GONE GIRL » Billy Hargrove

0.27 » good luck

After the sun had set we stayed up on the mountain for a little longer until Billy suggested to bring me back home before Cameron decided to murder him.

When he dropped me off in the driveway I thanked him once more and he promised to take me to some other places like this in the future. He carefully traced the cuts on my cheek with his fingers, apologising yet again. Then Cameron exited the house and waved at me, so I just smiled at Billy and got out of the car, staying outside until the vehicle disappeared in the distance.

My cousin, as expected, asked me a million confusing questions and I found myself incapable of answering even a single one. Since it was already late he just shrugged it off, told me he was glad I got out of the house for a bit and went to bed.

I changed into my pajamas, scribbled around in my sketchbook for a while, and went to bed as well, sleeping a bit better that night.

∞

The next morning Cameron woke me up by pulling away my blanket, which caused me to throw a pillow at him.

"What do you want?"

He chuckled. "It's almost noon, silly. I don't think you've slept this long in … forever."

Lifting my head to look at him I yawned, rolling myself over to the side in order to get up. "Please tell me you have a reason for waking me up," I sighed as I ran my fingers through my messy hair.

"Why of course I do! … No seriously. Hopper just called."

Now I sat up straight, focusing all the concentration I could muster up at this time on my cousin.

"They're relocating your dad - they'll bring him to Seattle later today, for the trial." I furrowed my brows.

"Does that mean …?" I didn't need to finish my thought for Cameron to understand and answer with a simple nod. "We'll be heading there by the end of the week, they planned a bunch of things while you were away yesterday."

Yawning once again I got up on my feet and grabbed some clothes to change into; Cam was still looking at me. "You're not gonna say anything?" - "Would it change anything? No, it wouldn't. Besides I was gonna have to go back there at some point."

"Well … you're right on that one," He chuckled as I walked past him, to go shower and get changed.

When I was done I headed downstairs, my cousin sitting at the kitchen table again, staring at his typewriter.

"Stuck?" I asked while I dug around the fridge for something to eat. The only answer I got from him was an unsatisfied grunt that I guessed was supposed to be a Yes.

Peering over his shoulder while I opened a can of soda my eyes scanned the few lines he had written so far. When he noticed me however, Cameron held his hand in front of the text to prevent me from going on.

"Cam …"

His eyes were glued to the typewriter as I sat down next to him. "Are you writing about Ethan?" Ethan had been Camerons best friend, at least until his parents kicked him out and he was never heard of again. "I dunno yet. Maybe. Is this dumb?"

Hesitantly he handed me another page that I quickly skimmed over; everything was silent for a bit.

"Cam … this is amazing. This isn't dumb at all!" - "Really?" His gloomy eyes lit up for a split second which only gave me more reasons to keep on encouraging him.

When I went over to the living room to get Loki and go for a jog, I heard how the clicking of the keys picked back up and smiled to myself. Silently leaving the house through the back door I walked around - followed by the dog - and started jogging as we arrived at the street.

The sun was peeking through the thick clouds every now and again and I soon fell back into a comfortable running pace; the neighborhood was almost entirely empty as most people had either left for work or school, or were keeping themselves busy indoors. I pushed all the thoughts about having to go back to Seattle and facing both my parents again as far away as I could – instead I thought about the previous day. I would have never thought that somebody like Billy would even remotely enjoy just sitting around and talking. Then again, I’d never thought I would have as much fun talking to somebody else as I did with Steve and yet … The time had gone by so quickly.

I shrugged it off as I circled back to the house about thirty minutes later and went upstairs to have a shower while Cameron fed Loki. The remaining day I sat in the living room, reading, while my cousin stayed at the kitchen table and continued writing.

When I got up the next morning I found him asleep on the floor, almost comically surrounded by heaps of paper balls which I assumed to be scrapped ideas.

“Cam, hey.” I shook him awake and he mumbled something that I couldn’t understand. “At least get on the couch, alright?” He nodded and I escorted him to the living room, covering him with a blanket after he dropped down onto the sofa and fell asleep again almost immediately. Then I made breakfast, went for another walk through the woods with Loki and retreated to my room so that I wouldn’t disturb his slumber.

I went through the copies Billy had brought me the other day and marked a few passages, tossing the folder back onto my desk when I was done. Cameron then popped his head into my room and asked me to bring some forms over to the school – something related to having to go to Seattle and 'being away for a little longer'.

He then disappeared into his room and I assumed he went to bed for good, so I slipped into my shoes and threw my leather jacket over my shoulders before heading out. I didn’t even notice it had started to rain a while ago, so when I pulled into the parking lot of the school and got out the car I had to run for it. Luckily people still seemed to be in class so I just walked to the main office and handed the Secretary the file.

She scanned my face with a skeptical look before flipping through the pages, signing something here and there, rummaging through one of the cabinets in her desk. I prayed for her to be a little faster but the bell rang and I couldn’t help but let out a sigh – my face still wasn’t in the best state, so I let my hair fall into it a bit more and kept my head down.

Finally, the woman handed me some other documents and I thanked her, turning around and pushing through the other students who were piling towards the cafeteria. As I exited through the main entrance, stuffing the file under my jacket so that it wouldn’t get wet, somebody grabbed my arm and I cursed myself silently for not just running. Then again, that would have probably seemed a lot more suspicious than anything else.

"What?!" I asked a little too annoyed as I turned around and found Billy standing in front of me. “Oh. Sorry.”

He grinned and held up my car keys. “You dropped something.” – “Thanks,” I said and we both stood there in silence for a moment.

“So I take it you’re staying out of school for a little longer?”

I nodded. “We’re gonna fly out to Seattle at the end of the week for the … you know.” Now he nodded as well, his hand still on my arm.

“Yeah the police grabbed me from P.E. yesterday to get my testimony, if that’s what you call it.” – “Thanks again, I barely have anyone to back up my accusation so everybody counts.” – “Of course.”

The hallway inside was almost empty now that people had found their way into the cafeteria and I cleared my throat.

“I should get going …” I said and gave Billy a smile; he nodded and I turned around to leave, but he still held onto my arm.

With a swift movement he engulfed me in a hug, burying my face in his chest.

“Good luck.”