A/N
This story is set after season 2 and just before season 3. It is set in a world where the Upside Down is at least unknown to our two main characters. I set Billy's in his last year of school, as when writing this story, season 4 had not aired. This will end as season 3 did, so please be forewarned that there is no 'real' happy ending here, but also no real 'on page' character death.
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"You're givin' me the fever tonight,
I don't want to give in, I'd be playin' with fire,
You forget I've seen you work before,
Take 'em straight to the top, leave 'em cryin' for more."
Fire and Ice - Pat Benatar
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Josselyn Tanner was not having her best day, which was saying something.
Every day she had to tone down her own style, her own personality. No hints at her hard rock taste in music could be found in her very bland, high-waisted, blue denim jeans and faded band T-shirt from the 60s, that had once belonged to her mother. She wanted to be mousy, to go unnoticed to everyone around her.
High School was Hell; and even if she only had a few months left, she'd rather it be a quiet and uneventful hell. Her shaggy brown hair had been impossible this morning; normally it stuck out at odd curled angles, but could usually be overcome to some degree by keeping the length long and moussed. But of course, she'd run out of mousse today, and so it had been piled into a very unflattering ponytail, and secured by a random scrunchy she had found under her bed.
At eighteen, life already seemed to be passing her by. She saw everyone preparing to go to college after school finished, but Joss didn't know what she wanted to do. Looking for guidance was a wasted effort, her mother was too busy traveling with her showy aerobics job. Going to conventions here and TV filming there, it was a much more exciting life for her mom to live than the daily trudge in Hawkins, Indiana. Sure, her mom paid the bills; and called on a long distance phone once a week to see if Joss needed anything, but it wasn't the same as having a parent right there, looking out for you. Joss had learned, early in her teenage years, that she could only rely on herself. Her father lived in California, and had since she was eleven. Over the years he had been in and out of his daughter's life so much that Joss had stopped hoping, stopped waiting, and just let it be what it was. She tried not to be bitter, but some nights it was hard, being alone.
That was why Joss worked Fridays and weekends at the local Palace Arcade. When she'd first started at sixteen it had been fun, the bright lights, the constant clamour of arcade music as each cabinet vied to be heard over the others, and the chatter and laughter of all the kids who came in, eager to spend money and have a good night. For a time, it had filled some of that emptiness she felt, and for a short while she came home to a gloomy house feeling content and happy. Soon the place lost its sheen as it just became the ordinary. Now it felt mediocre and melancholic in the glow of the neon lights.
Her last school year had been full of ups and downs. Her grades were deemed 'okay', her teachers thought she could get a good job after school; because college had never been discussed with her parents, and Joss had no desire to stay in a school setting any longer than necessary.
The last thing Joss wanted was to end up in a dead end job, marrying some dead end guy and popping out a few kids, while she wondered what could have been, what adventures she'd missed. She didn't want to turn out like her parents, waiting until there was a kid in the middle of all the hurt of a mid-life crisis break up. Joss wanted to do something with her life, she just wasn't sure what yet - but leaving this damn town would be a start.
Summer weather was here far too early in Hawkins and it was getting hotter by the day. As she crouched in the parking lot of the high school she could smell the hot asphalt and see the heat wavering in the air around her. She felt a small trickle of sweat snake its way down her back and pulled her lips down in disgust. What she wouldn't give in that moment for a cold soda right out of the vending machine, or to sit in one of the darker hallways and let the chill air give her some relief from the heat.
But she couldn't go into the cool refuge of the school yet.
Her bag strap had broken, hence not having the best day.
She sat on her haunches as she tried to tie the two frayed strap pieces together, the music playing softly from the headphones around her neck, Pat Benatar's 'Fire and Ice'.
Suddenly there was a loud blare of music and a screech of tires, and she turned at the noise to see a dark blue Camaro pulling into the lot at speed. The windows were down and as the car whizzed past her she caught the drifting melodies of a rock song she knew, but couldn't place.
The car came to a reckless stop in a parking bay and the windows were rolled up, silencing the music and the heated shouting from the occupants inside. A young red-haired girl jumped out of the passenger seat, gave the car a middle finger and quickly jumped onto her skateboard, sailing from view into the shade of the school buildings within seconds.
Despite her sweaty hands, Joss managed to tie a makeshift knot and shifted her clumsily repaired bag up on to her shoulder and rose to her feet, noticing as she did, a man slide from the car's driver's side. He nonchalantly locked the car before shoving the keys deep into his tight mid-wash blue jeans pocket and leaning back onto the closed car door. He lit a cigarette with a quick flick of a silver lighter then banged his fist angrily on the car, creating a dull metallic sound.
