The Truth About Billy

Hi, my name is Billy.

Knock, Knock.

I want to tell you a story.

BEN: Hey Billy.
JACKSON: We came to--
ME: I know why you came.
RITCHIE: You do?
ME: Come on in.
NATHAN: Uh...okay.

They walked into my room, where Davis, Jeremy, Hank, Eli, and Carter were already assembled.

JACKSON: What's going on?
ME: I just figured the truth might as well all come out at once.
BEN: You went to Slice tonight.
ME: Yeah, I did.
NATHAN: Because you had something to do with Cal's disappearance.
ME: I wanted to see if Cal would actually show up.
RITCHIE: So you know that Cal is Wilde?
ME: I know he claimed he was.

Jeremy raised his hand.

JEREMY: Am I the only one here who's totally confused?
DAVIS: What the hell is going on?
ELI: Why were you guys at Slice?
HANK: Cal was Wilde?
CARTER: Oowwww...head...banging...

I took a deep breath.

ME: Let me start from the beginning...

It all started after Jeremy left for New York.

-- FLASHBACK --

Knock, Knock.

CAL: I thought you could use a friend.
ME: Why? Jeremy didn't die. He's just away for the summer.
CAL: Could be a long summer then. We should buddy up.
ME: I think I'll be doing enough of that with Davis.

Little did I know.

CAL: So you're saying I brought over Hedwig and nachos for nothing?
ME: Park yourself on the sofa. I'll get the root beer.

Cal and I had a lot of fun that night. I didn't really know much about him until then, but he really opened up to me. Once you got past the obnoxious facade, he really wasn't that bad of a guy.

CAL: It's three am already. Wow.
ME: Time flies, I guess.
CAL: Yeah, I guess it does.

Jeremy wasn't going to be back for three months. I remember thinking that this would be my last chance to go wild and be young before I entered into what was probably going to be a really long relationship.

ME: Don't go.
CAL: Billy--
ME: Stay. Please.

He did. He stayed that night, and many nights after that one.

I thought I could handle it.

But I was wrong.

-----

ME: What do you mean you're blackmailing him?
CAL: I know something about Murray. Something that could get him in major trouble.
ME: You mean fired?
CAL: Worse than fired, Billy.

We were laying in bed one night and he told me what he was doing to Murray. That was how he got the director's spot on the Mainstage at school.

ME: Cal, you've got to stop.
CAL: No way. Not until after my show goes up. Nobody at this school takes me seriously. Well, they're going to now that I can make or break them.
ME: Listen to you. You sound like a crazy person.
CAL: Like you wouldn't do the same.
ME: No! I wouldn't! I have morals.
CAL: Do you think Jeremy would feel that way?

I could see that the nasty side of his personality had a way of winning out whenever somebody looked down on him or showed any sort of power over him.

ME: You know what? Just leave.
CAL: Billy, come on.
ME: I'm serious. I don't want any part of this--or you--unless you stop what you're doing.
CAL: Look, this is--
ME: I don't want to hear it, Cal!

He got out of bed and started to put his clothes on.

CAL: Fine, but hear this. I have something on you now, Billy. You know how everyone would feel if they found out what we've been doing all this time. It would break little Jeremy's heart, and then nobody would want anything to do with you. Keep that in mind the next time you tell someone how immoral they're being.

He hadn't even closed the door, and I'd already realized what I'd done.

-----

ME: You're not going to tell him anything, do you understand me?

It was at Jeremy's Homecoming party. I had just finished talking to Jeremy when Cal pulled me into the bathroom--begging me not to get back with Jeremy because he wanted me back for himself. He was threatening to tell Jeremy that we'd slept together.

CAL: I love you. Don't you understand?
ME: I understand that you're crazy.
CAL: Let's see if Jeremy thinks I'm crazy, huh?

I couldn't let that happen. Jeremy was acting funny about us, but I knew that if Cal talked to him any chance of us getting together would be ruined.

I slammed him up against the wall. He pushed me back, and we nearly fell right into the shower. He was strong. Stronger than me.

Cal made a run for the door, but I grabbed him by his waist and pulled him back to the wall. I put all my weight into my back, and leaned so that he went over me and out the open window.

I panicked. I looked down and saw Cal lying on the ground unconscious.

The pills he had brought into the bathroom to take were lying on the sink. I picked them up and scattered them on the floor so it would look like he had done something drastic.

Then I called out--

ME: Guys! Come look!

By the time they got to the bathroom, Cal had disappeared.

Not for long though.

-----

The phone calls started late at night.

CAL: You're going to pay for what you did.
ME: Cal, where are you?
CAL: You broke my heart.
ME: I wish I had broken your back.
CAL: I just bet you do.
ME: Stop hiding. What are you trying to accomplish?
CAL: Oh, don't worry. You'll see.

And then Joey died...

CAL: You could have stopped it.
ME: How?
CAL: You don't know what you set in motion.
ME: Tell me what's going on!
CAL: It's bigger than you. It's so much bigger than you can even imagine.
ME: If anybody else gets hurt--
CAL: Hurt? Are you kidding? Joey's dead. And he won't be the last one.
ME: You're responsible for this.
CAL: No, Billy. Trust me. You're responsible. Whether you understand why, or not.

-----

The next phone call came the night Murray was arrested.

ME: Did you plant the evidence to get Murray arrested?
CAL: I didn't need to.
ME: But he didn't kill you. You disappeared.
CAL: He would have killed me.
ME: That's not the same thing.
CAL: Sure it is. I'm dead, aren't I?
ME: So I'm talking to a ghost?
CAL: For all intents and purposes, you sure are.
ME: I'm going to tell the police that you're alive.
CAL: Go ahead. Then watch the body count rise.
ME: You're scaring me.
CAL: Did you really think you could tangle with Wilde and not get caught in the web?
ME: Wait, what are you saying?
CAL: You never wondered about who Wilde might be?
ME: So you're saying it's--
CAL: Good-bye Billy.

That was the last time we spoke.

-----

NATHAN: He was texting Joey. Telling him that you were dangerous.
RITCHIE: He wanted you to confess what you did.
ME: What I did was wrong, but I had nothing to do with Joey dying.
DAVIS: So why did you go to Slice tonight?
ME: I got the e-mail forwarded to me about the Wilde party.
ELI: Wilde party--hah!

We all looked at Eli. Now was not the time.

ME: I wanted to see if I could confront Cal. He basically admitted to me that he was Wilde.
JACKSON: This is insane.
BEN: He was blackmailing Murray?
HANK: We have to tell the police.
ME: I was going to, but I didn't know what he was capable of.
CARTER: Look what he did at the pageant.
JEREMY: It doesn't matter. We can't let Murray sit in jail for murdering someone whose still alive.

We all talked about it and agreed we'd go to the police station the next day. It was late at that point, and everybody started to leave.

The last person to hang around was Jeremy.

ME: Look, I--
JEREMY: We both made mistakes. Lots of them. I'm not going to yell at you for it like you're a little kid. I mean...it's pointless.
ME: I am sorry, Jeremy. I wish I could have been the guy you thought I was.
JEREMY: I would have loved whoever you were. It wouldn't have mattered to me. I can love the truth. I just can't love a lie.

He shut the door behind him, and I sat down on my bed.

Part of me felt relieved, but another part of me felt like I had just done something horrible.