Insomnia // Billie Eilish

Chapter 5

I grabbed my backpack, getting ready to leave for school. "Do you want a pop-tart, Brian?"

"Yes." He ran into the kitchen with a toy gun in his hand. I grabbed a pop-tart and opened it for him. My phone rang in my pocket and it was Maria, Brian's babysitter.

I quickly answered it. "Thank God. Are you on your way to get him?"

"No, sorry." She paused to cough. "I was just calling to tell you that I won't be able to make it."

"Why?"

"I'm sick," she said.

"Okay. I gotta go." I hung up and put my backpack down, trying to think of somebody that could watch him.

My phone started ringing again. It was a FaceTime call from Billie this time. She'd been calling me everyday on my walk to school. I answered and sighed, frustratedly. "What's wrong?" she asks. "Is this a bad time? Shouldn't you be on your way to school right now?"

"Yeah, but Brian's babysitter just called me and told me she's sick and can't watch him." I grabbed his cup and made some chocolate milk with the oat milk in the fridge. "And let me tell you, that was a fake ass cough, dude. I guess I'll have to stay home today. I need to text Jasmine and tell her. We were supposed to present today."

"Dude, I can watch him for you," she said.

"I mean, are you sure you don't have anything going on?" I screwed the lid on and handed it to him. "He can be a handful sometimes."

"Not really. I don't have much to do today. I just got off tour a little while ago. Just let me watch him and I can give you a ride to school since you're running late."

"Thank you so much. You're saving my ass."

"I'll be there in a few minutes," she said, getting in her car.

"Alright, bye." I hung up.

I throw the pop-tart wrapper away and changed him out of his pajamas. My dog looked out of the window and barked, notifying me that Billie was here. I grabbed the car seat, his backpack with his stuff in it, and my backpack before going outside. She got out of her car and smiled. "Hey."

"Hey. Thank you so much for watching him. Like, really. You don't know how much I appreciate this. Tayler would beat my ass if I didn't make it."

"It's no problem, baby." She laughed and pointed at the car seat. "You're gonna have to put that in though."

I put Brian in his car seat and she drove me to school. "Okay. Just text me if something happens to him or if you need help—are you sure that you can watch him?"

"Bitch, get away from my car. Go to school. I got it." She pointed at the door. "Have a good day, honey," she mocked in a high-pitch voice.

"Alright." I laughed, getting out of the car. I walked away and turned to look at her one last time. She winked at me before driving away.

The day passed by slowly until I finally made it to soccer practice. "Today you're running two miles. The first three back get to choose everybody else's punishment."

"Bet that up," my friend, Kempley, said, smiling. She was tall with brown eyes and blonde hair. Everybody thought she was mean, but she wasn't. Most people on the soccer team call her by her last name, O'Conner.

"Anddd... go!" Coach Jones clicked a button on his phone to start the stopwatch.

-

I got a shooting pain in my chest and my throat burned as I forced myself to keep running. I was born with a hole in my heart and I had to lie to my cardiologist to even be allowed to play soccer.