WALLFLOWER // B.E

twenty-one

billie

the following monday after the fair, i showed up to first block late, only to see that juniper wasn't there. anybody else, i wouldn't question it, but junie has yet to miss a day of school, nor has she been late.

so, before i stepped into class, and before the teacher saw me, i backtracked, and i went into the bathroom. i pulled my phone out of my pocket, went to juniper's contact, and called her.

i leaned against one of the stalls as it rang. i pulled my phone away from my ear briefly to see that it had already been ringing for twenty seconds. i then heard a low, faint "hello?" which made me bring my phone back up to my ear.

"hey," i greeted. "are you good, baby? why aren't you at school?"

"i'm sick as hell," june mumbled. she started to cough, then muted herself so that i couldn't hear it.

my brows furrowed. "i'ma come take care of you, mama."

"no, don't come over here. i won't let you in if you do," she told me.

"your grandma will let me in; she loves me," i boasted.

"no, she won't. she's dead asleep, and if you were to wake her up, she'd be pissed. just stay at school."

"i'm coming over, junie," i insisted.

"i'm still not letting you in. i don't feel like getting up," she huffed.

"junie," i said in a bit of a whine. "i'm coming over, and i'm taking care of you. end of discussion. i'll be there soon."

"billie, stay at school, i swear—" before she could continue, i ended the call, and i slipped my phone into my pocket.

i peeked out of the bathroom to check for any teachers. i then made my way back out of the school and to my car. once i was in my car, i connected my phone to the radio, then called my mom as i backed out of my parking space.

"billie? shouldn't you be at school right now?" she answered.

"okay, so, you see, about that..." i trailed off with a small laugh. "junie is sick, so i'm going over to take care of her."

"junie?"

"juniper," i corrected.

"oh. well, i guess that's fine then," she sighed.

maybe i have talked to my parents about juniper. so what?

"yeah. so, i was wondering, like... what should i buy to, like, help, you know?" i asked slowly. "i don't know what all to get."

she talked to me for a bit longer, telling me what i should buy her and whatnot. i thanked her before i ended the call. i drove to the closest store to get everything she listed.

soon enough, i was at juniper's house. i know she said she didn't feel like getting up, so i walked around the house to her window, where i knocked on it.

i waited patiently for a few seconds. i could hear her getting up and walking over.

"billie, i told you not to come here," juniper sent me a look as she opened the window.

"mm, i don't recall," i gave a cheesy grin.

i took in her appearance with a soft smile. she was wearing my hoodie that i let her borrow friday night.

speaking of friday night...

when we got back to junie's place from the fair, we stayed up practically all night talking and kissing just a little bit... okay, we kissed a lot.