Joss knew who he was, everyone at school did. Billy Hargrove, bad news - with an even badder attitude. He went through girls like water, a new girlfriend on his arm every week, he tired of each one and threw them away like used gum. He started fights and trouble whenever he could. The school's 'king of keg' parties, he attracted attention like a magnet and he loved it. She watched as two girls passed by, sending pink smiles his way, and one gave a little high-pitched 'Hi Billy', which he returned with a wicked curl of tongue over his bottom lip in enjoyment at the unspoken compliment their blatant notice came with. He didn't bless them with a vocal reply but clicked one of his fingers at them and winked, then watched in flagrant appreciation as they walked away, his gaze focused quite firmly upon their backsides. Both girls giggled at his attention, whispering how hot he was to each other as they passed Joss. She thought she heard one comment on how good his ass looked in those especially tight jeans, then they dissolved into giggles again.
Joss rolled her eyes.
But still, even she couldn't deny they weren't really wrong, he was good looking, there was a reason he was so popular. He dressed confidently in tight jeans and T-shirts that showed off his well-defined muscles, his denim jacket clinging to his frame which oozed confidence. His hair was slightly curly and fluffy, fashionably long at the back, a silver earring dangling from his ear. It was obvious he took care of his appearance and Joss could admire a fine looking guy as much as the next girl, and that's just what she found herself absently doing now, lost in her own musings of hormonally fuelled high school politics.
He took a long, hard drag of his cigarette, closed his eyes and tilted his head up to the sky before blowing out a large cloud of smoke in a gesture of frustration, clearly not over his dramatic entrance and the fight with the red haired skater. Joss found herself wondering if his bravado was a show, just like she put on a show everyday? Although hers was to be invisible, maybe his was to be... obnoxious?
She smiled secretly at her little joke. Hot and obnoxious suited Billy Hargrove like his tight jean jacket.
When he opened his eyes again, he noticed her standing across the lot and held her startled gaze to his for a second, placing her, who she was to him, evaluating her surveillance. Joss glanced away quickly, suddenly aware she had been plainly gawking in her inner wondering. She tried hard to fight down the sudden heat of embarrassment that flooded into her face, and in a fluster hitched her bag up higher, where it promptly snapped again and fell with a soft thud to the ground, spilling the contents across the concrete in a spray of chaos. She quickly scrambled to pick it all up, gathering notes, lip balm, books and her pencil case, palms grazing across the heated sidewalk in her scrabble to do it all as quickly as possible, knowing he was watching. Joss could feel the blush fully burning in her cheeks.
Not only was Billy Hargrove a ladies' man, he was also a bully, pushing around others when he thought he could get away with it, goading some into outright fights, and committing others to daily ridicule. She didn't see any reason why he wouldn't direct any of that unwanted attention on her right now in punishment for her unguarded actions and disregard of high school hierarchy, she was, after all, a nobody, invisible, beneath him.
After pushing all the spilled contents back into their rightful place, Joss gathered the whole bag into her arms, and, averting her gaze from his direction, she began once more to walk towards the building, fearing hearing him coming after her, or a shout of 'Hey you!'. Joss couldn't afford being noticed. She chanted that she was in fact fully invisible to all prying eyes as she tried to scuttle into the hoped-for concealment of the school building.
"Hey Joss!" a voice called, and Joss' heart jumped into her throat.
It was her classmate Lori, one of the very few people she talked to during school hours.
"Hey," she greeted in relief.
"You okay?" Lori looked concerned. "Did your stupid bag break again?"
"You know it," Joss said, now walking in step with the other girl as if nothing untoward had happened at all.
"Did you finish the maths homework? It was du-ull! This heat is something right?" As Lori babbled away, Joss started to feel her composure return enough to chance a look back. She saw he was still watching, and was now smirking at her as if finding the whole skit very amusing. Joss felt a little unpleasant jolt in her stomach at his indiscreet and mean-spirited attention, clearly enjoying her discomfort.
She turned back to Lori, forcing herself to only focus on their conversation and not the bully behind them.
/
A/N
Hello welcome to my new... or rather, old story. I originally wrote this between March and July of 2020, when I had a LOT of time on my hands. I didn't think I'd ever publish this because while I really enjoyed writing it, it is a pretty fun simple story that doesn't have much to say other than be a fun little romantic/drama powerplay teenage romp, exploring Billy's character and him having a bit of a romance going on. I'm pretty sure there are many better stories out there about Billy, but after Flowangelic urged me to publish this, I decided why not, maybe someone will enjoy it as much as I enjoyed writing it. I also have a full video playlist for this story which includes cheesy blurry pics and effects, it was fun to make at the time. Each chapter will have the video link posted in my profile. It's just a bit of fun. Look, when I say I had a lot of time on my hands in 2020, I was not joking!
This has mild spice, no real violence or abuse (physical or sexual, but maybe a little tiny bit of emotional abuse), no pregnancy, just a lot of control struggles. It is just really about two kids getting mixed up in each other while having complicated home lives.
This is the biggest fandom I've posted in for a VERY long time and I am a little nervous, so please be kind. I've had to deal with a lot of unkind comments since I started publishing my fanfics again and I'd really like to avoid that here. If this story isn't for you, if you hate it, hate Billy or just hate my writing, click back and find something else to read.
If you are here to have a bit of fun, I hope you enjoy you're time here. Updates will hopefully be every Friday as I spell check all these chapters and rediscover this story with you.