Have you ever even tried a pizza with anchovies?" Billy shook his head.

"I have not and I don't plan to." At that time, the waiter came over and asked what pizza they wanted. Billy ordered a large pepperoni pizza while Sarah ordered a small anchovy pizza. Billy scrunched his nose teasingly. "Gross."

"Try it first. Then you can call it gross." Billy rolled his eyes at her and laughed.

"When pigs fly, Sarah. When pigs fly." Sarah giggled and sat up straighter with her arms crossed.

"I'll take that challenge Billy." Billy grinned, then decided to change the subject.

"So let me ask you. Do you have any siblings? I don't remember Quil ever mentioning any other cousins but you." Sarah shook her head and relaxed.

"No, I don't have any siblings. I'm lucky enough to be an only child." Billy chuckled.

"I see. I guess being an only child makes it easy to spoil you doesn't it?" Sarah smiled and nodded.

"It has its benefits. I never have to share any of my things, I don't have to share my room, and I get to have plenty of alone time when I want it. Although, sometimes I get lonely."

"I imagine. I'm never lonely. I'm either working or I'm with my brother at a party or something."

"Bobby's your only brother right?" Billy nodded.

"Yeah, he is. I have a million cousins on my mom's side, though."

"I imagine. Your mom's an Uley right? That's a big family."

"Yeah, it is. Sam's actually one of my cousins. I don't really like him though. Something about him isn't right."

"You know, Sue thinks the same thing. I never really talked to Sam, but it's really creepy that he wasn't upset at his father's funeral. I get that they didn't know each other very well, but you'd think he would be upset that he saw his father shoot himself." Billy shrugged and sighed a little.

"Sam's really difficult to affect. One time, his mom gave him a dog that she found in the city. Sam treated that dog nicely, but one day, he just shoved it in the oven alive." Sarah's eyes went wide.

"He what?"

"He shoved the dog in a hot oven alive. He kept him in there for forty minutes until his mom got home and realized the house reeked. She noticed he didn't seem bothered by what he did and couldn't understand why what he did was wrong. She took him to a therapist who said he had Conduct Disorder. His mom never took him to see a psychologist after that for further treatment. Whatever that disorder is, I can only imagine its gotten worse." Sarah shuttered.

"Probably." Billy waved his hand dismissively.

"Enough about Sam. He's depressing. Let me ask you something else."

"Sure."

"Aside from my affinity for marijuana and alcohol, why do you dislike me so much? What did I do to make you want nothing to do with me until Kelly yelled at you?" Sarah sighed.

"Honestly, it was because of the pot and alcohol. I thought you were a really bad influence on Quil, that you were some pot head with more balls than brains, and that you were volatile and mean spirited. You always seemed mean in class and half asleep most of the time. I assumed the worst of you from what I heard from gossip and the things Nicole talked about during gym. Of course, that made me think worse of Nicole than it did of you, but it didn't help." Billy shrugged.

"Nicole's not so bad. We just have nothing in common except sex. Does she say something else?" Sarah shook her head.

"No, she doesn't. She only says you're fun when it's convenient for her." Billy chuckled.

"More like for me, but whatever. Let's pretend this portion of the conversation never happened. So you thought I was a bad influence?" Sarah shrugged.

"Well, yeah. I've never heard anything but bad things about you and your family from my parents and from what I've seen of you at school, you seemed that way. And of course, you don't always come to school."

"Some days, I just don't feel like going. Honestly, I've considered just dropping out, getting a GED, and being done with it. I'm more interested in working and getting my own place than I am with my education. For you, it's different. You have a stable family, so concentrating on school isn't a problem."

"Wouldn't that make you want to work harder, though? If you have a good education and go to college, you can ensure that you'll never have to worry about going back to them."

"College is expensive, Sarah. And it's money I don't have and won't be able to acquire. I'm better off taking what I can get and being happy with it."

"That's a grim way to look at things."

"I know. But life's a pretty grim thing to begin with." Sarah shook her head.

"Only if you let it be that way." They looked at each other quietly a moment. Sarah eventually stopped looking at Billy and looked at her hands. Looking at him was making her really uncomfortable. Billy, on the other hand, kept staring. He was a little surprised by what she said. It was so blunt. It actually impressed him. It wasn't long before Billy realized how awkward the silence was becoming and he began racking his brain trying to come up with something else to talk about. But he couldn't seem to think of anything to talk about. Sarah was in the same predicament. She wanted to end the silence, but she had nothing to say. They were saved a few minutes later when their pizzas arrived with little plates.

"I'm really sorry, I didn't ask you guys what you wanted to drink." Billy looked at the table, then at the waiter.

"Huh, well look at that. I'd forgotten. What kind of beer do you guys have?"

"We have Budweiser, Miller, Schlitz, and Coor." Billy shrugged.

"I'll talk Budweiser." Billy looked at Sarah. "You want any beer?" Sarah shook her head.

"I'm not eighteen yet." Billy smiled.

"When do you turn eighteen?"

"Later in August. My birthday's two weeks away. Three days before homecoming. Michael thought it would be fun to throw a birthday party for me that day before the dance."

"That sounds fun."

"I'll just have water." Sarah said to the waiter. The waiter wrote down the orders, then looked straight at Billy.

"Can I see your ID sir?" Billy took out his wallet, showed the waiter the ID, then when the waiter walked away, Billy saw the two tickets.

"Oh, right. Here are your tickets. They're for Saturday at 7:00." Sarah smiled and took the tickets that Billy offered her.

"Thanks. Let's keep it between us that you gave me these, okay." Billy chuckled and nodded.

"Sure."

"And," Sarah said, putting the tickets away before putting a slice of her pizza on her plate and putting it in front of Billy, "try this. You might not like it, but at least give it a chance." Billy looked at the slice of anchovy pizza and sneered at it. Sarah kept staring at him until he groaned, took up the pizza, and tasted it. One bite was all it took.

"Oh my God!" Billy said. He reached for a napkin and spit out his bite. "What the hell is this? Cat food?" Sarah started laughing. The waiter finally brought their drinks and Billy took the glass of beer and gulped it down to get the taste out of his mouth. He wound up drinking the whole thing and slammed the glass on the table, trying to catch his breath. The waiter looked at him a little stunned.

"Um….would you like another one, sir?" Billy nodded and handed the waiter his glass. Sarah was still laughing. Billy was giving her a mean, teasing look.

"Shut up, it's not funny. You fed me cat food."

"I didn't feed you cat food. It's anchovies and they're delicious."

"Like that gourmet shit people get for their pets maybe. But pet food is pet food no matter how you word it. There's no honor in eating pet food. Only shame." Sarah stuck her tongue out at Billy, then took back her pizza and took a huge bite.

"Mmmm. Anchovies." Billy scrunched his nose again and took a slice of his own pizza and sprinkled it with some pepper flakes.

"Mmmm. Human food." Sarah stated laughing and shook her head. Billy chuckled too and took a sip of his beer after the waiter placed it in front of him.

"So, are you going to homecoming?" Billy shook his head.

"Nikki wants to go, but I don't want to go. It costs more to go than it's worth, and that's just the damn ticket. When you throw in the suit I would have to rent, that damn flower, a limo, which Nikki will expect I'm sure, though why we would use a limo to go to the school gym, I don't know. My point is it's a pointless experience that's not worth what it costs."

"Oh. I figured you were going because Nicole was bragging today about how she found the perfect dress for the dance." Billy chuckled.

"That's my fault. I haven't made it clear that I'm not going. She thinks I bought tickets already, but I haven't." Sarah sighed.

"At least tell her so she can return the dress or go with a group of friends or something."

"Sure, sure." Sarah gave Billy a critical look. Eventually, Billy rolled his eyes and sighed. "Fine, I'll tell her I'm not going, mom." Sarah giggled.

"That's very sweet of you, Billy. Now she's got time to find other arrangements."

"I guess." Billy said. He went through another slice of pizza then took a big gulp of beer before speaking again. "So what flower did you demand of poor Michael?" Sarah grinned.

"I told him whatever's fine. As long as it's pretty and red."

"Why red?"

"Because he wanted me to get a pink dress, so I told him to get me a red flower so it would look nice together. But since I got a black dress, it'll look even better. So everything works out. If they play plenty of seventies music at the dance, everything would be perfect." Billy chuckled.

"You prefer seventies music over our new eighties stuff?" Sarah shook her head.

"Not necessarily. It's just that, seventies music was the kind of stuff my mom used to sing to me when I was little because so much of it was slow and relaxing. Even KISS has some really relaxing music, like Beth. The Night Chicago Died, Seasons in the Sun, Billy Don't be a Hero, just about anything by ABBA, I love it all."

"Who are your favorite bands now? I mean, new bands." Sarah shrugged.

"I like Heart. I know they've been around a while, but I like most of their stuff anyway. I like Madonna, I like Pat Benatar. Geri Halliwell is cool. Nirvana's a favorite of mine." Billy laughed a little.

"So basically the typical girly stuff?"

"Nirvana isn't girly! They gave us The Man who sold the World. Well, fine Mr. Black. Who are your favorite singers? Are they all recent bands?" Billy shrugged.

"I like Aerosmith. Lord knows they've been around forever. I like Billy Joel, I like Metallica, I do in fact like KISS, and Bon Jovi is a favorite of mine too." Sarah smiled.

"Those are good bands, yes."

"So what's your favorite KISS song?" Sarah sighed and then shrugged.

"It's hard to say. I really like Beth." Billy chuckled.

"Yeah, I have a typical favorite too. Calling Doctor Love." Sarah started giggling.

"Don't feel bad. I like that song too."

"Did you know that KISS stands for Knights in Satan's Service?" Sarah smiled and nodded.

"Is that what it really stands for or is that a nickname made by parents who didn't like their kids listening to KISS?"

"I'd believe either, honestly."

"I would too. So how's your pizza?"

"It's delicious. It doesn't taste like cat food." Sarah sneered at Billy while still smiling.

"Whatever." Billy started laughing first, then Sarah followed suit. After the laughter died a bit, Billy brought up another neutral topic.

"So what's your favorite movie?" Sarah thought a moment.

"Airplane, The Taming of the Shrew with Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, Cleopatra with the same two actors. Those movies immediately come to mind."

"I agree with Airplane. The other two I've never seen. Isn't Cleopatra, like, four hours or something?" Sarah giggled.

"Yes, but it's really good anyway. Elizabeth Taylor plays Cleopatra and Richard Burton is Marc Antony. It's a well done movie that took forever to make because it was so expensive. They had to stop production a few times because of it."

"I imagine so. I also hear there's a scene with a woman in pasties." Billy started laughing and Sarah gave Billy a teasingly dirty look.

"Yes, but that woman's only in the scene for but a brief moment. And it was the scene when Cleopatra was making her extravagant entrance into Rome."

"You know if that were to actually happen, Caesar would have never let her upstage him like that, right?"

"I'm sure, but it's a movie and Elizabeth Taylor. She can out shine Rex Harrison any day, though I loved him in My Fair Lady."

"I've never seen that."

"Have you ever seen The Scarlet Pimpernel with Jane Seymour and Anthony Andrews. That's a more recent movie." Billy shook his head.

"I like Mel Brooks. That's my response to that." Sarah started laughing.

"I think every male American likes Mel Brooks. What are your favorite movies? I imagine you have more than one favorite."

"Of course. Blazing Saddles and Young Frankenstein." Sarah rolled her eyes.

"Again, every American man loves Blazing Saddles."

"Are you saying you don't like that movie?" Sarah shook her head.

"I've never cared to watch it. My dad used to watch a lot of John Wayne movies and I hated everyone of them. Blazing Saddles didn't seem any better, so I never watched it." Billy glared at Sarah.

"It's a cardinal sin to have never seen Blazing Saddles, you know. And I'll see to you watching that movie at any cost." Sarah giggled and Billy's smile returned.

"If you insist. Does it help my case that I like Young Frankenstein?" Billy chuckled.

"It helps, yes. Honestly, I'm just teasing you. Truth be told, the reason I like that movie so much is because it's one of the few things my brother and I ever had in common with our dad. If we wanted his attention, the only time we got it was when we held up Blazing Saddles and asked dad if we could watch it together. He'd grin and agree and we'd have a little over an hour of quality time with our dad."

