The Light of Willow Hills - Chapter 1

Just as the school bell rung over his head, Billy shrugged off his backpack from his shoulder and tossed it underneath a desk by the window. He then slid into the seat where he slumped in it, wincing a little and seethed through his teeth as his back pressed against the back of the chair briefly. He cleared his throat and a soft sigh fled from his lips while he momentarily brought his attention to the front of the class just as Mr. Lawrence made his way over to his desk to grab the roll call sheet.

“Come in, come in. Everyone quiet down and take your seats.” Mr. Lawrence announced as the final sprinklings of his students piled into the door at once. “Roll call will begin shortly.” He continued, his voice stern and measured as the stragglers took their seats.

Billy absently watched as the last of his classmates filed into the room, finding an empty seat and settled in. A few of them chatted with one another, catching up and making plans for the weekend. He shook his head a little, rolling his eyes before releasing a tense sigh from his lips. He reached down to pull out his backpack then took out his notebook and a loose pencil, placing it on his desk.

Today had gone like any other day had gone for him. Get up. Go to school then attend his first few classes. Many of the girls would gawk at him and whisper things to one another as he walked by with his greasy black hair slicked back. Their whispers would get louder as his bangs fell from the rest of his hair to frame the sides of his face to his eyebrows like those over exaggerated stereotypical ‘bad boy’ types shown in movies and television shows.

His not-so-eclectic collection of leather jackets ranging from one brown one and the other black also made the girls swoon. His leather jacket paired with either a white t-shirt or black t-shirt tucked into his coarse blue jeans had a similar effect with making the opposite sex look in his direction. Not that he really wanted any of it. The whole ensemble was finished off with a black belt and black shoes.

After school he would go to work a few hours at his part time job at the only car garage in Willow Hills then take his time in getting home. In the middle of his school day, he would have lunch with his buddies, Robbie Dean, Frederick “Freddy” Richardson, and Sam “Russ” Russell jr.

Out of his small friend group, Robbie Dean was the charming one. Freddy was the jokester of their little group, and finally Sam Russell jr., or Russ as he liked to be called, was the resourceful one. Robbie and Russ came from the south side of town while Freddy was from the north. Robbie and Russ had been friends since their childhood. He met the dynamic duo in middle school and then Freddy met the three of them their freshmen year of high school, proceeding to warm up the trio with his jokes and how down to earth he was compared to the others from the north side of town.

Mr. Lawrence droned on once everyone took their seat. He rattled off the first few names, going down the list alphabetically by last name. “Curt Anderson. Matthew Allen. John Armstrong.”

Curt Anderson was the stereotypical jock who dabbled in all of the sports to get the house lines of all the women he could, especially the cheerleading squad. With his head of blonde hair and his blue eyes paired with his muscular physique, he was a chick magnet and he knew how to turn up the charm. His latest courtship was with Linda Hopkins, a cheerleader who was on the heavier side of things who loved the attention of anyone who would give it to her.

Matthew Allen was strictly apart of the baseball team. He used to get around with those of the opposite sex until he started dating Emily Jones, the cheerleading captain who had this thing for baseball players and bad boys. She was really possessive of him and easily jealous. So jealous to the point of harassing other girls just for turning his gaze.

John Armstrong was a football player, the star running back with the express goal of wanting to become the quarterback. The rumor mill was not very kind to him when it came to the locker rooms after games. Something about him sleeping with a teacher, but in all reality it was just a conniving comment that the quarterback made to keep his spot on the team. That rumor didn’t stop Olivia Hearth, yet another cheerleader, from dating him.

Olivia Hearth and Linda Hopkins were friends with the notorious Emily Jones. A trio of cheerleaders who spread their own fair share of rumors around the school. Not to mention all three of them ganging up on other ladies whenever Emily called for backup against one female student. They only got away with any of this because Emily’s father, Ralph Jones, was the principal of this fine secondary education establishment.

Billy picked up his pencil between his index and middle finger with his thumb tapped against the side of it to bounce the eraser off of the cover of his notebook as he waited for his name to be called. His attention moved to where the eraser made contact with the cover of his notebook. His eyes nearly bore a hole into it the thin layer of the cardboard cover barely protected the paper underneath.

The edges of it frayed and curled, showing its age and use. Rings of coffee stains on the cover illustrated a brown Venn diagram shape from the moments he spent studying all night from his textbook from the cup of coffee he found himself making in the garage. Typically it was only after it closed and after the public library was closed as well when he didn’t want to go home just yet.

“Rosalie Cross.” Mr. Lawrence read off and lifted his eyes up from his paper. He paused in his rambling of names and offered the female student whose hand rose up shyly a fond smile.

“Here.” Rosalie replied, her tone soft as she spoke. She kept her hand raised for several moments longer than she needed for attendance.

