My eyes flutter open and something feels different. I rub my eyes and take in the surroundings in my room. Something still feels different. My bed feels different. It feels a lot warmer. My eyes wander to the window ledge, where I see a pile of unfamiliar clothes. My heart sinks in my chest as the memories from last night resurface. "Shit," I whisper. I turn over to see Billy, laying in my bed, fast asleep.

The sinking feeling in my chest goes away when I see how peaceful he looks. A strand of his hair hangs over his eyes, so I carefully move it out of his face. His breathing begins to quicken as if he is about to wake up, so I rest my head on the pillow and pretend to be asleep. I instantly regret my decision when the covers slide off my shoulder, leaving it exposed to the cold air around it.

I feel Billy sit up in the bed, grunting as he stretches. The more he moves, the more covers I'm losing. He gets out of bed and makes his way to his pile of clothes. He gets changed before standing over my desk. A few moments later, he makes his way to my side of the bed, pulling the covers back over my shoulders and tucking me in.

I hear the window slide open and shut again, him leaving me in my room all alone. I wait a few moments before sitting up in my bed. He sleeps with me and doesn't even have the decency to tell me he is going home. I sigh in frustration and get out of bed, noticing a note on my desk.

Didn't want to wake you. Thanks for last night. - B

I try to keep a smile from creeping on my face, but it's no use. Evidently, Billy can do literally anything and I couldn't hate him for it. I begin to get ready for school, trying to forget all of the events from last night. I don't know why, but I just can't tell Steve. I feel like it would put a wedge between us. I don't remember much of last night, only after Billy arrived at my house and being driven home by Steve - not that I remember that too well, either.

I am just about to leave my room and leave the house when I notice a black leather jacket crumpled up on the floor. I look down at my red blouse and denim jeans before smiling to myself. I grab the jacket and put it on. It smells just like Billy's car - cologne mixed with cigarette smoke. I didn't mind the smell of it, I actually found it rather pleasant.

I leave the house and Steve is waiting outside, in his car. "Liz!" I hear a voice call. I look around to see Max, standing by her older brother's car. I hold my finger up at Steve and make my way over to her. "Are you not riding to school with us?"

"I was going to, but Steve sort of just showed up so I can't turn it down," I explain to her, pointing over to Steve's car. He holds his hand up to Max when I turn to point at him. "But I'll ride with you after school, I promise."

"How long have you and Steve been together?" She questions me and I just look at her in confusion and shake my head, speechlessly. "Oh, you're not?" I shake my head at her and she slowly nods hers. "That actually makes more sense," she mutters to herself.

"What does?" I ask her, trying to find out as much as I could. She just shrugs her shoulders and smiles at me.

"Nothing," she shakes her head. Billy walks out of his house, slamming the door behind him. "I better get going." I nod my head and wave her goodbye. "Oh, and that's a nice jacket." I look down at my jacket and remember that it's not my jacket. I feel the heat rushing to my cheeks as Billy looks over to see me standing in his jacket. I quickly turn around and head to Steve's car.

"Drive," I tell him, closing the door behind me. He begins to stutter in confusion and I turn to him. "Trust me on this, just drive the god damn car."

"What was all that about?" Steve asks me after we have been sat in silence for a good five minutes. "And don't say nothing, because we both know that I know that's a lie."

I pause for a few seconds, racking my brain for excuses, without telling or hinting to the fact Billy and I had sex last night. "Billy is just a very sensitive person, he gets slightly offended whenever I don't ride with him and his sister."

Steve nods his head once, keeping his eyes on the road. He doesn't say anything for a few more moments before turning back to face me. "You do know I don't believe that, right?" He questions me, a smile playing at his lips. I laugh with him, trying to make the topic die down. I want to tell him, but not just yet.

We drive straight past the cul-de-sac where the Wheeler's reside and I scrunch my face up in confusion. "We're not picking up Nancy?" I ask him, turning my head in his direction.

Steve shakes his head, keeping his eyes on the road. "No, I assume Jonathan will take her," he tells me. I continue gawping at him, waiting for him to elaborate. He sighs, still not taking his eyes off the road. "Last night, at the party, she told me I was bullshit, our relationship was bullshit, everything was bullshit, we killed Barb, and that we're just pretending that we're in love."

I sit in silence and shock, a little confused by what I was just told. "Shit," is the only word my mouth can comprehend. He hums in response, knowing just as well as me on how to deal with this situation. And I have no clue. "How did she get home last night?"

"Jonathan took her home," he explains, making the situation even worse. I grimace at the problem and he nods his head. "Have you got any free periods today?" He changes the subject before the conversation gets anymore depressing.

"Second, and that's it, why?" I tell him, knitting my brows together.

"Good, you can come to watch me play basketball in gym," he smiles at me brightly, hoping I'll say yes. I hesitate momentarily. "Come on, I need your moral support, Coach."

