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CHAPTER ELEVEN
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TUESDAY MORNING, ADDIE AND WILL RODE TO SCHOOL WITH JONATHAN. The night before, Steve had called to say he wouldn't be able to pick them up. Addie then immediately asked Jonathan for a ride because as luck would have it, their moms car was in the shop and it wasn't due to be ready until Wednesday morning.
Her brother normally left for school really early, but Addie managed to convince him that half an hour was plenty of time. Still, she had a feeling that he was going to want to leave earlier than the agreed upon time, so on Tuesday morning she got ready quickly.
Just as she predicted, he wanted to leave way before the time he agreed to, so the Byers siblings all got to school nearly half an hour before the warning bell was even supposed to ring. Oddly enough, Billy got to school early that morning too.
As Billy got out of his car, Addie approached him. When he saw her walking towards him, he got that feeling again. It was strange to him, that he felt it so often these days.
Happiness.
He picked her up and spun her around, pulling her in for a long kiss when he finally set her down.
"I am definitely not complaining," Addie smiled, her cheeks a little red from the heat of the moment, "but what was that for?"
"Nothing. You look beautiful."
Addie still couldn't believe that someone as attractive as Billy was interested in her. She'd always dealt with self confidence issues and insecurities, despite constant reassurance that she was beautiful. But he was helping her with that too.
Maybe it was from the way she looked at him, or maybe he was just feeling a little daring. When they walked inside and past an empty classroom that wasn't being used that year, Billy quickly pulled Addie inside and shut the door behind them, pulling the little blinds on the window so that no one could see inside.
"Can I?" Billy asked, and Addie knew exactly what he meant just from the look in his eyes, and the way he kept glancing down at her lips.
They spent the next 10 minutes making out, only pulling apart for air, until finally the bell signaling 5 minutes until class started. Once that happened, they opened the door and both slipped into the hallway, going their separate ways and heading for class.
An arm linked around hers, and Addie turned to see Nancy walking with her.
"Umm did I just see what I think I saw?"
"No..." But the silence after that 1 word, and Addie's lack of eye contact, told Nancy it was really a yes.
"I knew it! Addie I'm so happy for you!"
She sighed from relief hearing that. She didn't think she could take another lecture or concerned look, but that normally came from Steve. Speaking of...
"That honestly means a lot. Thank you. And I'll probably get another talk from him, but where is Steve anyway?"
Nancy shrugged. "I don't know. I drove Mike and I to school this morning."
This surprised Addie. "Oh, when he said that Will and I couldn't get a ride to school, I assumed he had something to do with you."
Addie walked into class just seconds before the bell rang, and was surprised again when Steve was a few minutes late. Something was wrong. After class and on their way to second period, Steve was acting completely normal.
"Umm are you okay?" Addie asked finally, wanting to see what was up with earlier this morning.
"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?"
Addie shrugged, not really having an answer. "I don't know. You bailed on Nancy this morning too, I thought when you couldn't give us a ride it was because you 2 had plans."
"Oh no we're cool. Last night Tommy just asked me—"
"You were with Tommy?"
As Steve tried to find an explanation, Addie scoffed and resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Tommy wasn't always that bad, but he had been for a while now. And he had never done anything to Addie, until the hallway incident. But he went too far, and it genuinely hurt that Steve was treating him as if nothing happened.
"So I just want to clarify. Tommy shoves me, calls me a bitch, you punch him in the face, and now it's just all cool like nothing happened?"
"No! That's not it. He just... asked me to help him with something."
Now Addie rolled her eyes. "Right, well I gotta get to class. You should go see if your friend needs help with anything else."
"Addie come on—"
"No. I get it, it wasn't you that he shoved or called some name. And I'm not Nancy so maybe it doesn't matter as much to you. What he did was fucked up. What he has been doing is fucked up. But seeing that you're so quick to forgive him and be friends with him? That hurts more. I gotta go, see you in class or whatever." Addie walked down the hall and into the next classroom, choosing to sit at a desk that was already surrounded by people so that Steve couldn't try to talk to her.
This was her plan until lunch, and she'd been sitting outside with Billy anyway. But today was just weird in general, because he was late to meet her outside of the cafeteria.
"Hey Byers, sorry to hear about your boyfriend," Addie glanced up to see Tommy walking towards her, a smirk on his face.
"What the hell do you want?" She stood there with her arms crossed, not in the mood to hear his bullshit.
"Just wanted to say about you and Hargrove. Sorry to hear you guys aren't together."
"We were never officially together, and anyway I'll ask again, what do you want?"
Tommy motioned with his arm for Addie to follow him. She didn't want to, at all. In fact she'd rather sit and watch paint dry than go anywhere with him. But she was too curious for her own good, so she followed him down the hallway.
A number of scenarios ran through her head. But nothing could've prepared her for what she saw when they turned the corner.
There was Billy. And Tina.
Kissing.
Addie got there right as Billy pulled away, and almost immediately made eye contact with her. His eyes went wide and he started to walk towards her, but she took a few steps back.
"Don't," she said softly, fighting the tears. They'd never put a label on what they were, but she thought... and just this morning...
"Addie, baby, please let me just—"
She couldn't find any words, so she just shook her head. Tommy walked up next to her again and leaned down, whispering, "you know all I had to do was tell Tina what a bitch you were, and we came up with this little plan. All she did was go up to him and kiss him, but it took a little too long for him to pull away. Sorry about you and lover boy," he laughed, walking away before Addie or Billy could do anything.
"Oh! And here he is!" They all turned to see Steve, who was wary now that everyone was watching him.
