𝙐𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙩𝙡𝙚𝙙 𝙂𝙝𝙤𝙨𝙩𝙛𝙖𝙘𝙚 𝙁𝙖𝙣𝙛𝙞𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣

I Won't Say I Love You

"(Y/N)?" 

My heart leapt into my throat as I froze in terror. 

Why is his voice so unsettling all of a sudden?

"Do you want to work together on this, or do you want to be paired with 'Danny' again?" Billy teased, poking my arm lightly with his pencil. My lips curled down into a slight frown at the gesture. Noticing my expression, he withdrew, nodding his head. I'd been like this ever since the truth came out. Willing to hang out with him and Stu when Randy was present, but cold and distant otherwise. Perfectly nice when people were paying attention, and acting like a total snob as soon as I was in the clear. 

"I'm not losing another friend."

Pretty words at the time, but could you blame me? (Wait, don't answer that.)

I sighed and scrunched up my face in concentration, trying to figure out the worksheet. It must've been a sight to behold, considering that Billy could hardly contain his laughter at my expression. I ignored him and attempted to remain focused. More breathy laughter ensued, and I bit through my lip in an attempt to focus, drawing blood.

"Ah, crap," I muttered, sucking on the cut I gave myself. In my peripheral vision, I saw Billy smirking, watching me like a hawk. 

Groaning in frustration, I raised my hand. "May I use the restroom?" 

On my way out, I caught Billy's eye. He winked at me, and my stomach turned in disgust. 

That boy has no shame.

+++

"(Y/N)! It's your turn to choose the movie," Stu said, pointing to a near-overflowing box of VHS tapes. They were all, undoubtedly, gory and cheesy horror flicks with an extra-large helping of...certain fanservice. 

"Hmm..." I slowly picked through the stack on purpose, irritating the boys. At last, I picked out It and shoved the tape into the player. 

Plopping down on the couch next to Billy, I took the popcorn bowl right out of his hands. 

"Hey!"

I disregarded his cry of protest as I snacked away, my eyes glued to the screen. He silently grumbled to himself as he stood. A moment later, I heard popping coming from the kitchen. I turned up the volume on the TV a little bit, drowning out the sound. In retaliation, he began to sing "Never Gonna Give You Up." Badly. 

"Shut up! We're trying to watch the movie!" I castigated, turning up the volume even more to prove my point. 

"And I'm trying to make some popcorn!" Billy defended. 

"You don't need to be singing," I scoffed, pausing the film and effectively earning dissapointed sighs from Randy and Stu. 

"You don't need to hog the snacks, yet here we are."

"Guys, can we please end this little lovers' quarrel and, oh I don't know, watch the movie?" Stu suggested, picking at a stray thread on his sweater. 

"Stay out of this," Billy and I snapped in unison. 

Turning red, I glared at him. "You want popcorn?" I sneered. "Fine. Here you go." 

I lobbed a handful at him, earning a falsely dramatic gasp from him. He picked up and handful of his own, wincing a little at the heat before tossing it at my face. I yelped in surprise. 

"Oh...this means war." 

Even with Stu and Randy on my side, the casualties were great. Billy's freshly made popcorn burned at first, but the extra butter he was able to add was the real killer. And I doubted that he would be willing to pay my dry-cleaning bill.