"I'd like to see you in the morning light,
I like to feel you when it comes tonight,
Now I'm here and I'm all alone,
Still I know how it feels,
I'm alone again"
Alone Again - Dokken
/
Joss walked through the sweltering hallways of Hawkins High, late for her next class and her arms full of books. Her bag strap had decided to break again and she had no choice but to leave it in her locker and take what she could manage. Her headphones blasted out Dokken's 'Alone Again', suiting her mood today perfectly.
She rushed down the wide corridor, trying not to skid and lose her footing on the slick floor as she passed by the nearby water fountain, noticing it had been damaged and broken, the water now spouting a mini geyser into the air. A metal rod of some description lay discarded on the floor, its destruction done.
She rolled her eyes, damn idiots making trouble, she'd nearly landed on her ass thanks to some asshole juvenile delinquent's attempt to rebel against 'The Man' by smashing up a water source.
"Bravo," she thought snidely, "that'll show 'em."
She heard familiar laughter and looked in its direction, her steps slowing. Billy stood further down the hall at the next working fountain, he was taking a long drink, the water glinting off the sunlight as it reached his mouth. She noticed a nasty looking cut had split his bottom lip and as he smiled, the water that ran down his chin became pink. She didn't give herself time to focus on it, her own anxiety rearing its ugly head at the sight of him, and she wrenched her gaze away before she could see more.
"Shit," Joss said under her breath. It had been a few days since that night in the car, and of course no weekend meant no meet ups, and no chances to clear the air. She tried to control the anxious feeling that swelled within her stomach as she walked closer. Would he call out, alerting everyone that they knew each other? She recoiled at the mere thought of so many eyes boring into her and the malicious whispering that would follow.
It was then she heard the sound of feminine laughter joining his, and her eyes were drawn to the girl he had his arm casually slung around the waist of. She was flicking a little water playfully at him causing Billy to laugh, and without any subtlety he squeezed her ass.
He looked up as Joss' footsteps grew closer, finally noticing someone else was in the corridor. For a moment she thought she saw his smile falter as he recognized her, but he quickly regained it, wiping the dripping liquid from his chin as he flicked water back at his latest girlfriend with a careless toss of damp curls. Joss looked away, and without changing her stride, she passed them as the strangers they were, and continued to her class.
"Hargrove!" A stern teacher's voice boomed behind her as she reached the door. "What in the hell do you think you're doing?!"
Joss opened the door and slipped in without a backward glance.
/
Joss sat on a slightly secluded low wall and sipped at her can of cold soda distractedly, more engrossed in her book than her surroundings. School was over and the hustle and bustle around her slowly ebbed away until she was fully alone. She kept sipping and turning pages, in no real hurry to return to her empty home or the TV dinner that awaited her in the freezer. She liked walking back when the streets were quiet, when there wasn't a chance of encountering any of her peers.
The sun was bright, making her squint as she read, she tried to shield her eyes with the can but it was a pretty lacklustre and lazy attempt at shade.
She heard footsteps approaching and ignored them, hoping they'd pass on by, before she felt some respite from the glaring heat as a shadow fell over her. She took a stealthy moment to allow her gaze to take in the heavy duty, scuffed leather biker boots, with gleaming silver buckles, before allowing herself to relax, and setting her attention firmly back on the last paragraph she'd been reading.
"You reading?"
"Looks like it," she said, not looking up, already knowing it was Billy stood in front of her.
"I mean, what are you reading?"
She glanced away from her book and up at him. "War and Peace," she said, with a withering look.
He bent down and roughly closed the book, so the cover was in view. "Crabs: The Human Sacrifice." He read out the title. "What the hell!" he laughed. The cover showed a giant crab hovering over a prone, white gown-clad, large busted woman, a knife clasped in its pincer, ready to strike. "Real classy."
"Thanks," she said, pulling the book from his grasp, "I try to be well read."
He looked back towards the parking lot as if casually surveying his surroundings. "So, do you want a ride home?"
She rested the book on her thigh, giving in to the fact that she would not be reading anymore for the time being.
