mary. [ BILLY HARGROVE ]

iii. CHAPTER ONE

~*~
warning: mature language

     The low beat of the drum thumped in rhythm with Mary's heart beat. She closed her eyes as she listened to the beginning of TNT by AC/DC, the strumming of the guitar building up. Mary pulled the needle off the record, turning to the piano and playing exactly what she heard. 

     "Insane," Steve breathed out. "How do you do it?" 

     "I don't know. I've been playing the piano for so long that I guess it's just all seared into my brain," Mary answered as she stood from the piano seat. "Anyways, I've got to get to class. You going to the Halloween party at Tina's?" 

     "Yup, with Nancy. Get this, we're going as Risky Business," Steve said as they two began to walk out the music room. 

     "Ooh, fun. I think I'll be there as myself," Mary said with a slow nod. "But my mom also wants me to monitor Dustin that night. It's a close call." 

     "You should come to the party. It'll be fun," Steve said, nudging her shoulder lightly.

     "What? So I can see Tommy throw up in a bush and then go home to eat ice cream?" Mary asked, scoffing a bit. "I would like to see Tommy in pain, so that would be worth it." 

     "It'll be fun. Trust me," Steve said as they stopped at Mary's locker. 

     "Fine, but I'm going to hold you to that," Mary said pointing at him. 

     "Yes! Okay, I'll see you later. Tell Nancy I said hi," Steve called, beginning to run down the hall. Mary only responded with a thumbs up, then shut her locker. She walked to her sixth period class, sitting near the back where she usually did. Nancy walked in seconds later, taking her seat in front of Mary. 

     "Oh, Nancy, Steve says 'hi'," Mary said as Nancy turned to her. 

     "Sweet," Nancy smiled. "Can I see what you did for number nine really quick?" 

     "Yeah." Mary pulled out her homework, Nancy looking over it. 

     "Oh, thank god. I thought it was sine instead of cosine. Thank you so much," Nancy said giving Mary her homework back. 

     "No problem. Hey, who's this new student I keep hearing about?" Mary asked as she pulled her hair back from her face. 

     "He's no one. He's not really worth it, Mary," Nancy told her, waving her hand to let it go. 

     "Well, maybe he's one of those troubled kids who just needs someone with a kind soul to pull them out of hell," Mary said clenching her fist. 

     "I highly doubt that's what it is," Nancy said with a small laugh. The bell rang, indicating that it was time for class to start.  The class quieted down as their trigonometry teacher walked into the room, a boy their age following him with a smirk. 

     "Class, there is someone new that I'd like to introduce. This is Billy Hargrove, he comes all the way from California," the teacher announced, motioning to Billy. "Would you like to share anything with the class, Mr. Hargrove?" 

     "I can't wait to get settled in here," Billy spoke brightly, obviously being sarcastic. 

     "Thank you, Mr. Hargrove. There seems to be an empty seat behind Miss Henderson, please show yourself there," the teacher told him, over his attitude already. Billy walked through the row, all of the girls glancing up at him for a moment, then down to his ass. "We will start by collecting the homework. Please pass it forward." As Mary held hers balanced against Nancy's shoulder, Billy snatched it and sat in the seat behind Mary. She turned around quickly to grab it back, but Billy smiled up at her.