Pro Guardian - (B.M.)

Chapter 07

Two Peas in a Pod

Billy and Elianne waited in the teacher's car, waiting for her to finish filling the tank. The sun shone brightly, and California was warming up nicely in the midst of Spring.

Elianne remained focused on her notebook for the last few minutes, sketching the tiny bird that was sitting on the tree in front of them. She didn't mind if the boy behind her was undoubtedly gazing at her work; she received that from him all the time.

Billy was slouched in his seat, staring out the window, completely bored. The teacher had been out of the car for well over ten minutes and had failed to return. He wasn't complaining because the longer it took them to return to the building, the more time he had away from everyone. It was the temperature inside the truck that bothered him; he removed his blue hoodie as he began to sweat.

"Why didn't Miss Stevens turn on the air conditioning?" He complained, more to himself than anyone. "It's fucking hot in here . . ."

Elianne sighed and took off her cardigan, admittedly feeling the same way. She pushed back some of her hair behind her ear and continued to draw. "I guess."

"Come on, Eli, you know I'm right."

"Whatever floats your boat, Will."

Then an idea perked up in Billy's mind. He involuntarily smirked and patted her shoulder, causing her to glance in his direction. "Do you wanna leave?"

She stared at him as if he were crazy. "Leave? Leave where?"

He pointed to the outside direction with his thumb. "Out somewhere."

"Um, no, thank you . . ." She shook her head, trying but failing to focus back on her notebook. "I would not like to have detention on my plate."

"Come on, please?"

"No, Billy." Elianne sighed. "What if we get caught?"

"We won't."

"And how are you so certain of that?"

"Because. . ." he trailed off. "I have, let's say . . . experience?"

Her jaw hung open as if he was implying that he had done something similar previously. She wouldn't be surprised at all, knowing the boy.

"Okay," she said, shutting the book. "And let's say we don't get caught, because of this 'experience' that you're so sure about . . . what would we do? Where would we go?"

"Outside, you mean?"

"Yeah."

"I don't know, we can just hang out, I guess," Billy responded and she nodded with mock understanding, making him believe that she was about to agree to his request. 

"Are you out of your mind?" She shouted after a moment but lowered down her tone as if she didn't want anyone else to hear, though ironically they were in a closed area. "We can't just leave, Miss Stevens will be here soon."

He rubbed his forehead in disappointment before he spoke, "Can you not be utterly boring for at least an hour?"

Elianne parted her lips to defend herself, but she eventually closed them, annoyed by his daring choice of words. She considered the reality while looking at him and realized that he was correct.

Truthfully, she was just very boring.

The sun's rays immediately reached her face, and it was only a matter of time before she tore off all of her remaining clothing due to the extreme heat. She chewed her lower lip as she peered at the convenience store's door, believing that the teacher would be out soon enough.

She took a deep breath. "Okay. Let's go."

It didn't take long for Billy's frown to form into a smile, and before he knew it, the two were sneakily running away from the old mini-van heading for a place they did not understand.

It had been an hour and they had still not been found. But it wasn't like they were actually escaping, was it? They were just two youngsters who wanted to see the world, and the one who had been hesitant, to begin with, was having the most fun.

Elianne discovered a family beach on the other side of the marketplace during their short trip. She persuaded Billy to join her, and the two were soon sitting on the yellow sand, savouring the late afternoon.

She untangled her flowing hair from the tight ponytail and let the sunlight enter. She wasn't sure how she didn't feel a pang of guilt for what she'd done, because she'd spent so much of her life according to the rules and practises of perfect etiquette. It was such a bizarre experience for her; it wasn't something she experienced every day, that something deep inside told her to savour it while she could.

"Hey," a voice called out, and she looked up to see it was Billy who was holding two nearly melted ice cream cones. Vanilla and chocolate to be exact. 

"Aw, thanks!" She smiled, reaching out to grab the chocolate flavoured one, but he pulled back.

"What?"

"For the ice cream. . ?"

"Oh." He frowned. "They're actually both for me."

She gulped in embarrassment. "Oh. Okay."

Billy chuckled at the girl's perplexity. He caught her surprised as he offered the vanilla cone for her to take. 'I'm not stupid,' he murmured, giving her a look. She snatched it from him, her tongue protruding in mockery of his teasing.

At the last moment, Elianne took a hold of the chocolate cone instead, taking a bite from the ice cream. She glanced up to see Billy staring at her with something akin to wonder. "What?"

"Nothing . . . it was just, that one was mine."

"Oh, uh . . . sorry," she lied. "Didn't know you wanted . . ."

"That's not what my problem is, though."

"What is then?"

"I already licked the ice cream."

Elianne cocked her head, half in amusement, partially out of shame. She just shrugged and continued to have her ice cream in peace.

Billy caught a glimpse of her every now and again as her hands sifted through the sand on the ground. He could tell when her eyes were focused on anything, similar to how they were when she was sketching. He noticed her hair blowing over her face as a result of the wind, but she didn't seem to mind.

He smiled; because of her or the situation, it wasn't something he was sure of anymore.