The Amazing Adventures of Billy and Ria

The Amazing Adventures of Billy and Ria

By Grace Good and Eylie Sasajima  

This is a story my friends and I started writing. Comments, please!
This is the new, completely updated version.

As many of you may recall, Billy died of the plague in my last story of these two lovers. But I will do everything I can to continue this story.

Ria wept and wept. Billy, however, was dead, and could not weep. It didn’t matter, though, Ria thought. As long as she had the sweet memory of him asking her to the dance, that was all that mattered. School went into lockdown, and the students all evacuated. The evil sorceress Lily, however, decided that she would get revenge on Ria. They were mortal enemies, and Lily knew just how to get back on her for stealing her cheese yesterday at lunch. When no one was looking, she stole Billy’s body from the plague victim disposal cart, and left the school.

Lily grinned to herself as she contemplated her genius plot. She would resurrect Billy, and then he wouldn’t love Ria anymore; she would be devastated! She gathered the supplies that she needed from her secret “medicine” cabinet that her mother would never find and laid them out on her bed. Then she locked her door, and began the dark and very, very, dangerous process of bringing Billy back from the dead.

It was all over the news Ria was watching after school closed early, how Billy had died right after she hugged him. Some people said that it was all his fault, but Ria felt like she was the guilty one. After all, she was the only one who’d had any physical contact with him when he was missing the gas mask…But she couldn’t worry about that. The only thing Ria cared about was that her one and only love, Billy, was gone from the Earth.. forever.

Lily began to mix the strange collection of potent ingredients in a large wooden bowl, chanting the spell that would bring Billy back. Suddenly Billy sat upright, shaking his head in confusion. Lily cackled with triumph; now Ria would pay!

“Who the heck are you?” asked Billy, looking around for his Ria.

“I am Lily,” she told him, stifling her smile. She enjoyed the look of confusion upon his face as he tried to wrap his mind around her exotic name.

“Lily…”

“Yes, you moron, that’s my name!”

“Sorry, sorry, just… Lily?”

“Is there an issue with my name?” shrieked Lily, overcome with frustration.

    “Not really...but where’s Ria?” he asked, struggling to understand that he should now hate Ria for giving him the terrible plague.

    “Oh, child… I am afraid she has passed. So terrible for one to die so young…” Lily sighed softly, lying through her teeth.

    Billy was shocked. He simply refused to believe that Ria, his one and only love, would just...die. “Are you sure?” he asked her.

    “Quite, child, for it was I who witnessed her burial.” Lily had won this round.

    Ria felt like she should see Billy, before he was...incinerated. It was, of course, a futile wish, because Billy was surely burnt to a crisp in the fire that destroyed all plague victims. Plague victim...it was strange to think of Billy that way. Ria had always thought of Billy as the sweet, cute guy that sat in front of her in homeroom. How could she ever accept his… his… deadness?

    She needed someone to talk to, and soon. Zace was at soccer practice, Cam was at dance, and...Lily might be home! She logged onto her email and began to compose a new message.

    Dear Lily,

You wouldn’t believe it… Billy died from the plague! I still can’t stop thinking of him. It’s like the world has crashed down on my shoulders… too heavy to lift up. I wish he was here with his smile… his laugh… his cuteness. Oh, Lily, what can I do? I wish he was here for me to hold and kiss… yet he’s slipped from my fingers. I’ll get back to you. Let me know any new information.

    Sincerely,

    Ria Metter.

    Lily had been expecting this, so she picked up her cell and got ready to talk her sweetest. She quickly dialed Ria’s number, and waited…

    “Lily… is that you?” asked a distraught Ria. Lily heard tears in her voice, and wanted to laugh.

    “Of course. When I got your email, I could barely believe…” she choked up a few tears for effect.

    “I still can’t accept the fact that he’s gone. Wait… you haven’t heard of this, Lily? Weren’t you at school?” asked Ria.

    “Oh, well, I had a doctor’s appointment…” Lily lied. She had been preparing her ingredients all day.

    “Then it must be even more shocking for you! Oh, Lily, what do we do?”

    On Lily’s end of the line, Billy was suspicious. “Who is that?” he asked.

    “It’s Cam, now go lie down.” instructed Lily.

    “Lily? Who’s with you?” Ria questioned.

    “Just Zace…” Lily whispered. Her lies were getting more and more unbelievable.

    “But...Zace is at soccer right now, with Emily and my sister,” Ria wondered.

    “Oh, silly me. I meant to say Shadow. She’s over here for a sleepover.”

    “Cool. Can I talk to her?”

    “Uhm...she’s busy right now, but I’ll call you back tonight. Bye!” I dodged a bullet there, she thought.

