The second period comes around and I find myself sat on the bleachers in the gym, watching the boys play basketball. They are on two teams, shirts vs. skins. Steve is on the shirts team, but for some reason, I end up cheering for skins. What might that reason be, you ask? How about tall, handsome, long blond curly hair, a bit of a dick, but amazing nonetheless? Billy Hargrove.

I honestly have no idea why watching Billy, while extremely sweaty, playing basketball is so appealing to me. Someone throws Steve the ball, but Billy intercepts it, extremely happy with himself. "All right! All right, all right!" He yells across the court, bouncing the ball from hand to hand. "King Steve. King Steve, everyone! I like it. You're playing tough today."

"Jesus! Do you ever stop talking? Come on!" Steve replies, getting irritated by Billy. He stays in a stance, ready for Billy to move so he can try and intercept him. Billy begins dribbling the ball around Steve and laughs.

"What? You afraid coach is gonna bench you now that I'm here?" Billy taunts him, which for some strange reason, makes me smile. Billy quickly moves past Steve, barging him in the shoulder, and shooting the ball directly into the net. I wince at Steve, watching him roll around on the floor.

"Come on, Steve!" I cheer, trying to hype him up, but he rests on his elbows and knits his eyebrows together. I shrug my shoulders at him. I look around the court to find Billy and when our eyes meet, I glance over to Steve. Billy audibly sighs and marches over to him.

He leans over Steve, offering him a hand. He says something to Steve, but I can't hear over the noise in the court. He pushes him back down to the floor and I sigh, standing up off the bleachers. I help him up myself and he forces a smile on his face. "Ignore him, you're still King Steve to me," I tell him, which brings a genuine smile to light up his features.

"Liz, you've got to get off the court, before coach sees you, he'll have a fit," Billy says, walking over to me and putting his hand on the small of my back. "It was hard enough to convince him to let you watch, so don't think I'll be sitting in detention for you."

"Peterson!" Coach yells. "Get off the court, now! You're distracting my players!" Billy exhales sharply, shaking his head at me. He walks away and I quietly sit on the bleachers, not really engaging with the game as much after. I know it's not a big deal but I feel like I've annoyed Billy. Practice ends and all the players leave to go get showered. "Peterson!" I hear coach yell, again.

I wander over to him after everyone leaves and stop in front of him. "I'm sorry, coach, I was just helping Steve up," I explain to him and he sighs, shaking his head at me.

"Miss. Peterson, Mr. Harrington won't have you to help him up in a real game, so you can't help him up in practice," Coach tells me, folding his arms over his chest. "You're no good for those boys."

My eyes widen as I blink once. "Excuse me?" I question him. "You can't speak to me like that," I shake my head, getting wound up.

"You're a distraction for them. You're leading them both on. You've done it with Mr. Harrington for as long as I've known you and now you're stringing them both along," Coach begins to raise his voice at me. "Don't think I've forgotten about Mr. Holmes and Miss. Thomas, either."

"Tommy and Carol were going through a bad stage at that moment and my mom had just died so I wasn't exactly in the right frame of mind!" I yell back at him. "You don't have the right to judge me for what I do. It is my life, not yours."

"You're correct. I do not have the right to interfere with your life. I do, however, have the right to get involved when it concerns three of my best players," he replies, remaining calm. With that, I storm out of the gym, without saying another word. I wait by the locker room for Steve or Billy. I don't care who. The first person to leave the locker room can take me home.

I see Billy come through the doors and he stops in his tracks when he sees me. "Hey, you okay?" He asks me. I nod my head, not really knowing what to say. "What did he say to you?"

"Uh - he just told me to keep off the court next time," I lie to him. "Do you mind taking me home? I don't feel too good." He immediately agrees, taking me to his car. "Sorry for making you skip."

"Babe, does it look like I care about skipping or my grades dropping?" He scoffs, sliding into the driver's seat. I smile, laughing softly. "I'm serious, look at me." I look at him and he sends me a look. I don't really know what kind of look. But I like it. "Now answer my question. Does it look like I care?" I shake my head at him. "No, so shut up while I take you home."

