So, here's a fic inspired the the fic called All The Girls Love Alice. Which you all should read because it's an amazing twist to the "girl comes to town" thing . And major props to Aero and La belle nuit who got to hear the ramblings of the story while it was in my head.
Disclaimer: I only own Billie and her family.
I straightened my bedspread one last time before Mother could yell at me again. We were getting ready for our new neighbors to come over for dinner, and Mother was very stressed about it.
I don't understand why; they're just a bunch of dumb boys. But mother insisted that it's the polite thing to do. Inviting our new neighbors over, that is. I have to keep reminding her that we're the new neighbors, not them. They're just some boys that live across the street.
We moved here from Chicago about a week ago, because of my mother's new job as a nurse, and because Mom wanted to get away from it all. All being my dad, mostly. She and him divorced a few years ago, and I'd like to say it wasn't my fault, but I know it is.
My brother pounded that into my head right after Dad left, and for the longest time I heard my mother say: "Why can't you be normal like Peter, William?"
You can already guess I'm not normal, and that my name's William. Well, that's what my mom calls me. And my dad, and Peter. I'd perfer to be called Billie, or Billie Rebecca. But the only person who calls me that is my best friend Julie, and she's back in Chicago.
Julie's the only person I feel that actually understood me, and she's the one who started to call me Billie. But then of course, as soon as we became best friends my mom says she hates the city and wants to leave.
So she writes a letter to Peter, sells our tiny apartment, packs up our things, and in a matter of hours we're in the car on a fourteen hour drive to Tulsa, Oklohoma. She kept going on about how I can start over and be "normal" and then starts talking about how she misses Peter.
I then have to tell her how I'm not going to change just because I'm in a new place, and that Peter's going to be fine and be home safe and sound in a few months. She just nods her head and then goes on more about how she can't wait to see him, and everything he's missed.
Mom adores Peter. Then again, everyone does. He's the steryotypical "golden child," and I'm, well, not. He made the good grades, captain of the football team, dated head cheerleader, loved by everybody. He had good enough grades to go to to any college he wanted to go to, but he did the most idiotic thing one could think of.
He skipped out on college so he could join the army and volunteer to go to Vietnam. Mom wasn't happy about it, but she said "he is an adult and can make his own decisions." He was one of those rare people you'd meet that would willingly volunteer to be in a war that wasn't our fight.
He said that his country needed him, and that we should give Vietnam the freedom that we had. Mom dabbed her eyes with a hankerchief as he left, and I just called him the biggest moron in the universe.
His girlfriend sobbed her heart out and said" Dead or alive, I'm marrying you." I tried to get the image of her marrying my brother's corpse out of my head, but it wasn't working, and her babbling wasn't helping.
She kept going on about how her little sister was in love with me, and I had to keep telling her I wasn't interested in her little sister. That broad is eight, and I'm fifteen. Then Mom had to open her big mouth and say"William, you're not interested in any girls yet." Then she turned her focus back towards the road and said, "He's a late bloomer." Like it was the most casual thing in the world.
When we got home that afternoon, Mother sat me down telling me how rude I was to Bethany and then told me the news that she wanted to move. She kept using the words "start over" and saying I could be the boy everyone envied, just like Peter.
I told her no, and that I wasn't ever going to be like Peter, and that I was never going to get into girls and that I liked boys. She was heart broken at the news, and said that she'll try to understand the situation, and that it wasn't going to be easy. I was always going to be her "Willykins."
That was a month ago.
Now, I'm sitting on my bed deciding what to wear when the stupid neighbors come. I'm opting for the light pink skirt and matching sweater I bought at Sears for my "sister", but before I could even try the clothes on, in comes Mom with a decision for me.
"William, I want you to at least dress like a boy tonight, alright? I laid out one of Peter's old suits for you."
I didn't pay attention to her. I was trying this thing where I didn't pay attention to my old name, so I could get used to my new name.
"William? William, William, answer me."
Mother was starting to get angry. "William Randolph Clark, answer me this instant!"
I sighed. I couldn't get out of not answering my full name. "Billie."
"What?"
"Billie. Mom, my name is Billie, remember? Billie Rebecca Clark."
Mom sighed. "Oh right, that." She looked back and forth between the suit and me and let out another sigh. "You don't have to wear the suit then, dear, but please at least wear some pants. We don't want to be scaring the new neighbors away before we even get to know them."
"I don't even want to get to know them," I muttered.
"What was that, dear?"
"Nothing," I replied smiling. "I just said I was going to wear my blue jeans and Petey's old shirt."
Mom grinned, kissing the top of my head. "That's my boy," she said to me with out thinking. I shot her a look. "I'm sorry," she apoligized. "It's going to take some time knowing you aren't going to be my little Willykins anymore."
"Mom." I blushed. "I'm still the same person I always was, I just don't have to hide the other side anymore. But I'm still me!"
She kept on smiling. "I know. I just don't want this to cause any problems. Now run upstairs and get changed, our neightbors are coming over in half an hour."
She kissed my cheek as I ran upstairs to throw on a pair of jeans and Peter's old shirt. I came back down in a few minutes, as she just smiled handing me a comb. "Comb out the tangles, dear. You're lucky."
"Why's that?" I asked, combing through some of my bedhead locks.
"Most of the boys here in Tulsa have long hair. I saw some on the street on my way back from the grocery store, and most of them have some long hair compared to the boys I'm used to seeing. You're pretty lucky they wear their hair that long, and that I'm not going to make you cut it before you start school next week."
I ran my fingers through some of the strands of hair. "But I'm not a boy, Mom. I'm a girl."
She didn't know how to answer. "Well, um, I just didn't want to go through the same drama that happened at your old school."
I shook my head. "That won't happen, Ma. I'll make sure it won't."
She shook her head, not believing me. "We'll talk about this later, honey. The new neighbors are here!"
She opened the door to show me one of the most beautiful men I'd ever laid my eyes on. I think just maybe I'm going to like Tulsa.
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