Word Count: 2713
"Millie, you have to come," Noah whined as he walked alongside the girl whose voice was practically nonexistent at this stage. "I'll shout you, please. Please, please!"
"Noah," she tried to scold him but her voice came out weak due to her cold. She rolled her eyes and rose her eyebrows, "see? I can hardly even talk." Her sentences were short and the volume slowly decreased the longer they went on.
"Okay, so... don't have any ice cream! Just, please come. We can leave earlier than everyone else if you start to feel unwell." He continued to harras Millie about joining him at the ice cream parlor in town with the rest of their group. They'd organized it during school, but Millie had never intended on going. All she wanted was to go home and crawl up in bed.
She gulped, besides the immense pain it caused due to her swollen and scratchy throat, and muttered quietly, "fine. I'll come, for a bit."
Noah's face lit up and his lips transformed into a wide grin, showing off his straight teeth. Millie couldn't say no to him, he was too excitable. "Yes!" She wasn't sure why he was so persistent in her coming, considering he had other friends going. It was just their group of friends so it wasn't like he wasn't going to know anyone.
Millie tugged her warm jacket closer to her body as they walked to meet their friends. She had a scarf wrapped around her neck to keep her as warm as possible. She hated being sick. It wasn't common for her, but when it did happen - it was bad.
By the time the two of them had walked out of the school, all their other friends were waiting out the front, sitting on a small concrete wall. Caleb had been upset all day and this hadn't changed, Millie wasn't sure what was up with him, all she knew was that Sadie was extremely worried. Hence, it wasn't a surprise when she was sitting close him and holding his hand, whilst his head was turned downwards.
Millie decided that not saying anything was definitely the best option, so instead, she followed Noah to their other friends as he harassed them to hurry and get in the car - well, cars. He was more excited than Millie had seen him in a while, jumping up and down as he shoved people in the direction of the parked cars. Despite the stern nature of his voice, he had a wide smile on his face that never subsided.
———
Barely any words had left Millie's mouth since they'd entered the ice cream parlor, and it wasn't that she was upset or anything; it just killed her to talk. Her throat was scratchy and every time she spoke the pain was a combination of a burning and stinging sensation. The mango sorbet Noah had bought her was actually somewhat soothing this pain, so in a way she was actually thankful he'd forced her to come.
Her fingers gripped the small plastic spatula she was using to mix the melting sorbet in the plastic cup (which all her friends had made fun of her for getting over a waffle cone) when the person beside her in the booth bumped shoulders with her, "are you okay?" Finn whispered, causing her to break her eye contact with the melting dessert food that they were eating at 3:26 pm on a Monday.
A dry cough escaped her lips as she tried to talk, likely a result of her not even parting her lips for a while, "I'm good," she spoke quietly to avoid her voice coming out as raw and croaky as it was. She hated when people fussed over a cold; she knew she was quite unwell but a simple cold is something that'll pass in no time. Millie shrugged her shoulders and just rubbed her neck gently, hoping he'd understand without her having to explain.
The curly-haired boy pursed his lips in a thin, straight line as he nodded his head. His hand softly rested on Millie's leg underneath the table and gave her thigh a gentle, comforting squeeze which only lasted a few moments before he lifted it and brought it back up on top of the table. The spot where his hand just was was now colder than before and she had butterflies in her stomach. Seriously, Millie? She scolded herself, he barely touches you and you act like this?
