Villains ➵ bill skarsgård a.u.

twenty two

Unsurprisingly, Arthur was still there, standing next to the front desk of Mrs. Tilly the librarian, his coat now hanging on his arm instead of wearing it along with the two books I’ve assumed he already got checked out. He was wearing a blue shirt, his black jeans fitting firmly on his legs as he impatiently tapped the tip of his shoe against the tiles. His eyes land on me as soon as he noticed my presence, a smile forming on his mouth before he begins walking towards me. “Is your friend okay?” He asks as soon as he reached me, genuine concern written all over his face.

“What friend?”

He frowns in confusion, raising his hand towards behind me. “Your friend.” He repeats and I go back to reality, realizing I have dozed off from Bill’s previous statement. “He seemed pretty upset back there. I should've apologized, I didn't know he was new.”

“H-He’s fine.” I stuttered, “Just a little under the weather.”

He nods in agreement of my reply and presses his lips in a tight line, eyes falling away from my face but remaining towering over me. If I were to ask myself what I was doing there at ten a.m talking to the great Arthur Michigan, I wouldn't have known the answer. I should be in class, or with my friends talking about our plans for later on. I should be apologizing to them for just leaving and ignoring all their calls and text messages. Instead I'm stuck in my own bullshit. It was enough that I’m betraying our pact by talking to one of the people who are the reason for our suffering.

“You want to maybe—” He drawls, rubbing the back of his neck. “Walk to class together? Your fourth classes is math, isn't it?”

“Why?” the question ripped out of my mouth, confusion swimming through my head. How did such an idea even popped into his head? Does he think we're friends now because I'm talking to him? I can't even stare at him for a second without remembering the way he abandoned me at Hillside Cross Station. Even though he apologized to me back in the woods, his sorry doesn't make up for the mental trauma I’ve gained upon venturing the entirety of the place.

“To save time and resources.”

My throat was deserted, my eyes stinging just from being open. I really do need to take medicine. “I-I’m sorry, Arthur. I don't think that would be a great idea.”

His eyebrows furrowed, his gaze finding their way back to my face. “Why not? We both have maths together don’t we?”

Yes we do. We've been sharing some from of academic subject for the past three years. In sophomore we shared geometry, in junior we shared history and as if that wasn't enough, now we share mathematics. In other words, I've practically known him for a long time, I could just barely pay attention because the first three years of me being in hillside consisted of things I don't want to remember. And it wasn’t like I’d still care now. Hell, the only reason I know is because Romina liked pointing out the incidents where Arthur is involved.

I sighed, my throat aching the more words I try to push out. Is he stupid enough to think it’s that easy? And does he think I’m stupid enough to even consider? For the past years, I’ve only walked with my friends to class and students would always scoff at the sight of us from the repetitive episodes that our dignities have been brought down to zero. I could just imagine what such a scene would look like when I enter the room with Arthur. The gossips would feast and I would be back where I started. Even the thought of having four people see us together brings anxiety to my stomach. Neither Ericka nor Ella was in sight, but mouths work fast around the hallways and each second I'm talking to him is a risk of my worst nightmare happening again.

“We do, but either of us should just probably go first. I’m still looking for my friends.” I lie. It was fourth periods and the hallways were teeming with people. There was no way I was going to find them anywhere, especially now that I don’t exactly know if they're even in school to begin with. My hand ached to take my phone and check through the text messages they sent from the group chat but I was torn in between dealing with Arthur and doing that.