HERO ↠ ( BILLY BATSON )

five

AT ONLY 6:30 IN THE MORNING, VICTORIA BARGED INTO LAINEY'S ROOM TO WAKE HER UP. "Lainey, wake up! It's almost 7!" Victoria opened the blinds, causing a beaming ray of sunlight shine into the brunette's bedroom. The teenager groaned as she covered her eyes with her pillow, "Don't make me count to ten," her foster mother said in a half serious and half joking tone.

Finally, Lainey decided to get up and check the time small clock on her bedside table, "It's only 6:30, I always wake up at 7 o'clock!" Lainey exclaimed, looking up at Victoria, who had both hands on her hips.

"Well, I made you a large breakfast. Now get up or you'll be late and have to stuff a piece of toast in your mouth for breakfast."

A final groan escaped Lainey's mouth before she actually got up. She walked over to the kitchen and was greeted with waffles, eggs and bacon, with a glass of almond milk because Lainey thinks regular milk "tastes funny." She stared at her food in awe, just like how she stared at Billy; her mouth agape.

"Are you just going to stare at it until it turns cold? Come on, eat up!" Victoria chuckled. Lainey sat down and began eating her delicious breakfast. The brunette liked it when Victoria was off of work or took days off, at least she could eat a good breakfast in the morning and get driven to school and back. Walking to school in the snow is awful and school buses are even worse.

After eating her delicious breakfast, it was time for her to get ready for school. She brushed her teeth and changed into a hoodie and some regular pants. As she brushed her hair to get rid of all the tangles, the brunette went through all of the notifications on her phone. Such as text messages and missed phone calls.

(1 text message from Obnoxious Freeman)

Lainey chuckled at the name she gave Freddy in her contacts, the best part was that Freddy didn't know about it. She proceeded to read the text message;

Obnoxious Freeman: Hey, Lainey. Thanks for helping us out and sorry for dragging into this mess and breaking into your house, especially when you were taking a shower. See you at school!

The brunette replied with a simple "no problem" and continued looking through her notifications, she paused when she was a missed phone call and a voice message.

(1) Missed call from Unknown Caller.
(1) Voice message from Unknown Caller.

Lainey decided to listen to the voice message, like what some people would do to find out who was calling them.

"Hey, Lainey. It's me, Billy. Freddy gave me your number and I just wanted to thank you for helping us out again. I never really thought someone like you would actually help out. Thanks again, bye!"

The teenager frowned. "Someone like you?" What did that mean?

"Lainey! Let's go!" called Victoria.

"Alright!"

★・・・・・・★・・・・・・★

The car ride to school was mainly silent. Lainey couldn't stop asking herself questions, not only did she ask herself what Billy meant by "someone like you", but she also asked herself if she was overthinking about it too much. Victoria didn't say anything either, she just kept her eyes on the road.

"Alright, we're here and right on time," Victoria said, flashing a smile at Lainey.

Lainey grabbed her backpack, "See you after school."

"Bye, Lainey and be careful!"

"Yeah, yeah," she said, leaving the car and walking into the school.

Three periods later, it was time for lunch. Lainey headed over to her locker to put her books back in there. The question still lingered in her mind, she couldn't get over it. That's when she thought maybe if she looked around for Billy and asked him about it then she'll stop worrying. She walked and rubbed past everyone, hoping to find Billy in a less crowded place, and she did.

Before Lainey could even greet him, he turned around, "Hey, did you get my voice message or did Freddy give me the wrong number?" he asked.

"Freddy gave you the right number," Lainey continued, "and about that..."

Billy looked at her in confusion, "Hm?"

"When you said 'someone like you', what did you mean by that?" she asked, relieved that she got it off her chest for a moment.

"I meant someone that hides from everyone and keeps to themselves." There we go, the flashbacks of her childhood. She immediately regretted asking anything, now she couldn't get the flashbacks out of her head.

"I gotta go, bye."

★・・・・・・★・・・・・・★

"You're awfully quiet, Lainey," Victoria said, driving back to the house, "did something happen today?" Lainey remained silent. She looked down at her feet and shook her head.

"Do you think my mom even wanted me?" Lainey asked. Victoria was obviously shocked by the question but didn't really show it.

"Of course she wanted you! Why would you ask that?"

"Then why did she leave me?! You always said that she loved me but then why would she let them take me away?!" Lainey exclaimed in tears, everything was coming back to her, flashbacks and painful memories shooting at her brain like a gun.

Victoria was confused, "She let who take you away?" she asked her.

"There were two guys who took me away to the adoption centre. They asked my mom if she was sure she wanted to put me there and she said yes..." the teenager explained, wiping her tears on her sleeve.

"Honey, how do you remember all of that?" Lainey went silent.

"I don't know..."

"Sweetheart, I'm so sorry you had to go through that."

Sorry.