Billie and Brandon: Unpredictable Circumstances

15

"Welcome back from break everyone. I hope you had a good winter holiday." Mr. Green announced, setting his briefcase on the desk in the front. "I have your winter exams..."

Billie sat stiffly in her seat, twiddling her thumbs nervously and checking the door every few seconds for Brandon to come in the class. She'd been rounding corners carefully all day, watching out for the boy and making sure she couldn't get caught off guard. This was the only class she had with him, but she couldn't skip today because she needed to her her exam back.

But class had already started and the seat next to her still wasn't occupied.

It wasn't like Brandon to be absent though. Maybe he'd caught a late flight. Sometimes he came back from New York late and missed a bit of school and would show up later in the day. But Bio was the last class of the day in the class period rotation schedule that day and he hadn't yet made an appearance.

Mr. Green dropped an exam in front of Billie, and she was jolted out of her reverie.

"Miss O'Connell. Incredible work." He drawled in his standard monotone.

Class went by without any disruptions, and Billie tried to focus on what was happening, but her head just wasn't in it. She had to go to work today (she'd ended up accepting Selena's offer and had started over break), and despite the fact that she had checked off 'get a job' on her Jellybean preparation list, she knew that she wasn't anywhere near done yet. There was still the issue of figuring out what to do when she was born.

Which she had to discuss with Brandon.

Which meant she would have to talk to him face to face.

Which meant he was going to kiss her.

Which she was trying to avoid by hiding from him.

Which was a problem because she had to discuss tiredly. This kind of stress could not be good for her.

She turned around in her seat.

"Any of you seen Brandon today?"

"He wasn't in Calc" Drew said robotically, eyes staring straight ahead.

"He wasn't in PE." Prince said, looking down at his exam, though he shifted nervously in his seat.

"Okay..." Billie's eyes narrowed and she turned back to the front, knowing her friends were both acting undeniably weird. A simple no would have sufficed.

If Brandon really wasn't in school then she supposed that meant that she could let her guard down.

She was kind of disappointed. Sure, she wanted to hide from him, but she also wanted to see him, especially since he'd been gone all break. He'd called her a couple more times and they hadn't really talked about anything in particular, but it had made her wish he was there in person. Especially when his voice took on that low, even tone that always made goosebumps rise on her neck.

She squirmed uncomfortably in her seat, feeling a sudden flash of heat run through her body and pool between her legs when she thought of Brandon. It'd been happening more frequently recently, and it annoyed her because she wasn't really sure what to do to get rid of it.

Well, she knew. It just wasn't ever enough.

Billie sighed and spent the rest of class trying not to think about her crazy body and how it wouldn't listen to her anymore. At least the morning sickness had, for the most part, subsided, and she was feeling much more energetic after that taxing first trimester of fatigue, vomit, and terrible bloating. But her needing to run to the bathroom to pee frequently hadn't changed and it was starting to bug her.