Contemporary Life // FILLIE

A Bloody Mess

Millie's POV:

As I read the last text his voice echoes in my head, causing me to roll my eyes at his old 'nickname'. I unknowingly run my hand through my soft hair as I scan my surroundings, an unknown stressful feeling moving through my veins as I make my way through the chattering people, some of which I recognize but ignore nonetheless. Eventually I push through the mob of students and end up right outside the school entrance, seeing the familiar car parked right in front with Romeo sitting in the driver seat. "Hey! New girl!" A familiar voice shouts after me, only causing the stress to worsen. "Hey- Hey, what's wrong?" Finn questions as he gets closer, reading my expression and rubbing his thumb over my cheek worriedly. "I'm sorry, Finn. I have to go, I-I'll call you later." I stutter out quickly as I pull his hand away, walking backwards before rushing over to Romeo's car, already intensely missing Finn's touch. "Hey Mills, ready to go?" Romeo asks as I close the car door, watching as Finn stares with his lips slightly parted and his eyes furrowed, still standing in the same spot I left him in. I bite my lip before looking back to Romeo, "Yeah, let's go." I answer simply, letting him pull out and begin driving away.

After giving Romeo directions to the Starbucks cafe he parks in front of the building and leads me inside. "What would you like, Mills?" He asks with his wallet ready, strolling up the cashier with his eyes on me. "Um.. caramel frappaccino." I answer with a shrug while sitting down at a two-person table, waiting for him to get our drinks as my knee nervously bounces on the hardwood flooring. Strolling over to our table, his light brown hair held back by a pitch black snap-back matching the color of my cold drink. "So, how has the Georgia life been treating you?"  He questions teasingly, his brown eyes piercing into mine as a faint smile shows on his lips. "Great, actually. The people here are pretty cool." I answer before taking a sip from my delicious coffee. "Not as cool as Indiana people. Speaking of which, your friends are missing you. You should text them or something, just talk a bit." He advises sincerely, a look of concern in his eyes. As I stare at my drink, knowing I won't take his advice, his hand starts reaching for mine casually, forcing me to 'coincidentally' grab my drink and take a sip to dodge the hand I once was happy to hold. A deprived sigh escapes his lips as he takes back his hand, obviously slightly frustrated. "Listen Mills, I think we should give it another try. Who knows, maybe long distance would make it better for us?" He exclaims while putting his hand over my unoccupied one, his touch only making goosebumps form. "Romeo, we've talked about this." I state with a disappointed sigh, pressing my lips together as I look at him with a frown. "I know, I know. Just.. please, Mills. Give it a shot?" He pleads while squeezing my hand with his.

I let out another sigh as I glance around me, only to find a pair of dark brown eyes meeting with mine from the entry of the cafe. Paralyzed, I watch as he shifts his eyes to the ground before turning around, exiting the same way he came it. "Wait!" I shout uncontrollably as I sprint out of the building, nothing in the world seeming to matter more than him. "Finn! Wait!" I yell while rushing towards him, causing him to begin jogging away. Already knowing I'd never catch up, I slow my pace to a halt, watching as he becomes more distant in the foggy air. "Hey Millie, wh-what happened?" Romeo asks as he rushes over to me, only receiving a glare back. "Romeo, get out of my life. Please, just go." I instruct while pointing to his car. He bites his lip before nodding reluctantly, trudging over to his car sluggishly. Running my hands through my hair, I can't help but feel like the world is crashing under my feet with my head whirling. How could things go so wrong so fast?

Okay Millie, think, think! Within seconds, an idea pops into my head. I quickly snatch my phone from my pocket and dial Noah's number, waiting impatiently for an answer. "Yello." He answers casually, his calming voice causing an ounce of hope to flow through me. "Hey, I messed up.. big time." I explain with a sigh. "What happened?" He questions worriedly. "Finn saw me with Romeo.. and it may have looked like we were on a date, which I told him there wasn't a guy so now he thinks there's a guy and that I lied to him which is bad, and everything's a bloody mess!" I exclaim while throwing my free hand in the air. "Listen, I'll talk to him about it later but I don't know if it'll help. For now just lay low, I know for a fact he won't want anything to do with you.. at least not right now." Noah advises kindly. "Okay. Thanks Schnapper, bye." I say before ending the call, beginning to walk home in the chilly November weather.