"I suppose you would love that movie with so many pleasant memories attached to it. Did your mom ever watch it with you guys?" Billy shook his head.

"No. She doesn't like Mel Brooks. Then again, my mom doesn't really have a sense of humor. People tell me she used to, but I don't believe it." They were quiet a moment until Billy took a gulp of beer and waved his hand dismissively. "Enough about that. What other movies do you like?" Sarah took a moment to think a little longer, then smiled.

"Psycho, The Birds, Notorious, anything by Alfred Hitchcock is great, and House of Wax with Vincent Price." Billy grinned.

"Psycho's one of my favorites too. That was the movie we watched when we wanted mom's attention. My mom's a bit of a sadist, so that sort of thing interests her. But since mom's usually working and dad's either watching a game, it was extremely rare."

"I guess, 'A boy's best friend is his mother,' doesn't really apply does it?" Billy shrugged.

"Norman Bates mom reminds me a lot of mine, so who knows. Maybe it does. The only thing I have over Norman is that I avoid my mom whenever I can, so she probably won't take over my brain." Sarah smiled.

"A guy like you, I can't really picture it. You seem far too independent for that." Billy smiled.

"I like to think so." Billy sighed. "Again, topics I don't like talking about. So have you ever watched the Star Wars series?" Sarah forced a smile and nodded, suddenly feeling extremely bad for constantly bringing his parents up in one way or another.

"Yeah, I've seen it. Episode 1: A New Hope was one of the first movies I ever saw without my parents. My God I was…..ten, I think." Billy chuckled.

"You mean Episode 4." Sarah looked confused.

"It was the first movie. There were only three." Billy nodded.

"I know, but it was episode four, five, and six."

"How does that make sense?" Billy shrugged.

"It gives George Lucas a chance to make prequels I guess." (Author's Note: Which don't exist by the way! We do not speak of what doesn't exist!) Sarah shrugged. "But wow, eight years old, huh?" Sarah smiled and nodded.

"Yeah. I wanted to see it, but my parents didn't want to go. So they gave me five dollars for a ticket and some popcorn, dropped me off at the theatre and traveled around for two hours doing their own thing while I went to the movies. I was so excited to go somewhere all by myself." Billy chuckled.

"Ah to be young. I remember when I was three, I found a quarter. I was so excited, I ran to the nearest candy store that was in Forks up until a few years ago and tried buying twenty five jawbreakers." Sarah giggled.

"Tried? So you didn't get them?" Billy sighed.

"I did, but when I got home, mom was mad that I'd wandered so far from the house and she took me back to the candy store and made me return all my jawbreakers so I could keep the twenty five cents for something else."

"Oh. That's a shame." Billy shook his head.

"It was more of a shame for that poor woman who had to argue with my mom for twenty minutes about whether or not we could return a food item." Sarah giggled a little.

"Can I ask you a silly question now that you bring up twenty five cents?" Billy shrugged.

"Sure. What's your question?" Sarah kept smiling.

"Is it true that in first grade, that girl…..Jenny Songbird was sort of your girlfriend and some kid offered you a nickel to let her be his girlfriend?" Billy laughed and nodded.

"Yes, it's true. Jenny was a girl in my class that I was friends with and her mom had gotten a new boyfriend at the time, so she asked me if I wanted to be her new boyfriend. I had no idea what the hell that meant, so I just said sure. Later that day, another kid from our class said he'd give me five cents to she could be his girlfriend instead. I knew with five cents, I could buy a soda at the cafeteria, so I said yes. Jenny was mad for about an hour, then she forgot all about it by the end of the day." Sarah giggled.

"Did your mom make you return that money?" Billy sighed.

"You know my mom like an open book it seems. I told her that a kid offered me five cents for Jenny. Dad thought it was funny. Mom didn't find it funny. She told me it was degrading or something. I don't really remember. I asked dad what the big deal was and he just said I turned Jenny into a hooker. And I had no idea what that was at the time either. I told mom I'd return the money, but I'd already spent it."

"Shame, Billy." Billy and Sarah laughed a bit together and continued eating their pizza.

That's how the night was spent: Sarah and Billy talking about everything and nothing at all, except for the seven minutes he took to go outside and smoke. They finished their pizza not long into dinner and spent another three hours just talking to each other. Billy only noticed because he'd at one point glanced at the clock in the restaurant and was amazed that it was almost ten. Billy told Sarah, so she decided she needed to get home and she followed him up to the register and waited for Billy to pay. After that, Billy walked Sarah to her car.

"Thanks for dinner and the movie tickets, Billy."

"You're welcome. Sorry for keeping you out for so long. You won't get in trouble will you?" Sarah shrugged.

"Mom and dad might be a little sore, but at least I called and let them know where I was. Don't worry about it. I had a good time." Billy smiled.

"That's good to hear. Michael won't get mad about this will he? I wouldn't want him to get mad at you."

"He won't get mad if he doesn't know. Let's keep this little date between us." Billy chuckled.

"I thought this wasn't a date."

"It isn't. But people would assume it was. And besides, Quil specifically told me not to come bother you to apologize to you. He told me to wait until tomorrow because he thought you would yell at me or something like that."

"Fine, this'll be our little secret. So are you going to apologize to me again tomorrow?" Sarah shrugged.

"I can if it'll help you remember not to bring up dinner." Billy chuckled.

"Sure, sure. I'll see you tomorrow at school then." Sarah nodded.

"Yeah, I'll see you tomorrow."

Sarah got in her car and waved goodbye to Billy as she pulled out. When she left the restaurant, she decided to make a little detour before going back home. Billy went straight home, coming back no later than normal. He went straight to bed and was woken up, again somewhat violently, the next morning by Ann.

"Get up, Billy. School starts in ten minutes." Billy groaned. "Get yourself an alarm clock if you don't want be waking you up."

"Mom," Bobby said, "Please be quiet."

"Don't tell me anything. You need to get up too, young man."

"I don't have work today. I'll sleep in all I want. I did the late shift last night, mom. Just let me sleep."

"I ran the late night shift too, but you don't hear me complaining. And I'm going to work again at noon. You should follow my example young man."

"Believe me, I try." Bobby said drowsily and sarcastically. Billy ignored his mom and Bobby arguing and forced himself out of bed to get dressed. He grabbed something to eat and walked to school still half asleep. He spent most of first period trying to wake up. He went straight to second period after first period ended and sat in his seat in the back. Sarah came in a few minutes later and smiled at him before she took her seat and class started. Once class was over, Sarah walked over to Billy's desk, smiling.

"Well, sorry. You know." Billy nodded.

"Yeah. I was an ass, Michael will probably always have that mark, blah blah blah. So did you get in a lot of trouble last night for being so late?"

"Not too much. I just told them I lost all track of time, said I was sorry, then went to bed."

"That's good."

"Well, I better get to class. But once lunch rolls around, come to my locker. I have a present for you. You know where my locker is right?" Billy looked at her a little surprised, but nodded.

"Yeah, I know where your locker is."

"Good. I'll see you at lunch." Sarah walked away and they both continued on with the day until it was finally lunch time. Billy went straight to Sarah's locker near the main entrance of the school and watched little kids walk to the cafeteria from their classes. Sarah came to her locker with three books in her arm and smiled when she saw Billy. "Good, you came." Billy shrugged as Sarah began entering her locker number.

"Of course. I was surprised you said you had a present for me and I was eager to see what that might be." Sarah grinned when her locker opened. She put her books away, reached the top shelf, and pulled out a bag of colorful balls and handed them to Billy. He looked at them a moment, then at Sarah. "Jawbreakers?" Sarah nodded.

"Twenty five jawbreakers to be exact. And these ones you don't have to give back." Billy chuckled.

"Wow. That was nice and unexpected of you. Thanks." Sarah smiled triumphantly.

"You're welcome. So have you talked to Nicole yet?" Billy sighed, suddenly remembering.

"No, I haven't. I completely forgot. I have to meet her at my car, so I guess I'll do it then."

"Good. I'll leave you to that, then. Enjoy those jawbreakers." Sarah closed her locker and waved goodbye to Billy as she walked to the cafeteria. Billy waved back and went straight to his car where Nicole was already waiting. Sarah made her way to her usual table where she, Sue, and Kelly usually sat with Harry, Sam, and a few other friends when Quil walked up behind her, grabbed her arm, and dragged her with him out of the cafeteria to the playground outside the school. He sat Sarah on an empty swing and crossed his arms at her. "What?"

"Don't play dumb, Sarah. You know what. I told you not to go talk to Billy, but you went anyway." Sarah's eyes went wide.

"How do you know about that?"

"I know now. I called your parents to see if you were home, but they told me you were in Hoquiam buying a dress for the homecoming dance. I suspected what you were really doing and you just confirmed it." Sarah sighed.

"I know you're mad, Quil, but I'm not sorry for going there to talk to him. Everything went really well. We apologized to each other about everything and he took me to dinner to make up for what happened with Michael. He even gave me two free movie tickets so Michael and I can go to the movies Saturday."

"You went on a date with him?" Sarah shushed Quil.

"It wasn't a date!" Sarah responded in a hushed hiss. "It was his way of trying to make things better is all. And frankly, I now owe you an apology. After talking to Billy and getting to know him, I realized he really is a nice guy just like you and Harry always said. I think I might even enjoy being friends with him." Quil sighed heavily.

"Look, Sarah, I'm glad he was nice to you and everything and I appreciate you doing the same, but I'm not sure that's the best idea. You always complain he might be a bad influence on me, well I'm worried he'd be the same to you. Don't get me wrong, Billy's one of my best friends. But the fact is, I know what's going on with him and I don't see that getting any better. I just don't want you getting dragged into that." Sarah sighed.

"I know, Quil. But maybe all he needs is to be distracted from it with more than just work."

"All he does is work. And besides, he smokes pot at work sometimes too. He does it because he hates his family life and what he does helps make it go away, at least to him."

"Well, then we give him something else that takes away that pain for a while. Like hanging out with more friends, doing things with him, that sort of thing. And I'm sure with the money he earns, he's trying to get his own place right?"

"Moving out of his parent's house won't make the drug and alcohol abuse stop, Sarah. If anything, it would probably make it worse. They'd be able to do drugs in their house without their mother breathing down their necks all the time. And he'd move in with Bobby to save money. Bobby's worse off than Billy is. He's a joint away from trying something else and dragging Billy into it with him. Billy looks up to Bobby. What Bobby does, Billy does. So if Bobby starts harder drugs, Billy will be right behind him."

"Then we prevent it before it becomes an issue." Quil sighed.

"Sarah, your optimism is cute, but you haven't been dealing with this for near as long as Harry and I have."

"You guys gave up on him. And with how highly you and Harry used to speak of him, I'm ashamed of you for it."

"This from the girl who hated this guy yesterday!"

"All this from the guy who was his best friend!" Quil brought his hand to his face and rubbed hard. He groaned and looked at Sarah when his hand was back at his side.

"Don't lecture me, Sarah. Harry and I did all we could do and it hasn't worked. I don't see anything you do solving the problem either. You can try. You know what, try to your heart's content. But when this little 'improvement project' blows up in your pretty little face, don't come crying to me." Quil walked away, leaving Sarah alone on the swing staring at her feet. She stayed that way until one of the little kids, Madeline Crow if she recalled correctly, walked over to her.

"Miss, can I use this swing?" Sarah smiled a bit and stood up.

"Sure. Go for it."

"Thanks miss." The little girl got onto the swing. "Could you give me a push too, please?"

"Sure." Sarah walked around the little girl and gave her a few pushes until she said thank you. When Madeline was content, Sarah began walking back to the building.

Billy and Sarah didn't see each other again for the rest of the school day. Billy saw her car and waved to her before she got in, but that was it. Billy didn't have work that day, so he went straight to the convenience store where Bobby worked and started bugging him. He had a customer when he got there, so Billy waited until the customer left before he walked around the register and stood next to him.

"You don't have work today?" Bobby asked.

"No. I tried getting today, but they said they didn't need me for today. How's your day been?" Bobby shrugged.

"I'm dying for a smoke. I don't suppose you brought yours did you? Mom took my pack." Billy chuckled.

"You see, that's why my smokes stay in the car. Why not just buy a new pack here?"

