"EAGER ARE WE?" BILLY HARGROVE SPOKE FROM THE FRONT OF HIS CAR AS HE WATCHED CARLA RUSH FROM HER HOUSE.

"Oh, shut up." Carla spoke as she neared him, her flats secured in her grasp. The only reason she'd rushed so quickly out of the house was because she really didn't want her mom seeing Billy. She'd been skeptical of Steve, and was even more skeptical of him now that she knew of what he did to Carla and if she saw Billy, who knows what she'd say.

 Once she got over to her 'date', she looked at his costume....or what Billy viewed as a 'costume'.  He was going the shirtless route with just a leather jacket over himself, along with some blue jeans. Something Carla totally expected him to show up in.

"You like what you see?" Billy asked, causing Carla to look away from his appearence at at his face instead.

"No, I'm just trying to decide on what you were going for." Carla sneered back, walking over to the door to get in his camaro. Before she even got a chance to put her hand on the door handle, Billy had swung it open for her, gesturing towards it with his hand.

"After you, sweetheart." The Hargrove spoke in his flirty tone, giving a small smirk towards the Wheeler. Carla returned a smile before getting the passenger seat, placing the flats and her shorts on the ground next to her. 

It was a little odd for Billy to be acting so sweet and gentleman like─well as gentleman like as Billy Hargrove could get─but maybe he was just trying to make a good impression with Carla..or was it another reason Carla just couldn't think of.

Billy got in the car next and quickly pulled out, engine roaring as he pulled out of the Wheelers driveway. The blue camaro roared down the street, faster then the car probably should have been going at 8pm, but that was Billy. 

"You look hot, Fast Times?" Billy asked, tapping his finger against the steering wheel as he looked Carla up and down, taking in her outfit.

"Yeah, Fast Times" The Wheeler replied. "You've seen that movie, right?"

"Yes, I have. And I do remember that scene..." Billy looked her up and down again, causing Carla to roll her eyes and stare him down.

"Don't be gross. What about you, the 'Outsiders?'"Carla replied, looking at his jacket.

"Correct, and I think I did pretty damn well with it. What do you think?" Billy asked, keeping his eyes on the road as he gestured to his outfit with one hand.

"Well, theres not a lot to really go off of here, but I guess it looks alright for it being on you." Carla replied. Billy didn't give her anything to why he chose 'the Outsiders' movie to base his costume off of, but Carla was sure it was something of an excuse for Billy to be shirtless the whole night.

The two sat in silence for a while, listening to the music that was playing on the radio, oddly low for music that was usually blasting from his car. A few moments later, Billy glanced over at Carla.

"You might wanna put your shoes on, get ready for your entrance and all." Billy spoke in a simple tone, turning his eyes back to the road.

"My entrance?" Carla let out a little laugh, picking up one of her flats so she could put it on. 

"Yes, your entrance." Billy mimicked her surprised tone with a small chuckle. "Don't act like everyone won't be staring at us when we walk in. I mean, we're both looking rather hot."

"Well you know how much I love having eyes on me." Carla muttered, picking her second flat up and putting it on her other foot.

"Does not liking attention have anything to do with the scar on your arm?" Billy asked next, causing the girl to kook down at her arm with a frown. Was it that visible or was Billy actually paying attention?

"I'm not going to answer that." Carla huffed, taking her eyes off her scar as she began to mess with the bracelet the boys had gifted her. "I don't like talking about it."

"Alright, I'm sorry." Billy responded, in an almost apologetic tone at how much it upset her."I won't bring it up again."

"Thank you." Carla muttered, looking out her window for the remainer of the drive.

 A few moments later, the sound of blasting music and loud talking was heard, signaling the arrival to Tina's.

As Carla looked out the window, she could see where the noise was coming from, just a few houses away from where Billy had parked. There were red solo cups lying around in the front yard, along with some halloween decorations. Not to mention the teens swarming around the front yard, coustumes on and everything as they showed off which house belonged to Tina.

Billy stopped the engine, and quickly made it over to Carla's door, opening it and offering Carla his arm. She hesitated for a moment, looking up at Billy with unsure eyes. Billy looked back at her with a small smile. "Its alright, theres no reason to be nervous."

Carla took in a breath before taking Billy's arm, ducking under the roof of the car to get out. The music was even louder outside and so were the voices of all the teens, but none of them louder then the voice of Tommy Hagan.

