a phoenix in the fire » fillie

chapter 10 ↝ confrontation

YOU DIED. I SAW YOUR BODY. YOU DIED.

It was the week after Millie's funeral. None of her friends were calm or even in the process of moving on.

Sadie was out of the hospital. Sorely shaken and scared, she refused to leave her house for anything other than school. She was probably the one most stuck in the past. Everything reminded her of her former best friend, and the idea that Sadie could never see Millie again for a long time, broke her into pieces.

Caleb was okay. He was flirting around with some of the other juniors, and it was working. He was popular enough that most girls had a small crush on him. When he arrived at the lunch table with his arm around another girl, Sadie had completely shut down. After that incident, Caleb had to sneak around her.

Gaten was moving on the most. He really pushed himself with his vocals, having to stop singing and even talking for days at a time to rest his vocal chords. He had asked Maddie out, and she accepted. They were on their second date now, and it seemed to be going well for Gaten. He moved quickly it seemed.

Noah was unexplainable. He had gotten worse. The stress of Millie and the stalker caused him to develop a new habit: breaking the law. He got high. Any kind of drugs he could find, he would do. And maybe Noah just really wanted to do drugs. Maybe he really was curious enough to want to try them. Or maybe Millie's unexpected effect on them was finally reaching a breaking point.

Finn was Finn. He surrounded with guitar music and tried to learn what he could. He loved 80's music. His goal was to finish learning "Should I Stay Or Should I Go?" but it reminded him so much of Millie. Noah first introduced it to the group, and it became their song. Millie had taken that song with her. If it played, the group would freeze and meet eyes.

They couldn't survive without her, and Millie knew it. They also hadn't received any cryptic texts from M or Millie since the funeral. They were anxious, waiting for something to happen.

Millie had told them to find the box full of stalker letters and mementos, but when the group searched her room, they couldn't find it. The box was gone. Or, Millie had made it all up. Maybe there was no stalker, and maybe Millie was really dead, and some sick twisted person was using Millie as a persona. It didn't make sense.

There were rumors that Mr. Heaton and Ms. Dyer were seeing each other in a romantic way. The teacher and teacher's aide didn't deny nor confirm it, but it was blatantly obvious that they were more than friends.

It seemed that everyone was moving on from Millie. Everyone was finding some way to cope whether it be healthy or illegal.

Then, a week turned into two weeks. Gaten was the first to receive an 'M' message. The group was gathered at school again. It was lunch. Finn was strumming his guitar, playing some song that they didn't really care about when Gaten's phone rang. Finn halted, his pick mid-strum. Sadie squeaked out of fear. She had been left with a little delicate scar on her arm, the only reminder of the car accident.

Gaten opened the text. His eyes widened as he read it aloud. "Moving on with the trash, I see. I can't expect much from you, weak link. Prepare to break, xoxo -M."

"What the hell?" Sadie was first to ask.

"Is she serious?"

"What's she going to do?" Finn whispered. "What dirt does she have on you?"

Gaten sighed. "I'm not sure. I've had my share of embarrassing moments, but I've never really broken the law."