I rush to the door when the house erupts with loud knocking. I open it to reveal a boy standing there. He has a blond mullet, his hair curling down to his shoulders, with beautiful blue eyes to match. "You Elizabeth?" He asks me. His voice makes me feel all floaty inside. He is actually gorgeous. I'm going to make a mental note of our wedding plan, right away.

"Yeah, that's me," I reply, nodding my head at him. I examine his outfit - blue denim jeans, a white shirt, and a blue denim jacket. Double denim. And he's actually pulling it off.

"Great, get in the car, sweet cheeks," he orders, cockily. I close the front door behind me, slinging my bag over my shoulder.

"Have you got a name or something?" I question him as we climb in a blue Camaro. He nods his head, turning the ignition, revving the engine. "You gonna tell me what it is, then?"

He exhales sharply. "Billy. Now stop pestering me," he says, putting his foot down on the gas before I even get a chance to put my seat belt on.

"Woah," I call out Billy's fast driving. "You eager to get to school or something?"

"Not particularly," he shakes his head at me. I hear a scoff coming from the back seat, startling me. I turn back to see a red-head girl, middle school aged, sat with her arms crossed in front of her. "That's Maxine, just ignore her, I do."

I nod my head, trying to think of how to change the subject. "So, where have you moved from?" I ask him, turning to my left, to look at him while driving. "If you don't mind me prying - just trying to figure you out."

He glances at me, trying to keep an eye on the road. He looks reluctant to tell me. "California," he states, pointedly. "Why you trying to figure me out, Peterson?"

"Because all I know about you is you're called Billy, you moved next door, you drive a blue Camaro, and you ignore Maxine," I list off, pointing to the girl in the back. "And now, that you're from California."

He hums, continuing to watch the road, but still, driving like an idiot. He stops at a red light and reaches into his pocket. He pulls out a packet of cigarettes and a lighter. He places one in between his lips and offers me the packet. I take one, no hesitation, and do the same. He lights his, before handing me the lighter so I can light my own. "You don't seem like the smoking type," he tells me as I hand back his things.

"I've been smoking with my friends ever since I was 11," I explain to him. "My Dad always goes on about how I mixed in with the wrong crowd. He doesn't like my friends very much, only one of my oldest - but we don't talk much anymore."

"You know of any parties on any time soon?" He questions me, making me think.

"Well, with Halloween coming up, there are most likely to be quite a few," I reply to him, nodding my head. "Tina usually has a Halloween party every year because her folks always go on holiday for their anniversary or something like that."

"Get me invited and I will give you a ride every morning," he negotiates with me. I know that it's not that strict of a guest list, but I could do with a ride to school every morning so I agree. I hold my hand out for him to shake it - like doing a business deal. He looks down his nose and scoffs. "You're kidding, right?"

"You're a bit of an asshole, right?" I retaliate, putting my hand down. Maxine mutters something under her breath, but I don't catch it due to the loud revving of the engine.

"You're feisty, right?" He copies me, slightly biting his bottom lip. I look away, not wanting to reply to him. "I like a girl who is feisty." We turn a sharp corner and I have to hold on to the front of the dashboard as we pull into the school parking lot. We get out of the car and I pull the seat forward so Maxine can get out. She skates away, in the direction of the middle school, without even saying goodbye.

"Thanks for the ride," I say, motioning to his car. "And the cigarette." He nods his head, walking away into the school building.

"Beth!" A voice yells from afar. I turn to see Carol, Nicky, and Tina, leaning against a car. Carol motions for me to come over. I walk up to her and she smiles brightly. "Who is that?" She asks, pointing over to Billy.

"He's my new neighbor," I tell the three girls. "He's called Billy."

"Would you check out that ass?" Tina points out, making me look. I watch him from behind as he walks and I actually feel my heart swoon. "Just look at it go."

"Liz," someone else calls. I look around to find Nancy and Steve, standing by Steve's car. Steve motions me to come over. Carol tries to stop me, but I ignore her, making my way over to them. "Who's that?" Steve asks me, looking slightly threatened.

"Billy, he's just moved next door to me," I tell him, awkward tension filling the air. "I really don't know him well." Steve nods his head, sensing the awkwardness. "I'm gonna get to class." I get to my locker and when I open it, a bright orange sheet of paper fell to the floor. At the top, it's marked LIZZIE in capitals.