"Billy is here everybody!" Tommy yelled, causing Carla to turn and face him, Billy wrapping an arm around her waist as she did. The touch of his arm was much warmer in contrast to Carla's waist, and something about him doing so made Carla feel more secure then she had. Tommy then turned to face Carla with a surprised look.

"Carley? Ha, almost didn't recognize you there." Tommy spoke, walking closer to the two teens. He was dressed as Johnny from Karate Kid, a movie Carla saw with Nancy and Steve earlier that year. 

"Well, lucky for me you did." Carla replied, giving Tommy a fake smile before allowing Billy to lead her to the kitchen.  Carla followed Billy's lead as they passed through the crowd of sweaty, dancing teens, trying to avoid as much contact as they could. 

Billy made his way over to the punch table, Carla trailing right behind him. He quickly grabbed a red solo cup, filling it to the brim with red liquid before handing it over to the girl gently so nothing spilled. He then filled his own cup, holding it out towards Carla with a smirk. "Cheers."

"Do you even know what the hell's in this?" Carla asked, looking hesitently at the punch in her cup before looking up at Billys cool gaze. 

"No, but wheres the fun in that." Billy responded, holding his cup out towards her again with a 'go on' look in his eyes. 

"Screw it," Carla muttered, touching her cup to Billy's before the both of them downed the drink as fast as they could.  Billy finished before her and slammed his cup down on the counter, Carla following suit and slamming hers down aswell.

Billy filled the cups up once more and before long, Carla found herself downing another round of red liquid, and whatever alcohol was inside this punch was definetly strong, and was definetly kicking in her system.

As Billy filled yet another cup, Carla couldn't help but remember the party at Steve's house.

"Not in the slightest." Carla laughed back at the brunette boy. "Gonna need to try a bit harder Stevie."

"Go on then." Steve looked at the brunette girl, giving a small bow. "Be my guest, and beat it."

"Alright then, your wish is my command." Carla smiles, leaning down to snatch a fresh can from Carol's grasp. Steve handed over his pocket knife, and she easily cut through the can and shot gunned it as quickly as she could. Steve looked at her almost in awe as she did, somehow every time he tried to look away, his eyes drew him back to her.

She finished the can and threw it on the ground, giving a small bow as she did. She looked over at Steve, who had his mouth half ajar for some reason and gave a small smirk as she began to point at the corner of her mouth. "Looks like you have a little drool over here."

"Shut up." Steve wipes his mouth, as if he believed that he actually had drool running down his face.

Billy handing her the cup back caused her to leave the memory of Steve, and continue drinking the punch.

From afar, Steve watched as Carla drank with a frown on his face. He remembered when they first began dating, they were both invited to a party Carol hosted, and after multiple drinks, he was left holding her hair up when she let them back out.  He didn't want a redo of that, especially if Billy was going to be the one helping her....if he even would.

It already made his blood boil that she was here with him....but he wouldn't let himself ruin her night...no matter how upset it made him.

"Billy come on, you gotta do the keg!" Tommy came around towards the drinking teens, clapping Billy on the shoulder. Billy finised his third cup, and slammed in the one the table loudly before looking over at his 'date' for the night.

"I'll be back." Billy said, before sliding his hand around Carla's exposed waist, pulling her close and planting a sloppy kiss on her lips. He winked at the Wheeler before following Tommy out to the keg.

Steve about left Nancy and went over to her right then and there...but something kept his feet planted next to his girlfriend.

Instead of following Tommy and Billy out, Carla pauses a moment to realize what just happened.  

Billy just kissed her

Carla wasn't exactly sure how to feel about it. Sure, the possibilty of that happening had crossed her mind a few times...but none the less did it surprise her that it happened.

The Wheeler set her cup down and followed the cheering crowd to the front yard where Billy was currently heisted onto the keg. Some random kid and Tommy were holding onto Billy, helping with his balance. The crowd all began to count, their voices getting louder with each number.

By the time they reached the fourties, the crowd was basically screaming the numbers out, signaling to Billy how far he'd gotten. "Thirty-eight, thirty-nine, forty, forty-one, forty-two!"

The moment after the crowd said forty-two, Billy got down, spitting the tube from his mouth. Any remaining alcohol got sprayed into the air, some of it managing to drip down his torso aswell.

