In The Crowd - Billie Eilish

Chapter Five - Billie

I'm sitting in the coffee shop waiting for Y/n. Can I even call her that? I don't even know her. I'm here a little earlier than I said we should meet. Maybe by like fifteen minutes. Might be a little bit more, and I don't know why, but I'm nervous. What is wrong with me? I'm only giving her a necklace back. It's not like we're sitting down and talking. Besides, I don't even know her and I'm the famous one. If anyone should be nervous, it should be her, which I'm sure she is. It feels like I've been sitting here for forever when I finally see her walk in. I see her looking around, trying to see if she can find me. I guess I am kind of hiding. I stand up so she can see me. After a few more seconds, she spots me and starts walking over to me. She smiles at me, and I return the smile.

"Hey," I said. "How are you?"

"I'm alright. How about you?" She replies.

"I'm good," I say, just looking at her.

"So, um, you said you have my necklace?" Bringing me out of my trance.

"Oh yeah," I say, reaching into my pocket and pulling out the necklace. "Here," I say and hand it to her.

"Thanks, I didn't even realize I had lost it. I would've been so upset if I had left LA without it." She mentions. She doesn't live here? I guess I should've assumed that.

"Yeah, that probably wouldn't have been very good," I said. We just stand here awkwardly for a few seconds. "Would you like to get a drink? Coffee or something? My treat." She looks confused for a second.

"Um, I don't wanna take up any of your time. I'm sure you're very busy and have things you need to get done." I just shake my head.

"No, no, it's all good. I wouldn't offer if I had things to do. You can get anything you want and I'll get it. But you obviously don't have to if you don't want to." I tell her. She smiles and nods.

"Alright, that sounds nice." She says, and I smile.

-

"Can I ask you something?" I ask her as we sit back down in the corner of the coffee shop.

"Sure, what's up?" She asks.

"I'm just curious. What do the numbers on your necklace mean if you don't mind my asking?" The smile on her face slightly fades, and she lets out a small sigh before the smile returns, but now it seems almost forced. "I didn't mean to upset you. You can forget that I asked." I quickly said, and she shook her head and looked at me again.

"No, it's fine. It's just a question, and I get why you'd be curious by what the numbers mean." She says. She goes quiet for about a minute before continuing. "The numbers 11/16 are for my dad and my little sister. My dad died in 2011 in a car crash, and my little sister, Riley, died in 2016 of cancer." She said. I could see the pain in her eyes. Of course, who wouldn't be hurt by that?

"Oh, my. I'm so sorry." I say, genuinely. She shakes her head and smiles at me.

"It's alright. I mean, it's not alright, but that's life, you know. It's not fair." She says, and I nod. She's right, and it sucks.

It stays quiet between us for a few more minutes. I hear people talking, and I hear my name. I look over and see some people in the coffee shop looking at me, and some start getting their phones out. I sigh and try hiding my face. I see Y/n turn and then look back at me.

"Do you want to leave?" She asks, and I nod. She stands up, and I follow her out the door as fast as we can.

"We should probably get out of here fast before more people show up because they know that I'm here," I tell her. She nods, and we get as far away from the coffee shop as possible.