Word Count: 1480
Millie's eyes squinted at her fluorescent laptop screen on the desk in front of her. Her legs were dangling off the chair, whilst her head laid on her arm that was resting on the desk. She was twisting the chair slightly, deep in concentration.
Her face lit up as she finally understood the essay question that was in the document in front of her. Millie sat up straight and began typing away with her fingers, her nails were coated with a peach colored nail polish that was chipping away.
Her focus was ruined when she heard a knock on her bedroom door; before she could even tell her mum to come in, Sadie walked in with a smile on her face and an overnight bag and started rambling. "Okay, so I know we didn't have any plans but everyone is out at this party tonight. I was going to invite you but I knew you'd say no because when I called you this morning you said you were really tired. And, I didn't really feel like going either, so, here I am." She finally stopped talking and took a deep breath.
Millie laughed, because how could she say no? "Okay, thank you for coming over Sads."
"I do have to ask you a favor though," Sadie held a few pages in her hand, "will you help me learn my lines for this drama play? It's a few weeks away yet, but I'm meant to have them down by the end of next week."
Millie smiled at her eager friend who was as perky as ever, "of course, Sads. Let me just pack this all away."
"Thanks, Mills! I owe you one." And with that, Millie closed her laptop screen and joined Sadie on her unmade bed.
---
"I just can't get this line, it doesn't click for me. I don't know how to explain it, but I just can't memorize it." Sadie whined, hitting the script against her face and falling back onto the bed.
She sure was theatrical, Millie thought, "it'll come to you, eventually. Should we just-" she was cut off but her phone vibrating on the bed, Sadie leaned up and they both glanced at the buzzing phone to see Finn's contact, wondering why he was calling Millie at 12:13 am.
Sadie looked at Millie, "if you don't answer it I will." Millie groaned, shaking her head and answering.
"Finn?" She questioned, Sadie, hit her arm and quietly told her to put it on speaker.
"Millie?" Finn asked back, his voice reaching both of the girls' ears. He continued before Millie could answer, "I'm at this party, and well, Noah was my ride and..." he seemed to be having trouble finding the right words and Millie rolled her eyes, looking at Sadie and mouthing, 'drunk'. "Well, could you please just come pick me up?"
Sadie nodded at Millie, looking worried. "Uh, yeah, sure Finn. Just text me the address. I'll leave in a minute."
"Thanks, Millie. I'm sorry, I promise this will be the last time." And then he hung up.
Sadie raised her eyebrows and mimicked Finn, "'I promise this will be the last time', does he do this often?" Millie stood from the bed, taking her keys and wallet out from her bag and slipping on ugg boots.
"Too often, this will not be the last time. I don't really know why he always asks me, but whatever." Millie pulled Sadie off of the bed and they quietly walked through the hallway, past her mum's silent room, and out the front door. As soon as they were in the car, Millie spoke, "I don't know if my mum would care about me going to get him because it's Finn, but I just don't want to have to explain it to her, you know?"
"Yeah, Millie, I get it. Maybe Finn always asks you because he knows you'll do it." She smirks, putting her seatbelt on as Millie turns the car on. Millie shoots a glare in Sadie's direction as she continues, "or maybe not. It could be because you know him the best so you don't judge him or anything. You guys mightn't get on that well, but you're still close in your own way."
Millie just hummed in agreement, starting to reverse out of the driveway as her phone lit up with a text message from Finn, telling her the address. It was only a few minutes away from Millie's house, and as soon as they pulled up Millie could hear the loud sound of music pumping through the house. This was the last place she wanted to be right now.
They both got out of the car and wandered to the open front door, the music was getting louder with every step they took. The house was still filled with teenagers partying. "Alright, Sadie-" she turned to talk to her friend, but she wasn't there. Looking around, she finally spotted her talking with a dark-skinned boy, Caleb.
Millie sighed, knowing she was going to have to find Finn herself, she pulled his contact up on her phone and pressed the call button, he answered after two or three rings, but Millie couldn't hear a word he said. She groaned in frustration as she hung up and texted him, 'where are you? I couldn't hear you.'
She dragged her ugg boots through the living room, which was filled with people dancing clumsily. They carried her into the kitchen, where she saw a familiar head of light brown hair standing with a familiar blonde. "Hey Gaten, Hey Lilia," she forced a smile as she approached the couple. "Have either of you guys seen Finn?"
"Hey Millie," Lilia chirped, peeling her eyes from Gatens. "I haven't seen him in a while, actually."
"I saw him go upstairs, but that would've been about twenty minutes ago." Gaten smiled, his arm around Lilia.
Millie didn't want to serve as an interruption for too long, so she just thanked them and made her way to the stairs. She peered at her phone, still no text from Finn. Once she reached the top of the stairs, she saw a door open at the end of the hall, seeing a familiar lanky boy walk out of the bathroom. Well, stumble out of the bathroom is probably more accurate.
His glossy eyes met Millie's tired ones, "Millie! I was just about to text you back!" He waved his phone in his hand and shouted the whole sentence, even when he was right in front of her.
Millie just gripped his wrist and carefully pulled him down the stairs, pushing through all the drunk dancers and towards the front door, where Sadie was standing with Caleb. "Millie, you go to the car. I'll be a second," Sadie briefly looked at Millie, before turning back towards Caleb.
"Bye, Finn. Good to see you, Millie." Caleb glanced at her with a warm smile on his face. But he was only looking at her for a moment before he turned back to Sadie.
Finn was being tugged out of the party by Millie and shoved into the back seat of the car. Millie lent in and pulled the seatbelt over his shoulder and buckling it up. Finn remained silent during all of this, and just as Millie was about to get up and go to the driver's seat, he pulled her into a very short hug. "I'm sorry, Millie."
She stared down at the drunk boy, "that's fine. You need to get home safely."
"Not for that Millie, but for taking you for granted when you help me." His voice was quiet, almost a whisper and Millie gave him a confused look, before closing the car door and walking around to the driver's seat. She hated emotional drunk talk, a lot.
Just as she turned the car on, the passenger door opened and Sadie hopped in, a big smile on her face. "Okay, let's go." She buckled her seatbelt on.
The drive to Finn's was quick, and Millie didn't live more than a two-minute drive from his. Needless to say, Millie was excited to get home and crawl into bed. Millie turned around to Finn in the back seat, his eyes were closed. She rolled her eyes and slapped his leg, "this your stop, buddy."
"Oh, okay." Finn struggles to undo his seatbelt and Millie takes a deep breath as she undoes hers and walks around to his door, opening it, undoing it herself and helping him out of the car. She walks him up to the door and he opens it to his older brother, Nick, standing on the other side. "I'm sorry, again, Millie." Finn frowns, stumbling past Nick and inside.
Nick's eyes follow Finn inside until he's out of sight, then they turn back to Millie, "thanks, there's no way he would've been able to get home on his own accord." Millie nods, opening her mouth to say something when they hear a loud crash coming from the kitchen and then a groan from Finn. "I should go deal with that," Nick laughs, Millie joining. "Thanks again, you're a good friend to him."
With that, Millie walks back to the secondhand car and drives herself and Sadie back to her house.
(A/N: feedback is greatly appreciated!)
