Editing Jennifer Billingsworth


'''Jennifer Billingsworth, '''better known as '''"Billie"''', is a character in the [[Walkyverse]] (primarily [[Roomies!]] and [[It's Walky!]]) and [[Dumbing of Age]].
==Walkyverse==
{{Character
|title = Jennifer Billingsworth
"Billie"
|image = Image:Billie.jpg
|imagewidth = 180
|T1 = First Appearance:
|C1 = [http://www.bringbackroomies.com/comic/lots-in-common/ Roomies! October 19, 1998]
|T2 = YOB:
|C2 = 1981
|T3 = Height:
|C3 = 5'7"
|T4 = Weight:
|C4 = 135 lbs
|T5 = Spouse: 
|C5 = [[Danny_Wilcox|Danny Wilcox]] (husband)
|T6 = Children:
|C6 = [[D.J. Wilcox]] (daughter), [[Stephen Wilcox]] (son)}}
Billie is a childhood friend of [[David_Walkerton|Walky]] and [[Beef]], and the wife of [[Danny Wilcox]], whom she met at college. A strong, dominating person, she will do anything to get to the heart of a story.
===History===
Growing up in southern Indiana, Billie came from a wealthy family whom she saw little of, with her father sailing his yacht and her mother... ''entertaining'' [[Dick_Lesse|guests]].

As a child, she was babysat a lot by [[Ruth_Lesse|Ruth]], along with her neighbor Walky. It was at this time when Billie and Walky gave each other their ubiquitous nicknames. They became friends and ended up learning how to fight and kiss from each other.

During her high school years, she became a cheerleader and began dating Beef. She also began ignoring Walky in public. She was a cheerleader, after all. Can't be seen with a kid who only talks about monkeys and poop. She also bullied [[Dorothy Keener]] on occasion. 
{{spoiler}}
'''Roomies!'''

In college, Billie shared a house with four roommates, among them her former babysitter, Ruth. Billie lamented her loss of social status but managed to fit into the college lifestyle rather normally anyway. She took up the group's favorite hobby, drinking, and at one of the weekly parties held at the house, she met Danny, who lived next to Ruth's brother [[Howard_Lesse|Howard]]. They started out hating each other, especially after Danny indirectly caused Ruth's death in a car accident. She resolved to be a better person and stop drinking, seeing it as the cause of Ruth's death.

Billie and Danny ended up turning their loathing for each over into love after a short trip to Mount Rushmore. She confessed to needing Danny to help her overcome her own moral dilemmas and overcome [[Mary Bradford]], an extremely moral Christian friend of Danny's. After she saw Mary go into a room with a guy at a party, she told Danny about it and tried to get him to side with her. When he couldn't choose, she drove off in anger. He caught up to her and apologized after realizing his mistake, that his morals were nothing without experience.

'''It's Walky!'''

After Danny graduated from college and started interning in Colorado, they began long-distance dating, and the two of them visited Walky in Denver. After they got a phone call saying that [[Joseph_Rosenthal|Joe]] had died, they left mourning him. When Aliens invaded Denver, Billie interviewed Walky to find out what was happening, recognizing him as a [[SEMME]] agent off the news.

She found out that Joe was alive and well as a SEMME agent also, and that [[Sal Walkerton|Sal Walters]], an old girlfriend of Danny's, was responsible for turning North America yellow with the [[Power Booster Rod]]. When Danny began visiting Sal in jail, she resented his lack of attention for her. Admitting that she was dependent upon on him, she apologized for doubting him but still hated Sal.

Taking up martial arts classes, she ended up coming up against Sal when she came to visit Danny. Although she did not physically best Sal, she put up a surprisingly good fight as a result of her childhood spent fighting with Walky. Impressed by her spirit and determination to protect Danny, Sal left her alone.

