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HE SAID SHE SAID WEREWOLF

BILLIE'S BEDROOM WAS FILLED WITH BUBBLY LAUGHTER, ENGLISH WORK WELL FORGOTTEN.

The Burbank girl had fulfilled her promise to her friend, inviting Jess over on Friday afternoon so they could start studying for their midterm. Only, about an hour into said studying, the girls decided that a true and proper girl's day was needed.

Billie broke out the magazines, Jess brought the bright coloured nail polish and remover incase they couldn't decide, and Katherine Burbank in all of her cool mom glory kept bringing them snacks along with the occasional face mask.

Jess was catching her up on the supposed double date she was meant to embark on that night, not delving into who exactly would be present at this date she planned on ditching. The only thing she said was that it was meant to be at the movies, but she couldn't stomach it. Billie thought that was fair enough; there wasn't anything decent playing at the small theatre in town anyways.

The girls were sprawled out across the floor, Billie putting the final touches of pink nail polish on Jess' nails, when the Stanley girl changed their topic to one of pure gossip.

"You and Bella have been hanging with those Rez kids a lot lately, huh," Jess asked, though she evidently knew the answer and was only trying to pry.

The blonde girl gave her a smile. "Yeah! The people out there are great," she responded, pointedly thinking of the boys that Jacob was friends with and Jacob's father who technically shared her namesake. "Jake has a massive crush on Bella, and it's so obvious... he's a cutie."

Jess hummed in a way that made it clear to Billie that she wanted to add something. When she halted her movements with the nail brush in hand, Jess let out a sigh. "Billie, you're my best friend, you know that," she started, pulling her hand closer to herself.

"Duh, you and Mikey are my best buds too," she said in earnest. "Is this about me spending too much time with Bella? I know I've been AWOL lately but I swear I—"

"It's not that," Jess quickly interrupted, "well, it is about Bella, just not that."

Billie nodded for her to continue, screwing the cap back onto the nail polish. "Yeah?"

"I'm just scared that she might not be," she trailed off, knocking a finger against her head, "okay, up there yet."

The Burbank girl's eyebrows furrowed. "She's getting better Jess," she responded, her palms getting clammy at merely talking about her good friend behind her back, even if it was only in defence.

Jess' eyes narrowed. "Did she tell you about the completely idiotic stunt she pulled when she and I went to the movies a couple weeks ago?"

Right, the movie night that Billie had skipped in favour of her homework. She shook her head, curiosity getting the better of her, "no... what happened?"

The brunette scoffed out a laugh. "Of course she didn't," she mumbled, but Billie's ears could still pick up on it. "She hoped on this rando, older dude's motorcycle and went for a joyride— leaving me on the sidewalk, alone. At night, might I add."

Billie almost had another statement of defence on the tip of her tongue, but it disappeared. Bella had adopted a love of motorbikes around the same time as this supposed incident occurred, but really? "I asked her how it went, and she said you guys had fun," she responded, eyes focusing on the yellow nail polish on her fingertips. "She would've told me."

"Would she?" Jess challenged easily. She shrugged at Billie's silence. "Maybe she doesn't think you're that close of a friend to her, and maybe that's why she didn't say anything."

And while the Stanley girl began droning on about changing the colour of polish on her pinky finger to a sparkly silver, Billie convincingly wiped the frown from her face.

She didn't like to believe in rumours, but something told her it was different this time around.

So when the rest of the school week raged on, Billie tried her very best not to let Jess' words affect her friendship with Bella. They still hung out during school, conversed as usual during lunch, but Billie's smiles always seemed forced.

No, she was completely miserable putting up this facade. She knew she had to interrogate the girl; and her plan consisted of waking up at the crack ass of dawn (really, it was ten in the morning) to barge into the Swan residence in search of Bella.

She'd passed Charlie on her way to the staircase, the older man giving her a hug as she greeted him followed by a string of curses when she stole the bagel from his plate, all before racing up the stairs.

When she got to the top, Bella was already exiting out of her room looking dressed for the day, but frazzled, somehow. She looked at her friend in shock when the words tumbled out of her mouth. "I'm sorta too busy right now, Billie."

