This Means War // Billy Hargrove x Reader

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍

Fresh tears were still coating the apples of your cheekbones as you sat in the bathroom stall, wiping them free as they appear in hopes they would soon stop. Your hair felt heavy and your scalp was being stretched by knotted hairs that pulled upon the roots, stuck tightly into the balls of gum that decorated your locks.

You just wanted to go home and curl up and cease to exist anymore, swallowed whole by some unknown darkness. 

But that wasn't possible, you knew that. You'd have to leave sometime, you just wanted to make sure the halls were dead once you did so in hopes nobody would see the state you were in.

 "Hello?" A soft, feminine voice calls into the otherwise empty bathroom - except yourself, of course. You purse your lips and steady your breathing, bringing your knees up to tuck under your arms in case whoever it was tried to check the stalls.

"I, umm... I heard you crying. Are you okay?" The hesitant voice mumbles once more, feet tapping against tile as you hear them come closer. You voice wavers when you try to speak, thick saliva in your throat from your tears. "I'm fine," You simply say, a small sniffle sounding as you wiped your nose with a ball of tissue.

"That you, (Y/N)? We met at the Halloween party, remember? I'm Brenda." You could tell she was just trying to be nice, but the memory of that night was still fuzzy. Still, you prop open the door, deciding she wasn't an enemy and actually sounded kind of sweet so was a potential option for helping you get out of there.

She was pretty; that was the first thing you noted despite everything. A wealth of copper curls surrounding a pale complexion with a smattering of freckles. Her face seemed both familiar and also not, and you wished you could remember your time with her. She seemed nice.

A gasp sounds between you, stemming from her lips which were propped open in shock and coated in bubblegum pink gloss that glistened beneath the bright lights. "Oh, girl. What the hell happened to you? Who did that?" She kept asking questions, fingers reaching out to move around a few pieces of the hardening gum and assess the situation. 

You just groan and drop your head into your knees, sniffling quietly to hide your tears. You just felt bleak and humiliated, a real mess.

"We need to get you home, hmm?" She asks, palm smoothing over your shoulder in comfort. You nod, lower lip trembling when you look up at her. "But, my hair..." Your voice was barely a crackle but she seemed to understand well enough that you didn't want people to laugh at you.

The jokes and pranks had been light fun at first, nothing serious, but this was way out of line and you were broken by it. The war was over in your mind - the prank war that was. It was obviously time for real war and you were ready for it.

Well, you would be soon enough. Once you got the mop of gum and curls on your head sorted out. 

Brenda nods and taps a slender finger against her chin in thought, her other hand propped against her hip. "Come out the back exit in five minutes. The halls are clear now so nobody will see you and I'll bring my car around to give you a ride home. Will that work?" She asks, brows raised expectantly to catch your approval which you offer through a simple nod. 

You didn't know if it would work and dreaded anybody seeing you, but it was the only - and best - plan you had. 

So you patiently wait after she goes, slipping off your jacket and putting it over your head when it was time to go. It was probably more obvious than the gum, but you didn't care. Anything to cover the monstrous birds nest on your head right now. 

Luckily the halls had been exactly as she'd said - clear. So you walk through the halls to the fire exit and push open the bar to get out. The parking lot still had a lot of students lingering around but none of them saw you as you piled into the passenger seat of Brenda's ragged old motor.