Secrets and Lies ||mildie/sillie||

Chapter 30

It was their first day back at school after the debate, Millie had been worrying all weekend about it and had shut herself away from everyone, her instinct was to hide and go into complete denial. She heard a soft knock on her door, "go away" she said, half-heartedly. The knock came again, "I said leave me alone, please."

A sigh came from the other side of the door, "Millie, I'm not leaving until I see you at least." It was Sadie's voice, Millie rolled her eyes, knowing the one person she wouldn't, no, couldn't turn away was her. Standing, she went to unlock the door but didn't bother to open it, instead she went back to her bed and dramatically fell face down on it, dragging a pillow over her head. She heard the handle turn and the slight squeak the door made, she felt the bed sink slightly as Sadie sat down next to her, but she didn't move. She felt Sadie shift her position and tried to take a sneaky peak by lifting the edge of the pillow, the result being she found herself face to face with Sadie who had lain right next to her. She couldn't help but smile, sitting up now that she'd been busted. "So, are you ready?"

Millie looked down at her hands, nervously playing with a ring, and shook her head.

"Millie, I know you're nervous, but we'll be with you the whole time ok? If it's that bad we'll just leave straight away, no problem. Now go on" she said, grabbing her and pulling her from the bed, "get your stuff, I'll be waiting downstairs with everyone else."

A few minutes later Millie walked downstairs. Sadie noticed straight away that she was dressed like she did at home, and away from school. Her hair was left natural, and she even wore her glasses. Sadie couldn't help but look surprised. "Well, if I'm going to do this...I may as well go the whole hog and do it properly" said Millie, looking slightly nauseated.

"You look amazing, and I'll be there the whole time. Let's go" said Sadie, grabbing her hand.

"Good luck, my love" said Kelly, giving her daughter a quick hug. "If you need to leave early, I'll be here all day, no questions asked."

"Thanks, mum...well, I guess we'd better go."

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

As they approached school, Millie let go of Sadie's hand, but this time Sadie grabbed it back again. Millie looked at her questioningly, "if you can tell the whole school everything...then I can do this, it's ok, I want to" explained Sadie. Millie gave her a nervous smile, "but only if it's ok with you" she added.

Millie looked down for a moment, thinking, looking back up and meeting Sadie's gaze she said "fuck it, why not." With that they continued their way, trying to ignore the curious looks some of the students gave them. However, what they weren't expecting was the closer they got to school, and the more students they saw, the more encouraging smiles and occasional thumbs-up they received.

"All for you, Millie" Sadie whispered into her ear upon seeing her incredulous expression, "they're all supporting you." She meant it to be encouraging, to help Millie see that no one thought any less of her, in fact, the complete opposite. She didn't expect for her tear up and walk off quickly out of sight, leaving Sadie stood by herself in the corridor.

"Hey Sadie, where's Millie?" asked Finn.

"She just walked off..." she replied, clearly Finn not understanding why that was a problem. "I think she wants to be alone" she said quietly, angry at herself for upsetting her.

"She'll be fine, ok? It must be pretty overwhelming right now, she must feel like everyone is watching her" he reasoned.

"I guess."

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

Sadie was right, Millie just needed a few minutes away from the scrutiny. However positive the reaction had been, which had definitely been a pleasant surprise, she still knew that people were staring, whispering, judging her. She'd spent years ensuring this would never happened, and in less than one hour she had destroyed all that hard work. Hiding in the cubicle she practiced her breathing exercises, she hadn't had to rely on them for a long time, but she still remembered them. When she felt as if she had calmed down enough she went to leave, but as she did so she bumped into another student. "Sorry" she mumbled, keeping her head down.

"Oh, no, I wasn't looking" she replied. "Oh, um, Millie?"

Millie looked up to find herself face to face with a student she kind of recognized but had never spoken to before, "...yes?" she asked, hesitantly.

"I just wanted to say how much I admire what you did" she stated.

Millie looked down awkwardly, "thanks" she said quietly.

"Yeah, at the weekend I, um, I sat my parents down and came out to them...I don't think I would have been brave enough if you hadn't gotten up on stage...you know..." she trailed off. Millie just looked at her open mouthed, no idea what to say. The girl, feeling the need to fill the silence carried on, "yeah, and my friend Craig, he reported his uncle for abusing him, been doing it for years apparently, we had no idea" she said sadly, "I don't think you realize how many people you've inspired and helped...I just think people are too nervous to say anything...so, I will, thank you Millie" and with that she pulled Millie into a brief hug and left.

Millie left the bathroom in a complete daze, not really knowing where to go. She gravitated to her locker so she could grab her books and decide whether to stay or go home, and found Sadie waiting for her with a relieved look on her face. "Hey..." she said, trying to gauge Millie's state of mind.

"Hey" replied Millie, still looking a bit shell-shocked. "You'll never guess what just happened..." and she told Sadie what the girl in the bathroom had said.

"Wow" said Sadie, "um, how do you feel about that?"

"I have no idea...it's weird, I'm literally nobody, she said I inspired her...I don't feel very inspirational..."

"Woah, back the hell up. Number one, you're not nobody...you're everything to me...and number two, you have to be the most amazing person I've ever met" she said, making Millie look at her. She started blushing and couldn't suppress the shy smile brought on by Sadie's words.

"How do you always do this to me?" she asked, pulling her into a tight hug, one that she'd needed all morning.

*~~~~~~~~~~*    

A/N  sorry, bit of a filler chapter...