"Watching a bunch of sweaty teenage boys jumping around the gym and throwing a ball around isn't exactly my type of fun," I explain to him. "The smell is profound."

"We're doing shirts against skin today," he tries to persuade me. "I promise I'll stick to shirts," he holds one of his hands up in defense. He pauses, before pointing at me. "Unless you want me to skin."

"If I go to your stupid basketball practice, will you stop talking?" I ask him and he nods his head. "Fine, I'll go, but don't expect me to know what is going on." We pull into the car parking lot at the same time as a familiar looking blue Camaro. Billy honks his horn loudly at Steve for pulling out on him, but Steve shrugs it off.

We climb out of the car and Billy parks his car not too far away from Steve's. I watch as Max skates out of the school parking lot and in the direction of the middle school. Steve begins walking into school, but I stay behind. "Steve, you go straight to math, I'll catch up to you." He sends me a thumbs up before doing as I say.

I walk over to Billy's car and slide the jacket off my shoulders. He watches my every move. I hand him the jacket and he smiles, shaking his head. "It's cold. Keep it for today," he tells me. "But I want it back tomorrow." I nod my head and sit on the end of his car. Billy does the same, reaching into his pocket for his cigarettes.

He passes me one before taking one for himself. I place the unlit cigarette in between my lips and wait for the lighter. Billy takes it upon himself to light it for me, holding the lighter at the end of the cigarette. We both sit in silence as we watch every student pouring into school. I turn to look at him, as he does the same. I quickly look away when we reach eye contact. I don't know how to act around him anymore.

"I left a note this morning," Billy speaks up. "I don't know if you saw it or not." He takes another puff of his cigarette, inhaling the fumes.

"I did," I tell him, nodding my head, smoke escaping my lips as I speak. He nods his head in response, not really knowing what to say either. I pluck up all my courage and finally ask him the question that has been bugging me all morning. "What did last night mean to you?"

"What do you mean?" Billy asks me in response, looking quite wary of how he answers the question.

"What did it mean to you?" I ask him again, not elaborating much. He looks away and I can tell he's a bit unsure of what to say. "Just be totally, brutally honest." I pause for a moment. "But if it's brutal, then I would appreciate it if you sugar coated it, slightly."

A soft laugh escapes his lips, making me smile a little. Billy's smile is short lived and his frown quickly returns. "I don't know." I tilt my head to the side, slightly, trying to figure him out. "You make me feel like someone I'm not. You make me feel soft." He continues. "I don't like feeling soft. I hate the way I feel when I'm with you."

I pause, taking in his words. "Ouch," I try to laugh through the hurt the words caused me. "I think you need to check on your definition of 'sugar coating'." With that, I flick the cigarette out of my mouth and onto the floor. I step on it to ensure it doesn't catch fire to anything and walk away.

"Liz, I didn't mean it like that," Billy calls out to me, sliding off the back of his car. I ignore him and carry on walking. "Liz!" I ignore him again. "Fine. Fuck you, slut!" I feel my eyes fill up with tears at the right hook his words were throwing at me. I keep my head held high and try to blink back my tears, but it doesn't work. The tears continue to fall down my cheeks as I walk into the school.

"Woah, woah, woah, Beth," a voice calls out. I quickly wipe my tears away and turn around, with a smile on my face. I see Carol and Tommy walking up to me in the hallway with concern in their eyes. "Are you okay?" Tommy asks me, genuinely concerned.

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" I say in that much confidence, I would have fallen for it. Carol looks up at Tommy.

"Liz, you do remember you're wearing mascara, right?" Carol questions, gesturing to my face. I mentally curse and rush to the bathroom. Carol follows me in and looks at me in worry. "Elizabeth, what happened?"

I lean towards the mirror, trying to sort out the streaks of black down my face. She puts her hands on my arm and pulls me away. She turns me to face her and wipes the streaks herself, sorting it out a lot quicker. "I slept with Billy last night."

"Billy?" She asks me. "As in Handsome Hargrove?" I nod my head and she smiles. "Good for you! What's so bad about that?" She pauses and her eyes widen. "Is this about Steve?"

"What?" I question, furrowing my brows at her. "No, I spoke to Billy just then and he said how he hates spending time with me because he doesn't like the person he is when he's with me. Then he called me a slut because I started to walk away from him."

"Ouch," she grimaces, pulling me into a hug. "Don't worry about it, Lizzie, you've always got me, no matter what." I give her a final squeeze before pulling away. "Guess this just shows how much of a good friend Steve is, just saying," she tells me, sarcastically.

"Carol," I say in a warning tone. "We've spoken about this. I'm not taking part in your's and Tommy's feud with Steve. I refuse to pick sides. Nothing you can say will turn me against Steve."

"Well," she drags on before smiling. "It was worth a shot, right?" I laugh at her and she joins in, putting her arm around me. "Come on, let's show the school how much of a strong independent woman you are."