Ria hung up the phone and looked at the ground sadly. If only she could talk to Lily and tell her what was wrong... but she simply sighed as a tear rolled down her cheek. It was almost eight o’clock, and Ria knew Zace got home about now. But Ria thought that it was just a bit strange how Lily had hung up that quickly. She wondered what Lily could be hiding. Ria decided to visit Lily the next morning. She sighed and went to bed.

The next morning Ria got ready for the day, and asked her mom for a ride to Lily’s house. Ria got out of the car and knocked on Lily's front door. Nobody answered at first. Lily gasped at the sound of the knock and stuffed a cloth into Billy's mouth while shoving him into a closet.

"Ria, I was heartbroken to hear of your situation!" Lily cried as she flung open the door. Ria bit her lip and smiled faintly.

“Thank you, Lily. Where’s Shadow?” Ria wondered aloud. “I thought she’d be over here, since she spent the night!”

“Oh, she left a while ago.” said Lily.

"But... it's only nine AM. How could she have left so early?" Ria asked suspiciously.

"She wanted to get some early morning air. It's good for the lungs." Lily explained.

“Really? I didn’t think Shadow was much of a morning person! But then, she would be one to get up early in the morning just because someone kicked her out!” Ria accused.

“You think I kicked her out?” Lily asked in outrage. “Why would I do that?”

“I don’t know. You tell me, Lily.”

“What do you mean? Ria, I don’t understand!”

“I think you understand perfectly! Why’d you hang up on me yesterday?” Ria inquired.

"Oh, Ria… I'm so sorry! I've just been moody lately. My grandfather has died, you see..."

“Oh...Lily, I’m so sorry too. If you need anything, you’ll let me know, won’t you?”

"Of course, Ria. Thank you so much, for everything. But I really just need some “me” time. Please?”

“Um...Okay. Bye, Lily,” Ria turned and left. She felt awfully conflicted. She knew Lily was hiding something, but Ria thought it’d be awful to annoy her after losing her grandfather. If only she could find out what Lily was hiding without actually talking to her…

Ria’s mind began to formulate a plan. She didn’t have to talk to Lily! All she had to do was get Shadow or Zace or Cam to talk to her! After all, Shadow had been to Lily’s house for a sleepover. Surely she knew a thing or two! Ria’s mom had already gone, so she walked back to her house and unlocked the door. Then Ria picked up her phone and began to dial Shadow's number.

“Hello?” Shadow answered.

“Hey, Shadow,” Ria said. “Have you heard the news?”

“The news? What news? You mean Billy? I’m really sorry.”

“No, I meant Lily’s grandfather. She’s awfully depressed.”

“Oh? No, Lily didn’t say anything about her grandfather dying! She should’ve came over last night if she was so depressed. Or at least called!” Shadow noted.

“What? Weren’t you at Lily’s house last night? She said you came over for a sleepover!”

“No...she must be mixed up. I didn’t go to Lily’s house.”

“Well, she’s been pretty strange. She’s either insane… or she’s lying. What do you think, Shadow?” asked Ria.

“I think I’ll call her. Why don’t you talk to Cam and Zace?”

“OK. I’m on it,” Ria hung up. She quickly texted Cam and Zace and told them to meet her in the park. Then she grabbed a sweatshirt and ran outside.

Five minutes later, Ria stopped at the park. Zace was sitting at a picnic table and Clam was watching the purple ducks swim around in their pond. She quickly ran through what she wanted to say.

Have you heard about Lily’s grandfather? No? Well, she’s been acting strange lately, and Shadow told me to come talk to you two. Perfect.

“Okay,” Cam said, “but what do you want us to do? If Lily wanted our help, she would’ve asked us for it.”

“I agree. Lily can be stubborn sometimes, and if we try to make her feel better, she’ll just get suspicious,” Zace decided.

“Maybe something else is also bugging Lily. Remember, Billy died the other day, too. This plague is so annoying!” Ria exclaimed.

“You’re right! I mean, we all kinda liked Billy.” Cam commented.

“Especially Ria,“ Zace said with a wink.

“Zace!” Cam glared.

“Okay, okay. Not funny. But seriously, Ria, how is this our business?”

“Why is this our business? The truth, plain and simple, is this: I think Lily’s hiding something. We need to find out what, but she won’t tell me. One of you guys has to go find out!” Ria sighed, exasperated.

“Well… why don’t we break into her room? It’d be like… like…”

“A crime show?” asked Cam, finishing Zace’s sentence. Zace smiled and nodded.

“How can we break into her room? Her only window is right near her bed.” Ria muttered.

“We could all be ‘sick’ one day while Lily goes to school,” suggested Cam.

“Wouldn’t that be a bit suspicious?” Zace pointed out. “Only one of us could pull it off without getting caught. And then there’s Lily’s parents…”

“They’re best friends with my parents, and we could set them up for a parents’ day out!” Cam exclaimed.