After finding employment at a major news station, Billie covered the launch of the [[USS Destiny]]. Desperate for a bigger story, she infiltrated [[SEMME HQ]] after the agency was disbanded to discover the secrets within. Trapped inside during ''"&$@#ing World War III"'', she helped Sal and the others stop Beef and [[Jim]] as they attacked them alongside [[JFO]]. Surviving the attack, she helped out [[Joyce_Brown|Joyce]] and Walky after their mechs were destroyed by the [[Martian]]s.

'''Joyce and Walky!'''

Several years after the Martian invasion, Billie and Danny got married in a church ceremony with [[Carly Spencer]] and her other sorority sisters as bridesmaids, and Joyce and Sal as guests. She soon after became pregnant and give birth to her and Danny's first child, [[D.J. Wilcox]], who was coincidentally born on the tenth anniversary of the Walkyverse. Around this time, she and Danny were visited by another [[D.J. Wilcox (Alternate)|D.J. Wilcox]], Sal and Danny's son from an alternate reality. Upon learning D.J.'s parentage, her first instinct was to slug her husband.

Billie was suspicious when Dorothy re-entered Walky's life, but her snooping was unable to uncover anything untoward. When Dorothy later attempted to abduct Walky, Joyce appealed for Billie's help in locating him. Billie, who by that point had become pregnant again, was having none of it. The Wilcox family was present at Joyce and Walky's wedding when [[Head Alien]], [[Monkey Master]], and the [[Future Kids]] crashed the festivities but managed to stay out of harm's way.

'''Shortpacked!'''

Some years later, Billie and Danny began teaching Sunday school. The Wilcox family also attended [[Mike Warner]] and [[Amber O'Malley]]'s wedding, together with many of their old friends and colleagues.

===Trivia===
*After years of worsening eyesight, she finally decided to get glasses, which suits her husband (and his geek-girl fetish) just fine.
*Billie's relationship with Ruth was eventually retconned to be a sexual one, which must have made for some fun conversations with Danny.{{stripRef|Soooo many wrongs Republished|21 July 2013|http://www.itswalky.com/comic/soooo-many-wrongs/}}
*[[Robin DeSanto|Robin]] even referred to the two of them as girlfriends{{StripRef|Drama|20, December, 2006|link = http://www.shortpacked.com/index.php?id=377}} although how ''she'' found out remains a mystery.
*Contrary to speculation, Walkyverse Billie was intended to be English, not Asian.{{StripRef|Blog post|12 September 2010|link = http://www.dumbingofage.com/2010/blog/billies-wardrobe/}}
*She calls her parents " Ma" and "Pa". {{StripRef|Anybody Home? Reprint|22 March 2014|link = http://www.itswalky.com/comic/anybody-home/}}

==Dumbing of Age==
{{Character
|title = Jennifer Yunru Billingsworth
"Billie"
|image = File:Billie_2016.png
|imagewidth = 180
|T1 = First Appearance:
|C1 = Dumbing of Age September 12, 2010{{StripRef|Reputation|12 September 2010|"http://www.dumbingofage.com/2010/comic/book-1/01-move-in-day/reputation/"}}
|T2 = Hometown:
|C2 = Evansville, Indiana
|T3 = Major:
|C3 = Journalism
|T4 = Roommate:
|C4 = [[Lucy|Lucy Glenn]] (current), [[Ruth|Ruth Lessick]] (former), [[Sal Walkerton]] (former)
|T5 = Likes:
|C5 = Alcohol, high school, cheerleading, football players, alcohol}}
Back in high school, Billie was the editor of the school newspaper, the cheerleading captain, and the prom queen. In college, she’s basically nothing. Well, she’s an alcoholic. That’s something.

If you look like a step in the social ladder, Billie will be your best friend. If you look like a nerd, Billie will ignore your existence. She’s not aware yet that things work a little differently outside of high school.

(Not VERY differently, but differently enough.)

===History===
Billie grew up rich, but largely neglected by her parents. She and [[David Walkerton|Walky]] were childhood friends, though Billie actively shunned him once she reached high school and became popular with the 'in' kids. Apparently, she even shoved Walky into lockers sometimes.