Tommy was at his side at once, handing him his cigarette back as he said something to the new keg king that went completly unheard to Carla who was standing a few feet away.

As the crowd chanted his name over and over again, Billy took a drag of his cigarette before yelling out to the crowd. "THATS HOW YOU DO IT, HAWKINS! THATS HOW YOU DO IT!"

The crowd continued to chant Billy's name as Billy walked foreward, heading into the house once more. As he passed Carla, he slid his arm around her waist causing her to follow him inside, Tommy right behind the two.

Billy leads Carla through the crowd of dancing people, stopping for only a moment before dragging her over to the two people she knew best.

Steve and Nancy.

Tommy appeared next to Billy as him and Carla approached the couple, a sickly smirk plastered on his face. "We got ourselves a new Keg Kig, Harrington."

"Yeah, that's right." Some kid yelled back in response.

"Yeah. Eat it, Harrington." One of Tommy's friends added, coming up to the Harrington boy.

Carla disliked that they were getting in Steve's face like that. All he was trying to do was have a fun night with Nance, and Tommy and Billy just had to ruin it. But, Carla was determined to keep Steve out of her mind that night...so she let her feelings go.

Steve and Billy began to stare eachother down, causing Carla to let out an eye roll at their boysish antics. The other Wheeler must have been thinking the same thing, because Carla watched as she left Steve's side and headed towards the kitchen.

Carla looked between Billy and Steve one last time before slipping away from Billy and following her sister to the kitchen. Nancy was asking some random kid drinking punch a question, but the kid didn't seem to give her the answer she wanted as he answered with, "Pure fuel, Pure fuel!"

Once Nancy noticed her sister's appearence, she gave her a small look. "Billy Hargrove?"

"Yeah, I know he's a total asshole." Carla replied, handing Nancy a red solo cup, "But aren't we supposed to be being stupid teenagers for the night?"

"Yeah, I guess your right." Nancy responded, taking the cup from her sisters grasp and filling it up with punch, causing Carla to do the same.

After Nancy and Carla both finished their first cup─well more like Carla's third or fourth─They both filled up another one, and began to drink, Nancy more or less chugging hers. 

"Hey...Whoa, whoa! Hey...Whoa, whoa, whoa! Take it easy." Steve made his appearence, coming over to Nancy's side and placing a hand near her shoulder, trying to ease the cup away from her. "Take it easy. Nance, Nance, Nance..."

Nancy finished her cup and pulled it away from her face, stepping a little away from her boyfriend, giving him a look as she did. "We're just being stupid teenagers for the night. Wasn't that the deal?"

Steve didn't answer as Nancy filled her cup up once more, downing the liquid quickly, annoying Steve as she did. She then wiped some of the punch from her cheek, looking at Steve before she paraded right into the dancing crowd.

Steve sighed, leaning on the counter before he stared over at Carla, the girl currently sitting right next to the punch. "You should take it easy too-"

Carla filled her cup back up, going against what Steve just said and shrugged, giving a smile at him as she did. She then hopped off the counter and walked into the crowd, leaving Steve at the counter.

She was a little happy that Billy hadn't gone to find her yet. It felt nice to be free of him for a few moments, no matter how nice he'd been to her the night. She was still unsure about the kiss, and didn't trust him as much....especially now that he was intoxicated.

Just as she was passing by the front door, Jonathan was standing there, watching as Steve and Nancy danced amongst the crowd. Carla gave a smile before stumbling her way over to him, trying not to run into any teens.

"Jonathan!" She spoke rather loudly, causing Jonathan to turn at face her. "I'm so happy that you came."

"Hey..." Jonathan responded, before looking at the outfit she was wearing. "Nice costume."

"Thank you." Carla responded, not seeming to mind the fact that her cover up had came undone, revealing her red bathing suit top. She spun around one time, stumbling slightly as she faced her friend again.

"How much have you had to drink?" Jonathan asked over the loud crowd, putting a hand on Carla's shoulder to steady her. 

"I don't know..." Carla shrugged, bringing the cup filled with alcohol back up to her lips, taking a large sip of it. 

"You should put this down, get some water." Jonathan suggested, trying to take the cup from her grasp. She pulled it back, causing a little punch to spill from the cup.

"What are you, my dad?" Carla said, her words slurring slighting together. Before Jonathan could say something else, Carla felt an arm around her and looked up to meet the gaze of Billy, the boy smirking slightly at her.

