Let The Games Begin // Billie Eilish

Chapter 26

"What's up, Covey? We've been looking for you everywhere!" Nikki says cheerily as she approaches me from behind the bush.

I don't respond, instead I stand there cautiously and make sure to keep a firm hold on the knife in my hand.

"You're looking a little scared there, grasshopper." Milaus remarks. "Don't worry! We're here because we want to team up with you and Billie."

I don't believe that for a second.

As they start to come closer, I back up a little in an attempt to keep a distance between us.

"Woah woah woah, I'm not gonna hurt ya." Milaus says while holding his hands up in defence, however I don't fail to spot the knife sticking out of his front pocket.

He notices the direction of my eyes and looks down towards the knife.

"You don't trust me, huh?."

"Why would I?" I spit, earning an offended reaction from the two of them.

"Because we're friends." Nikki says slowly.

"We are?" I question, confusion laced in my tone.

"God, when did you get so feisty?" Milaus interjects. "Listen, we wanna talk to Billie. Can you wake her up for us?"

"There's no need to." Billie says as she comes up from behind me and stands in front of me. "What's up?" She asks with hesitation.

"We wanna be on a team with you guys." Nikki replies.

"You do?" Billie questions while stuffing her hands in her pockets.

"Yeah! We'd be great together. I mean come on, you know that."

"How come you never suggested this before." Billie asks cautiously.

"Well..because we didn't think of it until The Games started." Nikki answers as she crosses her arms.

Billie doesn't respond to her, instead she turns her head around to look at me. She raises her eyebrows, trying to silently communicate 'Is this okay?'.

I stare back at her, not knowing how to react. On one hand, I want to immediately blurt out a definite 'No.' I do not trust either of these people in the slightest and their presence makes me feel unsafe.

On the other hand, they are Billie's peers. If she trusts them, then maybe I should too.

I slightly nod my head, and Billie turns back to them.

"Alright, you can stay with us for the night."

"Yay! This will be fun!" Nikki says as she claps her hands together in excitement.

"Yeah, it will. And as a thank you, we can keep an eye out for you guys tonight. We'll stay awake and you guys can get some sleep. Sound good?" Milaus comments.

Billie and I make eye contact once again before she nods hesitantly. "Sure, thanks."

There is something about her body language that seems off, which confuses me a little. During our little bicker earlier, she was defending them and their innocence. However, I can tell by the way she's acting that she doesn't completely trust them.

And Billie is a hard person to read. The fact that I can understand her body language in this moment is alarming.

"Cool! We'll stay here. Sweet dreams guys!" Nikki smiles.

"Night." Billie replies abruptly before turning around fully to me and nodding her head towards our makeshift bed.

I follow behind her and cautiously position myself onto the foil blanket. It's not very big, and there certainly is not enough room for the two of us. So to say the least, it's very...cosy.