Billie and Brandon: Unpredictable Circumstances

4

Billie walked down the sidewalk, staring at the photo of Jellybean with a sort of bounce in her step. The sun was shining bright in the sky, cascading in gorgeous rays of sunlight despite it being mid October. She had prenatal vitamins in her bag, a little pamphlet that explained details of what was happening to her body in her pocket, and her stomach felt fine.

This was the first time since she found out that she was pregnant that things finally felt like they were working out for the best. She was in a great mood. Not even that biker that had almost mowed her down could damper her spirits. Maybe she'd grab some ice cream to commemorate this experience. No, she would grab ice cream. Ice cream sounded great.

It was almost like, it was the first day of a brand new her. The beginning of something beautiful in life. And Billie was ready to take it by it's horns! Life could throw whatever crap it wanted at her. She was ready.

"Billie?"

Shit. I take it back! I take it back. Life, please don't be a bitch.

Billie stuffed the picture of the ultrasound deep in her pocket and smiled, trying to feign a bright and cheerful attitude to mask the way her face had fallen. Brandon was leaning languidly against the crosswalk pole, a convenience store bag in his hand.

"Oh, hey...didn't see you there."

"Did you just come from Drew's?"

She frowned in confusion, "No, I'm on my way there right now."

He looked confused as well, "Then where did you come from?"

Shit. Billie had forgotten that she didn't live anywhere near Drew's neighbourhood or the hospital and therefore, it wouldn't make sense to find her walking down the sidewalk in the least.

"That's none of your business." Billie said, unable to think of a quick enough excuse. "Well, I've got to head on to Drew's so..."

"Billie wait" Brandon said, straightening up and walking over to her with a look of exasperation, "Look, I know you've been avoiding me."

She snorted, though she could feel herself starting to sweat, "Don't be ridiculous."

His eyes narrowed in annoyance, "You know as well as I do that you've been avoiding me since we slept together. Do you think I'm stupid?"

She took a sharp breath at his blunt words and stammered, "I-I..."

"You're the one who said to pretend like nothing happened, and I've been trying, but every single time I approach you, you run off. We don't even hang out anymore. So what's happened?"

"Okay. Look. I was just really busy." Billie lied breezily, "I have a bit of time right now. Why don't we catch up and get some ice cream or something?"

Truthfully, they were across the street from a great vegan place, and Billie couldn't lie that she had ulterior motives. She just really want some ice cream. Badly. And she hoped that if she pacified his irritation, he would leave her well enough alone and eventually forget about his questions.

"Uh." Brandon's eyebrows were a little raised, and he looked surprised by her proposal, "Okay?"

"Yeah. And then we can chill in the park nearby. It's not going to stay this warm forever." She said somewhat cheerfully, beginning to cross the street when it was safe. "You're buying, by the way."

Brandon stared at her in confusion, completely floored by how quickly she had gone from sour to almost bubbly. He shook his head and followed her across the street. Was she skipping?

As long as they had been friends, Brandon would always eat vegan around her. Obviously not if there were other options. But he would always make sure that they would go to vegan restaurants in honor of her. She really missed that about him.