Arms Length

Chapter 3: What's the Story?

**Jade**

"Bout time, shorty." She says with a dimpled smile, her aquamarine eyes match her smile. Shorty? This bitch...it's a good thing you're cute.

I raise my eyebrow. "Uh come in?" I open the door so she can come in. "Not that this isn't mind blowing, but how the hell do you know where I live?" I ask shutting the door as she plops down on my couch. Wow, uh okay? She holds up my badge, with a smirk. In the light of my apartment her features are absolutely striking; more so than I from what I saw briefly in October last year. I know everyone says that about Billie Fucking Eilish but its true. Her electric green roots against her shiny black hair make her skin glow in an iridescent way. And her skin, ugh is flawless, freckles lightly dust the bridge of her nose and apples of her cheeks, her lips are full and pink, a small freckle dots the left side of her lower lip and her eyes; those clear aquamarine eyes accentuated by long, black lashes. She smells faintly of vanilla and lavender. I'm enamored, but jealous. Also, I need her skincare routine. Immediately. Her body, though covered by sweatpants and matching hoodie that is clearly 4 sizes too big for her is small, in comparison to her personality. I wish I could emit that type of confidence.

"Thanks." I say sitting in the armchair, suddenly feeling uncomfortable in my own apartment.

"You good?" She asks still twirling my badge, over between her thumb and forefinger. Her voice is hypnotic and intoxicating.

"Yeah..."

"The receptionist...... Karen? Carol? Whatever the fuck her name is." She smiles, her dimples on full display. "She looked you up and." She shrugs.

"Ta-da?" I say, trying not to smirk.

"Mmhmm." She says in a breathy hum.

I narrow my eyes a bit, "I appreciate you bringing my badge back..." I suck in a breath...."but you could have just left it with her and saved yourself the drive?"

She stops twirling my badge like the thought never occurred to her. I just shrug.

"I live like 15 minutes from here." She says "Plus I didn't think you'd want to wait until Monday for this. So, save that 'save yourself the drive.' shit." She grins setting my badge on the coffee table.

I hum looking at her. "Billie Eilish...."

"Jade...." She looks at my badge "Holland..."

**Billie**

Damn.

"So... what's the story with that?" I ask nodding at the gnarly scar on her knee, her inner calf is decorated with black kinesiology tape-something I'm all too familiar with. Her hand instinctively covering the scar. Seeing her face to face looking vulnerable is different than seeing her all worked up in the parking lot yesterday afternoon. Her electric blue hair is now hanging in soft waves around her slightly sun-burned face, her eyes are almost a denim color with flecks of green and gold, her nose is so cute and decorated with a small silver hoop, her lips are full and the shade of rosy pink. Her skin, while tan in comparison to my pasty-ass, looks soft, I can almost feel heat radiating off her, the faint scent of coconut and citrus overwhelms my senses; I've now spotted 4 more tattoos. Height wise we're eye-to-eye, but she's got curves that make me jealous, she's like Tinker-Bell come to life, now I know why Peter Pan hung out with her all the time. I also bet we wear the same bra size. I try to stifle a smile. Yeah, this girl is hot.

"With what?" She says biting the side of her lip and raising her eyebrow.

"The scar? On your knee... You fall off a horse or some..?" I wink at her. So, maybe its cliché to assume everyone from Texas owns a horse or has an accent, but I had to give her a hard time.

"Oh, I'm about to make you feel like an asshole." She narrows her eyes at me. How are her eyes that color? "Also, I've only been on a horse once." She grins.

I shake my head and wave her on to continue "Go on."

"I was in a car accident" She furrows her eyebrows. "On the way home, from a graduation party." She says matter of factly. She's right, I feel like an asshole.

"I'm.... damn.... what happened?" I stumble over my words.

"The driver of the vehicle that hit us wasn't paying attention, she came into our lane." She uses hand gestures as she's describing what happened. "Our car flipped into an embankment; resulting in this lovely scar", she motions like Vanna White at the 6-inch scar in the middle on her right knee, "a scar on my hip and broken ribs, I think." She flips her hair furrowing her brows again "My boyfriend at the time broke his arm in 2 places and shattered his ankle." Jesus Fuck.

"I'm sorry." Is all I can say?

She shrugs, "Thanks...." She chews on her bottom lip. "You've been here for a bit; do you want something to drink? Water? Soda?"

"Coke?" I ask as we both stand.

"Sure." She says walking into her kitchen. I follow her like a puppy. "So.... what part of Texas are you from?" I ask taking the can of coke from her as she sits up on the counter.

"Corpus Christi..."

"Uh where?"

"Right, homeschooled." She chuckles as I glare at her. "Sorry, it's a coastal city.... like 4 hours maybe? South-ish of Austin."

"Never been." I say inhaling a burp. "I mean I've been to Texas, but just like the 3 major cities."

"Figured as much. Most people only know the "big" cities." She makes air quotes. "This is my first time living out of Texas." She says crossing her feet at her ankles.

"Do you miss it?"

She purses her lips a bit, "No and yes? My sister is still there, most of my friends are there. But it doesn't feel like home anymore, does that make sense?"

"I've only lived in L.A, so..." I drag out the "O".

"But you travel a lot." She grins. "Can't relate." God, she's adorable.

I feel my phone vibrate and pull it out of my pocket. "Fuck, I should go. My mom is wondering when I'll be home."

"Oh, ok. I'll walk you out." She hops off the counter, I can hear her knee pop and look at her wide-eyed. "Yeah, that was my knee, sorry." She says as her face turns even more red.

"You're fine mama." I wink as she walks me to the door.

"Thanks for bringing my badge back. Drive safe." She says opening the door. I should get her number. No. She's straight, you're straight, right? I don't even know these days.

"See ya later."

"Goodnight." She says shutting the door as I walk out of the building.