𝐫𝐮𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐬

4

addy

i turn around to see one of the cameras knocked off of its shelf, it's pieces scattered on the floor.

"billie-" i say.

she looks actually remorseful for once.

no one seemed to notice but us, the other two pairs of kids were on the other side of the room, facing the wall. didn't turn a head.

billie speed walks up to me, "listen, alec hates that kid marcus over there. if we ditch now, chances are he'll take the blame out of fear of getting me in trouble. cmon."

"billie, we aren't ditching. we should just tell her what happened. like you said, she likes me. it'll be fine."

"do you know how much those cameras cost to replace?" she lowers her voice but speaks in a serious tone.

"hundreds?" i ask.

"try thousands. marcus' parents are rich they can handle it. my parents would kill me, and you just moved to one of the biggest cities in the u.s. neither of us can afford this. now come on before torres sees."

i hesitate, "i fucking hate you eilish i hope you know that."

"you know what, fuck you. i'm leaving, good luck explaining this by yourself."

she leaves the classroom.

i think about what just happened, quickly weighing the pros and cons of each possible situation .

go with billie
pro- no more school today
con- get in trouble for ditching
pro- avoid the fine for breaking the camera

stay
pro- no trouble for ditching
con- billie might really start to hate me
pro- clear my conscience?
con- have to think of excuse
con- billie could get in trouble for ditching
con- i might have to blame it on billie, which would make me feel guilty

well, it's settled.

i sneakily run out of the media lab and i see billie enter the bathroom.

what the fuck was she doing? i thought she was ditching.

i follow her into the bathroom and hear her singing. she doesn't notice me, she keeps singing.

lips meet teeth and tongue
my heart skips eight beats at once
if we were meant to be, we would have been by now
see what you wanna see, but all i see is him right now

she was quietly singing the lyrics a song while splashing her face with water. she kept jerking her head to the side, which i thought was odd but didn't think much of it.

i walk up closer to her and she stops singing, "what the fuck- oh. it's you."

"can i still ditch with you?" i ask, cautiously.

"only if you promise not to tell people about today. like everything i've fucking told you, or you've seen or heard."

i nod.

"say it." she insists.

"i won't tell anyone."