"Because my boss has been on my ass about all the cigarettes I buy. And honestly, I just spent most of my money on my weed stash last night. You want any, you get your own, little brother."

"Yeah, I know."

"So how was your day?"

"Not bad. Sarah got me a bag of twenty five jawbreakers, Nikki's pissed at me.."

"Wait, who gave you what?" Billy smiled.

"Sarah Ateara."

"I thought she hated you."

"She did. But apparently Quil told her about what I was like and the pot and drinking and shit. And he mentioned our family life, so she felt really bad for me and wanted to say she was sorry for being so critical of me." Bobby gave Billy a weird look.

"Are you serious? She wanted to apologize to you for judging you?" Billy nodded.

"Yeah."

"That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard. And another thing, what fucking business is it of hers what our family life is like? I can't believe you're friends with that loathsome cunt, Quil."

"He's been my friend for years. I admit, I was mad about him telling her that shit too at first, but it gave her and I a chance to talk and get to know each other." Bobby laughed.

"Are you saying you've got a hard on for this Sarah broad?"

"Don't call her a broad, bro. And what if I do have a thing for her? She's pretty and as it turns out, we have a lot in common. I even have an excuse to have another date with her that isn't a date."

"A date that isn't a date? Whatever. What would that opportunity be exactly?"

"Well, she's never seen Blazing Saddles." Bobby looked at Billy wide eyed.

"She's never seen it? Dude, give up on her immediately." Billy chuckled.

"There's still hope for her, Bobby. I'm serious, Bobby, I think I really like her."

"And what does free sex Nikki have to say about this?"

"I don't know. I haven't told her Sarah and I hung out yesterday."

"I was wondering how you knew you two had stuff in common. I thought you were working yesterday."

"I was. She came back at seven when I was done with work and I took her to dinner." Bobby looked at Billy weird.

"She has a boyfriend doesn't she? Are you someone's new lover, Billy?" Billy shook his head with a smile.

"I'd like to be. But we'll see. Her birthday's later this month, so I can get her a nice gift or something. How do flowers sound?"

"They sound like, 'Happy birthday, Sarah. Kindly take off your pants and let me have my way with you. Or at least show me your boobs.' Why don't you go to her window with a guitar and serenade her while you're at it?"

"You know I can't play guitar or sing."

"No, you can't. Yoko Ono has a better voice than you. Though you're still cooler than her."

"She broke up the Beetles. She's got a hard spot to beat in worst people in the world."

"She wasn't the only reason they broke up, but yes, you're very right. But honestly, Billy, I would stick with getting her something stupid and insignificant. If her boyfriend sees you giving her something as nice as flowers, he might bust a nut and try to kick your ass."

"Her boyfriend doesn't go to our school." Bobby's face instantly lit up.

"Oh really? Well, then by all means. Who's gonna tell what's-his-face boyfriend? Go for it with the flowers. Throw in a bear and some chocolates. Chicks dig that shit." Bobby laughed.

"You always have the best advice, Bobby."

"No problem, little man. And hey, if that faceless boyfriend does find out and come to kick your ass, I've got your back. We'll go drunk-foo on his ass." Billy and Bobby started laughing together. "You know what, Billy, I can get off early. You want me to get my stash so we can go to the beach and get baked?" Billy nodded.

"Oh, God, do I ever. I'm so happy right now, I want more happy."

"Stellar. So what were you saying earlier about Nikki being pissed at you?"

"Oh, yeah. I told her I didn't want to go to the homecoming dance. She got mad because I didn't tell her sooner. Apparently, the dance is next Saturday."

"Is Sarah going?"

"Yeah."

"Well," Bobby began, "you could go. Alone. And when you see Sarah, sweep her off her feet. I'll admit you're good looking, Billy. Not as handsome as me, of course, but you're a catch. Put on a suit and some cologne and she'll be powerless to resist you. You'll have her naked and begging for you by the end of the night."

"You know, you might be onto something."

"I always am, Billy. And I can promise you Nikki won't be too happy, so I suggest you dump her officially before you start chasing new tail. So, yeah, get on that."

"Maybe I should just do that now? I know her parents aren't home, so we'll be alone." Bobby nodded.

"That's the spirit, kid. And see if you can get some breakup sex too. Don't ever say I wasn't looking out for your best interest." Billy chuckled and walked out of the store to drive to Nikki's house. As Billy suspected, her parents weren't home. So he walked up to the door without fear, knocked, and waited for her to answer, which she did a few seconds later. And placed her hands on her hips with a grimace on her face.

"You're not getting anything from me today, Billy. It would've been nice to know earlier that you weren't planning on taking me to the dance. Now I have to get one of my friends to let me go with her and her date."

"I know. Don't worry, I didn't come here expecting anything."

"Damn straight you didn't. So if you don't want sex, what do you want? You don't usually come to my place to socialize."

"I didn't come for that either. I came here because I wanted to admit something to you."

"What? You're gay?" Billy sighed.

"Be serious. I know you're mad, but spare me the attitude. I'm trying to be nice here."

"What do you want to tell me, Billy?" Billy sighed again.

"I've met someone and I think I might want to start dating them. I can't really do that with a fuck buddy to my name." Nikki shrugged.

"Whatever. Who is she?"

"Sarah Ateara." Nikki smirked, then started laughing. Billy waited for her to recover. She eventually lifted her head from her laugh and sighed.

"Oh Billy. Dream on." Then Nikki closed the door in his face and Billy walked back to his car not really taking into account what Nikki said.

When Billy got back to the convenience store, he stayed behind the counter with Bobby talking until he finished his shift and they were able to go to the beach. They spent the rest of the day their while they smoked pot and rode out their highs. When Billy got home, somewhat down from being high, Ann was waiting at the couch with Will, something that was extremely rare. When they came in, Ann stood up, her arms crossed.

"Billy, you got a call from that Ateara kid. Quil I think. He said he wanted to talk to you and that it was urgent. I suggest you call him back."

"Sure, sure." Billy then turned around, ignoring Ann yelling for him, and started walking to Quil's house, which was just a few houses down from him. He knocked on the door and smiled when Mr. Ateara answered.

"Billy?" Billy nodded.

"Yeah. I was wondering if Quil was home. He called me earlier saying he wanted to talk to me." Mr. Ateara moved aside and let Billy in.

"Sure, he's home. He's in his room."

"Thanks, sir." Billy walked passed Quil's dad and went straight to Quil's room. He knocked and entered when he got an answer. When Quil looked up and saw Billy, he immediately frowned and stood from his bed.

"We need to talk."

"I figured that's why you called. What's wrong?"

"What's wrong is that I heard about what happened yesterday with Sarah. You didn't do anything to her did you?"

"You mean…..no, Quil, I didn't."

"Good. I'd have to kill you if you did. I already talked to Sarah about this, but I'm not really comfortable about you two being friends." Billy finally frowned too.

"Why the hell not?"

"You know damn well why, Billy. Look, Billy, we've been friends since we were little and I love you like a brother. But I draw the line with Sarah. She's a nice girl and I don't want anything happening to her because she became friends with you."

"What the fuck do you think I'll do, Quil?"

"I think you'll start dating her is what I think. Sarah's a good looking girl and I know you. You'll want to go out with her, then it'll turn into a downward spiral from there, however that may be."

"So you're saying I'm not good enough for her, is that it?"

"Yes, Billy, that is what I'm saying. What can you give her, Billy? A night here and there where you're high off your ass or drunk? She's better than that, Billy. Frankly, you used to be too. Then Bobby got you into that shit. If it weren't for Bobby, you'd be fine."

"Watch it, Quil. Bobby's one of the few people in this world I can really rely on."

"And he's dragged you under! And he'll keep taking you with him unless you bring yourself back up! If you can give up the drinking, give up the pot, then maybe I could look past you having an interest in Sarah. And if things don't work out with Michael, I might even consider letting you and her see each other romantically. But until then, Billy, I don't want you near her. I don't care if it's just as friends. If you want anything, either give up the drugs, or leave her alone."

"You can't fucking tell me what to do, Quil!"

"She's my cousin, Billy! And so help me God, if you do anything, I'll skin you alive! Do you hear me?"

"I'll do whatever the fuck I want, Quil! I don't need your fucking permission to talk to her!"

"I mean it, Billy! I will kick your ass if you come near her!"

"May as well do it now than, you little shit!" Quil punched Billy then. Out of reflex, Billy punched him right back. Those two punches resulted in the two men strangling each other in neck holds and throwing each other around. They were stopped when Quil broke something in his room and his dad came in and broke the two of them up.

"What the hell is going on here?" Mr. Ateara yelled. The two men glared at each other. Quil didn't look at his dad when he responded.

"Nothing, dad. Just play fighting." Mr. Ateara stayed there a few seconds looking at them, then eventually leaving reluctantly, but not closing the door. When they were alone, Billy took a deep breath.

"Fine, Quil."

"What?"

"I said fine. You want me to be better, fine." Billy reached into his pocket and pulled out his bag of marijuana. "You see this?" Billy tossed it to the side. "Gone. No more. You can throw it away just to make sure I don't end up using it." Then Billy pulled out a little whiskey flask. "You see this?" Then tossed it to Quil's bed. "Gone. I won't do it anymore." Quil looked at Billy shocked.

"Are you being serious. You're really that interested in Sarah?" Billy nodded.

"Yes, Quil, I am. I really like her. Just let her give me a chance and I'll put all that behind me. No weed, no booze, I'll be clean. I swear on my life." Quil was momentarily silent and stared at Billy intently. He ended up sitting on his bed and looking at his shoes thinking. Billy stayed silent waiting for his answer. Eventually, Quil groaned and looked up at Billy.

"Do you mean it? If I let you pursue Sarah, I get to have my friend back? You'll be your normal self again?" Billy smiled and nodded.

"I promise."

"You know she's seeing Michael right? She may just say no. Will you relapse if that happens?" Billy shook his head.

"No. I promise. And I think Sarah might like me too. If she doesn't want me, then I'll leave her alone, but still stay away from the drugs."

"Even if you do it with Bobby?" Billy was quiet then. It was usually when he smoked was with Bobby. He hardly ever did it when he wasn't with him and his friends. He had a moment of questioning what this would do to Bobby. Would he be okay with this? "Billy?"

"I don't know. It's been mine and Bobby's thing for a while."

"I mean it, Billy. If you really want Sarah so much, you have to give up the drugs. If you don't, no pursuing Sarah. If you don't give this shit up for real, I don't even want you looking at Sarah. Is that clear? I just want my friend back, dude. Harry feels the same way. We've watched you the past year or so just go under because of this shit. I know it's a way for you and Bobby to escape the world for a while, but please stop. I don't want to see you turn your dad. Or worse, end up dead somewhere. I don't want you getting into harder stuff and ultimately ruining your life. You still have time to fix things."

"I know. I promise. No more." Quil smiled, stood from his bed, and walked to Billy and hugged him. Billy hugged back.

"Thanks, Billy. I missed you." Billy chuckled.

"I missed you too, dude."

Quil and Billy took a moment to hug before Billy left Quil's house, again promising he'd change. It wasn't just Sarah, though she was a huge part of it. Ann had recently been pestering him over what he wanted to do with his life, and the truth was he didn't really know. All he knew was he wanted to move into his own place. Anything further was never something he considered. And Quil was right. If Billy didn't change, he would end up like his father. Old, drunk, bitter, miserable, and married to a shrew with kids he never wanted and wasn't shy about expressing the few times he ever spoke to him and Bobby. When Billy got back home, Bobby was sitting on the front porch smoking. Billy walked up and sat next to him.

"So what did Quil want?"

"He was upset about me and Sarah being friends."

"For, like, one day, but whatever. Please continue." Billy chuckled.

"He's more upset about me being attracted to her. He ended up giving me an ultimatum." Bobby gave Billy a weird look.

"He gave you a what?"

"He gave me an ultimatum. He told me that if I really wanted to pursue Sarah in any way, he would only allow it if I gave up the marijuana and drinking." Bobby burst out laughing, looking out onto the road to the ocean.

"Yeah. That'll happen. You told him to blow it out his ass right?" Billy shook his head.

"Actually, I agreed."

"Wait, what?" Bobby waited for Billy to say he was kidding, but it never came. "You're serious? Why the hell would you do that? You spoke to this broad once! And now you're telling me you're giving it all up because of some putang?"

