Billy Hargrove // DNA

Chapter Twelve

Amelia would have preferred to stay in her bed for the rest of the week, but she knew that wasn't an option. Sooner or later she had to face Billy, since they had an assignment together. Amelia knew she could do the job herself and was really considering doing so. After all, she didn't want to talk to Billy. And she knew he probably wouldn't even try to make an effort.

Amelia slapped her forehead when she thought of how she mentioned Jennifer. "Why am I so stupid?" She muttered under her breath while she put on a black sweater with a turtleneck and some dark jeans. She wasn't feeling like wearing bright colors.

The rest of the morning happened in a haze. Amelia was tired of the same old boring routine. She was tired of waking Cora every morning. Tired of going downstairs and looking at John's ugly head as he stared disinterestedly at his newspaper and drank a cup of coffee. Amelia was tired of seeing her mother working so hard without ever receiving a thank-you. She was sick of the daily show they all put up.

Amelia barely reacted when Benjamin waved the car keys in front of her face. She walked behind him meekly and didn't say a word when they drove to school. Once they arrived at the parking lot, Amelia walked straight into the school building, not bothering to seek her friends. She didn't notice anyone and nothing interested her.

Deep down she knew she was exaggerating, but she just felt hurt after the rejection. Amelia went to her locker and changed her textbooks. She looked up at the mirror and saw an unhappy girl stare back at her. 

It was only during the lunch break that Amelia slowly became herself again. Her friends tried their best to cheer her up, Rebecca gossiped about everyone while Steve constantly cracked some lame jokes. Amelia felt really grateful to have friends like them.

"Thanks girl. It really means a lot. Now be honest, how does my hair look?" Amelia asked Sarah as they sat down in their usual spot. "Hm, like you haven't combed your hair in three days but beside that, you look fantastic." Amelia chuckled but her laugh faded when Billy sat down next to her. Amelia refused to look at him and kept staring straight ahead. 

The teacher coughed, trying to get the students' attention. "Hopefully you're all working on your assignment, remember, in two weeks I expect you all to come to the front of the class and debate. I'm very curious to see what you've come up with." 

Amelia turned her head to Sarah. "How's it going with you and Stacey?" Sarah gave her a meaningful look. "What do you think? That bimbo doesn't even know the difference between Shakespeare and Stephen King." Amelia couldn't resist a chuckle. 

She felt someone tapping on her elbow and looked to her right to face Billy. "You wanna work on that?" Amelia raised her eyebrows. "Do what you want. Just make sure you have something on paper." She said bitterly. She turned her head and focused her gaze on the teacher.

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Two classes and a car ride later, Amelia was pulling her bike out of the shed. She decided to go to the park for a while before it got dark. She rode on her bike and blocked every sound with her headphones and Sony Walkman. 

A few minutes later Amelia was sitting down on the same swing she had sat with Billy about a week ago. Amelia thought back at that day, how cautiously he had asked if everything was okay. The Billy she had seen then and in her bedroom was completely different from the Billy who everyone saw at school. Maybe he did like her but was scared to give up his bad boy image. Amelia didn't know. 

She stared at the ground and felt so childish and ridiculous. She was pretending like someone she knew had died. The only thing that happened was that she was rejected by a boy. A boy she hardly knew. A boy who probably had slept with every girl he ever laid his eyes on.