ʍoɹplǝss, ᵇⁱˡˡⁱᵉ ᵉⁱˡⁱˢʰ

004: Angry

"Ah, I don't think you should tell me. . ."

"What? Why not?" asked Billie as she leaned more into the shade that a tall tree provided. I shifted my weight from foot to foot until I sighed.

"'Cause I feel like I don't deserve to know something personal about you. . . we've only just met. And this seems personal." I pointed at the spray painted wall. The word burden caught my eye for a split second.

"I don't mind. Though, if it makes you uncomfortable, then I'll keep it to myself." Billie breathed out dolefully, clearly being theatrical. "I can only hope that curiosity doesn't eat you up whole. Inside out and all. . ."

I rolled my eyes, amused by her childish demeanor. As she continued to sigh dramatically without cease, I caved and cleared my throat.
"Fine. But don't tell me everything. Just bits and pieces."

Billie spun back to face me. Grabbed my wrist and pulled me toward the wall. "Choose a word and I'll tell you about it."

With that, I began to skim over each word; I decided against choosing the most pronounced words. Instead, my gaze fell to the bottom of the collage where the tiniest terms resided. I picked out obnoxious.

"Damn, I even forgot that one was there," she said as she sat down against the wall, beside the collage. I joined her, sitting by her left side to avoid covering any of the words.

"Short and simple. Basically, I was at the grocery store buying some things. I guess I was being a bit too loud as I read the instructions on the back of this cake mix." Billie crossed her legs, uncrossed them, then recrossed them. "I laughed out loud when I misread one of the words and some lady beside me whispered so obnoxious at me." Billie tilted her head to look up at me through her lashes.

I hum and think: So, all these words are things people have described her as? My nails grazed over my knee as my fingers flexed forward. Billie shrugged and mumbled something underneath her breath that I couldn't understand.

"Give me another word."

—

The bell rang not long after Billie finished her fifth anecdote. They were simple stories; ones similar to the first. She explained that the smallest words are the ones that barely had an affect on her. The largest, I assumed, were the worst of the worst.

"I'll see ya later, Ambrose," said Billie as we parted ways just before the halls began to flood with the squeak of sneakers of the students sliding over the polished floors. Billie's mood had significantly deteriorated, which caused the words get off to flare so intensely that I could feel the heat in my shoulder blade.

I shouldn't have let her tell me about anything.
I walked through the doors of my classroom and sat at my assigned seat. Already the 'popular' group of boys were cheering unbelievably loud about something I didn't care enough about to pay attention to.

"Hey, Ambrose, wanna come by my house later?" yelled the blondest, blue-eyed boy with a smugness to his tone. I'm sure he sat in his typical pose: legs manspreading while his fists clenched onto the seat in between them. I didn't feel like giving him a spared glance. Not that I ever did.

"You know you want to," said another. The brunet. A dog who followed the blond one so loyally that I wondered why he didn't just get a collar and a leash. Again, not a glance given in their direction. Instead I lugged my Calculus book onto my desk and prepared my materials.

Then it appeared. The same note with, I'm sure, the same idiotic word penned inside. And as I always do, I tossed it into the garbage without a peek.

My eyes flit up toward where I felt a gaze directed at me. There they were, Frankie and the other girl I couldn't remember the name of. Staring at me. A moment passed before we broke eye contact and focused on the teacher that had just strode into the room.

—

By the time school ended, my brain had morphed into that of a rat's. Exhaustion riddled my every cell. My feet dragged themselves across the floors as I walked down to where my bicycle was supposed to be.

"What the fuck?" I looked around, but there was no sign of it. "No fucking way." Someone had taken my bike. I bent down and noticed that the chain I had secured around the wheel had been unlocked somehow and left tossed to the side.
No way am I going to call mom for her to come pick me up. No way.

"Don't get angry, Ambrose. Breathe." And that I did. Locked every single oxygen atom in my lungs until the aggression made a slight nosedive. My fists tightened to the point where they felt numb. The tension spread up to my forearms.

Students passed by and left within minutes. Not long passed before the area was empty. I sat with my fingers seized tightly onto my roots, hidden behind a wall so no one would witness me in this state. Dim sunlight bestowed a warmth around my body that managed to keep me from breaking down.

Hands slid down from my scalp to my jaw. Hair invaded my vision. A lovely scent of vanilla floated in the air.

"The hell?" I brushed the strands off my face and looked to side. "SHIT!" I yelped and fell on my back. Billie laughed the oxygen out of her chest from where she sat so silently beside me I hadn't noticed her. Clapped her hands above her head until she stood up, stretched her hand out for me to take. I scoffed and acted without thinking: I pulled her down by her arm so she would topple.

"Agh!" She spun around in the air just before she fell on top of me by placing her palm against the concrete beside my head. 

"Sorry, but don't scare me like that again," I said, but my tone sounded anything but convincing thanks to the soft, irrepressible giggle I emitted. Billie still laid with her laughs at full volume. So contagious I found it impossible to not join her.

"So," she started once we calmed. "Why haven't you left yet?"

I stayed silent as I pondered my answer. I wasn't sure if I should tell someone I barely knew about my so fortunate situation. Then I thought, fuck it. "Someone stole my bike." Immediately, Billie jolted up and looked down at me.

"What?"

"Mhm. . ." I hummed. My gaze drifted off to the side. The inability to stare back at her crawled into the back of my head.

"Let's go to the principal then–"

"No." I jerked up, our faces nearly crashing together. "No one tells the principal about anything."

"O. . . kay." Billie chewed her lip, evidently frustrated. "Then what do you want to do?"

"I guess I'll just have to walk," I said, but Billie hushed me.

"You're not walking alone. I'll go with you." The placid smile that grew out from her teeth as soon as the sentence slipped out from her mouth caused a ripple in my chest. It didn't last long, though, as panic replaced it in seconds.

"I– what? You're not doing that." The only words that escaped my throat before Billie shook her head, stood up and dusted off her trousers.

"You're not going to walk alone," she stated simply. Tapped the tips of her shoes against the concrete and jerked her head to the side, telling me to follow her.
"I'll even be as quiet as a mouse."

She stared down at me, beaming. Her head blocked the sun, which granted her a angel-like aura because of the streams of sunlight that spread out along her silhouette. I shook my head and patted down my skirt once I stood up.

"You're too persistent, Billie," I said with a grin.

"I'm hard to get rid of that way."

A/N: What's y'all favorite color