something stranger || sillie ✔️

10 || Don't Get Burned

|| Sadie ||

It's two full seconds before I have the sense to pull away. I want to yell at her. WHAT THE HELL, MILLIE!! I HAVE A BOYFRIEND!! But I can't.

"I'm so sorry. I must've read the whole situation wrong. I just thought..." Tears hide in Millie's eyes. My lips tingle.

"Millie..." Is all I can get out.

Kissing her is like nothing I've ever experienced. It's not like kissing Caleb. None of this is like being with Caleb. Maybe it's simply because it's a girl. Or because it's Millie. 

"Oh my god, oh my god, ohmygod," Millie breathes, a few tears leaking out.

"No, Millie! Stop! Don't cry-" I reach up and wipe her eyes with my sleeve. "Don't cry, Mills."

But I feel like I might cry as she looks up at me. She mutters something so quiet I almost can't hear it. 

"Could you ever love me?"

I wait for a second. Yes. No. 

Caleb. What would he think? I should be thinking about his feelings. That should be the priority. But Caleb... Especially after tonight, I don't know if we were meant for each other. NO. That's crazy. You've been dating since middle school!! You love him.

But you love Millie too.

"Sadie?" 

"Maybe," I say. Maybe. Does that mean yes? I'll have to figure that out later.

"Guys?" Karolina knocks on the door.

Sparks are definitely flying here. I just hope no one gets burned.

|| Millie ||

I kissed her. I kissed Sadie Sink. I kissed my best friend.

I lie on my bed in a blissful coma. It's late, and I should be asleep, but after what happened tonight, I can't quiet my mind.

She said she could love me. Maybe, she said. That means yes, eventually. She frowned at her mention of Caleb. She pulled away only after what felt like forever.

I can't stop thinking about her. Sadie dancing. Sadie singing. Sadie laughing. Sadie crying. Sadie hugging me. Sadie kissing me. Sadie.

Dacre drove Sadie home after walking with Karolina and I next door to our house, and I watched the whole time as they got in the car, as they pulled out of the driveway, as they turned the corner; from my bedroom window, I watched Sadie leave.

I'll see her again tomorrow at school. And now that our friendship is fixed, I'll sit with my friends again at lunch. Maybe I'll invite Noah and Finn to sit with us. All of my friends in one place. That would be amazing.

Karolina of course asked me if Sadie and I worked it out as we walked upstairs to our rooms, and all I said was "Yeah," as a grinned like a Jack-in-the-Box. I want this kiss to be something just for me and Sadie, at least for now. After all, it was extra special for several reasons. It was with my first and true love. And it was my first kiss. Basically the most perfect thing ever.

I crawl under the covers, still grinning, and eventually fall asleep. I never even think to wonder if there could be a downside to this.

|| Sadie ||

When Caleb picks me up the morning after... Millie and I, he seems oblivious to last night.

"So..." I mutter.

"Did you have a lot of fun with Millie last night?" He snaps. Yikes. Maybe not so oblivious.

"What? What do you remember from last night?" I try to sound innocent. How could he know about...

"Well," he starts. "I remember you and I were at the party, and you pushed me away and locked yourself in a bedroom with those pricks Karolina and Dacre-"

"They're not pricks," I glower. "If anything, you're acting like a complete asshole right now."

"You just left me at the party! You pushed past me when you all came out of there and when I asked where you were going, Dacre just told me to leave you alone. You do realize I needed you too right? To be there, with me? Do you understand that those people... I don't..."

"I'm sorry, I know, I didn't think you... But listen, Caleb, you weren't exactly fun to be around! Thank God we ran into Dacre and Lina because... I don't know something might've happened."

"God, Sadie, it wasn't... I'm so damn tired of always being painted as the bad guy. Always. YEven before people know me... And it doesn't help that a bunch of suburbanites see me get pushed off by some... girl, when they don't know the full situation. I don't know those people! I didn't... but once they see that they think they know me. Sadie, it sucks..."

I'm silent. I feel so blind for not picking up on the way that, wow, maybe I'm not the only issue in his life.

"And then I hear someone jokin' about how my girlfriend is going to go fuck her best friend instead of me, I..." He laughs ironically.

"That's not what happened," I say quietly, staring down at my fingers. Fingers that caressed Millie's face, wiping away her tears. Fingers that ripped Caleb's hands off of me. "And I'm sorry..."

"Well, what did happen?" Caleb demands after a moment of silence. I stare at him. He's glaring at the road.

"Y-you were drunk. You misunderstood." I stammer.

"What fucking happened, Sadie?!"

"I KISSED HER!" I scream at him, then I clasp my hands to my mouth as Caleb violently swerves into a Waffle House parking lot. Several drivers lean on their horns.

"Caleb, you're gonna get us killed!" I shout, gripping the door.

"What the fuck, Sadie?" Caleb hisses. He turns off the car and swivels to glare at me, his voice and eyes like ice.

"I mean... She kissed me," I say weakly.

"And I was naïve enough to think the rumors were bullshit."

"They- they are! That's not why I went over there, I promise. And I- I pulled away."

" I loved you so much, Sadie. You understood me, you saw me."

I keep my eyes fixed on my lap as a few tears drop onto my jeans.

"I don't want to break up with you," Caleb finally says as he restarts the car. I stare up at him hopefully, eyes blurred by tears. I can't tell exactly what kind of a look he's giving me. 

"I don't either," I cry. But I understand. He understands. Things have changed. They've been changing.

Caleb says nothing, just keeps driving to the school. We're definitely late, so it's only us in the parking lot, a gentle autumn breeze rustling my hair. He walks a little ahead of me as we enter the school, and when we reach the door to my first period, he turns around and stares me down with dewy eyes.

"It's okay," he resigns. "I know it hasn't been great between us. I feel it too, don't worry. If... I don't know, if it's really because of Millie, I don't care. I don't mind." 

I nod, trying to keep my composure. "Thank you."

He shakes his head tiredly. "Anytime."

And I give him a final kiss, and in this I feel all the rushes of all the kisses before and all the fading with it. "I love you. I'm sorry."

He holds me in a steady embrace. "It's okay."