𝐆𝐎𝐎𝐃 𝐆𝐈𝐑𝐋𝐒 ➼𝐁𝐈𝐋𝐋𝐈𝐄 𝐄.

09 | green room

"wait so, where's the show?" i asked, stepping into billie's matte gray car.

we ended up ordering food from some cute mexican restaurant nearby. bil ate most of the mini churros, but i stole some of her guacamole so it was fair in the end. for a solid hour we laid on the couch and tried to keep ourselves entertained by bad netflix shows. we were relaxed until she got a call from finneas about a show downtown. of course, billie forgot about it, but pretended like she just got into the car. so there we were, two hours before the show started, just beginning to drive.

"greek theatre, i think." billie mumbled the last part, sending my heart into a shock.

"you think?" i shrieked.

"no, i know! i'm usually better about this shit but i just totally spaced today." she spoke hurriedly, driving the car onto the street and around the corner. i saw from the side of her face that she scrunched her nose and gritted her teeth. it was kind of amusing, but considering the situation, it was even more concerning.

we stopped at a spotlight, making the moment of tension seemingly stop with it.

"look, i shouldn't have been so fucking lazy but—" she stopped herself in a sigh. she let her shoulders relax and slumped back into the chair.

"shut up," i hit her shoulder playfully. "just drive."

with an amused glance, bil watched the light turn green and gassed the car. and just driving is what we did. i turned up the radio. 'heather' by conan gray started to play, the soft guitar sauntering into the front and backseats. it was a heated moment, but now it was only a funny rush. i leaned on the window, gazing at the cute little houses on the sidewalks.

"thank you," i whispered.

billie chuckled. "for what?"

"i dunno.." i drifted off. the quickly-moving trees that i could see from the window. the bridge to 'heather' started to shake the car with its few moments of heavy bass. then the song cut. i smiled to myself. "you."

***

"billie, where the fuck were you?" a tall man in a back shirt and jeans approached the both of us. i practically hid behind her as she walked confidently toward him.

"traffic," she said simply, walking past him.

the man caught up to her and walked with her, leaving me to walk alone. i could tell he was scolding her for something, but they disappeared into a herd of probably executives and makeup artists. i found it strange how makeup artists were here when she never put any on. i guesses that they might help with hair.

suddenly an arm brushed up against mine.

"hey, hey, stranger." claudia's familiar voice soothes my ears. finally, in the midst of my heart beating out of my chest for the past ten hours, something was back to normal.

"hey, hey," i hugged her lightly.

"so you and bil got close, huh,"

"it's not like that."

"oh?" i could practically hear the smug grin on her voice. don't get me wrong, i loved claudia to death, but when i was embarrassed it was like a hot pool of lava bubbles in my throat. "then what's it like?"

i shot her an annoyed glance. "it's like i'm so fucking hungry i wanna vomit." i said, still walking beside her. she let out a small chuckle as she folded her arms light-heartedly.

"there's fruit and healthy crap in the green room." claudia grabbed my forearm and pulled me in the direction of a large silver room-truck looking thing. i knew what green rooms looked like, but i didn't imagine that they were this back-to-the-future garage looking. i snorted quietly at claudia's sentence. she never struck me as someone who had the need to curse, she was so precious and holy.

god, that sounds like the opposite of me.

"plus, haven't you already eaten? it's like, one o'clock." claudia's smiling but confused expression turned towards me.

i pouted jokingly. "yea but i haven't eaten in like thirty minutes and that's not normal for me, claud!" i was clearly being sarcastic and her giggles of amusement only helped my joke more.

"thaaat's not healthy," she mumbled under her breath, still giggling. i laughed too.

some metal steps lead us up to a door. as claudia swung open the door, a wave of clean-room-air and the tangy scent of fruit hit my face. it smelled like one of those fancy hotel lobbies that have restaurants in the way back. i stepped inside behind claudia and followed her to a seat. there were two gray couches on the sides of the green room and tables with chairs in the back. i sat and looked over at the several people. my nerves started to shake me awake and i leaned closer to claudia.

"oh god, dre, don't be so shy." she whispered into my ear. i felt her hand pull mine once again. we got up. "come on, i'll take you to meet maggie."

that name sounded familiar. i wasn't a huge billie stan or whatever, but i did—

oh shit that's her mom.