“Right. Or we could burn the whole place down and…!” Zace squealed.

“Ummmm….”

“Or not. But couldn’t one of us just be like a double-agent? We could earn Lily’s trust; be her ally. Then we could come back to our side and report!” Zace decided.

“I like that plan!” Cam said. “Ria?”

“Double-agent it is! Who will it be?” Ria wondered. “If you get caught, Lily will likely murder you. This is really serious, guys.”

“Zace is the hardcore soccer star!” Cam said quickly.

“Yeah. but Cam is the one who suffers away wearing pointe shoes every day.” Zace told Ria.

“Whoever is closer to Lily should be the one,” Ria thought. “Shadow can let us know, she’s on the phone with her right now!”

“I’ll text her,” Zace said, and pulled out her phone.

Shadow, we need to know who is closer to Lily: Cam or me. Thanks, Zace.

Zace: Go with Cam. -S

Zace looked up, grinning.

“Cam has volunteered as tribute.” she announced. Cam glared at her.

“That’s not even funny,” she complained.

“Too bad. At least it’s true! You just need to suck it up,” Zace told her with a smirk on her face.

“Cam, you’re taking a sick day tomorrow!” Ria proclaimed. Cam frowned, clearly not thrilled with the idea of betraying Lily, possibly at the cost of her own life!

Monday morning Cam woke up with a dry mouth and a fever. Her mom had to work, so Cam was left home alone to do some work before forming an alliance with Lily. Maybe scope out the enemy territory; figure out how she operated. Then she could start being a true double-agent.

Still, how would Cam do all that and still make it to her dance class? A brilliant thought came to mind.

I’ll just use Sloe! Sloe was Cam’s identical twin. The plan would be excellent. Besides, what did she have to lose? Only Lily’s friendship, she told herself. She grabbed a coil of heavy-duty rope she’d bought yesterday along with a flashlight, and crept out into the darkness of the early morning. Cam sent her sister a quick text on her way to Lily’s:

Sloe- Can you go to my dance class for me? I have something important that I need to take care of; Lily’s grandfather died. I don’t want anyone to know besides you and me. Thanks, Cam

She glanced up, and realized that she’d passed her destination. Not wanting to look suspicious, Cam took an alley back around to the back of Lily’s house. An oak tree stood proudly in Lily’s backyard, practically begging to play a part in Cam’s grand betrayal. How convenient, Cam thought. Lily’s window was open, so Cam stopped to listen.

“Don’t touch that! Do you have any clue what that is?”

“Sorry, jeez, whatever!”

“What an idiot…”

“I’m not an idiot! You’re deterred!”

Deterred? But- that was a phrase that only Billy used. Cam was confused. Could Billy be in there? And shouldn’t Lily be at school by now? Of course, if Biley really was up there, Lily would have to stay home, to ensure that he didn’t show up and reveal her to to public…

What was she thinking? Cam knew that sweet, innocent Lily wouldn’t dream of keeping Billy a secret from Ria. She knew how much Ria felt for him-they all did. How could she stand knowing that Ria would hate her forever if she discovered that Lily knew he wasn’t really dead. Actually, wasn’t that what Cam was doing now? Taking a risk to protect her friends? It was silly to ever suspect Lily. She scrambled up the oak, not caring if Lily saw her. Weren’t they on the same side now, after all?

“Cam? What are you doing?” shrieked Lily as she spotted her. Cam ran through her head.                                                

“I wanted to help you. I hate Ria and Billy together… it’s so disgusting. I think that together, we could go far.”

“Why should I trust you? You’re always hanging out with Ria and Zace. How do I know you’re trying to help me?” Lily pondered.

“Ugh, because I’m just so sick of those two, flirting and laughing all the time. It’s enough to make a person sick! And also because I care about  keeping your secret safe. If anyone found out…” Cam muttered under her breath. “Now are you going to let me in or not?”

    Lily smiled. Anyone who hated seeing Ria happy was most definitely worth her trust. She moved aside so that Clam could come in. Billy stared at  Cam. He knew she was Ria’s friend… how could she do this?

    “Cam? You’re Ria’s friend! She trusted you!”

    “Well now, it seems I’ve fooled everyone, then, haven’t I?” Cam chuckled. This was going better than she’d expected.

    “Quick, get that jar of spider eyes over there, we need to formulate a potion.” Lily ordered. Cam grabbed it and handed it to her. “Good, good,” Lily cackled. Billy peeked over the girls’ shoulders and sniffed.

    “That smells like death.” he commented. Lily laughed.

    “Exactly,  now hand me those crushed nightlock leaves and that bottle of ‘Essence of Avada Kedavra’.” she ordered. Billy handed Cam the ingredients, and she gave them to Lily.

    “Who’s this going to?” Cam wondered aloud. “Who would you need dead?”