"Look, Bobby, it isn't just about Sarah. I never want to end up like dad is the bigger part of it. Look at him. Really look at him. Is that what you want out of life? To be old and bitter and married to Satan's harlot?"

"That won't be us, Billy, because we're better than that."

"Maybe now, but for how long? Seriously. We need to stop while we're ahead." Bobby looked at Billy and sighed heavily.

"You're able to be this preachy now, Billy, but you watch. Within a few hours, you'll go right back to your normal habits, not giving a shit about what the future holds and what's happening now, because you don't want to think about it all. That's how it's always been. So when that happens, I'll see you at First beach tomorrow at midnight and we'll enjoy a joint together. I'll even be nice and buy you your stash this time." Without giving Billy a chance to respond, Bobby walked back into the house after throwing his cigarette in the grass. Billy sat outside a little longer until it started raining.

Billy was determined, so he didn't let himself be tempted. He didn't go to Bobby like he'd predicted. Billy even asked Quil when Sarah's birthday was and what she would want. While telling him to remain cautious, Quil told him to just go with his gut. Billy sarcastically thanked Quil for the helpful advice and groaned to himself. Later that day after he waved goodbye to Sarah before getting into his car, Billy kept thinking about what he could get her that wouldn't be too forward, but would still improve her opinion of her. On his way to work, Billy passed the pizza shop nearby, then he grinned when he realized what he could do that she would really appreciate. The next day, Billy waited for Sarah in his second period class and walked right to her and took the spot of the desk next to her.

"Hey, Billy."

"Hey. So you officially turn eighteen this Friday, huh?" Sarah smiled.

"Yep. Michael's taking me to dinner that night and buying me whatever drink I want." Billy half smiled.

"That's cool. How about Saturday, you let me treat you to another birthday? I'm feeling anchovy pizza." Sarah giggled.

"Really?"

"Yep. And I'll even buy you a beer."

"Well, when you put it that way, I'd be crazy to say no. What time were you thinking? I could always tell Michael I'm hanging out with Kelly and Sue. They'll cover for me." Billy held in an annoyed sigh and nodded.

"Sure you could. I was thinking of doing lunch. Then I could take you to my place afterwards and finally show you Blazing Saddles. I can think of no better way to celebrate being eighteen." Sarah smiled wider.

"That sounds like a lot of fun. Are you sure it's okay for us to go to your house though?" Sarah asked, concerned. Billy grinned.

"I'll make sure no one's home. Mom's working by then and dad's passed out in his bed and Bobby works too. We won't have to worry about bothering anyone, I promise."

"I guess that's alright, then."

"Good." Billy said as he stood from the chair. "I'll come get you at noon then. Saturday." Sarah nodded.

"Sounds like a lot of fun."

For the rest of the week, Billy eagerly waited for Saturday and told Bobby about it enthusiastically. But Bobby was still really mad at Billy, so the conversation didn't last very long. When he had the chance, Billy asked his mom whether or not she was working that weekend. When she confirmed that she was and that his dad would be too, Billy breathed an inward sigh of relief. Bobby mumbled a yes when asked the same question, so Billy was content that he and Sarah really would be alone without his parents bothering them. He was a little concerned that he might be going too fast, but better to be prepared and explain it away later than receive the opportunity and not be prepared at all.

Billy worked as many hours as he could get from the theatre that week. He had another gift he wanted to give her besides just anchovy pizza. Quil finally gave him gift advice he could use. Apparently, Sarah liked putting her hair up, but she hated ponytail holders because they made her hair flat or something. Though how that was possible with the hairspray women use these days was something he couldn't get. Quil suggested getting her a Barrett, so that's what he was getting. But he didn't want to get a cheap dinky barrette that would break after a few uses. He wanted to get her something nice. That Friday, he asked to be able to leave work by three, skipping school so he could work the whole day. When he was done with his work day, he went to the mall where there was apparently a store that sold nice barrettes according to one of the female ticket vendors.

He felt so out of place at the mall. He felt more out of place when he got to the store the other girl told him about. There were so many different types of jewelry and he didn't know what he was even looking for. He wound up asking a woman that worked there for help, who informed him that what Sarah would like, by the sounds of it, is not a barrette, but a hair comb. Or something. She showed him to that section of the store and pointed out a few that were newer. He remembered that Sarah was wearing a black dress and a red flower corsage for homecoming, so he thought he'd get her something red. He found a comb that had five fake rubies lining the base with black teeth. It would blend into her hair so it would look like it was just the rubies in her hair. He thanked the lady who helped him and paid for the hair comb and went to another store that wrapped presents.

The next day, Billy waited until everyone left the house before he went to Hoquiam to get a large anchovy pizza for Sarah. He managed to get back home around noon. Sarah wasn't there yet, but that gave Billy time to get the pizza in the kitchen. He'd bought wine coolers the day before too. Nikki had loved wine coolers, so he was hoping Sarah would too. And if nothing else, at least Ann would drink them. Around 12:15, Billy heard a knock on the door and he ran to the door, straightened his only dress shirt feeling extremely odd, and opened the door. Sarah smiled, looked at Billy's shirt, looked surprised, then looked back at him smiling again.

"You're dressed up." Billy shrugged.

"It's a special occasion isn't it? I mean, yes, your birthday was yesterday, but today will be better." Sarah giggled and walked in when Billy stepped aside. Sarah looked around a moment, then looked back at Billy.

"It looks a lot like my house. I guess the rez houses mostly look the same don't they." Billy shrugged.

"All the ones I've seen do."

"Is that pizza I smell?" Billy nodded.

"I promised pizza, so you're getting pizza. And I bought some wine coolers if it turns out beer isn't your liking." Sarah shook her head.

"I didn't like the beer I tasted. I hated the whiskey I tasted too. I only liked the Disaronno Amaretto, and the Frangelico. Everything else either was too strong or tasted really bad." Billy smiled.

"Yeah, beer's an acquired taste. Frankly, so is whiskey. But dad's been rubbing that shit on my teeth since I was a kid, so I came to like it. Did you try Grand Marnier? It might be a bit too strong for your taste, but it has an orange flavor that's pretty good. I tasted some with Bobby when it was my eighteenth birthday." Sarah shook her head.

"I tasted Grand Marnier years ago and I hated it. My mom uses it in baking sometimes when we're having special company, but that's it. It's expensive, so mom watches it like a hawk and if even an ounce is missing, she knows. Daddy has a habit of sampling it from time to time." Billy chuckled.

"I don't blame him. That's good stuff. Your father sounds like my kind of guy." Sarah giggled.

"Believe me, Billy, he'd love you." Billy walked passed Sarah to the kitchen to get the pizza he'd just brought home and opened it up for her. Sarah grinned excitedly. "Thank you so much. You really didn't need to do this."

"Oh, stop. I wanted to. Besides, this is nothing compared to your real gift." Sarah looked at Billy confused.

"My real gift?" Billy nodded and pulled out the little wrapped box and handed it to her. Sarah stared at it a moment before unwrapping and opening the present. When she saw the hair comb, she smiled wider. "Oh, Billy, it's beautiful! How did you know I needed a new hair comb?" Billy smiled and shrugged, feeling really triumphant.

"A little bird told me." Sarah giggled.

"I bet he did." She took out the comb and began playing with her thick, curly hair, adjusting it with the hair comb until her hair was up in a loose bun with strands of curly hair hanging off to both sides of her face. Then she walked to the hall bathroom and looked at herself in the mirror. "I love it, Billy, thank you."

"I'm glad you like it." Sarah walked back to the kitchen and Billy got to see the comb in her hair. As he suspected, the teeth blended perfectly with her hair, so all that was visible were the rubies holding her bun in place. "It looks nice on you." Sarah smiled.

"Really? Thank you." Sarah touched the comb a bit before asking where the plates were. Billy got her a paper plate which she filled with three slices of pizza. Billy handed her a fuzzy navel wine cooler (*which her delicious by the way!*) and led her with him to the couch. The TV wasn't very big, but it would show the movie well enough. Billy put the movie in and sat back, fast forwarding through the previews.

Once the movie started, they were both quiet for the first half hour or so of the movie. Around then, Billy started looking at Sarah, watching her watch the movie. He wanted to try something, but he couldn't work up the courage. He felt like he did at thirteen on his first date. He was feeling awkward and unconfident and he never had another date with that girl again because it had been so boring for both of them. Sarah didn't seem bothered by the silence. She was paying attention to the movie, giggling from time to time. Eventually, forty minutes into the movie, Billy scooted closer to Sarah. She didn't seem to notice this. So Billy took another chance and rested his arm on the head of the couch behind her. He wasn't touching her and she didn't seem bothered. With the lack of reaction or discouragement, Billy started feeling bolder, that maybe he could get away with a little more. This time, Billy brought his hand closer to her head and began petting her hair. This time, Sarah reacted.

"What are you doing?" Billy took his hand away immediately, hearing the slight tone in her voice.

"Sorry. I just like your hair this way." Sarah was quiet, looking at Billy suspiciously a moment, then finally turned her attention back to the movie. Billy wound up taking his arm away and scooting away from Sarah, ending up right back where he started.

"Are you hitting on me, Billy?" Sarah asked suddenly and solemnly. Billy didn't answer, so Sarah sighed heavily. "Look, Billy, you're nice and I like you, but I'm seeing someone."

"I know. I like you, okay."

"You've made that clear, Billy. But I've only started getting to know you a few days ago and you say you like me. Michael I've known for over a year and he loves me. And I'm not leaving him for you just because you say you have a thing for me."

"I know that." Sarah sighed.

"Then why are you bothering? I wanted us to be friends, Billy. And if I gave you the wrong impression, I'm sorry, but I don't want to be any more than friends." Billy wasn't looking at her. He was staring at the screen watching Sheriff Bart give Mango the candygram. After a minute of him not responding, Sarah stood from the couch. "I better get home." Billy still didn't talk. So she walked away from the couch, making a stop at the kitchen table to put the hair comb back on the table before leaving.

Billy sat at the couch, not even watching the movie, until Bobby came home at nine o'clock. By the time he'd come home, Billy was watching a blue screen with the VHS poking out of the player. Bobby glanced at the table and saw the hair comb Billy had gotten her and realized what must have happened. Despite still being upset, he put his keys on the counter and walked to the couch, taking a seat next to Billy.

"Don't worry too much about it, Billy. Hot girls are a dime a dozen. You'll find a new one soon enough." Billy didn't respond. When the silence became too much, Bobby spoke again. "I'll tell you what. I know what will make you feel better. How about I make us a few drinks, I light up a joint, and we can begin the process of forgetting this whole mess."

Again, Billy didn't respond. Instead, he stood from the couch and walked out of the house to his car and started driving. He began driving to Hoquiam, but then he remembered Sarah was going to the movies with Michael that night…with the free movie tickets he gave her. So he turned around and started driving the opposite direction. He wound up in Forks before he knew it and stopped at a burger joint. He was really hungry suddenly. When he walked in, he went straight to the bar and sat at one of the bar stools. Within minutes, a kid walked up to him with a smile on his face.

"Hello, sir. I'm Charlie, and I'll be your server for today. Can I start you off with something to drink?" Billy looked up at the kid. He was short, maybe 5' 8", had brown hair with some facial hair, and his nametag read Charlie Swan.

"Yeah. Get me a Budweiser." The kid frowned apologetically.

"I'm sorry, sir, but we don't serve alcohol. That's the only reason a sixteen year old like me got this job." Billy sighed heavily.

"Get me a coke then." Charlie wrote down Billy's order, handed him the menu realizing he'd forgotten to give it to him, then walked away to get Billy's drink. Charlie came back three minutes later with Billy's drink, noticing that Billy hadn't even opened up the menu. He was just staring at it.

"Sir?" Billy looked up at the kid, the same blank look on his face. "Is there something wrong? I don't mean to pry, but you seem bothered."

"It's nothing important. I'll just have a cheeseburger with everything on it." Billy handed the menu back to Charlie, who took it after looking at Billy a moment, concerned. He walked away and gave the kitchen Billy's order. About fifteen minutes later, Charlie came back with the burger and fries.

"Is there anything else you would like, sir?" Billy shook his head.