We don't really say much on the way home, he just taps his steering wheel to the rhythm of the music he is playing in the background, quietly. He pulls up outside of my house and I look over at him in the seat to my right. "Thanks, Billy." I smile at him. He smiles back, leaning forward. I fill the gap, pressing my lips against his. The kiss is shortlived when I hear the repeating of Coach's words in the back of my mind. I pull away and take my things out of the car, waving goodbye to Billy.

I unlock the door, and naturally, no one is home. I sigh, throwing my bags down at the door. I run up to my room and get changed into a sweatshirt I find in my dressing table. I'm pretty sure it's Steve's, but I can't really remember. I head into the kitchen to make myself a drink of coffee and I sit down in front of the television, surfing through each channel.

A few hours go by and I hear a car pull up outside my house. I think nothing of it until I hear movement around upstairs. I switch the television off and slip into the kitchen. I open the drawer and grab a big knife. I slowly walk up the stairs and stop dead outside of my bedroom door when I hear a thud and a groan. The room stays silent for a few moments before the handle turns. The door opens and I scream when I see a tall figure standing over me.

The figure grabs my wrist, restricting me from using the knife as a weapon. "Easy, tiger!" The person says, laughing. My brain processes my surrounding and I let out an exhale when I see Billy's face looming over me. I push Billy back into my bedroom. "Woah! I thought you'd be happy to see me!"

"Happy to see you?" I exclaim. "You broke into my house! We do have a door, you know!" I yell, pointing down the stairs. "What are you even doing here?"

"I thought I'd keep you company while you're ill," he tells me. I try to hold back my smile, but I just can't. I let the smile fill my features and he smiles back at me. I hug him and his arms envelope around me. "I'm sorry about what I said earlier. I didn't mean it like that."

"It's fine, I overreacted," I shrug my shoulders. I pull myself away from him, sitting down on my bed. I pat the bed for him to sit next to me. The bed sinks down when he does. "I'm going to ask you a question and I want you to tell me the truth." Billy nods his head for me to continue and I sigh. "Do you think I'm leading you on in anyway?"

Billy furrows his brows before laughing out loud. "No, who made you think that?" He questions me, amusement dancing in his eyes. "You don't need to worry about me or my feelings, Liz."

A sudden rush of urge powers through my body and my lips crash on his. After a few moments, the kiss turns hungrier by the second. The next thing I know, we're both trying to tear each other's clothes off. I just let it happen. Again. After no more than half an hour, we both pass out on my bed from exhaustion.

"Second night in a row, you're starting to gain a reputation, Elizabeth," Billy pants out, letting soft laughter escape his lips with it. I turn over and glare at him. "Those bedroom eyes won't work on me a third time, lady."

"Shut up, Billy!" I laugh out, hitting his shoulder. He smiles at me brightly, before quickly removing it from his face. He sits back up, sliding his clothes back on. "Where are you going?" I ask, raising a brow at him.

"Home," he bluntly replies. He puts his shirt back on before turning to face me again. "What? Do you expect me to stay and cuddle?" He scoffs at me, before shaking his head. "Wow, you really are deluded. There are plenty of bitches in the sea. I told Steve I'd save him a few - I won't tell if you don't."

"Billy," I say, shocked by his outburst. He furrows his brows at me, almost in confusion, like he doesn't know what he's doing. "Why are you acting like this?" I question him, really taken aback by everything he is saying.

"You need to stop being so naive, Lizzie," Billy scoffs, sliding my window open. "It's only going to get your heart broken." With that, he exits my room through the window, leaving me hurt and confused. Did that not mean anything to him? Do I not mean anything to him? Did he just lead me on to sleep with me?

Hours pass by and I lay in bed, crying my heart out. I didn't think Billy meant this much to me, so why am I getting so worked up about it? I end up drifting off to sleep, my eyes burning a puffy red. Why did it have to be me of all girls?