One in A Bil~ion // B.E. agere

1

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~+~ Author's Note ~+~
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Hi... actually planning to finish this one. Hope you guys like it!! Comments and votes are enjoyed and appreciated! <3

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~+~Third person POV~+~
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School

Six
Cruel
Hours
Of
Our
Lives

A simple acronym that Billie and many others used to say as a joke in middle school before she realized the truth enlaced in those six words. It was the moment that high school slammed her in the face (quite literally) that she discovered this truth.

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~+~ Present day ~+~
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"What happened this time sweetie?" The nurse says to the short girl after handing her an ice pack for her newly bruised jaw. This was a regular occurrence for Billie, and there was no way in hell that she would tell the kind nurse about being slammed face-first into a locker.

Instead, she sat there silently, remembering where snitching had led her in the past. She shuddered at the unpleasant memories attempting to flood her brain.

"Silence isn't going to get you anywhere hun, was it those girls that are always picking on you?"

"I'm fine Mrs. T, I just tripped and fell." Billie mumbled quietly in a small voice, blowing a bothersome piece of hair away from her face.

"Sweetie, you know just as well as I do that you did not trip and fall into a locker yourself. Whoever did this to you should face consequences."

Again, she was met with silence. Billie really did appreciate how much care the nurse displayed towards her, but figured it was useless. They will never stop.

By "they" Billie meant just about anyone that knew of her. She was different, and in small town high schools, Billie quickly learned that different was bad. She was an easy target for rude comments because she didn't fit in and more-so because she simply didn't fight back. In fact, she often gave bullies exactly what they wanted... an emotional response.

Even worse, the bullying multiplied tenfold after a rather unfortunate event occurred. And as one might imagine, rumors and gossip are always very quick to spread in small towns...

but we are getting off track here.

The point is, Billie was quite miserable to say the least. A good day for her was one with only a few ugly side glances or whispered comments. People who didn't wish to bully her, still avoided her, treating her like a plague... an untouchable foreign entity that was to be avoided at all costs. In a sense, she was comparable to the cheese touch, because being associated with Billie only placed a target on a person's own back.

It wasn't like she could just switch schools either. Richmond High School was the only one in the area and her parents couldn't afford to move. In a sense, she was stuck.

The nurse sighed, realizing she would not be getting a direct answer out of Billie any time soon. Her heart ached for the girl any time she saw new bruises littering her once flawless, pale skin. "Are you able to return to class right now?"

"I think so." Billie responded, attempting to ignore her brain's urge to regress.

Mrs. T's office was a safe space for Billie. She was informed of the girl's coping mechanism of age regression and held no judgement towards her whatsoever. Other teachers were usually close-minded and tended to lack the ability to understand certain things that were not average. So, Billie would often go to Mrs. T's office any time she was feeling small.