"No." Deciding to leave well enough alone, Charlie walked away from Billy to go attend to the three other groups that were in the restaurant. Billy didn't really eat as much as he picked at his food. He was hungry, but he was also thinking really hard. He was trying to think of a way to fix this mess and somehow still have a chance to get Sarah to like him back the way he wants her to. As he was eating, the restaurant bell rang, indicating someone entered. It was Bobby, who sat at the booth with Billy when he realized where he was.

"Jesus, Billy, you walk out of the house without a single word as to where you're going and you had me worried sick. I should kick your ass for that, but I won't because you've had a good kick in the ass already."

"Bobby, don't lecture me. I'm not in the mood. I'm trying to think of a way to fix this." Bobby sighed heavily.

"Billy, it's just a girl. A girl you have only been talking to a few days mind you. You can't tell me you're honestly getting this down about being rejected. Yes, it's a kick to your pride, but honestly, not every woman in the world is going to find you attractive or be romantically interested in you."

"That's not the issue. I knew she would probably say no, but I didn't think it would turn out this bad."

"How bad did it turn out? Did you try putting your hand somewhere or something?"

"Sort of. I petted her hair. She thought that was too intimate and told me to stop, so I did." Bobby looked at Billy with angered amazement.

"You mean she got pissed at you over touching her hair? If you'd tried touching her thigh, I'd understand. Shame on you. But her hair? Really? You got her a fucking barrette, I think that entitles you to touch her hair at least a little and not be romantic."

"It was a hair comb. That she left on the kitchen table."

"Barrette, hair comb, same thing. And yes I saw that."

"I was honest with her. I told her I was interested in her, she said she only wanted to be friends, then she just left." Bobby rolled his eyes.

"Damn it, Billy, no wonder this didn't work out. You never, ever, under any circumstance tell a taken woman that you're interested in her. You have to get her interested in you first, then you start laying down the moves. Have I taught you nothing about women, Billy? Women like Sarah are too moral and upstanding to be wooed with a simple, 'I like you'. Right now, she's been seeing that Mitch or Mark, or whatever, for however long and she's convinced she loves him. So she won't be swayed. You have to get her to like you through appealing to her through the things she likes and her own moral beliefs. Then once you have her thinking you're this guy that believes and thinks the same as she does, she'll start questioning how much she really likes what's-his-face and she'll be ripe for the picking. That's when you make your move, get the girl, and point a big middle finger in ex-boyfriend's direction. But now, you'll be lucky if she even speaks to you again." Billy sighed heavily.

"I know, Bobby. I don't think tricking her into liking me is going to work on Sarah, though. She's too smart for that."

"It worked on Nikki didn't it?" Billy shook his head.

"I never needed to do that. She and I already had a collective agreement that we weren't interested in each other as more than fuck buddies. We never hung out, I never took her on a date, and I never wanted to. I just went to her window whenever I was horny. I haven't been in a real relationship since last year and Jenna broke up with me because she didn't like that I was using pot." Bobby shrugged.

"Well, fuck her then." Billy sighed.

"Bobby, you're not helping. If there's any advice I want, it's how to get her to not be mad at me anymore so I'm free to attempt again, but with more finesse. Or whatever." Billy groaned. "I have a headache." A moment later, Bobby reached into his pocket and pulled out three pills of his favorite pain killers and handed them to Billy. Billy glanced at the pills that were the size of a kid's vitamin tablet and looked up at him. "What's this?"

"It's a pain killer. My dealer's been showing me new things lately. You take three of these and your headache will be gone instantly." Billy sighed.

"It's okay. I'll just take Bayer aspirin." Bobby sighed and took the pills back.

"So you're serious? About quitting…..everything." Billy nodded.

"Yeah, I am. It's the only thing I really have going for me at this point."

"Well does she even know you've quit? That might sway her opinion of you in the right direction." Billy shrugged.

"I'm not sure she'll really care. Besides, I almost relapsed." Bobby rolled his eyes.

"You've been off for a couple days, Billy. I don't think you qualify to call it 'relapsing' yet. So how did you almost relapse?"

"I asked for a beer."

"Billy, you're not even an alcoholic. You enjoy beer here and there, and that hardly causes you problems in your everyday life. If anything did, it was the other thing and all that did was bum you out when you hadn't had any in a while. Speaking of which, you've been such a wet blanket lately. I say you forget it and Sarah and just get back into our usual routine." Billy shook his head.

"Bobby, I don't want to. I already told you it's not just about Sarah."

"Sure, sure, so you've said." Billy and Bobby looked at each other silently until Bobby sighed again. "Okay, let's talk about something else. I have some more news that will almost certainly cheer you up."

"And what's that?"

"I found us a place." Billy's eyes widened and he finally smiled a little.

"No shit! Really? When?"

"I found it yesterday. The old man that lived there before recently died. They found him dead in his bed a week after he died with his face half eaten off by his cat. No one in the area wants the house because they think it's haunted or some shit because of that old dude dying. So the realtors are selling it for next to nothing. It's just barely within the lines of the reservation and it's a nice two bedroom place and we could afford it on just our salaries! So what do you say, Billy?"

"I say why haven't you already made an offer?" Bobby grinned.

"Well, because you're helping me with the down payment. I'm serious, Billy, this house is being sold for the price of a house in the fucking fifties! And they're so desperate to sell, we could make them offer lower."

"How low are we talking?"

"We're talking eight thousand dollars." Billy's eyes went wider and his grin increased.

"No fucking way! How much would it have normally cost?"

"About $120,000. Like I said, Billy, they're giving this to us for a fucking steal! And you know what, if it is haunted, we'll get an exorcist or something. Can you believe it, Billy? We're finally leaving! No more of mom waking us up and forcing us out of bed, no more listening to our parents bitch about each other and to each other, no more of mom nagging us whenever she gets the chance, it's all over! We can rest easy now." Billy sighed happily.

"When can we make an offer?"

"If you want, we can try calling their office right now. If not, we can go there tomorrow and make an offer."

"But tomorrow's Sunday."

"If it means selling that house, I think they'll make time to see us, Billy. I promise. You just leave all that shit to me. I'll let you know when and where to sign and when I'll need your half of the money and we'll be golden. I say we start packing as soon as we get back home." Billy smiled, relieved.

"Nothing would make me happier."

"Good. I'm glad I brightened your day. Hey, tell Sarah you're getting your own place, and that it's a house to boot. That'll impress her." Billy shook his head.

"I don't think she'd care. She'll be mad at me for a while. I'm not even sure I'll go to the dance tomorrow. I was planning on just going to work Sunday and that Monday since we have the day off anyway and just working."

"Billy, if you bought a ticket, just go. You've been busting your ass all week working. You deserve a break." Billy smiled.

"So you're not mad at me anymore?" Bobby smiled and shrugged.

"What kind of brother would I be if I left you out to dry in your time of need?" Billy and Bobby smiled at each other and finished off the burger and fries together.

The next day, as Bobby predicted, the realtors made time to see him and Billy since it meant selling the spook house no one wanted. They both signed the papers, paid up front, and we given the two sets of keys. They could move in whenever they wanted. The good day made the upcoming night seem a little less daunting, but he was still nauseous thinking about it. He went to a shop in Hoquiam that rested out suits and got a pair of dress pants and a dress shirt. He wasn't planning on wearing a whole suit. He already felt strange as it was wearing dress pants. The dance was being held in the school gym. Not even half the school was there since only the Sophomores-Seniors could even go to the dance, and that consisted of maybe fifty people max. Not everyone even went to the dance, leaving maybe thirty kids with two teachers chaperoning.

When Billy arrived, he managed to see Sarah with her boyfriend at a table with Harry, Sue, Sam, and Kelly. Sam looked uninterested in the whole event as he often did with just about everything. Nothing impressed the man. The only emotion Billy ever really saw from him were random bursts of anger, then he was fine the next minute. He usually made a point to not be around Sam whether he was a cousin or not. Sarah glanced his way, then immediately looked away towards Kelly. Billy sighed and walked off to the side, not really knowing what to do besides just stand around. About twenty minutes into the night, Nikki walked over to Billy looking surprised. Billy smiled a little at her and waved.

"What are you going here? I thought you weren't coming to the dance."

"I wasn't planning to. I just wanted to see Sarah's dress." As Sarah had promised, it was a pretty dress that fit her well. But since she was still sitting at the table, he couldn't see more than the sleeves and how they hung off her shoulders.

"You paid eight dollars just to see someone in a dress?" Nikki laughed a bit. "Is it safe to assume you've still yet to try anything with her?"

"Actually I did. She's mad at me now."

"As I guessed would happen. She's too good for you, Billy. And besides, she's got an awesome boyfriend as it is. Michael's the top of his class at his school on the Makka reservation and he just earned a free ride from academic and sports scholarships to Harvard Law School. He already took his LSATs and he's going to Harvard in the fall. Why would Sarah go for you when she's got him on her shoulder?" Billy gave Nikki a dirty look.

"Just because you get accepted into Harvard doesn't mean you know shit."

"Sure it does. Either that or you have money. You don't think our politicians got where they are today because they were smart do you? But that aside, Michael's a really nice guy too. You're kind of an asshole. I know who I'd pick if I had to chose between him and you. Sarah would be stupid to give that up."

"Shut up, Nikki."

"Look, Billy, I know you don't love her, so this sort of thing would be foreign to you, but at least have the common decency to let her have a good life instead of throwing it away just so you can have a week of fun with her before you dump her for someone shiny and new."

"I wouldn't do that."

"That's what you did to me."

"We were never really dating. Besides, you didn't seem to be too heart broken when I told you I was interested in someone else."

"Of course not. I know I can do better. I'm just glad we ended it before you got me pregnant." Nikki laughed a bit, but Billy gave her another dirty look before looking back towards Sarah's table. Then he realized she wasn't there. Neither was Michael.

"Where'd they go?"

"Who?"

"Sarah and Michael?"

"They went outside a minute ago. They're probably on their way to his house for some real fun." Nikki took a moment to giggle to herself again while Billy walked away towards the gym doors to see if they were gone. Billy walked out, then immediately went back behind the door. They were outside, seemingly arguing. Billy didn't listen to what they were saying. He just waited a few minutes, glancing their way every now and then, and only coming out when he realized Sarah was alone. She seemed upset. He finally had a chance to look at her dress. She looked beautiful in it. It hugged her curves perfectly and her hair was held up by another hair comb that looked new. When Billy walked out, she looked up and saw him, then looked back down at the floor not saying a word.

"Sarah?"

"Go away. I don't want to talk to you right now." Billy took an unintentional step back. He was surprised by the harsh tone in her voice.

"Look, Sarah, I'm really sorry about Saturday. I shouldn't have been so brazen and forward with you even though you're seeing someone else."

"Was, you mean." This surprised Billy again.

"What do you mean was?"

"Someone walked over to our table and asked why I didn't say hi to them when they saw you and me having pizza in Hoquiam the other day. Apparently they were out all week and couldn't ask me earlier, so they chose to ask me now. They didn't know Michael didn't know about all that. He got mad and took me out here with him so I could explain. He demanded to know about the other times we hung out and didn't believe me when I said we were just friends. He accused me of cheating on him and broke up with me." Billy stayed quiet as Sarah began to cry quietly. He wasn't sure what to say. Now he really would never be able to fix what happened Saturday.

"Sarah….I'm sorry."

"I said I don't want to talk to you. Just leave me alone." Sarah then ran out of the gym hallway to the parking lot. Billy followed after her. She didn't have a car, but her house was close by anyway, so it didn't really matter. Billy left his own car and ran after Sarah. She didn't realize Billy was following her and she was wearing heels, so she couldn't go very fast anyway. When Billy caught up to Sarah, she started walking as fast as her heels would allow, but Billy was still able to easily catch up to her. "Why are you following me?"

"Because we aren't done talking. I'm sorry Michael got the wrong idea and I'm sorry about Saturday." Sarah laughed without humor.

"Please. You probably planned this. Have someone say they saw us together, get Michael to accuse me of cheating so he would dump me, then I would be free as a bird so you could swoop in and save me." Billy shook his head.

"That's not true. Believe me, Sarah, I don't think that much." Billy's attempt at humor went unappreciated. "Please, Sarah, I'm sorry. Please, tell what I can do to make it up to you."

"Nothing. You've done enough. Stop following me."