More than just a social butterfly, Billie quickly became a go-to problem solver for her friends; in her own words: ''"I scope parties for roofies. I sneak friends into abortion clinics. I take down abusive boyfriends."'' 
{{spoiler}}
Senior year, she got a little too drunk at a party and wound up crashing her parents' SUV; the incident cost her a spot on Indiana University's cheerleading squad and made her a social pariah among her classmates. It also derailed her relationship with [[Alice]], her best friend (with occasional benefits).

'''Move-In Day'''
[[File:Asma.png|thumb|248 × 295px|Billie you almost killed someone driving drunk, of course that's in your permanent file]]
After receiving her keys, the first thing Billie does is pull Walky aside to bluntly inform him that the two of them will ''not'' be part of the same social circle in college. Later that day, she finds herself dragged into a mandatory floor meeting by her seemingly psychotic RA, [[Ruth]]. When Ruth demands to know where Billie's roommate is, an unimpressed Billie warns her to back off: ''"I could destroy you."''

She's somewhat taken aback when Ruth invites her to take her best shot, and even more taken aback when Ruth proceeds to whole-body flip her into a couch, embarrassing her in front of the entire wing.

Later that night, Walky stops by to ask Billie if she wants to get food. Billie repeats that she wants nothing to do with him, then attempts (and fails) to hit on [[Tony]] for beer.

'''Uphill From Here'''

The next morning, she meets [[Joyce Brown]] on the way to math class. Billie is initially dismissive until Joyce praises her bravery for standing up to Ruth the night before and claims Billie is ''"the coolest girl I know."'' Unfortunately, Billie has only a few seconds to enjoy that status before [[Sal Walkerton]] zooms in on her motorcycle.

'''Men Are From Beck, Women Are From Clark'''

[[File:Oversold.png|thumb|218x218px|You mean there's more to higher education than staying up until 3 AM with Red Bull and hard liquor?]]The next day, Billie runs into Ruth the RA again. Ruth is annoyed that Billie and Sal still haven't turned in their roommate agreement forms, and unmoved by Billie's protests that she hasn't even ''seen'' Sal in her room yet. She then reveals that she's stolen Billie's high school cheerleading uniform from her room and is holding it hostage until she gets the agreement form back.

Armed with whiskey and energy drinks, Billie settles in for the night, determined to waylay Sal the second she enters the room. However, sleep soon claims her.

'''The Bechdel Test'''

Billie wakes up in a panic after having slept through a good chunk of math class. As she scrambles to get out of the dorm, she's waylaid (and laid out) by Ruth, who drops an 'S' she's cut off from Billie's uniform in front of her nose. Ruth warns her that she'll continue to remove letters until she gets her forms back, at which point Billie snaps and punches her RA in the face hard enough to draw blood. Before the standoff can turn into a full-blown fight, Billie is snatched up and carried off to safety by [[Amazi-Girl]], or as Billie will later dub her, "Captain Nerdette". [http://www.dumbingofage.com/2011/comic/book-1/05-media-rumble/onenote-2/ (She's kind of one-note.)]

Later, Billie makes her way to the journalism building to talk to [[Daisy Conrad|Daisy]], the editor of the campus newspaper. Daisy is largely indifferent to Billie's high school newspaper experience and advises her to find and write up a human-interest story. Billie's first suggestion - a scathing expose of her She-Hitler RA! - doesn't meet with a tremendously enthusiastic response.

That night, Billie decides to camp out right in front of the door to her room, determined to catch Sal at all costs. Once again, she fails.

'''Media Rumble'''

The next morning, Billie decides to make the day a Ruth-free, Sal-free zone and work on expanding her circle of friends. Joyce introduces Billie to her roommate, [[Sarah Clinton]], but Sarah instantly pegs her as an irresponsible party girl.

Back at the journalism building, Billie finds Daisy talking to [[Dorothy Keener]] about Amazi-Girl, the campus vigilante. After revealing that she's actually seen Amazi-Girl in action, Billie is put in charge of pulling together a story.

