a phoenix in the fire » fillie

chapter 8 ↝ the perfect storm

I LOVE YOU, BUT IT'S NOT ENOUGH.

They were still at Millie's funeral. Finn gasped, re-reading the text message.

"Kiss me on the mouth and set me free?" Sadie asked, reading the text.

"I- I kissed Millie," Finn whispered.

"Is she- what is she trying to say?" Gaten asked in reply.

"Is she alive?" Caleb interrupted. "If she is, then she better tell us what's happening."

Their phones all simultaneously rang or buzzed. "I can't say much, but I'm alive. I need your help. -M," Sadie read aloud.

"What the hell? Is she watching us or something?" Finn looked around, eyeing everyone who was leaving the church. Their phones buzzed again.

"Someone is after me. I can't explain it here, it's not safe. -M," Noah read the new text.

"She's alive then," Finn exhaled shakily.

"I- whose body was that then?" Sadie horrifiedly questioned. They stared back at the shining and gleaming casket. It seemed to dare them to open it, to see who really laid inside.

"Did- did someone kill someone for Millie?"

"Or did Millie kill someone to make it look like she died?" Caleb asked.

"What the actual heck just happened?" Noah continued to ask questions.

"Was she alive this entire time? She spent a year making us go crazy, and now, Millie just expects us to drop everything to help her?" Sadie blurted. Her phone dinged with a new message.

"I almost forgotー if even one of you doesn't help me, I'll reveal everything I have on you. All of you. -M."

"Well, that answers our question," Noah sighed.

"What does she even think she has on us?" Sadie asked again and nervously ran her hands through her hair. She knew exactly what Millie had on her.

"Knowing Millie, everything we told her could be used as ammunition against us," Finn stated, sitting back down on the pew seat. "The way she took down bullies using their own wordsー she wouldn't hesitate to do the same to us, and she knows that we can't fight her."

"It'd be like suicide. It's our word against a dead revered girl. You can't beat that," Caleb murmured, re-wrapping his arm around Sadie.

"I'm sorry for last week," Noah apologised. "It was unfair for me to say you were both together."

Sadie sadly smiled and shrugged. "It's okay, Schnapple. Just, you all know that Caleb and I are friends. We've established that over and over again."

"I remember," Finn laughed, "and I quote, 'women can be friends with people with dicks, and not hop on them.'"

"Ariana Grande," Sadie exclaimed. "You remembered," she softly finished, touched by the gesture.

"It's the only thing you've been saying for the past month, Gingerbread," Caleb chuckled. He was chill and easy-going with everyone, which made him a more likable guy.