"No, Sarah. I know you're mad and I'm sorry.." Sarah stopped walking and glared at Billy.

"Enough! No more sorry! You're sorry about burning Michael with a cigarette, you're sorry about hitting on me yesterday, you're sorry Michael broke up with me because of you, you're not sorry and you know it!" This time, out of habit, Billy responded just as loudly, if not louder.

"Don't you tell me I'm not sorry! And don't you dare put all the blame on me. You're just as responsible if not more so than me!" Sarah's eyes widened from rage.

"Where the hell do you get off saying that to me? You misinterpreted my being so nice to you! I just wanted to be friends! You're the one who tried making it more after knowing me a week!"

"Maybe, but you're the one who started it! You're the one who came to me out of the blue saying, 'you were so sorry for judging me', and shit like that! That was all you! I was content to avoid you and leave well enough alone, but oh no, not you! You're the one who started all this! So you deal with the consequences!"

"What consequences? All I did was offer you friendship and some comforting words! You know what Billy? I only talked to you because I pitied you! I felt so bad because you have such a bad life and I wanted to see if I could fix you! That's all the reason I had!"

"I figured that out, you selfish bitch! Forgive me for thinking you were more than just a pretty face who was capable of looking past a rumor and seeing a real person! Forgive me for thinking you weren't a selfish, obnoxious, narcissistic bitch!" Sarah didn't say anything this time. She was staring at Billy intently. Billy was breathing heavily and staring at her too. Instead of responding, Sarah eventually turned away from Billy and continued walking home. Billy sighed and ran after her again. "Sarah, stop. I didn't mean it. I just spoke out of anger."

"Stop! I don't care how sorry you are! I want you to stop following me and I don't ever want you to talk to me again!" This time, Sarah did her best to run in her heels. But regardless, Billy didn't follow her. He just watched her walk away until she disappeared into the blackness. When he couldn't see her anymore, he breathed heavily, turned around, and made his way back to his car so he could drive it home.

When he arrived home, he noticed that Bobby's car wasn't there. When Billy walked into the house, Will was sleeping in his chair while Ann was reading at the kitchen table and drinking coffee. No one said anything as Billy walked to his room. When he came in, he noticed a lot of things were missing from Bobby's side. That made Billy realize he should start packing too, so he went to the garage to grab a few boxes for himself. When he walked back in with the boxes, Ann glanced up and sighed.

"Billy, you're not even out of high school. At least wait until you graduate before you move out." Billy shook his head, continuing to walk to his room.

"I'd rather move out now. If you don't mind, mom, I'd rather not talk right now. It's been a bad night."

Billy managed to get to his room and close the door before hearing Ann say anything in opposition. Billy and Bobby never had much in their room and at their age, there was even less that they had in their room. All Billy had to pack that was in any form of a large quantity was his clothes, and he fit all that in three boxes. When he was done packing his clothes, he walked the boxes to his car and drove to the house. The lights were on, so Bobby was already there. Billy brought his boxes in and rested them in the living room. Billy realized he was still wearing his rented suit, so he started changing.

"Billy, you're in the living room. Have you no shame?" Billy glanced up at Bobby while pulling up his jeans.

"It's just us, Bobby. I don't see the issue." Bobby noticed Billy's tone and groaned to himself.

"What happened this time?"

"Michael accused her of cheating on him with me so he dumped her and now she blames me for it and told me to never speak to her again." Bobby whistled.

"Shit luck, kid. Don't worry so much about it, Billy. She'll get over it. You know how emotional women get, then ten minutes they're fine again."

"Yeah, but they remember two weeks later and punish you for it."

"Yes, and when that happens, you shut up and let them bitch until they're out of breath again. You've just got to be patient, Billy. She'll come around, I promise. In fact, I'll bet you that in three weeks time, she'll come crawling back saying she's so sorry she ever yelled at you."

"No she won't." Bobby laughed a little.

"Billy, she came to your work to apologize for being critical of you. If she's willing to do something that stupid, believe me, she'll do it again."

"Bobby, I'm not in the mood. I dropped off most of the things I needed to, so I'll see you later. I'm going home to sleep." Bobby shook his head.

"No you don't. I have a present for you in your room." Billy gave Bobby a weird look.

"You got me a present? What?" Bobby shrugged and pointed in the direction of Billy's room. There really wasn't much difference between the master bedroom and the other bedroom off to the side of the hallway and they would still share a bathroom anyway, so Bobby took the master bedroom since he was the one who needed the closet space. Billy finally walked over to his room and opened the door. Then he saw a queen size bed in his room. It took up most of the space, but he didn't need that much space anyway. He smiled a bit and looked at Bobby. "You really got this for me?" Bobby nodded.

"They were delivered today. And since we no longer have to worry about our mom harming our girlfriends, I thought we both deserved having beds fit for sex and sleeping over. Do you like it?" Billy nodded.

"Yeah, I do. Thanks, Bobby." Bobby smiled and walked over to Billy. He placed his arm over his shoulder to comfort him.

"It's okay, Billy. Even if things don't work out with Sarah, it'll all be okay."

"I really like her, Bobby. Whenever we would talk, like that day she came to the theatre to say she was sorry, we talked so long and about so many things. I've never enjoyed someone's company like that before."

"Not even with me?" Bobby said, fake hurt in his voice. Billy chuckled.

"Aside from with you. It's just, I haven't been able to open up like that with many other people like I could with Sarah. And I felt like there might really be something there. I just want her to feel the same way. Or at least give me a chance."

"I know, kid. But you can't force anything, just remember that. If she likes you, she'll come around. And maybe she'll need a long time as friends before she sees anything more than that. Be patient, Billy." Billy sighed.

"I don't know if she'll ever talk to me again."

"You never know."

After their heart to heart, Billy decided to go to sleep and didn't wake up until noon the next day, making him late for work. He worked all of that Monday too. When he went to school, Sarah didn't even look at him second period. She never even glanced at him at any point through the day. That's how it was for the rest of the week. Billy didn't get much more from Quil either. All he said was she was mad and wasn't talking to anyone about it. According to him, she was trying to get Michael to take her back since she didn't really do anything wrong. Billy groaned to himself and finished his lunch with a scowl on his face. He never hated a person as much as he hated Michael.

Billy and Bobby had completely moved into their new house by the end of the week and Bobby made up a house warming party with a bunch of friends. Since it consisted of mostly pot smoking and whatever else his friends liked doing. He noticed Bobby playing around with something he'd never seen before, but he thought it best to leave him and his friends alone. Another week went by of the same thing with Billy reluctantly going to school with Sarah continuing to ignore his presence and then going to work until his employers ordered him to go home. After another week, Billy was getting really concerned. The Friday of the third week, Sarah wasn't at school. And when he got to work, he saw a sign saying that the theatre was closed for fumigation. Apparently someone found a cockroach in the kitchen, so they needed to fumigate the whole place. That meant for a whole week, he wouldn't be able to go to work. That also reminded him that he had yet to give the theatre his new phone number and address.

Normally, he worked on Saturday, but this Saturday, he sat at his new place on the couch he and Bobby had snagged from someone's trash the other day. They'd cleaned it as best they could, but it still smelled a little murky from being out in the rain for the amount of time that it had been. They managed to find a TV and VCR for really cheap, even though the TV was really small. They still needed to buy plates and glasses and other utensils, but they realized it's really expensive to get those, so for the time being, they were stuck with just paper plates and plastic cups and utensils. Ann had come to see the house just long enough to inform them how stupid they were to waste money they didn't have on a house before going to work for the day.

Billy sat on the couch watching M.A.S.H reruns with his feet on the coffee table Bobby and Billy also found while hunting for discarded furniture. It had a bunch of scratches and a million names in it, but as long as it stood, that was good enough. And it didn't smell, so that was a plus. After one episode of M.A.S.H, an episode of Hogan's Heroes started and Billy cheered up a bit. This was another favorite. About halfway through the episode, Billy heard a knock at the door. He stared at the door a moment surprised that someone was at the door. He figured it was his mom and stayed on the couch and continued watching his show. Then whoever was at the door knocked harder and Billy rolled his eyes, stood from his couch, and went to the door to answer it. He spoke before looking up.

"What is it, mom?" Then Billy looked up and his eyes widened. "Sarah?" Sarah stood at the door, her head held down. She nodded.

"Hey." It was pouring outside, so Billy moved aside and told Sarah to come in where it was dry. Sarah stepped in and looked around the place. Then she looked at him with a light smile. "So this is the place. I went to your house and your dad told me you didn't live there anymore and just gave me your new address." Then Sarah sniffed something and looked around. "What smells like skunk and mildew?"

"What are you doing here?" Sarah looked back at Billy, realizing he would in fact want an explanation. She took a deep breath, then looked at Billy intently.

"I realized…..I never should have yelled at you like that. It's not your fault Michael and I broke up. As it turns out, you wound up just being a convenient excuse for it to happen sooner." Billy looked confused.

"What are you talking about?" Sarah sighed.

"Michael was planning to break up for a while. He told me he had no intention of having a long distance relationship with me and that we'd be better off seeing other people. He wasn't planning to break up with me until after graduation, but since he assumed I was seeing you, he just did it when he did. It wasn't too hard to convince him that nothing was going on between you and me, but it wouldn't have mattered either way."

"Oh….I'm sorry, Sarah." Sarah shook her head, then her eyes began to tear up and Billy walked over to her and hugged her. She didn't push him away like he'd anticipated, but he was never one to look a gift horse in the mouth. Billy held Sarah for a few minutes until he rested his cheek on the top of her head and hugged her tighter. Her hug tightened as well. "Don't cry, Sarah. Everything will be alright."

"I feel so stupid. I even told you he loved me. He never said it to me. Not once." She was cut off by her own sobbing and she continued crying into Billy's shirt. Billy decided she would want to be more comfortable, so he brought his arms a little lower so he could pick Sarah up and take her back to the couch so she could sit. Once they were on the couch, Billy sat back and let Sarah lay on his chest at cry.

"Was this why you weren't at school Friday?" Sarah nodded, a little ashamed of herself.

"I was so upset about what he'd said to me. I knew I couldn't stand to face anyone, especially not you." Billy looked at Sarah surprised.

"Why?"

"Because I would've started crying, just like I'm crying now. After blowing up at you like that accusing you of ruining my life, I couldn't stand the idea of facing you knowing I was wrong." Sarah kept her place firmly planted on Billy's chest, hiding her face. Billy smiled a little and started petting her hair. She didn't stop him.

"It's alright, Sarah. I was the one who got the wrong impression. I admit, I told Quil that I really liked you and I guess whoever told you assumed what they did based on that and us having dinner." Sarah looked up at Billy.

"You don't Quil you liked me?" Billy nodded.

"Yeah, I did. He found out you and I were beginning to spend time together, so he wanted to tell me that as long as I gave up pot and drinking, then he wouldn't be opposed to me pursuing you." Sarah looked surprised.

"You gave up marijuana…..and pot? For me?" Billy smiled.

"You were a big part of it. The other part was I realized if I kept it up, I would actually wind up like my father: fat, drunk, and stupid, married to a retched harpy I knocked up when I was released from the hospital. I didn't want that. And I knew that if I was right, about there being something between us that could be special, that you would never take me the way I was. I knew you shouldn't have to. You deserve better than that. So that's what I'm trying to be. Better than that." Sarah smiled a bit.

"I didn't know that."

"I wasn't sure I should tell you then under the circumstances. And I also knew if I came right out and said I liked you, you would've turned me down on my ass, like you did when I touched your hair. I guess I was being selfish…..just like I'm probably being selfish now." Billy said this while brushing tears off Sarah's face. Sarah smiled a little wider, then pushed herself into an upright sitting position. Billy followed, but his body remained facing her while Sarah turned forward looking at the tiny TV. Sarah took off her coat and hung it on one of the coat hangers.

"I love Hogan's Heroes. It's another show I used to watch with daddy when I was little." Billy smiled.

"It was one of the shows Bobby and I liked and could watch with dad." Sarah looked at Billy.

"You don't seem to speak too poorly of you father." Billy sighed and shrugged.

"My father's been either drunk or with another woman most of my life, so I never was able to really come to know or respect him. All my brother and I had were TV shows we all liked. And we could only watch them when mom was away. When mom was home, she was usually lecturing one of us about something."