(1 Hour Later)
Finn's POV:

"I just can't believe her! What kinda sick person does that? First she lies to me, then she goes behind my back like the bitch she apparently is!" I exclaim before letting my back fall into my bed as Gaten and Caleb listen while sitting in my beanbag chairs. "Do you really think she'd do that to you? To anyone?" Gaten questions sincerely, only making my blood boil further. "Yes! She just did!" I shout while throwing my beanie off my head and at the curly haired boy. "And to think, I was actually considering asking her out tomorrow." I confess in disbelief as I shake my head in doubt. "Tsk, like she deserves a guy like you." Caleb scoffs, agreeing with me. "Did you guys even think about her side of the story, the one we haven't even heard?" Gaten questions sarcastically. "It doesn't matter what she says, her actions already told her story." I remark, only making him sigh in disapproval. "Gaten, why can't you just accept that Millie's a liar who straight up played Finn? Not everyone's a good person in this world!" Caleb scolds while smacking his arm. "Because I know that Millie wouldn't do that, wanna know how I know that?" Gaten questions tauntingly, waiting for him to say yes. "Go ahead." Caleb spats at him. "Because Millie looks at Finn the same way you look at Sadie." "That doesn't prove shit!" "Tell that to the girl you love! See how that makes her feel." Gaten scoffs before standing up, looking over at me. "You've wanted someone who looks at you like that, who loves you for you, for so long. But you're too much of a selfish prick to realize she's been right there in front of you, this whole time." He retorts before rushing out of my room, his heavy footsteps echoing through the door.

Sitting up to face Caleb, who has his tongue pressed against the inside of his lip, I let out a light snicker. "Hey, what does he know, right?" I question, lightly hitting his arm with the back of my hand. "Finn.. as much as I hate to admit it, you and I both know he's right." He says, causing me to clench my jaw as I shift my eyes to my brown carpeted floor. "I gotta head home. Just.. do what you think is right, okay?" Caleb explains, standing from his seat and patting my back before waltzing out the room with his red jacket in hand. I subconsciously rub my hand on the back of my neck, unsure of what to do next in this mess of a situation. With my mind still rambling, I decide to go to the one place that I can actually feel at peace, the roof of my house. Heading out to the hallway, I grab the string to the attic stairs and pull it down with force, sending the stairs flying down for me to climb up. Looking around the nearly empty attic, my shoes making creaks on the wood floors as I open the window that aligns with the diagonal roof side. Crawling carefully onto the slanted roof, I begin to settle with my arms resting on my bent knees while a gorgeous sunset shines before me, already making everything seem alright for now. I close my eyes as I take a deep breath of the chilly air with not a thought in mind, that is until a familiar voice echoes from inside my house. 

"I'm home! Finn?" Nick shouts, his voice faint from inside. "Attic!" I yell back before hearing footsteps coming up the stairs, his head popping out the window just seconds later. "Hey, what are you doing up here?" He asks curiously while crawling out the window to join me, eyeing the sunset before us. "Just.. clearing my thoughts." I answer with a light shrug, causing him to raise an eyebrow. "What thoughts?" Nick questions, knowing I only come up here when I want to get away from something.. or rather someone. "Well.. my friend likes this girl, a lot. And they've kissed, gone on a date and stuff, y'know. But then she lied to him, and got caught in the process.. and he wants to be mad at her, he really does, but there's something telling him to let her explain anyway regardless of what she obviously did." I explain with a sigh as I push my hand through my tangled hair. "Finn, if you really like her, and think she could be the one. Then I don't think you should give her up that easy, and you never know, maybe it wasn't what it seemed." He says, obviously telling I was the friend. "Yeah, that's what Gaten said." I add, causing him to look over at me from the sunset. "Then you should listen to Gaten more often." He jokes with a chuckle, putting a smile on my face as I shake my head.