TINA'S HALLOWEEN BASH

COME GET SHEET FACED.

Halloween nite 7 pm - oak & first se

I look back up to my locker to find another. This one is marked BILLY. I look around, but I can't see Tina anywhere. I put them both in my bag. I see Billy across the hall, looking rather lost. I make my way over to him and he stops walking when I catch his gaze, so I can catch up to him. "Are you lost?"

"No," he replies, bluntly, shaking his head. I reach into my bag and pull out the orange invite to Tina's party. "What's this?"

"Invite to Tina's party," I tell him, with a smile. "I told you I could get you invited." His eyes look up from the invitation and he has the shadow of a smirk on his face.

"Are you going to be there?" He questions me.

"Tina is one of my best friends, so yeah, I'm going to be there," I reply, a little too cockier than what I intended to. "So you coming?"

"Do I have to dress up?" He complains, dread in his eyes. "Because I don't want to be one of those losers who dresses up."

"First of all, ouch, I dress up every year," I reply, pointing at the boy in front of me. "Second of all, come dressed up as a mysterious new guy with a mullet, that's terrifying," I try to joke around. At first, I don't think he finds it funny, but after a few moments, a smile is visible on his face.

"What time do you need picking up?" He begins walking at the sound of the first bell. I raise my brow at him.

"Who says I don't have a handsome ass boyfriend coming to pick me up?" I challenge him, looking up at his tall figure.

"Well, before this morning, you took the bus," Billy states, looking down at me, sharing eye contact. "So that's not exactly screaming 'I have a handsome ass boyfriend coming to pick me up'."

I stare at him in shock before looking ahead of me. "Touche," I nod my head. We walk in silence for a few moments before I speak up again. "7:30, we don't want to be the first ones there."

"7 o'clock it is," Billy replies, trying to push my buttons. The look his is giving me says it all. "We don't want to miss out on all the alcohol. I want to be there when the keg is practically full."

"Why are you such an ass?" I scoff at him. "Like first, you assume I don't have a boyfriend, which for your information - offense taken to that. Second, you call me a loser for dressing up. Third, you just keep pushing my buttons for your pure entertainment."

"Well, it worked didn't it?" He asks me, smiling. "You look pretty pissed off and I'm relishing this moment and how entertained I am, right now."

I stop outside my classroom and shake my head at him. "Don't you have somewhere to be, like, I don't know, class?" I try to change the subject. He points into the classroom I am in next and I nod my head. "Obviously." I walk through the classroom door and Billy follows. "Obviously the universe hates me enough to have you in my class."

"Ah, Mr. Hargrove, I assume," Mr. Port speaks up, making Billy turn around.

Billy pulls a shabby piece of paper out of his pocket and looks down. "Ah, Mr. Port," he says, looking up from the paper I assume is his timetable. "Never assume things... It makes an 'ass' out of 'u' and 'me'." He replies, using his fingers as quotation marks. "But if it makes you sleep at night, yes, it's Mr. Hargrove."

Mr. Port stands there looking rather shell-shocked. It's a good job he said that to Mr. Port and not any other teacher. Mr. Port is probably one of the most down to Earth teachers there is. He's so sweet and he has such a sense of humor - Billy's obviously catching him off guard. "You may take a seat next to Miss. Peterson."

I look up from my desk and exhale sharply. "What has a girl got to do to have luck on her side?" I question. Mr. Port looks at me, quite confused by my outburst, along with every other girl in the classroom. He's quite the heartthrob, already. Billy takes his seat and smirks at me. "English is now my least favorite subject."

The second bell finally rings and around two minutes afterward, Steve walks through the door, with his blue denim jacket on and the sunglasses that I thought I'd lost in my fight with Carol. I assume - Guess. I guess he picked them up after they fell on the floor or something. "Mr. Harrington, you're late."

Steve stops at his usual desk - Billy's desk. "Uh, Mr. Port, there's a hobo in my seat," he says, harshly, pointing at Billy.

"Steve," I whisper, trying to get him to stop. He looks at me and I shake my head. "Cut it out." Billy would probably kick his ass like it's grass. Mr. Port tells him to find another seat and the only other seat is next to Tommy H. Steve sends me a look of 'I actually want to kill you right now'. "Sorry."