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The best part of Billy's life-guarding job is teaching swim classes for the kids. It gets him major brownie points with all the hot moms and older sisters, sure. But more importantly, he genuinely enjoys it. It's one of the only times he drops the hard-ass, sexy bad-boy act, and lets himself be kind, nurturing, soft. He wishes he could be that way with Max, too; be the older brother she deserves, but there's just too much baggage there. Being Max's brother is one more thing that Neil fucking Hargrove forced him to do, punished him for not doing perfectly, so Billy hates it. He resents Max for it, even thought he knows it's not her fault. And somehow, the fact that Neil never raises his hand to Max actually makes it worse. Not that he wants Neil to hit her. Of course not. Hell, Billy knows damn well he'd throw himself in the line of fire to protect her, if Neil ever tried. But he can't help but resent the fact that she gets to just ... be a kid. She doesn't have to walk on eggshells, or hide, or lie to teachers about bruises and cigarette burns, when Billy lost that luxury nearly a decade ago, the day his mom died.
But the swimmy kids don't come with any baggage, so Billy can be whomever he wants, around them. He doesn't have to be macho, or sexy, or intimidating with them. He can be who he really is inside; or at least who he used to be, before Neil beat all the sweetness out of him. He can just help these kids. Teach them. Encourage them. Be the man that Billy needed when he was seven years old, but that he never got.
So he takes on as many lessons as he can get, and he looks forward to them all week. He clowns around for the younger kids, helps the smallest ones get their little arm floaties on. He cheers for the kids who don't have enough confidence, and he reins in the few who are a little too pushy, a little bit mean. Tries to squash any signs of bullying before it hurts anyone. He makes up new games with the kids, and pays attention to their stories and their concerns. He's patient in a way he never is with anyone else. He smiles (really smiles, not that cruel little smirk he hides behind, most of the time) and laughs more during those four hours a week than he has in years. It's his favorite part of living in Hawkins, and he's already dreading the inevitable loss, when the pool closes in September.
There's one little redheaded girl that reminds him of Max when she was small. Erin O'Leary is five years old, about to start kindergarten in the Fall. She's chubbier than Max ever was, with curlier hair, but she's got the same pale, freckled skin, the same bright blue eyes, and the same sharp, clever mind. She's also got Max's absolute fearlessness, though she's not as snarky or cynical. Erin is enthusiastic, bubbly, adventurous, curious, and bold, and Billy hopes she never loses that. Whenever she has swim lessons, Billy helps her get her tiny little goggles on, and makes sure she's well and truly slathered in sunblock. He revels in her giggles and her overzealous (if uncoordinated) attempts at doggy paddling. He can't help but wonder how things would have been with Maxine, if they'd been real siblings, or if Neil wasn't such a raging asshole. If he'd have taught her how to swim like this, made her laugh, hugged her when she hit a milestone like swimming underwater for the first time, or riding a bike without training wheels. He thinks they could have been friends, in another life. He wishes they were. But that's just one more opportunity Neil took away from him. One more nice thing broken.
Sometimes he'll stand on the concrete after swim class, dripping pool water and waving goodbye to all his little swimmy kids, and he wonders what will happen next year, after he graduates. He wants to run as soon as he's free; back to California, probably, but anywhere away from Neil Hargrove and Hawkins, Indiana will do. But what will happen to Max? With Billy gone, will Neil turn on her? Susan doesn't seem capable of standing up to him, and even though Max is a badass, she's a little badass, and she doesn't really know what Neil is capable of. If Billy isn't there to draw Neil's ire and she mouths off to him, or God forbid tries to bring Lucas Sinclair home, Neil might just snap. And even though Billy and Max kinda-sorta hate each other, he could never forgive himself if she got hurt. Not if Billy could have stopped it.
So, as much as he hates this shitty, podunk little town, and as desperate as he is to go back to Cali, he hasn't even thought about college. He's smart enough; he could definitely get in, could even get scholarships. But he's afraid to leave Max behind. She'd probably tell him to fuck off if she knew, but that doesn't matter. Billy does care about her, and even if he didn't, he wouldn't wish Neil Hargrove on his worst goddamn enemy.
So he'll probably stay. Maybe he'll apply to a college in Indianapolis. Or maybe he'll just forget about school and get a full time job. There's got to be a gym or a health club he could work at, somewhere around here. Worst case, he could probably get work as a junior mechanic, or a painter at a body shop. That would suck, but at least he'd be around enough to keep an eye on Max until she graduates. And who knows? There's always a chance that Susan will smarten up and leave Neil, someday. Or, more likely, that Neil could wind up in one last bar fight, or drive drunk one too many times, and leave this world better off without him. But Billy doesn't usually have that kind of luck.
So he'll probably stay. At least, until Max graduates. And until then, he has summer swimming lessons to look forward to.