𝐖𝐎𝐕𝐄𝐍. ˢᵗᵉᵛᵉ ʰᵃʳʳⁱⁿᵍᵗᵒⁿ ¹

030

030. 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝘂𝗺𝗽 𝗼𝗳 𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗯𝗲𝗮𝘁 𝗯𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗵
𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗮𝗱 𝗼𝗳 𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗿𝘀.

    "𝐘𝐎𝐔'𝐕𝐄 𝐆𝐎𝐓𝐓𝐀 𝐁𝐄 𝐒𝐇𝐈𝐓𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐌𝐄." Lori spat. "As if this fuckin' night couldn't get any worse."

    She recognized the sound of that blue Camaro right down to the bone. She'd heard it on her first day of school, she'd heard it at the Halloween party, and now here— pulling up outside the Byers' house in the middle of the night. Wherever that Camaro went, the boy came with it. The arrogant, obnoxious, and downright dangerous Billy Hargrove was always the one behind the wheel, revving the engine and speeding down the road leaving his trails of smoke. She'd only seen him a few times, but those few times were enough to know that he was too arrogant for his own good— too filled with pride and charm.

    The headlights of the blue Camaro beamed through the windows, streaming the kids' faces with white light as they huddled on the couch to watch. Max's eyes were wide and panicked, and she could only look at Lucas who was beside her.

    "What the hell does he think he's doing?" Lori tore her burning eyes away from the window, looking to Steve. "What the hell is Billy Hargrove doing here at this time of night?"

    Everyone knew the answer: he was coming to get his sister, Max. But Lori couldn't shake the feeling that he wasn't just here for her, and she couldn't ignore the thought that wherever Billy went, trouble followed.

    She wasn't scared of him, not in the slightest bit. But if he even got close to hurting any of them— she was going to have to do something about it.

    Steve stared forward, his eyes fixated on the door. Lori could tell that there was a hundred thoughts running through his head, but only one was clear— he needed to do something. He had that look in his eyes, the same one he had back in the bus before he'd gone out to Dart. His eyebrows were narrowed, that tense look he always had when he needed to do something— when he thought he needed to be the fucking hero.

    Before she could do anything, before she could go out there herself and confront Billy, Steve broke from the group. His steps were hard on the floor as he marched for the front door.

    "Stay in here." he glanced back at her, and only her, as he pulled open the door.

    She nodded, knowing that he meant she was to keep the kids inside, too. She nodded, pressing her lips together firmly.

    When the door shut, she drew in a tight breath and crossed her arms. Dustin was still beside her, standing near the door. He shifted uncomfortably on his feet.

    "Did I tell you about that time," Dustin swallowed, not looking at her. "It was Halloween, right after you ditched us at the pumpkin patch and biked off for that party," he paused.

    She looked down at him with narrowed eyebrows. "What about it," she said, slowly.

    Dustin's eyes sort of grew wide. "Billy, he— uh, he was about to run us over, I think," he said, still not looking at her. "Me, Mike and Lucas. But he veered off the road. Maybe it was a practical joke, but, I just,"

    "Why the hell would he do that?" Lori's eyebrows narrowed even further, her jaw clenching.

    Dustin shrugged, emitting that he didn't know.

    She followed his gaze, eyes landing on Max and Lucas.

    "But I know he doesn't like Lucas," Dustin admitted, and finally looked up to his cousin. "Really, really doesn't like him."