"Not really," she shrugged, her eyes lingering upon the cut on his lip.
He seemed to hesitate, almost looking unsure. "You wanna go for a ride?"
She shook her head, remembering quite clearly what happened the last time they took a ride.
He shifted his feet and squinted up at the harsh sunlight. "Food?"
Now that was a promising prospect over a TV dinner. "Sure," she said, getting to her feet and heaving her bag into her arms. She looked around warily. "You sure it's okay?"
He'd already turned and started to walk towards where his car was parked. "It's fine, everyone's left."
"Why are you still here then?"
He gave her a sideways glance, but continued walking, and she had to trot to catch up to him. "I got detention." He sniffed as if it was no big deal.
"What did you do this time?" she said, playing dumb.
He quirked an eyebrow at her and then smirked, catching out her little white lie. "You saw. I broke the water fountain, remember?"
Joss rolled her eyes. "Yeah, I saw," she relented. "Did the act of violence on the poor defenceless fountain make you feel better about your day?" she said dryly, and nudged him with her elbow. "How much trouble are you in?"
He laughed but didn't falter in his steps. "It's fine, Connie covered for me, they couldn't prove I did it. We both said some freak stoner kid did it. So, it was just a warning and a phone call to my old man about 'not being proactive when seeing destruction on school property', or some bullshit." He glanced at her again, a smile coming to only one side of his lips, the side without the cut. "Thanks for not ratting me out."
"Me?" Joss laughed, "I'm not really the type to rat you out."
"Yeah, I know, but..." he didn't finish and shrugged instead.
"Why'd you do that? Smash it? Did it squirt you in the eye? Grievous bodily harm?" she needled, a sly smirk on her lips.
He shook his head and looked down, his body seemingly suddenly tense and his manner detached, his dark blond curls falling into his face as he laughed disingenuously. "Someone pissed me off. I break things when I get mad."
Joss looked at him, bemused by the sudden iciness in his demeanour. "Good to know. Remind me not to lend you any of my tapes when you're having a moment."
As they got to the car he pulled a tape out of his pocket. "Speaking of, I got this the other day." He popped it in and the music came flooding out in waves of hard rock as Tygers Of Pan Tang's 'Hellbound' boomed out its frantic rhythm.
She let the bag drop in the footwell as she sat down, her feet tapping along to the music. "Cool," she said, after a moment had passed.
"What's the deal with your bag anyway?" He pointed down to her old book bag.
"It broke a while ago, I'm just too cheap to buy a new one." This made him laugh.
/
They ended up at an old truck stop diner on the outskirts of town. Two burgers and two malt shakes later, they were back in the car and driving aimlessly around for a while, letting the music do most of their communicating.
"If we drive over to the mall now, we can catch the last screening of Fright Night," Billy finally said, looking out his windscreen as if the stars were telling him this information, passing off the suggestion as a nonchalant comment.
"You really want to go see it, huh?" Joss said, smiling at his attempt of asking her again without actually asking.
"Sure, a menacing vampire next door, what's not to love?" he grinned.
"Something you aspire to be?" Joss quirked an eyebrow and he let out a deep chuckle. "Okay," she relented, "why not, it's dark, no one will see us if we sit at the back. In and out, covert operations, right?"
"Right," he echoed. "Ah, the back seats, notorious make out central," Billy said with a knowing nod. "I see what you're doing Tanner, trying to get my blood pumping at a horror movie so I'll get all scared and jump right into your lap."
"You wish!" Joss scoffed.
"Wish? Nah, I'm a total gentleman," he said, sounding highly offended and Joss burst into laughter.
"You are a lot of things, Hargrove, but a gentleman is not one of them."
"Ouch!" he said, before letting out a deep laugh that quickly turned into a mimic of Dracula's menacing cackle. "Hey," he said, once he deemed she'd rolled her eyes and laughed at his joke enough to satisfy, "I'm twice the gentleman of some guys out there. Stacy told us there was some college guy she went on a date with to the movies, and he cut a hole in the bottom of the popcorn and stuck his..." His speech faltered as he realized Joss was looking at him with a judgmental and quizzical look, one eyebrow raised in expectant chiding, and he seemed to lose all his steam. "Well, his..."
