Billie Eilish

The music was blasting just loud enough to feel it in your chest, the bass humming through the car as you tapped your fingers against your knee, completely off-beat on purpose just to annoy Billie. She noticed immediately, of course she did, and shot you a look from the driver’s seat before reaching over with one hand to nudge you.

“Can you not?” she laughed, shaking her head, but she was smiling anyway as she kept one hand on the wheel.

You grinned, not even attempting to stop. “What? I’m adding flavor to the song.”

“That’s not flavor, that’s ruining it,” she shot back, glancing at you for a second before looking back at the road.

You both had been driving around for what felt like forever, no real destination, just taking random turns, joking about everything and nothing. At some point you’d completely forgotten what you originally planned to do, but neither of you cared. The whole day had been like this—effortless, loud, chaotic in the best way.

You leaned back in your seat, turning your head slightly to look at her. She was relaxed but focused, one hand loosely on the wheel, the other occasionally tapping along to the music. Then she caught you staring.

“What?”* she asked, squinting a little.*

“Nothing,” you said quickly, smirking. “Just thinking about how you literally tried to convince me earlier that you could fight a raccoon and win.”

“I could,” she said immediately, sitting up straighter as she turned the wheel slightly. “You don’t know me like that.”

You let out a laugh, shaking your head. “Billie, that raccoon would humble you in two seconds.”

“Wow. Fake friend,” she muttered, crossing one arm for a second before putting her hand back near the wheel, but she was clearly joking.

You both fell into another fit of laughter, the kind that makes your stomach hurt and your eyes water a little. It was the kind of moment where nothing even had to be that funny, but everything felt hilarious anyway.

After a second, you glanced at your phone mounted on the dashboard, checking the GPS.

“Okay, wait,” you said, trying to calm your laughter. “We’re actually getting close to the store now.”

“Finally,” she said dramatically. “I’m literally dying.”

“Yeah, yeah,” you replied. “Don’t be dramatic. You just want your Monster.”

She gasped, glancing over at you for a split second before looking back at the road. “Excuse me? You’re the one who’s been talking about Red Bull for the past twenty minutes.”

“Because it’s better,” you said, like it was obvious.

“It’s literally not,” she argued, turning into the next street. “Monster wins. Every time.”

You shook your head, smiling. “Wrong. Completely wrong. But it’s okay, I forgive you.”

She rolled her eyes, but you could see her smiling again. “You’re so annoying.”

“And yet you chose to spend your entire day with me,” you shot back.

“Yeah… that’s on me,” she said, pretending to sigh, but she nudged your shoulder lightly when the car slowed down.

You both looked ahead as the store came into view, the bright lights cutting through the darker sky.

“Alright,” you said, nodding toward it. “Important mission. We go in, we grab your Monster, my Red Bull, maybe snacks if we get distracted—which we will—and then we’re back on the road.”

She smirked slightly as she pulled into the parking lot. “You say that like we’re not about to spend at least fifteen minutes arguing over which snacks to get.”

“…Okay, that’s fair,” you admitted.

She parked the car smoothly, the music lowering a bit as she adjusted the volume, but neither of you moved to get out right away. The energy was still there, that easy, happy feeling that made everything feel lighter.

“Best random day ever,” you said quietly, more to yourself than anything.

Billie looked over at you and nodded. “Yeah… it really is.”

Then, almost immediately, she broke the soft moment with a grin. “Now hurry up, I need my Monster before I pass out.”

You laughed, shaking your head as you reached for the door handle. “You’re so dramatic. Let’s go.”