Making her way back to the dorms, Billie spots Ruth in the hallway with her uniform. She creates a diversion and sneaks into Ruth's room to steal her property back but is forced to duck into Ruth's closet when the RA comes back sooner than expected to answer a phone call. From her hiding place, Billie watches as Ruth has a terse conversation with what sounds like her father, then breaks down and cries. Later, Ruth all but drinks herself to sleep.

'''Yesterday Was Thursday'''

Having spent the night in Ruth's closet, Billie finally manages to make her escape at 3 AM - but not before snapping an incriminating picture of a pass-out-drunk Ruth, then [http://www.dumbingofage.com/2011/comic/book-1/06-yesterday-was-thursday/naughty/ stealing her booze.] To her disgust, Sal ''still'' isn't in the room, though she did leave the window open on her way out.

After far too few hours of sleep, Billie is rudely awoken by Joyce, who enlists Billie as her [http://www.dumbingofage.com/2011/comic/book-1/06-yesterday-was-thursday/stall/ "shower buddy".] That disturbs Billie somewhat less than the realization that Joyce is now her best friend in college.

[[File:Freak.png|thumb|left|Billie's argument is somewhat undercut by the fact that she keeps candid snaps of her RA on her smartphone.]]Things start looking up when she finally tracks down Sal on campus, though her righteous anger is somewhat defused when Sal asks why Billie [http://www.dumbingofage.com/2011/comic/book-1/06-yesterday-was-thursday/freak/ didn't just leave the agreement on her bed.] Sal apologizes for the trouble, and after math class the two of them ride back to the dorms.

On their way back, they are confronted by Ruth, but Sal pulls Billie away before things can escalate. As a parting shot, Billie tells Ruth that she might snore less if she starts sleeping on her stomach.

That night, Billie joins Dorothy and Joyce at an off-campus party and proceeds to get heroically drunk in no time flat. That said, she sobers up enough after Joyce gets drugged to diagnose her condition. As Sarah notes: ''"You command a wealth of knowledge pertaining to terrible and horrific things."''

'''Pajama Jeans'''

The next morning, a severely hungover Billie joins the rest of the girls in figuring out how to handle the aftermath of the party. They decide to give Joyce a bit of a distraction by heading down to what passes for a beach in Indiana. Noticing Walky making eyes at Dorothy from the water, she sets things up to get the two of them some time together, although in this case "quality time" means "burying Walky in sand".

[[File:Disabuse.png|thumb|212x212px|As it turns out, college is actually about being menaced by your RA, ''Cape Fear'' style, 24/7. ]]Back at the dorm, she attempts to confront Walky about his crush, but her teasing is interrupted by the unexpected arrival of Ruth, who seems awfully eager to put some fear back into her. Again, Sal intervenes, causing a brief scuffle that allows the two of them to escape Ruth's wrath. Sal's heroism leads Billie to begin suspecting that her roommate is actually Amazi-Girl.

'''Choosing My Religion'''

Billie gets another early morning wake-up call from Joyce, who's looking for people to go to church with. Billie mentions her suspicion that Sal is actually Amazi-Girl, but Joyce is less than convinced by her argument.

Later on, she tracks down [[Danny Wilcox]] to talk to him about his encounter with Amazi-Girl. When he starts complimenting her, she offers to have sex with him. To her amazement, he backs out at the last minute. That night, she catches Amazi-Girl in her dorm room - further fuel for her theories.

'''The First Step Towards Recovery'''

Despite Joyce's skepticism, Billie is now fully determined to get Dorothy and Walky together, though her plans are nearly torpedoed by [[Mike Warner]].

[[File:Impressed.png|thumb|left|Billie Gets Rejected, Part 208.]]The latest edition of the campus newspaper brings with it a rare up note for Billie: her Amazi-Girl story is on the front page! [http://www.dumbingofage.com/2012/comic/book-2/03-the-first-step-towards-recovery/byline/ (Of section five.)] The IU cheerleaders still won't give her the time of day, though, sending Billie back to Daisy with a new story idea: how she's being socially profiled by the in crowd because she's wearing glasses instead of her usual contacts. An unimpressed Daisy tells her that she's giving the Amazi-Girl coverage back to Dorothy. Billie vows to earn the story back by exposing Amazi-Girl's secret identity.