"Thanks for your help today Harrington, couldn't have done it without you."
Addie turned to Steve, not wanting to believe what Tommy just said. "You had something to do with this?"
"No no no. No that is not what happened. Tommy what the hell man? What is this?" He shoved him backwards, causing Tommy to stumble against the lockers.
"What's what?"
Now Billy was angry, realizing having Tina come up and kiss him was all a set up. He grabbed the collar of Tommy's shirt and kept him shoved up against the lockers. "I'd start talking now if I were you," it had been a while since he'd been in a fight, and he felt like getting in one right now.
"Hey he's not worth it," Steve tried to help Billy avoid getting in trouble, a crowd was already starting to form.
"Back off," Billy shrugged Steve's hand off of his shoulder. "Didn't this asshole just say you had something to do with this?"
"No man I—"
They all turned to see Addie head into the girls bathroom, wiping tears just before she went inside.
Nancy looked at all of the boys, eyes settling on Tommy. "You're a piece of shit. You're so bitter over the fact that she doesn't want you, and newsflash, most girls don't. And you," she turned her glare to Steve and Billy, "need to get your shit together. She really likes you," she said to Billy before turning to Steve. "And you are supposed to be her best friend. So I really hope you're telling the truth and you had nothing to do with this."
Before any of the boys could respond, Nancy turned and followed after Addie. She found the girl standing in front of one of the sinks and looking at herself in the mirror, obviously fighting back tears.
"I thought Billy really liked me."
"I think he still does. I don't know what's going on, but..."
"I don't mean to ask you to ditch lunch, but can you drive me home, please? Will can still get a ride home with Jonathan but I really don't want to face anyone at lunch, or Billy for classes after."
Nancy nodded, not giving it a second thought. "Of course, let's go."
They exited the bathroom, Steve and Billy both waiting outside. Nancy linked her arm through Addie's, and they started walking towards the main doors. She could tell that the boys were slowly following behind, so they turned around.
"I'm taking Addie home," Nancy announced to them, turning around and continuing to walk with Addie.
Once at the Byers residence, Nancy offered to come inside and make sure she was okay, but Addie declined, thanking Nancy multiple times but insisting she didn't want her to miss fifth period, and that she could actually use some alone time.
Luckily her mom was out running errands or something, so Addie had the house to herself and she could avoid explaining why she came home at lunch.
After a hot shower, she was feeling a little better, but still couldn't believe what she'd seen. All Addie wanted to do right now was curl up under her big blanket and go to sleep. But knew sleep wouldn't fully distract her, so she settles on homework.
Eventually, she did feel tired, and ended up falling asleep with her head on her open textbook. A series of soft knocks on her door woke her up a couple of hours later.
Addie took a few seconds to rub her eyes and wake herself up a little more. When she opened the door, she immediately rolled her eyes.
"I'm at home now so you can't just kidnap me in your car," she stood leaning against the doorframe with her arms crossed. In front of her stood a sorry looking Steve.
"Just give me five minutes to talk, please."
After debating whether to shut the door in his face, or hear him out, Addie sighed and stepped aside. She sat opposite Steve on her bed. Before he could say anything, she spoke up.
"Just tell me right now, straight answer, yes or no. Did you know what Tommy and Tina were planning?"
He shook his head, and he was telling the truth. "No Addie I swear I had no clue. If I knew I would've told you."
"So why were you helping Tommy this morning?"
Steve sighed. "He called me last night, asked if he could have a ride to school tomorrow. Said something about how his car wasn't working. So I cancelled on you because I knew Jonathan could still take you."
"Okay but why wouldn't you tell me that?"
"I panicked. I knew I shouldn't have said I'd give him a ride, especially after the way he's been acting, but I panicked and said yes. And I didn't want you to hate me so I thought if I could just give him a ride this one time, and you'd never find out." He shrugged, realizing how stupid he sounded.
"And what did he mean when he thanked you for helping him??"
"I'm a fucking idiot. I realize that now. He came up to me right after fourth period and asked me to go get Tina and bring her near his locker. I asked why he couldn't do it and he ignored me and just said please, he really needs to talk to her about something. So I stupidly listened. When we got to his locker, he wasn't there but I didn't feel like hanging around because I was supposed to meet Nancy so I just told Tina to wait there. My guess is he said the same thing to Billy, but probably that you wanted to talk to him."
"But Tina was in on it, at least Tommy said she was."
"I saw the look on her face when she saw you, I was down the hall. She was definitely in on it. I'm guessing Tommy's still pissed at me because I wasn't talking to him anymore, and I'm not, by the way, so they made it look like I was in on it when I unknowingly helped them."
"So Billy..."
"Is completely innocent. Addie I don't think he kissed Tina back. It looked like she caught him off guard."
Addie groaned, realizing she should apologize to Billy. She had no way of knowing what the actual situation was, and so she reacted pretty badly.
"Are you still friends with—"
"No. I made it clear after you and Nancy left that I was done with all of them. I swear I had nothing to do with any of that. Look even if I was never really Billy's biggest fan, I would never do that to you because I can tell he makes you happy."
"You really swear?"
"I swear on our entire friendship."
Addie lay back and put a pillow over her face. "Do you swear on two scoops of chocolate ice cream in a waffle cone?"
Steve could barely hear her through the pillow, but he knew what she said. Next thing Addie heard was the sound of jingling keys.
"Fine I swear on 2 scoops of chocolate ice cream in a waffle cone. Hurry up, and you're buying me a scoop of vanilla."
Just before they got to the door, Will ran out from his room. "And a scoop of mint chip for your favorite younger brother?"
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