"Penis?" Joss finished, with another raise of her brow, and watched, highly amused, as he dissolved into a fit of giggles. "Jesus, remind me not to say any medical terms to you," she said, having a hard time containing her own amusement, so she glanced out of the window to hide her smile.
"You just say it so seriously, no one but a science teacher calls it a..."
Joss turned back, determined to keep a straight face and deadpan delivery. "How about dick then?" She watched as he tried not to laugh again.
"Better," he said after a moment, with a firm nod and a clearing of his throat. "Anyway, the story right? It's all dark, movie's playing, and Stacy is rummaging about in all that popcorn, and there is a little surprise, if you catch my drift? Erect and happy to meet her."
"Eww!" Joss pulled a disgusted face, looking thoroughly aghast that this event had ever taken place. "What happened? Tell me she at least slapped him?"
Billy took a few exaggerated chews of his gum before looking over at her. "Nah, Stacy? She gave him a quick handy!"
"What? You're bullshitting me! Right there in the cinema?"
"Back seats." Billy flicked his brow in a knowing expression.
"Interesting friends you have."
"Some girls just aren't that uptight about that kinda stuff." He shrugged, turning his full attention to the the road.
"Is that a dig that I'm uptight?"
"Nah," he said, giving her a hint of a mischievous smile. "Just different views, maybe."
Joss felt it had indeed been a dig and he was calling her a prude in a roundabout way.
"Different standards," she muttered under her breath, and heard Billy laugh at her attempt at defending herself. "Besides," Joss continued, "it sounds like complete bull, like an urban legend. You sure Stacy wasn't feeding you a line to keep everyone interested and tantalized?"
He glanced over at her and Joss could see his mind working. "Maybe, Stacy isn't known for being a pillar of truth."
"Ah, see, urban legend! No way a guy's... thing would just be... like that in a bucket of popcorn. I call bull."
"Still a good story." Billy said.
They pulled into the parking lot of Starcourt Mall. Joss hadn't actually been to it before, and she took in the massive building in a strange kind of terrible awe. It loomed into the sky like it had thrust itself out of the earth, from some commercialized pit of hell. From the amount of cars dotted around the parking lot, it seemed few shared her views.
"Pretty cool, huh?" Billy said, seeing her expression.
"Sure, if you like mega corporations taking over every small town and turning them into soulless husks."
"Shut up, Tanner," he said, shaking his head in dismissal.
They made their way into the gleaming building, everything looking shiny and plastic and perfect, neon lights in every store window, shoppers drifting around like spectres even at this late hour, and Joss shivered.
"Just like Dawn of the Dead," she grimaced.
Billy glanced towards where her gaze was set and nudged her with an elbow. "Best place to be during an apocalypse," he said, grinning, and then seemed to think better of the expression as his lip pained him.
Joss felt like she should say something, ask him how he'd got it, but found the words remained somewhere deep in her chest, sensing the can of worms that would be unleashed once she did. They didn't stand on any kind of solid ground with each other as it was, getting in any deeper on a personal level felt like a big mistake.
She didn't allow herself to dwell on it and followed him along the wide hallways. They entered the cinema foyer and found it deserted apart from a few staff. Joss insisted on getting their tickets, so while she paid, Billy went to the concession stand and bought a bucket of popcorn and two drinks which Joss suspected cost way more than the entrance fee.
They were led into the dark theatre by one of the ushers, holding a torch to light their way. Their seats were at the back, but slightly off centre. The screen was probably one of the biggest Joss had ever been in, and after removing her jacket she settled into her red plush seat with a soft sigh. Billy passed her a cup of soda and she took a quick sip before placing it into the holder. She glanced at how full the place was and was more than pleased that, although not empty, people seemed to gather in the middle, leaving the last three rows of seating completely unoccupied.