That evening, Billie gets drunk and attempts to hit on Sal. Sal is having none of it.

'''Time Keeps on Slippin''''

Four days later, Billie meets Walky while slipping up the Beck Wing elevator to avoid Ruth. Once again, she attempts to give her childhood friend some romantic advice, unaware that he and Dorothy are already an item. Once again, her lecture is interrupted by the arrival of Ruth, brandishing a bottle she's confiscated from Billie's room.

Ruth warns Billie that she'll be "finished" if the administration finds out about her drinking on-campus. Billie counters with a cellphone picture of Ruth passed out in a pile of bottles. When Ruth gleefully asks if they're playing for mutually assured destruction, Billie drops another "emotional bombshell", taunting Ruth about having a crying fit because [http://www.dumbingofage.com/2012/comic/book-2/04-time-keeps-on-slippin/mutually/ "Daddy has your lady balls in a vise."] Ruth coldly responds that her father is dead, leaving Billie scrambling to apologize. Ruth ultimately agrees to turn a blind eye to Billie's infraction (having already turned a blind eye to her own.)

'''Saturday's All Right For Slighting'''

Billie offers to take Joyce out to the mall to buy some new boots. Sarah, rightly wary of any makeover project involving Billie, decides to tag along.

On the way out, the group runs into Walky. Billie pulls him aside to clean the [[Nachitos|Nachito]] residue off his face, then sends him after Dorothy. When she sees them kiss, she declares herself a genius - again, unaware that Dorothy and Walky are already dating.

At the mall, Billie successfully steers Joyce towards some clothing items that ''aren't'' sweater vests. Their dress-up adventure is interrupted by the arrival of [[Raidah]] and her friends who - as it turns out - have quite the history with Sarah. Billie is initially elated at the prospect of getting in with a group of sophomores, but things quickly go south once Sarah punches Raidah in the face. Billie [http://www.dumbingofage.com/2012/comic/book-2/05-saturdays-all-right-for-slighting/rabid/ offers her a twenty on the way out.][[File:Bonecity.png|thumb|141px|Good old-fashioned foreshadowing.]]

Later, Sarah reluctantly explains her history with Raidah. Billie suggests that the two of them should just make out and get it over with, since rivalry always masks latent sexual tension. Her words will soon prove prophetic, though perhaps not in the way Billie had been intending.

Back on campus, Billie confronts Sarah about her habit of "helping" her roommates. An angry Sarah storms off.

'''Strange Beerfellows'''

The following day, Billie gets a rude surprise when Ruth unexpectedly shows up at her room with beer, looking to hang out and watch sports. Billie describes this as the ''"scariest thing"'' Ruth has ever done, but eventually relaxes enough to strike up a conversation with her arch-nemesis. When a drunken Ruth admits on her way out that she needed the social time, Billie asks her flat-out if anything is wrong. Ruth refuses to give an answer, settling for insulting Sal on the way out.

A naturally suspicious Sal asks what Ruth was doing in their room. Billie lies to cover for her RA's oddly uncharacteristic behavior.

'''If the Shoe Splits'''

Ruth trips up Billie as she rushes to class in the morning - purely out of boredom, as she admits. However, when she sees Billie struggling to get into the main elevator, Ruth has a change of heart and bullies the other students into making room. [http://www.dumbingofage.com/2012/comic/book-3/01-if-the-shoes-split/will/ Lots of room.]

At class, Walky breathlessly tells Billie that he totally slept next to a girl for realsies. Billie remains unimpressed.

[[File:Smooches.png|thumb|left|This won't end well.]]

