Secrets and Lies ||mildie/sillie||

Chapter 8

"Hey, I'm going to have to go via my place before school" Sadie said, over breakfast, "I left my books there."

"I'll see you at school later then, I need to get there early to, um, I've just got to go early, to meet the guys" Millie answered.

As they were leaving, Sadie went to thank Millie's mom for her hospitality, "thank you Mrs Brown, I had a good time" she said smiling.

"You're welcome" she replied, but Sadie saw that her smile didn't reach her eyes, it wasn't genuine and made her feel uncomfortable. Millie turned from saying bye to Ava and, seeing Sadie's expression turned to her mom and gave her a pointed look.

"Bye mum" she said, rather coldly. And with that they left and went their separate ways.

*~~~~~~~~~~~~*

After Sadie went and picked up her books she walked to school. As she got within sight of it she spotted the boy that received the box from Millie the week before. "Hey!" she called, trying to get his attention, quickening her pace, "hey!" She tapped his shoulder gently so as not to scare him, but it didn't quite work, he jumped around, the fear obvious in his eyes.

"W...What do you want?" he stuttered.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you, I just wan..."

"Here, just take it ok!" he said loudly, letting his bag slip from his shoulders and running off towards school.

"No, wait!" But it was no good, and she was left standing there holding this terrified kid's bag. Shit...I guess I could look inside...just to see whose bag it is, so I can return it...if I happen to see anything else then it's just accidental. She tried to convince herself that it wasn't wrong, but she desperately wanted to get to the bottom of the puzzle that was Millie Brown. She crouched down and slowly unzipped the bag, immediately spotting the same box on top of the contents. Hating herself for doing it, she carefully opened the box, she gasped, the first thing she saw was a syringe drugs...she's giving fucking drugs to kids...wait... she turned the box and read the writing on the side, "Glucagon Emergency Kit for Low Blood Sugar"...wait, what? I'm more confused than ever.

She repacked the bag, hoisted it to her shoulder, and carried on walking to school. At the gate, she saw Finn, Caleb, Noah, and Gaten watching as the students walked by. A few meters away she spotted the boy who's bag she was now carrying, talking to Millie, her hand comfortingly on his shoulder. She walked up to them slowly, "hey?" she said quietly, not wanting to scare the boy again. Millie looked up, the boy tried to make himself look smaller and hid slightly behind her.

"Hey Sadie" replied Millie, not realising that she was the cause of the boy's discomfort.

"Hey...um, I think I scared your friend, I didn't mean to" she explained, Millie looked around at the boy, confused. "He dropped his bag so I brought it with me." She held the bag out towards the boy, "sorry" she added. He took it gingerly, opening it up to check its contents were safe. He nodded at Millie and walked off.

"Hmm" sounded Millie, looking at Sadie with a mixture of puzzlement and suspicion.

"What?" asked Sadie, hoping that Millie wouldn't actually answer, considering how guilty she now felt about the assumptions she'd made and her duplicitous actions.

"Nothing" Millie replied, looking away. "So," she continued, looking back at her, her expression unreadable to Sadie, "are you going to Wyatt's party?"

"What? Oh, I guess...Maddie actually asked if I'd go, with them...shit, I was meant to, um, bring in an outfit for her to approve." She said that last part looking up, exasperated, and slightly embarrassed in front of Millie.

"You what?" asked Millie, laughing. "She wants to approve your clothes?! What the fuck are you doing Sadie? Wow, I knew she was shallow, but this..." she shook her head in disbelief. "Guys, come listen to this" she shouted to her friends, and proceeded to repeat what Sadie said.

"Are you serious?" asked Noah. They all looked at each other, shaking their heads.

"That's insane" added Gaten.

"You could come with us" suggested Millie, hopefully, "and we don't give a fuck what you wear" she added, smirking.

Sadie smiled in return, "really? I mean, yeah, that'd be cool, yes." Crap, what's Maddie gonna say...maybe I can just avoid her...

They looked at each other and smiled, neither wanting to look away. "See you at lunch?" asked Millie as the first bell rang.

"Yeah, definitely" replied Sadie.

*~~~~~~~~~~~~*

"Hey Gaten" said Sadie, walking with him to the History class they shared.

"Hey Sadie, what's up?"

"Nothing...well, not really nothing." Gaten raised his eyebrows, inviting her to continue what she clearly wanted to say. "Can I ask you something?"

"Yeah, sure, shoot."

"That boy earlier, I didn't mean to scare him...I mean, look at me, I'm not exactly scary."

"Joe? he's been bullied for weeks, we didn't realise. Some douche has been beating him up every day, and last week he took his insulin...I mean, who the fuck does that?! One of Maddie's many minions, that's who, trying to impress her, so she might give him some 'attention' if you know what I mean" he said, winking.

"Last week...when Millie was fighting?" said Sadie, piecing the puzzle together.

"Yeah" Gaten admitted. "She got Joe's insulin back, and trust me, he won't bother the kid again" he smirked.

"No offence, but why Millie? You guys are all bigger, taller, I mean, it just seems weird" she said. "Why..."

Gaten looked up sharply, his mood shifting. "Sadie" he said, interrupting her, "before you continue, don't, ok? Anything you want to know about Millie, you talk to her about."

"You guys really care about her, don't you?"

"...Yeah...look, we weren't always like this, cool, or bad, or tough, or whatever people want to call us. A lot of shit happened years ago, and she brought us together and made it go away, but it cost her, more than you can imagine. She is the most selfless person in this school and she was royally fu...scr...punished for it."

"But I thought she only came here from England a couple of years ago" said Sadie, trying to piece together Gaten's words with what she'd heard from other people.

"Look, Sadie, I'm sorry, I've already said too much...you should talk to her" he said, looking worried.

"Sorry, Gaten, I didn't mean to make you feel uncomfortable."

"It's ok...just be careful ok."

"I promise" said Sadie, smiling at him sincerely.

*~~~~~~~~~~~~*