ghost // fillie

033

033

a few hours earlier

"you're mad,"

sadie slammed the car door shut as she settled into the passengers seat.

"no, i'm not," sadie said, her words' sharp edge seeming to jab at caleb. she leaned back, crossing her arms. she kept her eyes on her house, watching the seemingly empty room through the window.

"you sure?" he asked, putting the car in drive.

sadie nodded, "yeah,"

she kept her arms crossed and her eyes straight forward. as caleb drove on the road, towards the movie theater, he was silent. the radio was playing quietly in the background. but sadie didn't notice. she was thinking.

sadie was thinking......maybe she had been too hard on millie. after all, sadie had just found out that modine had impregnated her and ten minutes later, sadie was fuming, storming out the door.

suddenly, snapping her out of her thoughts, caleb pulled over on the side of the road, putting his hazard lights on.

sadie drew her eyebrows together, "what are you doing?"

caleb put the car in park, "i've known you long enough to know when you're mad. did i do something?"

sadie shook her head, running a hand through her hair, sighing, "god, no. god no caleb, none of it is your fault,"

caleb bit his lip, "then, what's going on sadie? please, we need to know. you're not talking to me or to gaten- or to any of us. neither is finn. we're worried,"

sadie suddenly scoffed, "is that why you asked me on a date? because you were worried about me?"

caleb held up his hands, shaking his head, "no no no! of course not. i really like you sadie. but, that doesn't mean i'm not worried,"

sadie rolled her eyes, "god. i just.....how do you expect me to be? millie....," suddenly, she but her lip, her heart falling, sinking to her chest, "millie should've been here before you came, helping me glam up and telling me i look gorgeous and that i should go get 'em. she should be telling me there's nothing to be nervous about because as long as i'm myself, everything will be okay,"

sadie hated the sound of her voice cracking. she felt like it made her sound stupid and weak, and when her voice cracked in front of caleb, she felt ten thousand times worse.

"sadie....,"

sadie shook her head, "im sorry. i'm sorry. i'm ruining our time together and we haven't even started hanging out yet,"

caleb shook his head, "no it's okay. sadie, don't apologize for being human. for having feelings. we can do something else instead of a movie. we can go somewhere else. a calmer place,"

sadie smiled, "thanks. that....actually means a lot. and i think i know a place,"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

there was a park about a block from millie's house. sadie picked it because it had a lot of trees that protected the benches from being buried in the snow.

even though it was winter, and there was a decent amount of snow, those benches always seemed fairly empty.

she and caleb spent an hour or two talking on those benches about random things, stupid things. it made sadie feel....at peace. everything around her sometimes felt so overwhelming, like there was a cloud of smoke she could never seem to outrun. but with caleb, everything felt clear- like she could breathe.