Later that night, Billie makes a pass at [[Joseph Rosenthal|Joe Rosenthal]], but is shot down in seconds flat after he's distracted by a passing cheerleader. Upset at yet another rejection, she returns to Read Hall in tears. An unsympathetic Ruth asks her whether she's crying because the cafeteria ran out of pie, which is officially the last straw for Billie: grabbing the redhead's shirt, she demands that Ruth make up her mind about what she wants to be to Billie: an enemy or a friend.

After a moment's consideration, Ruth responds by kissing her. A shocked Billie initially reciprocates... but quickly pushes Ruth away once she remembers exactly who she's kissing back, telling her in no uncertain terms to fuck off.

When Sal later asks how her day went, Billie responds: ''"Just goin' to town on a bitchy authority figure I thought hated me."'' At the time, she's unaware that Sal just got back from doing the same with her TA, [[Jason Chesterfield]].

'''Guess Who's Coming to Galasso's'''

The following day, Billie is stopped by Daisy, and tells her that Ruth attempted to make a pass at her. Daisy asks her to elaborate, and nearly ends up kissing her as well.

Back at the dorm, she considers confronting Ruth, but ultimately decides against it. Dorothy mentions off-hand that Ruth hasn't been seen all day.

Embittered that only "losers" try to make out with her, Billie decides to drown her sorrows in alcohol and ponders whether or not to report Ruth to the authorities.

'''Answers in Hennessy'''

With Ruth still AWOL, Billie becomes Clark Wing's go-to problem solver, unblocking the trash chute and reconciling [[Grace]] and [[Mandy]]. Later that morning, she unwittingly sparks a case of gay panic in Joyce after suggesting that everybody is innately bisexual. She also meets Joyce's new boyfriend, [[Ethan Siegal]], and wonders aloud what the catch is.

Returning to Read Hall, Billie notices a puddle of hard, hard alcohol coming from under Ruth's door. After trying and failing to get an answer, she triggers the building fire alarm and forces her way into her Ruth's room in the ensuing confusion. Her worst fears are almost confirmed when she finds her RA passed out in an alcoholic semi-coma. and She succeeds in waking Ruth from her drunken stupor, but the apathetic redhead resists all attempts to get her safety. Billie finally loses patience and manhandles her archnemesis into the bathroom after hiding the evidence of Ruth's alcoholism under her bed.[[File:Overreacting.png|thumb]]

Waiting for the firemen to arrive, Billie confesses that she's had her own problems with alcohol. Ruth responds that she's well aware of Billie's history and exploited that knowledge to the fullest. She also explains that her own struggle with alcohol was caused by her parents' death, and she turned to drinking to cope with her depression. Finally realizing just how damaged her RA actually is, Billie confiscates Ruth's remaining alcohol and sends her off to the showers.

After cleaning up, Ruth agrees to join Billie in a no-drinking pact, promising to quit cold turkey. She also gives Billie a key to her room to make it easier to check in her... at least until she can teach Billie how to discreetly pick a lock.

'''Just Hangin' Out With My Family'''

Two days later, Billie stops by Ruth's room to check on her detox progress, figuring they can spend Freshman Family Weekend together - after all, Ruth is an orphan and Billie is ''practically'' an orphan, thanks to her utterly apathetic parents. 

[[File:Leer.png|thumb|left|158px|Billie obviously doesn't read the DoA comments section.]]They are interrupted by the arrival of Ruth's brother, [[Howard Lesse|Howard]], who drove down from Carmel to spend the day with his sister and get his ''Game of Thrones'' on. (Though not necessarily in that order.) Noticing Howard staring at her cleavage, Billie comments that he's the first guy to leer at her since she arrived on-campus.

On the way back from lunch, Billie is press-ganged into helping Ruth control [[Blaine O'Malley]], and pursues him after Ruth is taken out of action by a bout of detox-induced nausea. After a bit of excitement, she finally catches up to Blaine, enabling [[Asma]] to escort him off-campus.