The trailers finished and the movie began, rolling a very atmospheric intro of what sounded like an old vampire movie from the 1960s. By the time the real vampire had been introduced, along with a sensual synthesized score and squealing guitars, Joss was fully hooked. She wasn't scared, but thoroughly seduced; for the first time Joss could understand the allure of actually wanting to be bitten by a vampire.
She felt Billy slip a hand around her shoulders and allowed it. His dangling fingertips trailed a light touch across her exposed shoulder and upper arm, sending small shivers across her skin. She knew if he tried for more now, she'd probably allow it, a passionate kiss or a frantic fumble in the dark, she could be game for both. But for a while he seemed as caught up in the movie as she was, languidly continuing his little path of circles against her shoulder, making her inwardly squirm in growing discomfort and unease by just how stirred up this situation was making her feel. Joss was very aware of his body, pushed close against her shoulder, the weight of his arm across her back, the shallow rise and fall of his chest, the smell of his deep musky cologne, and the sharper scent of his denim jacket mingled with the sweet and salty tang of the popcorn.
She half watched the movie while she snuck little secret looks at him, seeing how his face changed with each new plot reveal and line of dialogue, how he licked his lips ever so slightly as the vampire bit into the heroine's skin and blood ran in two thin rivers down her naked back.
Despite the coolness of the air con, Joss began to feel a little too warm, she could feel perspiration gathering at the small of her back as her whole body prickled with lapping waves of growing desire. Her heart fluttered within her chest and seemed to set off a steady swell of floating pressure within her stomach. All she really wanted to do in that one moment was reach out, grasp his face in both her hands and kiss him until they both couldn't see straight. But instead she crossed her legs, quelling the pressure with force, and shifted in her seat, pushing away the insistent cravings to touch him, and focusing back on the movie.
After a few moments of coercing herself not to think about the guy sat right beside her, the tension seemed to ebb away as the story sucked her back into the fantasy of the movie, and she reached for her drink, taking a long sip of the icy soda.
At Joss' movement Billy subtly shook the popcorn gently towards her in a silent question of if she wanted any. Joss decided eating something that tasted like stale buttered cardboard was exactly what her unsettled stomach needed, and she reached out her hand, searching a moment for a good handful, and that's when she felt it. Something that felt silky, soft, slightly warm, and a hell of a lot like skin. It was a long shaft of... Her fingers froze as her mind tried to comprehend exactly what she was touching and realization flew into her mind.
In a state of complete panic Joss let out a small shriek of shock and moved fast to pull herself out of the situation, and in her flailing, up ended the popcorn bucket and her soda in one motion, allowing all the contents to spray onto the floor, barely missing soaking her and Billy through. Without waiting to address all the curious eyes in the cinema that flew to see what all the commotion was about, she snatched up her jacket and she ran, clumsy and blind in the darkness, bumping into seats and only just keeping her footing on the shallow stairs leading to the doors out of the screen. She could feel all the stares right on her, despite her effort to shield herself with her jacket, and fear flared within her chest, making it feel suddenly hard to breathe. She burst out of the doors into the foyer, eyes darting for a way to quickly leave without drawing even more attention.
Before she could take a single step a hand was around her upper arm, preventing her from fleeing further. She turned, violently shaking off Billy's touch, almost ready to slap him if she needed to.
"Calm down, Tanner!" he said, clearly a little freaked out by what he obviously deemed as her complete overreaction to the situation.
"You..." Joss huffed, trying to catch her breath, "you fucking asshole!"
How could he have put her in that position, right in public, when he knew she always tried to go under the radar? Their agreement had been that they'd get in and out without drawing any unnecessary attention, and he'd tried to take advantage of her! Perhaps he thought she'd just give in rather than make a scene? That he could use her for a quick bit of satisfaction? The rat bastard!
"I am, but not for what you think." He was grinning and Joss felt her hackles rise. "It's a hot dog." He held out the popcorn bucket, and nestled within on the remaining clouds of popped kernels, Joss saw the form of a chunky, wet, limp looking hot dog. "I thought it'd be a good joke."
