She was actually much prettier up close, Billie deduced in her head, but it felt a bit bitter considering the brunette held a rude tone of voice. But Billie could tell she was concerned.
"What was what about?" Billie responded politely. It was a little funny to her how the brunette's impatience got the best of her for a moment and she huffed through her nose, locking her jaw.
She pointed generally in the direction of where Damon and Bonnie were talking.
"That. What the hell is that about?"
Billie nodded in understanding and turned her head to see them, tilting it sideways in contemplation.
"Well, I would tell you to go ask them yourself, but it seems your totting on the edge of a fit..." The brunette sent daggers at her and Billie smiled playfully, "Kidding, kidding. Damon came over and said there was a problem. He also thinks he's a hundred and eighty six years old, I think you should get that checked." Billie creased her brows in slight concern of the man, before she cleared her face to look at the brunette, but she'd already stomped back towards the school.
Her boyfriend hung his head a bit and tried for a charming smile, but Billie could tell he had a lot on his mind. "I'm sorry about Elena, she's just been really tightly wound these last few days." He genuinely looked apologetic and Billie couldn't help but smile kindly at him, nodding her head.
"Yeah, you don't say..." She chuckled lightly and looked back up at him, seeing he was looking right at her, no, almost through her. Billie started to squirm a bit under his gaze and quickly put on a smile. "It's fine, don't worry about it." Billie gestured with her head to the school's entrance. "You should probably go check up on her."
He nodded distractedly at her and started to move away, turning back on a second thought. "I'm Stefan, by the way. And Bonnie's a good friend. You can trust her with a lot." He said the words meaningfully, like she should understand what he meant, but when he turned back around to follow his girlfriend, Billie was more confused then ever.
She got up, deciding to head to the bleachers for the rest of lunch eating her snack and revising over the work dumped over her throughout the day. Despite how she'd felt at the beginning of the day, it seemed AP History was about as easy as her homework was gonna get.
»»»
Walking home let Billie finally think about the day. She felt accomplished with what she'd done. But Bonnie's friends had confused Billie. Damon's weird words and Stefan speaking like he was seventy years old, no less the cryptic message he'd sent her. And that was all over a total of five minutes. She couldn't imagine how Bonnie must feel, being friends with them for years, presumably.
Aunt Georgie still wasn't home by the time Billie unlocked the door with her spare keys. She only shrugged and continued to the kitchen, guessing that food would be her responsibility. She'd never cooked much at home.
When Billie was younger and the business hadn't become such an overwhelming part of the Harper's lives, Cara used to cook for the family, sometimes Noah. Some days they'd cook together, laughing and accidentally spraying red sauce at each other. All while young Billie would sit at the island, head cupped in her hands, admiring her parents' love, wishing it for herself one day.
Nowadays it was take out and junk food, Cara would hire chefs sometimes when people came to visit, business partners, potential clients. But Billie never got to eat at home when that happened, she'd be told to go to the library or a friend's house. Anywhere but home.
A drop landed suddenly on the marble countertop Billie rested on and she realised she'd been crying. She laughed sadly at herself. She still cared about them and she missed them, even after they'd kicked her out to save their reputation.
Billie wiped away the traces of her sadness and took a deep breath in and out. She was in a new home and she would make new memories.
Harper opened the fridge and was sorely disappointed. A carton of milk and gone off cheese. That was all that greeted her in the fridge. Billie knew the cheese was gone off because the smell had her tempted to run to the bin. She held her nose and picked up the cheese by the very tips.
All the whole she was transporting the hazardous food to the waste Billie's mind couldn't help but flash back to the books she read as a child, detailing the horrors of the 'cheese touch'. Her shoulders shook in amusement at her thoughts.
She totally had the cheese touch now.
She didn't let herself breathe through her nose again until the lid of the bin was safely secured and all mention of moldy cheese had dispersed from the abode.
Unfortunately, Billie didn't have enough money to go grocery shopping for her aunt, reminding her that she should probably get a job and help out for as long as she lived with Georgie.
Billie looked up the number of the nearest pizza place and half an hour later, a cheesy delight sat in front of her. Billie ate three slices, and set aside the rest for her aunt. But she figured it would be a while until she came back and Billie was in a particularly good mood.
Mystic Memorial was small in hospital terms, but it suited the town's population perfectly. The inside was clean and aired out with light shining in through multiple windows. Billie guessed it was an attempt to get rid of the general unease of patients.
Billie approached the front desk, asking for Georgie Delaney and a few minutes later her aunt appeared around the corner wearing light blue scrubs, the bags around her eyes even more prominent than last she saw her. Her curly bright blonde hair was put up with a claw and she walked dragging her comfy looking nurse shoes on the floor.