Almost sounded like she was saying I'm sorta too busy for you right now.

And it made Billie's lip instantly wobble, unable to stop the words from leaving her. "Do you not like me as a friend?"

Bella paused, her head recoiling. "What? Of course I do," she responded in befuddlement, taking a step towards the frowning blonde girl. "Why would you ever think that, Bill?"

Her friend was obviously in a rush to get somewhere, so she shook her head and was ready to leave herself. "It's no biggie, honest," she tried reassuring her friend, already descending the stairs and fishing her keys from her pocket. "We'll chat tomorrow, or—"

"Come to the rez with me," Bella said abruptly, interrupting the impending rambles from her friend before she tacked on a, "please? I want you there with me."

"The rez? Right now?" she blinked owlishly, craning her head to look out the main window of the house. "Bells, it's raining."

Bella met her at the bottom of the steps, nudging the blonde's shoulder with her own. "I'm sure B-squared can handle a little rain," she told her with a playful grin, and that was quite frankly all Billie needed to get her ass into the passenger seat of the truck.

She hoped Jess was wrong.

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"So, you think the reservation boys are werewolves?" Billie parroted back with a giggle, watching as the trees flew by them on their way to Jacob's house. "Did you also have a dream where Ange is a mermaid, too?"

"I'll prove it to you," Bella said, not letting her friend's teasing remarks dampen her motivation to find the truth. "As soon as we talk to him, you'll see."

The girls were on their way to question Jacob, the boy that Bella hadn't seen since she'd gone to the movies with him, about the dream she had of a wolf standing over her body the night Edward left her in the woods.

Soon, the truck was lurching to a stop in from of the Black household, and Bella was instantly jumping out of the driver's seat. Billie scrambled to follow, slamming the door behind her when she noticed her friend was already pushing her way into the house.

With a breath, she stopped herself at the door in front of the boy's father. She nodded with a tentative smile. "How's it going, Billy?" she asked the man, hands clasping together behind her back. "Sorry for— uh, barging in, we know Jake's sick."

"Nothing to worry about, kid," he said, albeit rather tensely. It was then that Bella shot out of the home, nearly crashing into the blonde on her way towards the side of the home. The wheelchair-bound man tried calling after her, and when she kept moving with conviction, he gave Billie a pleading look. "Don't let her do anything stupid."

"Scours honour, sir!" she said, mock saluting the man before dashing off in the direction her friend wandered off in.

Rounding the corner of the house, she found said friend standing before four muscled, extremely shirtless boys. In fact, she was getting in one of their faces, yelling about something she couldn't decipher until she skerted to a stop in the middle of both parties.

Her hands were outstretched before the boys, in defence. "Woah, gentlemen! Sorry for my friend, she's got uh— amnesia, so she's a little loopy and—"

A small snort sounded from somewhere to her right. Bella obviously didn't get the memo, shoving Billie lightly to the side as she continued her evident rampage. "He tells me nothing because he's scared of you!"

Billie stumbled in the slightly wet mud, but someone's arm reached out to grab her as the boys laughed at Bella's funny. She glanced up at who caught her, locking eyes with a boy she hadn't seen since the cliff jumping spectacle. "Oh, thanks."

When she looked back, just in time to watch her very confrontational friend hit the boy she was yelling at, she missed the way Embry's body froze.

She couldn't even shimmy out of his hold when utter chaos descended upon them, with the tallest boy among them yelling for Bella to get back as the one she yelled at started to visibly shake.

If you told Billie Burbank at the start of the school year that she'd see a normal looking boy transform into a damn wolf, she would've politely laughed and asked you about the weather instead.

But now, seeing it with her own two eyes as it growled menacingly towards Bella, it made the blonde girl glad that Embry still had a tight grip on her to catch her when she passed out.

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[ wyn's note ]

so much happening in one measly chap! AHHH also billie is lowkey me coded because personally, if i saw a normal dude phase into a giant ass wolf, i too would've passed out (but when i'd wake up, i'd probably ask for his number LMAOO)

all love xx