"Do you ever wish you had a better relationship with them? Your parents, I mean." Billy shrugged.

"I do. But I know how they both are. They're both bitter and angry at each other and Bobby and I get caught in the middle most of the time. That's why we moved out. We didn't want to be in the center of it anymore."

"I don't blame you." There was a moment of silence between them. Billy decided to throw restraint out the window and just scoot closer to Sarah on the couch. Sarah didn't move away from him. She stayed where she was and looked at Billy when they faces were closer together than they'd ever been.

"It doesn't look like the rain will let up any time soon. And Bobby's working the late shift at work today."

"What are you implying?"

"Just that you're welcome to stay if you need to. You can use my bed and I'll sleep in Bobby's room or something."

"Rain's hardly anything to spend the night over."

"It is when that ran makes driving impossible. Besides, I won't do anything to you. I'm honestly just looking out for your safety." Sarah giggled.

"It's my dad's car. He might need it for running errands or something."

"What stores are open on Sundays?"

"Convenience stores?" Billy chuckled and shrugged.

"I suppose you have a point there." They were silent again for a few seconds, just looking at each other intently. Eventually, Sarah broke the silence, asking a question she wasn't completely sure she wanted to ask.

"You said you felt something between us. What were you talking about?"

"Just that. I felt something special when I was talking to you. I was able to open up with you and I was comfortable with you. I haven't felt that way with many people, and certainly not when I've hardly said two words to them before. The more I got to know you, the more I started liking you. By the end of the night, I was amazed with you. Then through what little more time we were really friendly, I came to like you more. I've just never warmed up to someone like this and had more than friendly feelings for them."

"And with me you did?" Billy nodded.

"Yeah. I got greedy and I wanted you. Hell, I still do, but I doubt your opinion of me has altered that drastically." Sarah smiled and sighed.

"It's altered plenty since we first started talking. I really enjoyed that night too. You were nothing like I'd always assumed you were. I actually felt back because I seemed to have easier conversation with you than I did with Michael. That made me feel really guilty, but I pushed it to the back of my head."

"I didn't even bother doing that. But I don't want to just be friends with you. I know this probably isn't a time to even talk about this, but I really like you and I want to get to know you better. And if you're willing to give me a chance, I think you might like me too." Sarah smiled a little more and looked at her hands. Their faces were still close together and Billy could smell her clean skin. Billy's skin was different to Sarah. He was probably clean. He looked like it anyway. But he smelled of pot and cigarettes and it was off putting. He would probably taste like an ash tray too.

As they sat there, Billy kept his seat where he was. He wasn't moving. Sarah twiddled her fingers aimlessly until she looked at Billy again. Billy wasn't sure what came over him or what possessed him to be so brazen, but he kissed Sarah before a rational thought could enter his head. It started gentle. Sarah contributed to the kiss, encouraging Billy to be even more bold with it. He brought up his left hand and placed it on her cheek, holding her face to his firmly. Sarah rested her own hand on his and tilted her head. That's when Billy gently licked her bottom lip and she opened her mouth for him and let him in. As she suspected, he tasted like cigarettes, but that aside, the kiss was pleasurable and her mind started going blank. Billy's mind did too, and he wrapped his arms around Sarah and pulled her with him so he could lay back with Sarah on top of him. Their lips parted only slightly and brought them back together when they were laying down.

Billy tightened his hold on Sarah so that their chests were pressed tightly together. Sarah's hands were resting on his chest with her hair falling over, covering their faces. Billy brought his hands to Sarah's hair and laced his fingers through it, gently pulling it up into a ponytail with his hands. They tilted their heads again so they could open their mouths for each other. Billy ran his tongue along Sarah's teeth, then the roof of her mouth. She smiled from it tickling, and her fingers clasped his shirt, her nails digging into his chest. Billy groaned quietly and he licked her bottom lip. They kissed for roughly a half hour before Sarah sat up and looked at Billy, who was still lying down on the couch. They smiled at each other a moment before Billy sat back up and brought his face close to Sarah's again.

"So will you? Give me a chance?" Sarah smiled a bit more and nodded. Billy smiled wider to and kissed Sarah quickly. Sarah giggled and took a hold of his left hand in her right. "So what should we do for our first real date?"

"How about we do what we were doing the other day? Do you have Blazing Saddles here?" Billy grinned.

"We have our own copy actually. Should we order some pizza?" Sarah shook her head.

"No thanks. I'm not in the mood."

"Okay." Billy said. Then he remembered something else and knew he still had that hair comb with him. "I'll be right back." Then Billy left the couch and went to his room to look through his boxes for the small box with the hair comb. Once he found it, he walked back to the living room and sat next to Sarah, presenting the hair comb to her. Sarah smiled and took the box.

"This really was pretty. I wish I'd worn it at the dance."

"You'll have plenty of other opportunities. Why not wear it now?" Sarah giggled and took the hair comb and arranged it into her hair so it was in a messy bun. "It looks beautiful on you. It really does." Sarah smiled.

"Thank you, Billy. Why don't we watch the movie." Billy smiled and got the movie in the VCR and forwarded through all the previews.

"Sorry about the TV being so small. It was the cheapest we could get." Sarah shook her head.

"The one at my house is the same size as this. I'm used to it. When I was younger, I would lay down right in front of the TV while daddy sat in his chair." Billy chuckled.

"Bobby and I used to fight over the middle spot in front of the TV. I usually lost."

"I'm sorry. I guess having siblings has it's burdens at times." Billy nodded.

"Yeah. Bobby always argued that he was the oldest, so he should get the better spot."

"The beauty of being an only child. You're the oldest and the youngest." Billy chuckled.

"Yeah." Once the previews ended, Billy pressed play at the opening credits and rested the remote on the coffee table. Sarah amazed him by scooting closer to him and cuddling under his arm, rested her head on his chest. Billy wrapped his arm around Sarah's shoulders and hugged her tight.

They stayed cuddled together like that for the whole movie, laughing at the jokes and making comments about events in the movie and questions about a joke's background. Sarah hadn't understood the Headly Lamar joke until Billy reminded her of the actress Heady Lamar. Thirty minutes in, Sarah shivered and asked if Billy could turn on the heat. Billy smiled guiltily and told her the house didn't have a heater or AC and they would need to install it once they could afford it. Instead, he offered her a blanket, which she accepted. Billy went to his room and got his heavy blanket. When he came back, he wrapped it around his shoulders, sat down, and offered Sarah a spot in the blanket. Sarah stood from the couch so she could sit on Billy's lap, again surprising him, and took a hold of the other side of the blanket so Billy could wrap his free arm around her waist. Sarah moaned and rested her head on Billy's shoulder.

"That's better." Billy smiled and cuddled Sarah closer.

They stayed under the covers together for the rest of the movie. When the movie was over, Billy reached for the remote and pressed stop, then the screen went fizzy as it was ejected.

"So what did you think of the movie?"

"It was certainly worth watching. I still hate cowboy movies, but at least this one was entertaining." Billy chuckled.

"I always thought so. We have a few other movies if you're in the mood for another." Sarah glanced out the window seeing the heavy rain.

"What time is it?" Billy looked over to the stove in the kitchen.

"It's 8:40." Billy looked out the window too and sighed. "I'm not sure how comfortable I am with you driving in this." Sarah sighed.

"Will your brother mind you taking his room for the night?" Billy shook his head.

"He'll be working until three in the morning. By the time he gets home, he'll be so tired he won't even notice me. My sheets are cleaner than his too." Sarah smiled and stood from the couch, leaving the blanket and Billy's lap.

"I should call my parents and let them know. I didn't tell them I was coming to your house, so I can just say I'm with Sue. She'll cover for me."

"Why not tell them you're with me?"

"They wouldn't even let me spend the night at Michael's house, and they considered him to be a prime young man. They just don't like the idea of me spending the night with a man. They assume we'd be intimate." Billy shrugged.

"I wouldn't say no." Sarah gave Billy a small, critical smile.

"We've only been dating three hours and you already want to have sex?" Billy noticed the harsh tone in her voice and shook his head.

"No, I was just teasing. I didn't mean to offend you." Sarah relaxed and shook her head.

"It's alright." Sarah kept walking to the phone in the kitchen. "Your phone works, right?" Billy nodded.

"Yeah. It's one of the first things we made sure was working." Sarah picked up the phone and dialed her house. She told her parents she was spending the night with Sue because the rain was so hard. Then she called Sue to let her know she was Sarah's scapegoat. She promised to fill her in about what was happening on Monday and hung up.

"So do you have any clothes I can borrow?" Billy nodded.

"Yeah. I've got some clean t-shirts and some shorts you can wear for the night."

"Just the shirt. I don't like wearing pants or shorts to bed. They ride up and it gets uncomfortable."

"Okay. I'll go get you a shirt then. Did you want to go to bed already?" Sarah nodded a little.

"Yeah. I'm tired."

"Alright." Billy stood from the couch and walked with Sarah to his room. She waited in the doorway while Billy looked through his boxes for a shirt that was oversized enough. He found an oversized KISS shirt and smiled. "How's this?" Sarah smiled.

"That's good. Thanks, Billy. Do you need anything in here?" Billy shook his head.

"No, I'm fine."

"You're not going to bed?" Billy shook his head.

"No. I'll stay up a little longer. I'll keep the TV low for you."

"Thanks, Billy." Sarah took the t-shirt and walked further into the room while Billy walked out. "Goodnight." Sarah said. Billy smiled.

"Night." Before leaving, he walked over to Sarah and gave her a quick kiss on the lips. After the kiss ended, he walked to the door then he closed the door and went back to the living room and sat on the couch.

Billy turned the TV back to the station it was on earlier. Right now, the news was on. The top story was more about the AIDS epidemic and that a gay political figure had contracted the disease. Billy changed the channel as soon as he could. He didn't like listening to those news reports. First it was just Gay Cancer, then it was Grid, then it was Aids that was affecting hemophiliacs and newborn babies, then it infected a wealthy woman who received a blood transfusion from doctors who knew the blood was contaminated or something. Now it was something transferred through sex and blood, so everyone was paranoid about it and it seemed like Reagan was doing almost nothing about it. Billy preferred not thinking about it at all.

There weren't many channels to chose from, so he chose the one showing late night shows. He managed to find Saturday Night Live and stuck with that. He kept the volume low and kept his laugh muffled. At the end of Saturday Night Live, another old show came on. It wasn't his favorite, but it was better than nothing. He was starting to get tired anyway. Billy closed his eyes and was asleep in minutes. He was forced up when a loud crack of thunder went off so loud he thought his ears might bleed. His heart was racing for a moment from being startled. Billy breathed heavily until his heart stopped racing. As he was doing that, he heard footprints coming from the hall. He looked up and saw Sarah walking towards him in just the KISS t-shirt.

"You okay?" Sarah nodded.

"Yeah, I'm fine. The thunder just woke me up was all."

"Me too." Sarah walked closer and sat back on the couch next to Billy.

"You never went to bed?"

"I fell asleep while watching Gilligan's Island."

"That show always bothered me. That and Scooby Doo." Billy smiled.

"Me too. It always bugged me how the skipper was able to stay fat no matter how long they were there. You don't get that way eating coconuts." Sarah giggled a little.

"And Velma was the one who always solved the crimes while Scooby and Shaggy went looking for food and found a clue by accident while Daphne and Fred went off doing God knows what. Then once Velma figured it out, Fred would repeat what she said and take all the credit." Billy chuckled.

"They were off having sex in the shed is what they were doing. But Fred always made a point to tell Daphne not to play with his ascot." Sarah laughed a bit and bent her head down again, then looked back at Billy. They were both quiet for a while. Sarah eventually broke the silence.

"It's freezing in here. You shouldn't have to sleep out here." Billy smiled.

"I'll just go to Bobby's room. He's got heavy covers."

"You shouldn't. I don't want Bobby getting mad at you. If you'd rather we switched, I don't mind. Or we could just share your room." Billy looked at Sarah a moment, again surprised. She'd been surprising him all day today.

"There isn't really much room on the floor. We'd have to share a bed." Sarah smiled innocently.

"Would that be so bad?" Billy smiled back and stood from the couch. He walked around to Sarah, who offered out her hand. Billy took it and she led him with her to his room. They maneuvered around in the dark until they both reached one side of the bed. Sarah crawled under the covers and moved to one side of the bed, leaving a free space at the right of the bed for Billy to get it.