On seeing her niece, Georgie straightened up a bit, offering her a tired smile that made Billie want to lock her into a room with a bed and shut the lights. But the smile widened and her shuffle became an excited walk once she saw the pizza box clutched in Billie's hands.
"Is that for me?!" Billie laughed happily and nodded, brightening her aunt's smile. The receptionist couldn't help but grin at the scene.
"You take care of her, Georgie, she's a nice one." Her accent sounded faintly from Chicago and Billie blushed slightly at the compliment.
Aunt Georgie rolled her eyes, smiling humorously. "At this point Viv, she's taking more care of me than I am her." Billie handed her the warm box.
"It's nothing, I figured you'd be hungry." Georgie looked like her heart was melting and she gave her niece a bone rushing hug.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you." Billie laughed, amused at her aunt's excitement and turned waving at her while she left the hospital.
Georgie giggled happily and shared a slice with Viv, wondering why on earth her sister had kicked out such a sweet kid.
»»»
That night when Billie got home, she followed through with her internal promise and started revising over the work that had been completed without her. But she'd only made a dent by the time her eyes drooped and she fell asleep.
The next day wasn't any better either, so when Bonnie texted her to meet at the grill, Billie was ecstatic to ditch the extra work for a night.
The grill was much less a place for lonely drinkers at night. It was full of chilled ambiance and Billie quickly realised that it was the typical place to hang out in the small town. She spotted Bonnie sitting at a booth and approached, smiling awkwardly when she was spotted.
Billie slid into her seat, suddenly realising there was someone else in the booth that had been hidden from her sight when she came in.
"Hey there, sunshine." Billie could discern Damon's sarcastic drawl straight away, but she looked at Bonnie in question, fingering her loose blue top anxiously.
The girl only shrugged apologetically, a guilty look in her brown eyes. "I'm sorry, I told him." Billie frowned in utmost confusion. She shook her head incomprehensive to the conversation.
"Bonnie, what are you talking abo-" She never got to finish voicing her befuddlement when Damon interrupted impatiently.
"Cut the crap witchy, we know." Damon spoke from right beside her, his arm was draped casually behind her, but Billie felt for some odd reason, it was more threatening than friendly.
"I'm sorry, I am so confused right now, Am I pregnant or something?" Damon only rolled his eyes.
"Fine, no more beating around the bush if that's how you want it, I'm a vampire, Blue. We know you're a witch and we've got an issue for you to deal with."
Billie sat in silence, her jaw dropped from shock. She had half a mind to run away from all the crazy talk. She giggled, thinking it was funny.
Billie pressed her lips together, keeping the laugh from belting out and composed herself. "This is just about one of the stupidest jokes anyone's ever played on me and that's saying something, I mean this one time in sophmore year, this guy ate blue food colouring mixed with laxatives and shit himself on my desk as a prank." Billie laughed at the memory and heard Bonnie giggling in front of her. Even Damon seemed to fight a smile.
Bonnie calmed down fast once Damon shot her a look and she took the wheel. "As funny as that is, this isn't a prank Billie. Its serious. I knew when you touched my hand at the bench. We can help each other." Bonnie reached forward to hold her friend's hand, just like she had done the other day, but Billie was officially freaked out and pulled away, her heart panging at the hurt look on Bonnie's face.
Billie stood up with a nervous smile, shouldering her bag and fidgeting with her top even more. "Look guys, I'm not really into this whole cosplay thing you've got goin' on, I'm sorry. I-I've gotta go."
Even while she'd been deciding to stay or go, the familiar brightness had been covering Damon and Bonnie, her instincts screamed at her to hear them out, the door to the grill looking darker than when she'd entered. But they were scaring her and with the knowledge of every other time she'd ignored the bright light and followed the dark path, Billie promptly turned and walked right out of the grill, not looking back.
The one friend she'd managed to make turned out to be a total nutjob. Billie walked determined to get back home and relax, the path in front of her was already dark from the disappeared sun, but now it felt like Billie was walking towards a black hole. She stumbled slightly, determined to ignore her curse again. Even if it was always right, Billie was sure it couldn't be this time. There was no such thing as vampires.
But while Billie stumbled in her exaggerated darkness, suddenly Damon appeared right in front of her. Billie gasped, both at the shock of his sudden appearance as well as the blinding light covering him. Billie couldn't help but shield her eyes from him. It felt as though she was staring right into the sun and she was starting to stumble a little, getting disorientated.
She turned around, trying to escape the light, but Bonnie stood behind her, encased in the same illumination. She started to walk towards her, the light getting more piercing with every step she took. Billie raised her arm to block out the sight, but it did nothing. "Billie are you okay?" She could barely hear her voice, her senses felt like a hot poker had been slammed into them.
Billie wavered on her feet, looking between the two blinding stars on either side of her. Black dots attacked the edges of her vision and Billie collapsed.