With that problem taken care of, Billie joins the Lessicks at the IU-Purdue game (after teasing Ruth about getting her a ticket). But watching the IU cheerleaders in action quickly makes her uncomfortable - a fact Ruth doesn't fail to pick up on. 
After the game wraps up and Howard heads home, Ruth confesses that Billie is probably the only person who's ever seen all aspects of her. 

Back at the dorm, Billie finds herself in the middle of an argument between Walky and Sal, who's rightly upset that her brother gets preferential treatment from their parents because he's "whiter". After Walky storms off, Billie settles in for the night with a nice, stiff drink.

'''The Only Dope For Me Is You'''

Billie stops by Ruth's room again the following afternoon for her daily check-in. To her surprise, she discovers that the redhead has been trying to patch up her cheerleader uniform. Ruth admits she stole the uniform back in an effort to do something nice for Billie, who quit drinking with her and has been looking out for her ever since. Billie, who never actually quit drinking, has a sudden and acute attack of guilt and rushes out of the room.

On the way to lunch, she runs into Danny Wilcox again, and tells him that Amazi-Girl - who claims to be dating - is actually her roommate, Sal. In an effort to clear her head over Ruth, she decides to have lunch with Walky, although he only agrees to hang out with her because Dorothy is otherwise occupied. Over food, she tries to explain why Sal is so upset, and urges Walky to try and reconcile with his sister. When Walky reminds her that she'd originally asked him out to lunch because she wanted something "simple", Billie wonders whether "complicated" might not be such a bad thing after all.

[[File:Smooches2.png|thumb|170px|This still won't end well.]]
Returning to her room, she's shocked to discover an IU cheerleading uniform tacked up on the wall. Behind her, Ruth asks if she likes this one better. When a guilty Billie tries to tell her that she doesn't deserve it, the redhead admonishes her, telling her stop beating herself up about the DUI. As far as Ruth is concerned, she's forgiven.

Overcome with emotion, Billie finally gives in and kisses Ruth. But the happy moment only lasts for a second - once Ruth tastes the residual alcohol on Billie's tongue, she realizes Billie has been lying to her about quitting.

Billie, flustered and proud, makes no effort to apologize for her actions, telling Ruth that she isn't the one with the problem, and that her drinking isn't hurting anybody. "Reevaluate that after I leave," a heartbroken Ruth replies as she storms out. "You were my only hope." Billie breaks down and cries.

'''I Was a Teenage Churchmouse'''

After an uneasy night of emotional turmoil and alcohol, a worse-for-the-wear Billie joins Joyce and Sal on the way to class. To her dismay, both she and Joyce are wearing hoodie dresses - as is seemingly half the campus. She makes an attempt to check in on Ruth on the way out but discovers that the RA has already had her locks changed.

Back at Read Hall, Billie has an awkward hallway encounter with Ruth. The redhead merely offers a curt "Billie" and walks on. Billie has finally gotten what she wanted weeks ago: Ruth is now ignoring her.

[[File:Self-aware.png|thumb|left|195px|GET EQUIPPED WITH: SELF-AWARENESS]]'''Up All Night to Get Vengeance'''

Worried that Ruth is resuming her drinking, a heavily sloshed Billie tries to get into her RA's room in the wee hours of the morning. [[Amber O'Malley]] finds her in the hallway and gently leads her to bed. Later that day, an increasingly morose (and hungover) Billie shocks the hell out of Walky by admitting that she may not have all of life's answers, and later blows up when Joyce asks her for relationship advice.

'''The Whiteboard Dingdong Bandit'''

Walky gets another shock when he discovers a nigh-on catatonic Billie laying in his bed. Despite his best efforts, she remains unresponsive, so he fetches Ruth to try and help her. (As the [[hovertext|alt-text]] puts it: ''"excuse me baking soda, i have this vinegar i need you to look at."'') Ruth is still not in a forgiving mood, but when pressed, admits to Billie that she's still keeping up her end of the sobriety pact. As a parting shot, Ruth advises Billie to forget about her and get her own affairs in order first.