It wasn’t until the new name paired up with the unfamiliar voice that Billy’s attention peeled away from his notebook to just catch the new girl’s hand lower down to lay against the cover of her notebook. She was in a row ahead of him to his right, at his corner.

Billy’s eyes raked over her. Rosalie’s caramel brown hair came down in light loose waves down past her shoulder blades, parted in the middle and, fanned over the back of her modest pastel blue sweater. Her legs were together underneath her dress and her ankles crossed over one another. The heel of her black flats lifted away from her as she tapped her toes to an imaginary beat.

Her cover was adorned with three crosses on a hilltop. The cross in the middle was in the foreground while the two crosses on either side of it were smaller, but still prominent features in the illustration on the top half of her cover. Surrounding those crosses and the hilltop were Bible verses. The verse he could see clearer than the others from where he was seated was John 3:16.

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

Reading that verse made his dark brow raise a little, curious as to what a girl like her would be doing with Bible verses scrawled over her notebook in black pen against the grey cover.

“Very good, Miss Cross. Class, please give her a warm welcome.” Mr. Lawerence announced, his tone expectant of his class to behave with the arrival of a new student joining them. Much to his dismay it was not the case with the cheerleaders towards the back of the class spoke up in whispers just loud enough for Rosalie to hear.

Linda scoffed with a roll of her eyes. “Isn’t that the new preacher’s kid?”

Olivia’s face scrunched up just looking at Rosalie. “Yeah. I bet she’s all goody.” She remarked, disdain riddled her tone while she shook her head.

It was the queen bee’s time to step in with a comment this time around. “She doesn’t even look like she fits in here, but her dad is so hot.” Emily sighed dreamily, placing her hand on her fluttering heart despite her own boyfriend being seated upfront with Olivia’s and Linda’s significant others for the foreseeable week until the captain decided she was done with Matthew Jones.

Billy rolled his eyes as he heard those whispered comments from behind him and paid them little to no mind in the slightest. The room filled with chuckles, giggles, and more comments than one could shake a stick at revolving around Rosalie Cross.

This was the typical treatment of anyone new at the school. At least anyone who was female who had the misfortune of being in the same class as Emily Jones. The last female student who was harassed by her and her goonettes skipped down and transferred schools. She left crying, bolted up out of her chair, out of school, and town forever.

He kept his attention on Rosalie after being the brunt of the persecution from the top three snottiest and stuck-up girls in all of Willow Hills High. Billy expected her to be crying or tearing up at the very least from all the nasty words berating her, but her cheeks were dry. Her electric blue eyes stayed steady on Mr. Lawerence as the anger bubbled up inside of him from his own growing frustration.

She was calm and collected, unlike anything he had seen. Her posture never changed from the relaxed and humble position she took in her seat. Rosalie didn’t look like she batted an eye about any of it. Even the comments about her father.

“That is enough. Class, we need to get back on track. Not another word.” The sharp firmness accentuated the hot coldness of his fury. It was enough to cut through the chattering between the students with the exception of Billy and Rosalie along with two or three other students. Silence fell over the room with a spattering of throats clearing. “I apologize for the rude comments your fellow classmates have made.”

“It’s quite alright, Mr. Lawerence. I appreciate the apology. Please, continue with roll call.” Her voice was soft, smooth, and even polite. Unlike the rude and crassness lined her fellow female students’ voices. She was the pastor’s daughter after all and held herself with gentle confidence that was not so easily swayed by the words of the people around her.

Mr. Lawerence nodded his head, followed more silence with a terse tenseness as he continued on the roll call. He went down the list until he landed on Billy’s name, where he paused to look up from the sheet. “Billy Lane.” He spoke, his eyes locked onto Billy’s dark chocolate brown eyes. “I’m glad to see that you could make it here today. We missed you nearly all last week. Good to see that you are in better health. Since you had one heck of a case of the flu.”

He offered the teacher a fake half-hearted smile and raised his hand up cautiously. A sharp pain rushed from his side where his ribs were bruised. He hid a wince through an emphasized sniffle as he waved his hand slightly. “Glad to be back, teach.” After Billy lowered his hand, he caught Rosalie looking over her shoulder at him with a concerned glimmer in those bright electric blue eyes.

Billy held her gaze a few seconds, searching hers as he waited to hear what she might have to say. His eyes widened a little as the realization hit him. The realization that she might suspect something was up with him. Though maybe with the teacher calling him out as well she couldn’t help, but look as a few others seem to be doing too.

After a few seconds, Billy peeled his gaze away from hers and looked out of the window to his left to the view of the small courtyard with a bench, a table and a few chairs nearby a weeping willow tree. He felt her gaze on him lingering a little before it dissipated as the next name was called before swiftly transitioning into the lesson about the tropes found in Shakespeares’ Romeo and Juliet.