Contemporary Life // FILLIE

The Good Doer

Millie's POV:

With my lunch tray in hand, I stroll over to our table and plop down in the seat next to Sadie, the only empty seat being on the other side of me. "Hey.. where's Noah?" Gaten questions, noticing the free spot. The others catch on and furrow their eyebrows as well. "Oh, Kenzie asked him to sit with her today." I explain, shrugging as they all nod or smirk. "So, you you think they'll actually become a couple?" Finn queries with a smirk plastered on his lips, an expression I've seen from him since the night I met him. "Hope so, Noah's been single since like... forever." Sadie mentions, spacing out as she utters the last word. "Wait, Kenzie Ziegler? Oh hell no, if we get Kenzie then we get Maddie- and we all know what happened with her." Caleb interjects, gesturing to Finn. He rolls his eyes, the dark mazes falling onto me before shifting back to Caleb. "I'm sure Maddie's fine by now, it's been weeks!" He exclaims, to which Caleb just gives him the 'can never be too sure' stare. "Look, I don't wanna have to deal with anymore drama- at least not until after the Snowball." Finn adds with a sigh. The rest of us nod our head in agreement, leaving the conversation there as we begin to dig into our lunches.

Fortunately for me, the rest of the school day goes by fast. Noah ends up driving me home, because he's just that good of a friend, leaving me with the house all to myself since the rest of my family went off to visit Paige. I spend the night watching movies and finishing up homework in my sweatpants, of course with the occasional texting in our group chat and separately with Finn. By the time I'm finished with homework, it's about midnight and to be expected, I'm fucking exhausted. I swiftly go through my nightly routine, but too tired to care if I'm not wearing pajamas. Sweats are just the next best thing, right? Crawling into bed, I send one last goodnight text to everyone before drifting off to sleep with ease- dreaming of the events to come tomorrow night at my first Snowball.

-

Shlunk. The familiar sound of my window shutting is enough to make me, a light sleeper, let my eyes flutter open. I peer over at my window, seeing the faint outline of a boy with a hat covering most of his curls, looking out the window frantically. "Gaten?" I ask, causing the boy to jump as his head snaps over to face me. He lets out a quick sigh, putting his hand over his chest. "Damn, you fucking scared me." He admits softly, to which I simply furrow my brows at. "What the hell are you doing here?" I question, throwing my covers off my body as I sit up in my bed. He nervously bites his lower lip, looking over his shoulder one last time. "I'll tell you, but you can't get mad. Deal?" Gaten answers, raising his eyebrows. I stand up from my bed and rest my hands on my hips. "Okay." I reply flatly, skeptical of him. "I.." He lets out a disappointed sigh. "I was at Maddie's house- and well- her dad kinda walked in on us..y'know." He explains, twiddling his thumbs nervously. My face scrunches up in disgust as I throw the nearest pillow at him, "Ew! I didn't need to know that much!" I exclaim, a chill of utter disgust running through my body as he quickly catches the pillow before it hits his face. I hold the bridge of my nose between my thumb and index finger, closing my eyes in attempt to erase the image from my head. "Anyway, that still doesn't explain why you're here." I mention, dropping my hand. His face lights up, remembering what he was supposed to tell me. "Ah right, he tried chasing me until I jumped out the window- and then he followed me outside and started chasing me with a bat." He explains, smiling proudly.

"So you came here?!" I ask sarcastically, not wanting an angry father to come banging on my front door. "Well yeah, I'm pretty sure I lost him a couple blocks back though." He adds while pointing his thumb behind him. Groaning, I walk back to my bed and sit down on the edge, putting my face in my hands as my elbows lean on my knees. "I'm sorry if I woke you, I just didn't know where else to go." Gaten admits, his voice kind and innocent. "Wait, you screwed Maddie Ziegler?" I assume as my eyes widen with fear. His cheeks grow red, only slightly visible from the moonlight shining through the clouds. "Uh.. well yes." He confirms, scratching the back of his curly head. "Gaten, you do remember that Maddie despises Finn because he rejected her- right?" I ask flatly, to which the nervousness on his face only grows. "Well yeah, but-" "Then why'd you do it?! You know she holds grudges, and you know she hates your best friend, so tell me Gaten Matarazzo- why on God's green earth did you screw her?!" I scold, putting my hands up in the air. "Listen Millie, I'm sorry- it was just a.. one night stand. That's all." He defends, putting his hands up in surrender. "And to think, I thought you were the pure one." I mumble quietly, rubbing my hands down my face. "Oh Millie, none of us are pure." Gaten confirms, chuckling softly.

After a few moments of me contemplating what to do with him, I break the silence between us. "Okay, well I'm pretty sure you've lost him by now so you can leave now." I state with my hand pointed to the window behind him. Yes, I know that made me sound like a rude bitch- but frankly, right now I don't care. "Yeah, course. Just Millie, please don't tell anyone about this." He pleads with one leg already out the window, a hopeless look in his blue eyes. I shake my head in defeat, knowing I can't deny him. "Fine.. as long as you don't do it again." I agree. His face lights up with a heart-warming smile, making me almost want to take it back. "Promise. Again, sorry for being an annoyance- and.. thanks Millie. I know I don't deserve a friend like you." Gaten admits, pressing his lips together in guilt. "Oh shut it, don't get all mushy on me now Matarazzo. You're supposed to be the good-doer." I mention, smiling as I punch his arm teasingly. A similar smile forms on his face, "Yeah, I guess you're right. And that's why we can't tell anyone about this; wouldn't want the glue to melt, now would we?" He jokes with a cheery smile. Rolling my eyes, I gently nudge him as a sign to get out of here, to which he does without another word. As soon as his red, white, and blue is no longer visible on the road I trudge back to my bed and fall back asleep before I could even count to 10.

-

Soon the night becomes day, resulting in something that I honestly wish didn't exist: school. During this morning while getting ready, I couldn't help but feel.. weird. It was probably due to the fact that I was only one there, and the silence was driving me insane, or maybe it's because one of the most exciting nights of my life is happening today. Either way, I'm still anxious to just be there already. Sitting in English, I continue to jot down various sentences in my notebook, glancing my eyes over to see if Finn is still staring at me with his head resting on his folded arms that act like a pillow over his desk. Luckily, he hasn't noticed my shifting eyes and reddened cheeks. But even if he did, I'm sure he'd still continue staring at me with his studying eyes and innocent expression. I've gotten used to his gaze by now. Almost everyday, I can catch him staring at me during class or lunch; but always with that same careless face and wondering eyes. It's almost as if I'm a work of art that he can't help but look at and want to study from each angle possible, though I could say the same for him. A smile creeps up my lips as I take a longer glance than usual, his eyes connecting with mine as he notices my hand stop writing. The faintest start of a smile tugs at the corners of his lips before he casually looks away, resting his chin on his arms so he's facing the teacher again. And with that I go back to writing. "And that's all the time we have for today! Your essays will be due by the end of tomorrow."  Mr. Keery reminds us just as the bell rings, sending all of the students tumbling out of the classroom.