    “Oh, Cam, there are so many people I want dead it’s hard to keep track of all of them. This is just to slip into someone’s drink here and there, pretend it’s a coincidence I was sitting near them at the time, and move on. That’s all there is to it. But perhaps this one will go to Ria or her traitor friend Zace. Tell me, why isn’t she here with you?” Lily whispered into Cam’s ear so Billy wouldn’t hear her plot.
“She went to school.” Cam answered, not at all nervous about lying.

“Right. But you’re not, are you?” Lily wondered.

“I had a headache and stayed home. I decided to swing by and see what was going on.”

“Well then,” Lily said, shoving a cork into the vial that she now held, “we’d better hurry and get down to business. Your mom will get suspicious eventually. Unless you can think of an excuse to spend the night?”  

“Not right now. What do we need to do?”

“We need to finish the potion and administer it.” Lily smirked as she pointed to Biley. Biley glared at her.

“Deterred.”

“What did you call me?” asked Lily sweetly, pulling a knife out from under the multiple jars she had laid out.

“Nothing, just deterred,” Billy grinned. He clearly was too stupid to see just how serious she was.

“Call me that again and I will slit your throat in your sleep,” Lily threatened.

Cam began to get seriously nervous. Lily clearly wasn’t joking, she could tell that just from looking at the evil glint in her eyes. But this could be really, really dangerous if she slipped up just once. She considered going back and making Zace do it instead, but realized that she was already far past the point of no return. Everyone else was already a suspect to Lylie, no one else could do it but Clam. If she messed up, they were all as good as dead.

“CAM. I told you to get me that rat poison.” Lily snapped. Cam reached for a vial of sickly green liquid.

“Is this it?” she asked nervously. Lily examined it.

“No, this is mercury, but we’ll need it anyways. I think the rat poison is that blue jar over there.” Lily muttered. Cam scooped up the rat poison and handed it to Lily. Billy frowned uncomfortably.

“Hey… isn’t mercury poison? And rat poison, too.” He muttered. Lylie threw up her hands in exasperation.

“You stupid fiend, it’s supposed to be poison! Shut up, and don’t bother us.” she commanded.

“Sheesh, what a jerk.” Billy muttered. Lily ignored him and began throwing random liquids into the pot.

“There’s one more ingredient that we’ll need,” Lily told Cam.

“Umm… there’s a recipe?”

“Yes, of course, I had all those poisons for a reason. Our last ingredient is fairly simple to get, but we can’t be seen in public. I’ll have Honey Badger attend to those affairs.” Lily explained. A monkey swung out of Lily’s closet.

“Honey Badger, go see to it that we get a bottle of boat cleaner.” Lily ordered. The monkey screeched something that sounded similar to: Yepperdoodles. Cam watched it leap out the window.

“You didn’t give it any money.” Cam noted.

“Money? Why would I give it money? Haven’t you heard that stealing is the new black?”

“Oh, right.” Cam muttered uneasily. Lily sat down on the floor and fiddled with a few sticks. Soon enough, Honey Badger returned to the room, holding a can of boat cleaner.

“Oh, thank you, Honey Badger! Why don’t you visit my evil witch friend, the wicked witch of the west. I hear she has an opening for flying monkeys.”

Honey Badger frowned at Cam, but complied. Once she’d left the room, Lily began to mix the poison and chant.

“What? Lily…”

“Quiet! I’m almost finished!”

“Yeah…” Lily stopped stirring the potion as it turned to a shade of lavender.

“Perfect!” she decided. “Now we should choose a target. Who do you recommend, Cam?”

Cam began to sweat. If she said Ria, Lily would surely kill her. But if she didn’t answer, Lily would think she was weak. What could she do? A sudden, horrible thought came to Cam’s mind.

“I think we should give it to Billy in front of Ria.” she suggested. A smirk spread across Lylie’s face.

“Wait, Ria’s alive? I thought you told me she was dead!” Billy yelled.

“Oh, I meant to say someone else…It’s so hard to forget her…”

“Yeah, right. What’s going on, Cam? Is Ria really alive?”

“Um… I… I need to go to the bathroom for a moment. Which way, Lily?”

“Down the hall, to your left.” Lily answered. Cam nodded and sprinted down the hall, locking the door behind her. Billy sighed and spit at Lily.

“You little-”

Cam winced at Lily's words. What had she gotten herself into? More importantly, what had Lily become? Cam wanted to cry, but knew that she looked like a bright red apple whenever she was upset. Lily would kill me if I showed weakness, Cam thought sadly.

“Cam! Hurry up in there!” Lily shouted.

“Sorry, er-” Cam opened the closet and grabbed a pair of scissors, puncturing her skin a bit. “I cut myself! I just have to clean it up!” She slowly searched for some Band-Aids. Another squabble between Lily and Billy broke out.