"Not funny!" Joss said, pushing against him hard but barely making him flinch a step. She felt her muscles release from the clenched tension of fear and defense they'd so recently been forced into, and wanted to allow herself to feel the relief of it, but she was still far too angry.
"Come on, it was a little bit funny. Your face." He laughed, and then winced as his lip stung him. "I couldn't not, after you looked so scandalized by the whole idea of it in the car." He waggled the form of the hot dog at her and it promptly broke in two, one half falling back into the bucket with a soft thud. He shrugged and tossed it into the nearby trashcan. "I didn't think you take it so seriously."
"Not funny," Joss repeated, her hand balling in and out of a fist as if ready to slug that smile right off his stupid face. "You pull anything like that again and I'll... I'll..." She couldn't think of exactly what she'd do, telling him she'd go home and never see him again felt like something a grumpy child would say on the playground.
"You'll what?" he said, his face no longer holding any humour. "Get me back?" He walked very slowly towards her and Joss instinctively backed up a step, her prey meter suddenly spiking hard. Was this another joke or was he being serious? She couldn't read him. "You should," he said, and he sounded menacing.
Joss looked him up and down, trying to figure out what new game this was, but before she could move or say anything he'd grabbed her around the hips and pulled her off the ground, spinning her once before placing her softly back on her feet against the nearby wall.
"Do you realize how much trouble you've caused me?" Billy's voice became deep and pricked at Joss' memory. "Spying on me. Almost disturbing my sleep this afternoon. Telling policemen about me!"
Joss hit him on the shoulder with a flat palm, knowing now he was quoting the vampire's dialogue from the movie they'd just watched. "Still not funny!"
"But, I'm going to give you what I never had," his hand came to her cheek, caressing it softly, thumb pad skimming across her jawline, "a choice!" He then made a theatrical hissing noise and moved his head down towards her neck, teeth exposed.
Joss felt his teeth graze against her skin and shivered, despite the ridiculousness of the situation. But instead of biting her, he placed a soft sensual kiss against the curve of her throat, before coming back up and discarding the charade with a winning smile.
"You... asshole," Joss breathed, still not fully ready to let go of her anger and forgive him just yet.
He pulled back with a muffled laugh and nodded his head towards the exit sign. "Come on, I'll take you home. Don't think we can go back in after that performance." He imitated her panicked exit with a high pitched squeal and Joss batted at him in displeasure.
"Asshole," she breathed.
"You need to find some other words to say." He smirked, quite pleased with himself. "Besides, you didn't really think I'd do something like that, right?"
"I don't know," Joss said, narrowing her eyes at him. "I'm not fully sure just what you're capable of yet."
He let out a laugh as if this gratified his ego a little. "If anyone should be upset here, it's me, that you thought for one second a hot dog even compared to me." He flashed her one of his smug half smiles and winked playfully.
Joss made a sound of scoffing dismissal but before she could come back with a witty insult he grabbed her hand and began to lead them back through the mall.
/
A/N
Hello. Welcome back if you are reading. I hope you enjoyed this slightly goofy chapter. How many of you have heard the popcorn urban legend I wonder? I certainly remember it being passed around as a thing that REALLY happened when I was a teenager and lots of girls checking their dates popcorn before sharing in a dark cinema lol
I am trying to keep the majority of it period accurate but sometimes I do have to use things of a later date, because, my vibes call for it. Like Fright Night wasn't released until August 1985, and Crabs the Human Sacrifice (yes, it's a real book, I read, it's very amusing) wasn't out until 1988, but it's kinda adjacent so I hope you'll suspend your disbelief with me on some things.
My heartfelt thank you to the dear Flowangelic for keeping this story going. I'm still a bit shocked I am posting this and you really all can thank her for it.
If you like, let me know, every little helps :)
I keep forgetting to put the list of songs, so I'm going to go back and do that this week.
This chapter's songs are:
Alone Again - Dokken
Hellbound - Tygers of Pang Tang
Come To Me (instrumental) - Fright Night OST
Until next time.