1987 [BoyxBoy]

Chapter 8 - Hi, This Is Sally

Billy's heart dropped as he parked his car in the school's lot. He hadn't been to school since what happened with Peter last week. He also had to deal with the questions about Brenda. Billy contemplated skipping, but knew it'd be much easier to rip off the Band-Aid than to avoid it for as long as possible. He also knew how much trouble he'd be in if he skipped his first day back from suspension.

"Hey," Billy heard from behind him. He turned his head and was greeted by a smiling Peter.

"Hey, Peter," Billy responded, with a smile.

"Are you nervous?" Peter asked, showing genuine sincerity.

"Terrified. Do you want to just skip?" Billy asked, sarcastically.

"I totally would, but one, you're picking me and the girls up after school, and two, I don't want to encourage you to make bad decisions."

"Come on, I can just come back for Sarah and Denise. You seem like the type of person who'd enjoy skipping," Billy said, starting to really want to skip.

"Billy, you're doing this. I'll walk in with you, so people can see that we're cool now and that'll at least take some of the strain off of your back," Peter reassured.

Billy looked down and smiled. He exhaled and nodded towards Peter. The two of them started walking towards the side entrance of the school. Billy anxiously started brushing away any specs of dust or lint he could spot off his clothes. Peter glanced over at him and let out a slight chuckle.

"Dude, I promise everything will be fine. Just get through today. You got this," Peter encouraged, placing a hand on Billy's shoulder.

The two of them stepped in front of the side entrance doors. Billy glanced over at Peter before pushing open the double doors. He felt like the whole room stopped. He felt everyone's eyes looking at him. He froze.

"Come on. Nobody's even paying attention," Peter urged, trying to get Billy to first period.

"My locker," Billy announced, snapping out of his frozen state.

"What about it," Peter questioned.

"I need to go to it. I have somethings I need to get from it," Billy explained.

"Okay, do you want me to come with you?"

"It's fine. It'll be quick. I'll see you in class," Billy answered, trying not to seem helpless.

"Shit, we forgot to tell you. Mr. Crutchfield moved you to the very back of the class next to Gabriel Robinson and me and Sarah to the very front," Peter revealed.

Billy rolled his eyes. "So, I have to sit next to 'Gross Gabe,' now? Could this day get any worse?"

"At least you're not 6 inches away from Mr. Crutchfield as he screams about Hitler's invasion of Poland," Peter added, sarcastically.

Billy smirked at Peter's comment.  He turned away from Peter and walked to his locker. Billy tried not to make eye contact with anyone as he walked down the hall. As much as he tried to convince himself that nobody was looking at him, they were. Billy's path to his locker was a straight shot until his friend, Bradley Edwards, walked right in front of him.

"What's up, Willy?" Bradley shouted, causing more heads to turn.

"Hey, Brad," Billy responded quietly, shifting his eyes to make sure Brad didn't bring any attention to him.

"Are you doing okay, man? We've all been thinking about you since we heard about Brenda. We asked the school if we could do something to mourn her, but her parents demanded that we stop talking about the situation entirely."