Before getting into bed, Billy took off his jeans and tossed them off to the side. Billy couldn't tell what Sarah's exact expression was, but she didn't seem too bothered by it. Once his jeans were discarded, he crawled under the covers into bed and scooted closer to Sarah. When Billy was close enough, Sarah cuddled into his chest, her hands resting there, while Billy wrapped his arms around her and held her close. Sarah rubbed her nose against Billy's chest, which tickled him a bit.

"You're so warm. I needed this." Billy smiled and kissed her forehead.

"Me too." Sarah nuzzled Billy's chest again and kissed it. Billy smiled and kissed the top of her head. Sarah looked up at Billy, who then brought his face closer to hers. Their noses touched before Billy stopped moving his face closer. "Please tell me you don't want to keep this secret. I don't care about not telling our parents right away or something, but I'd like to be able to kiss you, hug you, whenever and in front of whoever I want."

"I wasn't planning on keeping this a secret. I wasn't planning on not telling my parents either. I'm just not sure how to tell them."

"I'll let that be up to you. I just want to be allowed to hug you whenever I want." Billy kissed Sarah's lips. "And kiss you whenever I want or when you'll let me." Billy kissed her again. "The rest will come with time, I guess."

"It's too soon for that." Sarah said, pushing away from Billy and turning to face the other side. Billy bit his lip and moved closer to her and hugged her again.

"I didn't mean it like that." Sarah sighed. Billy hugged her a little tighter and Sarah didn't really respond. "Is there something you're not telling me that's got you so upset about all this?"

"I just don't want to be pressured into anything."

"When did I pressure you? All day, when did I pressure you?"

"You didn't. I'm just asking you to not do it in advance."

"Why? Did Michael pressure you or something?"

"I was younger and I thought it was something I had to do. I know better than that now." Billy lifted himself on his elbow and Sarah looked at him and saw the frown on his face.

"Are you saying he raped you?" Sarah shook her head and turned to face Billy.

"No, he never raped me. I just assumed he wouldn't want to keep dating me if I didn't agree. He would've understood if I said no. I just wish I'd realized that before."

"Sarah, I don't want you thinking I'm trying to.."

"I know you're not, Billy." Sarah turned around again so her whole body was facing Billy's and she cuddled to his and nuzzled his chest. Billy took his weight off his elbow laid down again. "I want you to be patient with me."

"I will, Sarah. But I want you to stop thinking the worst of me." Sarah was quiet a moment, then looked up at Billy with sad eyes. Sarah brought her right hand up to touch Billy's face and caressed his cheek with her thumb. Billy copied and brought his left hand to her face and caressed her cheek with his thump. "We're already screwing up aren't we?"

"It's okay. Arguing is normal."

"Not the day we start dating." Sarah smiled and kissed him.

"Let's just go to sleep. We're tired." Billy smiled and kissed Sarah again.

"Night, Sarah."

"Night, Billy."

They cuddled closer to each other and fell asleep after a while of being completely quiet. Sarah was the first one to wake up the next morning. She looked outside and saw that it was still raining, but not as badly as last night. Sarah realized there was something hard against her back. Billy had his arms around her and she was facing away from him. Then she realized it was an erection. Sarah blushed heavily and gently pulled herself out of Billy's arms so she could go use the bathroom. After that, she went to the kitchen and looked through the fridge for something to eat. But it was completely empty. The cabinets were completely empty too. Sarah sighed and started walking back to Billy's room. She accidently bumped into someone and screeched. The man she bumped into wasn't Billy, but she recognized him to be Bobby.

"Jesus, woman, I'm the one who should be screaming. This is my house. Breath a little."

"Sorry. You just caught me by surprise."

"Obviously." Billy looked over Sarah a little and grinned a bit. "So you're Sarah? I remember you now. So you spent the night I see."

"It was raining really hard and Billy didn't want me driving in it, so I spent the night."

"You don't have to lie to me, Sarah. So was he good to you? I taught him everything he knows." Sarah's eyes widened and she shook her head.

"Nothing happened. I just spent the night."

"And you shared the bed?"

"Well, yeah, but it's his room. I'm the guest. He shouldn't have to sleep on the couch like that." Bobby chuckled a bit.

"Please tell me you're at least dating Billy now."

"Well…..yeah, I am….I guess. I came here to.."

"You came to apologize and he won you over with his forgiving charm. I know. I assumed as much would happen." Sarah was about to talk, but Billy came into the kitchen scratching his head.

"Oh, there you are. I forgot to tell you we don't have much food in the house. Can I buy you breakfast?" Bobby looked at Billy, still grinning.

"She won't tell me, kid, so I'm relying on you. We're you good to her last night?" Billy looked at Sarah apologetically, then at Bobby.

"I was a perfect gentleman." Bobby laughed.

"That a boy, Billy. I knew everything would work out with you two. Maybe it was pot philosophy, or whatever you want to call it, but I knew you'd end up together. Now, Sarah, I want you to be good to my baby brother. This man right here gave up a lot for you, so I expect you to treat him like the king he is." Bobby chuckled. Billy smiled a little.

"Thanks for that, Bobby." Then he looked back at Sarah. "So do you want to go get breakfast?" Sarah nodded awkwardly.

"Yeah. That sounds great."

Sarah and Billy excused themselves from the kitchen and went back to his room so they could get dressed. Sarah asked to go to her house first so she could drop of the car quietly, then they could go into town and get something to eat. During breakfast, they finally relaxed a bit and were able to talk as freely as they had the first time. They wound up spending the whole day together, even going up to Hoquiam to see a free movie. Billy decided he'd convince Sarah to see Return of the Living Dead with him. Though reluctant, Sarah agreed, and they had a great time. Whenever Sarah didn't want to watch, she just burrowed her head into Billy's chest, which he didn't mind in the least.

"This movie's gross." Sarah whispered to Billy. They were two of maybe seven people in the theatre and the others were in the rows way up front, but it still seemed courteous to stay quiet. "I don't know what you find so entertaining about them." Billy chuckled.

"They're great group movies. The whole point of these movies is to make fun of them. Bobby and I do it all the time. And when Quil and Harry are in the mood for it, we do it too. I've got a ton of these kinds of movies at home." Sarah sighed.

"If you say so, Billy." Feeling uncomfortable, Sarah pushed Billy's arm off her so she could push the arm rest up. When it was up, she scooted closer to Billy and retook her passed position and Billy rested his arm on her shoulders again.

Becoming extremely bored with the movie, Sarah decided to be bold and try something she would normally never try. She scooted what little bit closer she could and brought her lips to Billy's neck and kissed him there. Billy breathed a low moan and smiled, but he waited and let Sarah continue so she could determine what would happen. He didn't want to jump to conclusions and get in trouble again. She may have just wanted to tell him something and she figured it was the best way to get his attention….or something. Eventually, one of Sarah's hands went to Billy's knee and she kept kissing his neck tenderly. Again, Billy kept his responses to a minimal. Whatever she was doing, he was very much enjoying it. Sarah's hand moved in a back and forth motion on his knee and her kisses, for the most part, remained in the same spot. Occasionally, she would gently lick that spot, but it was mostly kisses. Either way, Billy liked it.

"Is the movie boring you that much?" Billy eventually whispered, hoping he wasn't putting her off. Thankfully, he wasn't, and Sarah giggled a little and nodded her head, moving her hand onto his thigh and doing the same thing as before.

"I just don't like horror movies. And Zombies creep me out. This is far more enjoyable." Billy grinned and took a hold of Sarah's hand on his thigh with his free hand.

"I won't argue with that." Sarah giggled again. "So would you like me to further cooperate, or is what I'm doing right now alright?"

"If you want to watch the movie, what you're doing now is fine."

"Yes, but you've got me really distracted. I don't know if you realize how easy it is for a man to get aroused." Sarah smiled, then she took her hand away from Billy's thigh and brought it instead to his chest. Billy began regretting his last sentence.

"I won't distract you too much, then."

"I don't mind you distracting me. I really like it actually." Sarah stopped kissing Billy's neck and looked up at him, his eyes dark and intent. Sarah realized she'd gone a little far, so she smiled and rested her head on his chest again and looked at the movie while Billy had every swear he knew going through his head. It had seemed like Sarah was getting comfortable, and now they were back to square one. But he didn't say anything and just kept watching the movie, finding almost no enjoyment out of it now.

After the movie, Sarah decided she should probably go home, so Billy took her back. Before she left the car, Sarah turned to Billy in the driver's seat and kissed him on the lips. Then Sarah got out of the car and went to the door and let herself in. Billy left once she was inside and he was smiling all the way home. He and Sarah were finally dating. It seemed to be going so fast, but he didn't care. He knew there was something special about her and he was happy to have her at any pace she would allow.

That Monday when Billy saw Sarah already in her seat second period, he took the seat next to her and gave her a quick kiss before asking how her night was. They talked pleasantly until class started for the day and they shared a sweet peck before they had to part for their third period classes. When lunch came around, Sarah sat with Billy at his usual table. Kelly, Sue, Sam, Harry, and Quil joined them, but they were all extremely puzzled. Sam really didn't care too much, but the rest of the group was stunned to hear Sarah and Billy were actually seeing each other. Kelly and Sue complained about needing to fix their lipstick and made Sarah come with them outside. They didn't bother going to the bathroom. They just stood outside together, huddled.

"So you and Billy are dating now? Three weeks ago, you were plotting his death." Sue said, extremely surprised. Sarah gave her a guilty smile.

"I was speaking out of anger. And besides, I've had more than enough time to cool off since the dance and I realized how much I really did like Billy."

"You had one really big conversation and maybe a handful of smaller conversations. You can't tell me you two are in love." Sarah shook her head at Sue.

"It's not like that…..at least I don't think so. Billy said he thought there was something about me that made me special and he wanted me to give him a chance, so I did."

"He probably says that to every girl." Kelly shook her head, taking Billy's side.

"I don't think so. Billy's pretty straight forward, so if he says there's something about you, than he's probably telling you the truth. But Sarah, please tell me you didn't agree to date him because you felt guilty or something like that. If that's the case, you may as well end it now. It'd be kinder if you just did." Sarah frowned.

"That's not the reason I agreed to date him. I agreed because I like him. And we have a lot in common. And he's really nice and he's a lot sweeter than I thought he would be."

"What about his notches?" Sarah looked at Sue confused.

"His what?"

"You know, his notches. How many girls has he ever slept with? He might have that AIDS thing that's going around! Did you think of that?" Kelly rolled her eyes.

"You're spouting bullshit now, Sue. I may not know much about Billy, but I do know he's only ever slept with two girls. At least at our school. And neither of them were extremely sexually active. Nicole might be now, but that girl was the biggest virgin I knew before she started dating Billy. Or sleeping with him, whichever it is. My point is that Billy's not the bionic man of bed hopping. He's had maybe two girlfriends he dated for a bit and it hasn't worked out either time. You're hardly one to talk Sue. You dated three guys before you finally got to Harry and fell so desperately in love. Don't tell me you've never been intimate with any of them." Sue stayed quiet. She hated it when Kelly called her out on things. Kelly then turned her attention to Sarah. "Look, I'm not saying you should hop into bed with Billy without any precautions. What I'm saying is don't assume the worst of him just because of what you hear at school and from other random sources. You've said yourself he's really nice and you've become very fond of him in the time that you've known him."

"As short an amount of time as that may be." Sue interrupted. Kelly continued.

"And you can't keep using me or Sue as a scapegoat. You need to tell your parents about Billy eventually." Sarah sighed.

"I know it do, and I want to. I just don't know how to tell them. Mom was so upset when she heard Michael and I broke up. She was really hoping he and I would get back together. And she has a really low opinion of the Blacks. What if she gets angry?"

"Would you still date Billy if she did?" Kelly asked quizzically. Sarah was about to answer, but she realized she wasn't sure. She looked at the ground thinking while Kelly and Sue waited for her answer. After thinking about it for a few seconds, near a minute, she nodded.

"Yes. I think I would. He's not a bad person and they shouldn't judge him just because his parents aren't the most pleasant people in the world." Kelly grinned and Sue followed.

"That a girl, Sarah."