Carla waved at Jonathan before walking away with Billy, leaving Jonathan at the front door with a girl dressed up as Siouxsie from Siouxsie and the Banshees

Carla didn't really know what Billy was planning on going with her until he snatched her punch cup—setting it down on the kitchen counter—and pinned her against the wall, hands above her head.

"Billy—" Carla couldn't even get his name out before his lips were against hers, rough and sloppy.

At first, Carla was just frozen.  She didn't really know what to do; she'd never been in such a position before.  Her first instinct was to try and break his hold over her hands, as maybe he'd sense her trying to move.

That clearly didn't work, leaving Carla even more worried than she was before. Still trying to break free of his hold, Billy finally pulled away, a smug expression on his face.  Carla took this as her chance, "Billy, stop—"

He came right back to her, lips rougher than before—if that was even possible.  His free hand was almost squeezing her ass, making Carla even more uncomfortable than she was.  She had to stop Billy before it got too far.

Finally noticing her struggle against his hand, "What? You don't like this?"

"No—"

"I bet Harrington never showed you this much attention." Billy chuckled to himself, leaning in once more.  Could this man not understand what the word no meant? Carla didn't hesitate before defending herself.

"Billy, I said stop!" Carla kneed the boy right in the groin, causing him to stumble back.  She then snatched her punch cup, tossing the remaining liquid right on to the boy.  The crowd of teen's around them all stopped dancing and talking, eyes set on the scene ahead.

"What the hell, Carla!" Billy roared after wiping punch from his face. He glared at her, and Carla couldn't help but feel somewhat scared now.  Billy tore the punch cup away from her hand, filling it up with punch before throwing the cup forward, just as Carla had done to him.

Carla shuddered back as the red liquid hit her, staining her lace cover up.  The crowd let out 'ooo's' and 'oh's' as the scene unfolded, which only added to Carla's aggravation.

"Asshole!" Carla said loudly, looking down at her stained cover up, seeing how bad it now looked. The liquid had hit most of the cover up, causing the white to turn a mid colored red while the rest of the liquid, trailed from her swim top down her torso.

Carla snatched the cup back from Billy, and began to walk off but got stopped as Billy grabbed her wrist.

"Do you think you can just walk away from me like that?" Billy asked in a threatening tone, his eyes piercing into hers. Carla turn to face Billy, her eyes glaring back at his.  She wasn't going to play vulnerable. She needed to show him she could fight back.

"Let go of my wrist." Carla spoke through gritted teeth, "And stay the hell away from me."

The crowd began muttering about the scene unfolding, causing Billy to begin yelling out towards them.

This gave Carla the perfect opportunity to escape his grasp, and she did so, filling the cup up with more punch as she did.  Billy turned to face her again, but all he saw was her stumbling off into the crowd, flipping him off with her free hand.

She passed─more like stumbled─through the crowd of teens, quickly making her way outside.  She took a seat on the front step of Tina's house, a frown on her face as she continued to drink the alcohol in her cup, unknowing of what was currently happening between Steve and Nancy inside the house.

After finishing her cup, she watches as Steve stormed out the front door, almost running into her on the stairs.

"Oh, hi Steve." Carla spoke, tossing her empty cup on to the ground before staring up at the boys brown eyes.

"Carla, how much have you had to drink?" Steve asked, wiping his eyes as if he had tears about to fall from them. Carla looked at the cup she'd just thrown on the floor and attempted at doing the math.

"Maybe five or six cups..." Carla trailed off, looking up at the Harrington boy. "Hey, have you been crying?"

"No." Steve replied, before he put his hand out in her direction. "Come on, I'm gonna take you home."

"Okay." Carla muttered, grabbing Steve's hand for support as she stood up. Steve put an arm around her, and helped her down the second front step before walking her over to were his car was parked.

Something about this seemed off to Carla. Steve taking her home with Nancy to be nowhere in sight? Not to mention Steve leaving a party this early. That wasn't like him.

Steve helped her get inside his car, buckling her up before taking his spot in the drivers seat, speeding away from Tina's party as if he couldn't stand to be there any longer.

maras misc

so, I decided on splitting the chapter up! next chapter will have a flash back to what happened in chapter six. I honestly didn't feel like making this chapter longer then it already was, so you will just have to wait to see what unfolded after steve took carla home.