slowburn | billie eilish

chapter three

sage's pov:

yes, i recognize that i'm sitting next to billie eilish. in her car. i'm... in billie eilish's dodge challenger. who thought i'd make it here today? most certainly not me. 

i haven't said anything. should i? i don't want to disrespect her. she definitely doesn't need fan behavior right now. she almost ran over something and got her car stuck in a ditch. i don't know how to react. i didn't expect her to ask me to sit with her. at all. 

"hey, you okay?" leaves her pretty pink lips.

i shake my thoughts away, "yeah, i'm good. just thinking." she asks me what about, and in response i just tell her that she doesn't need to hear about that right now. she did just get into an accident after all. 

she hesitantly nods in understanding. is she gonna tell me why she wanted me to sit with her? i'll just wait for her to speak. 

apparently she doesn't know why either, as she says a minute later, "honestly, i'm not sure why i asked you to sit with me. i guess i could use company?"

i shrug my shoulders. "okay. what's on your mind? you must've been driving what, like 120? on the highway for a reason."

she bites her lower lip and lets out a low laugh. "yeah, i um, i could kill my brother right now. he pissed me off and i don't know, driving at supposedly dangerous speeds calms me down."

not the safest way to let frustration out, but go off i guess. i speak my thoughts aloud and she nods, chuckling softly in agreement. 

i ask, "so what's up with finneas? what did he- oh fuck." i didn't want her to know that i knew who she was yet, and now she knows that i not only recognize her but know her brother's name. what the fuck sage. 

she inhales sharply before letting out a low sigh. "so you know me. you don't have to stay if you don't want to," she mumbles. before i could respond, she asks, "why didn't you say something?"

i grimace, closing my eyes before speaking again. "uh, i'm sorry. i didn't know if i should say anything because i was sure you didn't wanna feel bombarded with a random fan right now. it's not really my business. although i swear i didn't realize it was you until you opened your window i- for all i knew, i was just checking on a random stranger. if you want me to leave, i'll go, i get it."

she shakes her head and sighs, "no, no, you can stay. i get that. thanks. do you wanna know anything or take a picture or something?"

"no, no! i still don't wanna disrespect you like that. i'm sure you don't need that right now."

she nods and relaxes in relief, "okay, thanks, i appreciate that. tell me about you? what's been going on recently?"

i chuckle. the first thing that comes to mind is the stuff going on in school right now. without revealing too much, i just tell her, "well, in my school i'm the center of attention right now. something about me was shared without my permission, and strangers have been asking me about it all last week. i mean, fuck privacy, am i right? and one of the popular soccer players was benched before a big game for being rude to me so the whole soccer team and successively the whole school population is upset with me. i- i now realize you don't know what the high school gossip culture is like- weren't you like homeschooled or something? sorry."

she responds, "yeah, i was homeschooled, so no i don't really know what it's like. but i get the whole privacy shit, everything about me is easily accessed on the internet. i have no private life, and it sucks sometimes, you know? i mean- i'm thankful for my place, but it sucks. so i get it in that way at least."

i nod in understanding. "i couldn't even imagine. i'm sorry girl."

she giggles to break the dark atmosphere we just created. she clears her throat before asking, "so what was spread around about you? you know, if you don't mind telling me."

i take a deep breath before telling her, "no, no, i don't mind at all. i'm into girls, and that's it. the soccer kid that got benched, jonas, in english class said some dumb shit to me about being a 'dyke'. i don't care that people know about it, but i'd rather have told them in my own time if that makes sense."

"oh shit. yeah, i get that. my sexuality has been spread all over the internet, and so many people wanna know if i'm gay or even just assume it because of how i act or dress or whatever. i mean, i don't mind, but yeah i'd rather tell people on my own time. if i was into girls, coming out for me would be such a big thing because it would be all at once, to the whole fucking world," she tells me.

wait, so is she not gay? i don't wanna like, ask. i don't want to disrespect her. i'd be just like those people constantly nagging at her about it. so i just press my lips together and nod to show that i heard her. "can't even begin to fathom that."

she toys with her fingers atop her steering wheel. the question "so what are you doing out here?" leaves her lips after i notice.

i tell her that in la my mom has a job, and she let me come along. she works for some magazine, but i'm not allowed to know much about it. she mostly just keeps to herself. i tell billie that i chose to come with her to get away from school right now, and she nods her head in understanding.

"so where are you from? if not here, i mean."

i tell her i live in ohio, and she asks me about it. i don't really know what to tell her besides, "well, most certainly different than los angeles. it's like a big state of nothing," i laugh, "i really couldn't tell you, to be honest."

she nods at that. i realize that she probably was originally asking why i was on the highway, not in la. i tell her that i'm staying at a hotel at a different exit but wanted to buy contact solution since i forgot mine. i saw that she had fallen into a ditch and pulled over in concern. i don't really have any reason to be back soon, so i don't mind. 

she smiles. "so what about trying to get dragon back on the highway?"

a/n: hiaa and that's the end of the first three chapters i'm going to publish. so sage meets billie! how we feeling

word count: 1122