Billie finally goes off to get cleaned up, but after reflecting on the borderline-suicidal-sounding answers Ruth gave her earlier that morning, she panics again, rushing back to Ruth's room. On the verge of kicking another door down, however, she realizes there isn't much she can actually do to help Ruth in her current state and goes off to get lunch with Joyce and (an increasingly disturbed) Walky.

At Chick-Fil-A, things go from bad to worse when Billie suddenly spots Alice, her former best friend. A visibly uncomfortable Alice tries to slip out of the conversation, but after Billie tells her off for mistreating Joyce and Walky, Alice finally loses it. Calling Billie a "drama hurricane", she admits that she deliberately cut Billie off after the SUV incident and advises Joyce and Walky to get the hell out while the going's still good. Billie then proceeds to lose what would have been lunch all over Walky's nuggets.  

After getting cleaned up yet again, Billie decides to take action. Using her newly acquired lockpicking skills, she breaks into Ruth's room and catches the redhead as she pulls a bottle of hard liquor from her backpack. Cornered, a fatalistic Ruth reveals that she doesn't think she can stay sober much longer but is at least hoping to keep clean long enough for Billie to move onto better things. Billie remains undeterred, arguing that while they're both poison to others, they're just about broken enough for each other. That said, she offers Ruth her liquor back. Ruth finally gives into the inevitable and the two begin to have sex but get too drunk and [http://www.dumbingofage.com/2014/comic/book-4/04-the-whiteboard-dong-bandit/four/#comment-280108 end up passing out halfway through the act.]

===Trivia===
*Unlike her Walkyverse counterpart, Dumbiverse Billie is half-Chinese.
*Appropriately enough, her Chinese middle name, Yunru, translates to [http://www.ourbabynamer.com/meaning-of-Yunru.html "Charming Seeming"]. Before her full middle name was used in the [http://www.dumbingofage.com/2015/comic/book-5/02-threes-a-crowd/bigred/ actual comic], it was confirmed on [http://itswalky.tumblr.com/post/73217251665/when-billie-finally-gets-her-first-byline-in-the-daily Tumblr].
*According to her [https://twitter.com/Billie_B97 Twitter account], Billie is a fan of imported beer. Her guilty pleasure: Molson Canadian.
*The 97 on her shirt [http://www.dumbingofage.com/2010/blog/billies-wardrobe/ refers to the year Roomies started publishing.]
*Back in high school, she "bullied the hell out of the goth kids".
*As anyone who has made it this far may have guessed, Billie is bisexual.
*Billie has a D.U.I.
*The reason she was absorbed into the Walkerton family was because she was "the reasonably white- passing daughter [[Linda Walkerton|Ms. Walkerton]] really wanted. <ref>http://www.dumbingofage.com/2016/comic/book-6/03-when-god-closes-the-door/ginger/</ref>

==Gallery==

''I found some pictures. dunno where to put them, you can move them into the article if you find a good place to stuff them''
<gallery>
Agatha-and-billie.png‎|Billie doesn't always wear glasses.
Castbillie2012a.png‎|I'm an alpha bitch. well, I used to be okay.
Billie2013.png|Billie 2013. Hoodie dress. Both comfy and cute! why doesn't everyone always wear hoodie dresses?!
Billie5.png| another 2013 Billie, because she is that cute.
Billie.png|2014 Billie
Billie 2.png|Another 2014 Billie because again, super cute
Billiepaper.png| She's a journalism major and still gets less stories than Dorothy. Also her stories are less popular that Dorothy's. 
Dudeswhodontpayattentiontobillie.png| bu-but I'm a cheerleader! Pay attention to me dammit! 
Billie.jpg|a colored Roomies! era Billie
Tumblr nip3bfdOhD1sm8ur3o1 500.jpg|no pants and legwarmers are awesome on Billie
</gallery>

==References==
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Characters]]
[[Category:Roomies!]]
[[Category:It's Walky!]]
[[Category:Joyce and Walky!]]
[[Category:Dumbing of Age]]
[[Category:Wilcox Family]]
[[Category:Indiana University Students]]