Gasoline

Play with Fire

By the time they left the drive-in it was 2am. "Rudy is going to kill me" Diana panicked as she ran both her hands through her hair. Billy raced down the dark roads back towards Hawkins, barely saying a word. He pulled up in front of her house and killed the engine. "Thanks for the, um, movie. I'll call you tomorrow?" she asked. He looked over at her. Her hair was in tangles, her pink lipstick completely gone. Small crescent shaped bruises lined her throat. "Fix your hair. They'll think somethings up if they catch you walking in" he told her. "And yeah, whatever. Call me tomorrow if you want". Diana leaned across the car and planted a kiss on his lips. "Bye Billy" he watched her get out of his car and run up the stairs and into her house. He started the Camaro and raced home, not another person in sight, all the houses on the streets were dark. He managed to climb in through his bedroom window without being noticed. Maybe he could avoid his dad screaming at him if he wasn't sure what time Billy had gotten home.

Around the corner at Diana's house the light above the stove was on, but the house lay dark. She wandered up the stairs as quiet as a church mouse. She creaked open her bedroom door when she saw a small figure standing in the doorway across the hall. Lynn stood with her arms crossed in her long blue velvet housecoat, staring Diana down. "Are you aware of what time it is? I was worried sick about you, you're lucky your fathers out on business or he'd kill you and you know it" she snapped. Diana exhaled. She had forgotten about Rudy taking a business trip to Indianapolis for the weekend. "Lynn, Im so sorry. We were at the movies and we lost track of time. It wont happen again" Diana told her. "You reek like cigarette smoke. Go take a shower then get to bed. Youre lucky its not a school night" she said as she slammed her bedroom door in Diana's face.

Diana turned on the bathroom light and caught her first look at herself since arriving home. She thanked her lucky stars Lynette hadn't turned on any lights, because she looked awful. Her hair had visible knots throughout and her neck and breasts were littered with tiny crescent shaped bruises. She hadn't realised Billy had been that rough that he would leave noticeable marks. She washed her face and jumped into the shower. She felt herself smiling whenever she thought about him. She had never had a serious boyfriend before and she wondered what Corinne and Suzanna would think when she told them about Billy. All her reservations about him had slipped away. As she rinsed the soap from her hair, Maxine's worried face popped into her mind "Stay away from him" her voice whispered. Diana felt a small chill run down her back as she jumped out of the shower and into her pajamas.

She couldn't wait to tell the girls about her night on Monday. She wanted this weekend to be just about her and Billy, before Corinne found out and ran wild with it. She snuggled into her bed, smiling to herself as she remembered his face and the smell of his cologne as he kissed her. She fell asleep not knowing what would happen tomorrow, and for the first time in a long time, she felt totally content.