grace | billy hargrove [#1]

6.

☾ B I L L Y ☾

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"Dangerous, ooh
That sounds good
Talk to me baby
Like I'm your dude"

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Grace followed me to my car, where Max was already waiting for us. Shit, I totally forgot she was here also.

"Little shit, this is Grace. She'll be driving with us, so be nice to her." I said, walking to the driver's side of the car. I could see Max was introducing herself to Grace before she turned to me.

"I'll be skating home. See ya." she didn't wait for an answer as she placed her skateboard down on the road and took off. Grace gave her a quick wave before climbing into the seat next to me. She set her book bag down by her feet.

"Are you always this nice to her?" she asked. I didn't answer as I backed out of the driveway and took off with high speed. I know she didn't like my driving, but I also knew she wasn't going to die.

"She deserves it." I said. We both knew that was a big fat lie.

"She looked terrified." Grace mentioned.

I sighed. "I don't care."

"You don't care?" she repeated me. I could tell she was rolling her eyes. "Alright, just drop me off here. I'll walk the rest."

"What? No." I argued. She was already grasping onto her book bag. "Why do you always want to get out of my car?"

"Why are you always such an asshole?" she spat back. Wow, I did not see this coming.

"Jesus, Grace. Where is this shit coming from?" I asked again. I was still confused as hell.

"You're being a dick to everyone around you. You can't just expect me to be okay with that shit." she spat at me. She sighed. "Whatever, I already told you this. I don't need to have the same quarrel."

"Stop leaving!" I yelled, slamming on the steering wheel. I stopped the car on the side of the road.

"Then be nice!" she yelled back. She clearly wasn't scared of me, which was a surprise.

"Why are you yelling back?" I – still – yelled.

"Because you're being a fucking douche!" she screamed. I was taken aback by her sudden outburst. The always nice and witty Grace turned into a full-on hurricane, which no one in this world expected.

We didn't say anything for the next few minutes. She just stared at the road outside, while I started up the car again and made my way to her neighborhood. She didn't try to get out of the car, she didn't even try to look at me. As I made a right to the street, she gathered her things.

"Grace..." I tried to grab her arm, but she was quick to back away.

"No, Billy. I don't want to talk to you. Not now, not ever." she spat. My eyes widened, but the shock was quickly replaced with anger.

"Fine, you bitch. Get out of my car." I spoke. She huffed and got out, slamming the door with a loud sound. I saw her walking away with big angry steps. Just when I thought she was completely gone, she turned around one more time just to stick up her middle finger. Classic.

I lit up a cigarette when I stopped at a light on my way home. The way Grace had screamed and yelled at me, had stunned me a little bit. I had really tried to be nice to her, but if she was going to be that bitch then I was going to be that douche. It was as simple as that.

When I parked the car in the driveway, I saw my dad and Susan were already home. Shit, I was going to be in trouble for letting Max go home on her own. I stepped out the vehicle, grabbing my bag and walking up the steps to the door. As I walked in, I could already smell that Susan was working on dinner.

My father was sitting in his usual chair by the television. Max was nowhere to be found, probably in her room or something. I wanted to make a straight line to my room, but my father called me back in the room.

"Billy, where were you?" he asked. I sat on the couch.

"Out." I answered. He chuckled bitterly at me.

"Why was Max alone when we came home?" he asked again.

"She wanted to skate home, it was her idea." I spoke softly. I stood up again, really wanting to get out of this situation before it'd get worse. Before he'd get worse. But he also stood up, pushing me so I'd stay.

"The deal is, you pick her up and take her home. You know that right?" he dared me.

"I know, dad. But I have been looking after he all week. She is thirteen and doesn't need a full-time babysitter." I argued. Probably not a good decision, since he pushed me up against the wall, holding onto my jacket.

"What did we talk about?" he asked me. When I didn't answer, he slapped me across the cheek. "I said, what did we talk about?"

"Respect and responsibility." I simply answered. He nodded approvingly.

"Good, so next time, you will not let her skate home. Now go to the kitchen and apologize to Susan." he ordered me. He let go of my jacket and watched me as I made my way towards the kitchen. Susan had obviously heard the whole thing.

"I'm sorry I didn't take Max with me, Susan." I said to her. She turned around and gave me a small smile, letting me know it was okay.

When I had finally gotten into my room, a single tear escaped my eye. I couldn't believe that I let it happen like that. Also, I couldn't believe that Susan stayed with that prick. She deserved so much better than him. I just hoped he would never do something like this to Max. I took my jacket off and walked to her room.

"Hey, you okay?" I asked her, standing in the doorway. She was on her bed, doing her homework.

"Why do you care?" she spat back. Guess I deserved that.

"Because Max, you're a piece of shit but we're family now, whether we like it or not. Which means I am stuck looking out for you." I said to her, maybe a little harsher than I meant to. She gave me a glare, which I saw a sign that it was time to leave.

"She seemed nice, that girl." Max suddenly spoke up. I turned around in my tracks.

"Well, she's not." I spoke before my mind could react. The fight between me and Grace was still fresh in my mind. I wanted to do nothing more than to forget it, but I couldn't.

The next week, she ignored me. No looks, no hello's, nothing. She just pretended like I wasn't there. For a while, I just told myself that I was okay with it. It's not like a cared about her anyway, but that was actually a lie. Seeing how cold she could be, made the chills run down my spine. Even in Biology, where we were seated next to each other, I was not worth a look.

She hadn't told anybody. Nancy and Steve acted normal towards me, although Steve never did but he wasn't extra angry. Apparently, Grace wasn't the type of girl that would talk bad about me when I did something. I thought that she was at first, but here I was wrong again. 

song at the beginning is: dangerous - left boy (somehow this is not on spotify LOL)