𝐬𝐮𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭 || 𝐬𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝗺.

fourteen.

fourteen.

I didn't sleep much that night. After that encounter with Billy, I was left feeling very unsettled. Billy may have been a jerk but he never tried to manipulate me or grab me the way he did. It was very hard to process.

"Sol!" Someone shook me. "Sol!"

I jolted awake and let out a soft gasp as I came face to face with Rue and Tatum. We had been in the auditorium for the last half hour, trying to go over the routine before practice.

Homecoming was tomorrow and to my surprise, it wasn't as as hectic as I expected it to be. We only had to make a small tweak to our routine for the other girls. Other than that, everything from our outfits to our schedule for that day were all in order.

"Soleil!" Rue nudged me really hard.

"She's been like this all day..." Tatum was worried. "She's never like this..."

I sat up and let out a loud yawn. "I'm sorry, guys, I barely slept last night."

Rue and Tatum looked at each other before looking at me. They were obviously concerned but didn't know if they should ask or not.

"Did something happen?" Tatum decided to speak up.

The memories of Billy played in my mind, they had been all day. What happened was so unsettling, I couldn't not think about it. "I don't know... it's hard to explain."

Even though he had been a bit of a jerk lately, Billy never seemed like the type to let his anger get the best of him. He was nice to everyone, it was how he made everyone in school swoon over him.

It was hard to believe that the person in my room last night was Billy Loomis. I couldn't believe that it was.

"Did you wanna talk about it?" Tatum's voice got very soft as her and Rue sat down next to me.

Rue huffed and looked at me. I could feel her stern gaze. "You've been avoiding Billy, Sol, what happened?"

"Did you ask him about Lena?"

I felt my stomach knot and I sank into the seat. My heart was beating a mile a minute and my mind struggled to piece single thoughts together. Did I tell them what happened with Billy or did I continue to play it off?

"Hey, I found them!"

We were interrupted by Randy's voice echoing from the back of the auditorium. I didn't feel any type of relief or stress at the sound of his voice, I was just conflicted... Not all the way there in a sense.

"Hey, guys," Randy's voice candy from behind us. He walked to the front aisle, where me and the girls were sitting, and then looked at us with a goofy smirk.

"What is it, asshole?" Tatum asked.

Randy frowned in the most dramatic way possible. "Ouch, you're so feisty, Tate!"

I shook my head and let out a small chuckle.

"Billy and Stu are looking for you two." Randy looked at me and Tatum before turning to Rue. "Are you going to Stu's after party?"

"I might," Rue was very nonchalant. She was just getting to know Randy and found herself constantly getting annoyed with his over the top personality. "How's your job at the video store?"

"Oh, they fired me for going on rants about movies and messing with sales. They miss me though." He smirked before turning to me, the cocky look on his face instantly falling into a frown. "Are you okay, Sol?"

I didn't want to lie to Randy. He had grown into a brother figure to me, almost like a stand in for Calvin. We had grown so close that I couldn't fathom the thought of lying to him. The thought of that alone made me feel worse. "I don't want to talk about it..."