❝SHE'S STANDING ON A LINE BETWEEN GIVING UP AND SEEING HOW MUCH MORE SHE CAN TAKE.❞
in which Belinda Shepard and Ponyboy Curtis discover that home isn't just a place.
→ oc x ponyboy curtis
→ copyright @windrixvilles | 2018⏤2021
"What was I gonna do? Let them mess with you?" the boy replies, voice low. He hisses as the girl patches up his scratch with a bandage.
"Sorry," she apologises, wincing. Billie watches discreetly as the girl tends to the boy's wounds with familiarity, like she has done this numerous times before. Billie's heart aches and she feels like she's watching herself in a mirror, tending to her brother's wounds after a nasty rumble.
"You can't keep letting them mess you, Laura," the boy continues.
Laura. Billie has finally put a name to her face.
"I know that, Leo," the girl ⏤ Laura snaps as she packs away the bandages. "And you can't keep gettin' into fights."
"I know that," the boy ⏤ Leo ⏤ mimics, causing Laura to punch him in the upper arm.
Laura and Leo look at Billie, who looks down at her book, cheeks heating up at being caught staring. They keep looking at Billie for what feels like hours, with Laura's eyes slightly narrowed in an inquisitive stare.
"You're Billie Shepard, aren't you?" Laura asks, eyes softening as she puts a name to Billie's face.
Billie nods her head, "yeah, I am."
"How's she doing after... you know, helping me?" Laura asks, trailing off at the end of her sentence.
Leo looks back and forth at Laura and Billie. He frowns, realising he is out of the loop. "You two know each other?"
"Not really," Laura answers for the both of them. Not looking at either Billie or Leo she adds, "one day in the cafeteria, some Socs kept bugging me and Billie's sister helped me."
"Angela Shepard?" Leo asks.
Billie ignores the ugly feeling of hate sprouting inside of her at her siblings' infamous reputation around Tusla. One question led to another and soon enough, Billie was made to feel bad about being different from her siblings, at not being notorious and having people either love or hate her.
"You four all look alike," Laura says, keeping the conversation alive. "It's creepy."
Billie laughs in lieu of a response. Changing the subject tactfully she asks, "are you two related?"
Laura and Leo look at each other before laughing. "No, not related. Our parents used to be friends."
Billie notices the past tense but doesn't comment on it, knowing all too well what it means. She knows it means they are either dead, in jail, or not in their lives. Billie tries to not think about her parents; one buried six feet underground and another cruising around the country with a young woman in her mid-twenties.
"My family's from the Dominican Republic," Laura continues.
"And mine is from Brazil," Leo adds.
Billie nods her head, not having anything to contribute. The conversation ceases, a heavy and uncomfortable silence falling over the three teenagers. Eventually, Laura and Leo start a conversation between themselves in hushed whispers, talking faintly with Billie only catching the odd word and phrase. Billie turns back to her book and takes a bite out of her apple.
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