ARTIFICIAL // B.E

1

aspen

tw: q*e

"yo, i'll be back in a bit. i gotta go to that meeting today." i told xavier as i walked over to the front door to grab my keys off of the hook.

"alright, see you when you get back." he sent a wave, barely glancing up from his phone to look at me.

i narrowed my eyes a bit before grabbing the pillow that was on the seat near the door. i chucked it at him before quickly exiting the house.

in just a month, i'm set to open for billie eilish's 'happier than ever' world tour. i've known this for seven or eight months now, but it's still really crazy to think about.

back in october of 2020, billie herself had dmed me on instagram, and told me that she really liked my music and shit.

which, again, is crazy.

i swear i had stopped breathing for a good ten seconds.

we've dmed each other a few times since then, though not too much beyond that. i'd say, at most, we're acquaintances.

she reached out to me a while back, and she had asked if i wanted to be a guest on her tour and open for it.

i, obviously, said yes.

anyways...

i've got a meeting today about something regarding the tour. my manager didn't tell me what it's about exactly, but apparently billie is gonna be there too. conveniently enough, me and billie are signed to the same record label.

today will actually be the first time me and her have met in person due to: one, the pandemic, and two, both of our busy schedules.

i'm kinda nervous.

i sighed as i stopped at a red light.

i wonder what this meeting is about.

§§§

"oh my god, hey! dude, it's so good to finally meet you in person!"

"hi! yes, it's been long overdue." i agreed as billie brought me into hug.

holy shit, she gives really good hugs.

when she pulled back from the hug, she placed her hands on my upper arms. "yo... you are shorter than i expected you to be. like, i'm taller than you."

"ouch," i pressed my lips into a thin line. "nah, i get it though; us short people get excited when we meet someone who's shorter than us... even if it is only by, like, two inches." i laughed.

"you are absolutely right." she laughed as well.

she glanced behind her as our managers called for us to go into the conference room. she dropped her hands from my arms, and she stuffed her hands into her pockets.

"you know.... i'm not gonna lie to you, for the first month or so, i lowkey thought that your name was aspirin." she admitted as we walked towards the conference room.

"you're kidding, right?" i snickered. she shook her head. "you really thought i was named after a painkiller?"

"yeah," she giggled. "honestly, i think i'm, like, borderline dyslexic." she shook her head with a sigh.

i let out a loud laugh at that before we made our way to the table. billie took her seat, sitting beside me. i watched as she propped her feet up onto the table and leaned back in her chair. i sat crisscrossed in my own chair.