White Wings Read online

  Millie rolled onto her back and looked up at the sun. She felt some drops of blood drip into her eye. She wiped her eye as a teacher ran over to her and knelt down on her knees.

  “Are you okay?” Miss Sutherland asked, staring at Millie in distress.

  “My head hurts,” Millie said, looking at the blood on her hand. At that same moment, a vision came to her of when she fell over in the forest: when she rolled over on her back and wiped blood off her forehead. She shook her head and started to tear up. Her stomach clenched as the pain started to grow.

  She closed her eyes and opened them again. Benjamin was standing over her. He knelt down and stared into Millie’s eyes. Another flashback came to Millie of when that man stood over her--that man who made her feel safe. Millie shook her head again. Miss Sutherland was whispering quietly to Benjamin, then stopped and stared again at Millie. Miss Sutherland then stood up. Millie looked around and noticed that most of the crowd had gone. Mr Sterland was there, waving at the remaining students to leave. He must have told the crowd to go, but Millie didn’t hear any of that. She had blocked out everything as she fell to the ground in agony.

  Millie looked at Benjamin, and he smiled at her calmly. He slid his hands underneath Millie and ever so lightly picked her up. Millie and Benjamin never broke eye contact as he lifted her. They stood underneath the tree for a few moments just staring at each other, until Miss Sutherland told Benjamin to hurry up in her sweet tone.

  Millie was feeling weak and buried her bloody forehead into his chest. A jolt of warmness went through her body. It made her feel safe. Millie opened her eyes in shock. It was the same feeling she had gotten as that man picked her up in the forest. Visions were coming to her. She kept on opening and closing her eyes to get rid of them. She kept on shaking her head. Millie wondered to herself what Benjamin must be thinking of her. She looked up at him.

  “You’re safe now,” he whispered to her.

  She closed her eyes as more visions came back to her of when the man said the exact same thing to her. It’s a coincidence, she thought to herself. She opened her eyes and again looked at Benjamin. He was looking straight forward now. Millie buried her face in his chest and closed her eyes once more.

  Two

  A Familiar Place

  Millie opened her eyes and saw a nurse attending to her bandage on her head.

  “Oh, hello,” the nurse said nicely. “I’m Katherine.”

  “I’m at the hospital again, aren’t I?” Millie asked.

  “Yes, you are,” the nurse said as Millie moaned.

  “I just replaced the stitches on your head and I put a fresh bandage on it.”

  Millie touched her forehead as her parents came in the room.

  “I’ll leave you alone,” Katherine said with a big smile.

  Millie’s mum hugged her, and then Millie started to hurt all over. Wendy was shorter than Millie. She had dark, blonde, curly hair, cut into a bob, with just a hint of grey. Her hazel eyes matched what she was wearing.

  “Stop scaring us,” Wendy said as she stroked Millie’s cheek.

  “You gave us another scare, young girl,” Millie’s dad, Ashley, said. He was a short man, but he was still taller than Millie. He had dark brown hair that covered the back of his head and was balding at the front. He pushed his glasses back up his nose.

  “I’m sorry, but--”

  The doctor walked in, interrupting their conversation. Dr Conrad came to Millie’s side. “And we meet again,” he said as a joke.

  Millie didn’t find it funny at all. He was tall with short, brown hair and a piercing in one ear. He was young, and most girls would have found him attractive, but Millie was not in the mood for a perv.

  “Your stitches split, so we had to replace them. You have some swelling and bruising on your stomach and some scratches here and there, but besides that, you’re a healthy girl,” he said with a smile.

  Millie once again didn’t find anything funny to smile about. “Did I faint?” she asked.

  “More like passed out a few moments after the girl hit you, according to your teacher. When the other girl punched you in the forehead, it would have caused some pain and you are in a fragile state that your body couldn’t handle it. So you could feel sluggish for the next day or two.”

  Millie nodded. Her parents started to ask the doctor questions, but Millie tuned them out and thought about Benjamin. How they stared into each other’s eyes, hardly blinking. How she had the same feeling as when that man picked her up. It couldn’t be the same person. It just couldn’t. Millie never saw the man’s face. Could it be?

  * * * * *

  The doctor discharged Millie, and her parents drove her home. Millie walked up to her bedroom and closed the door behind her. Her bedroom was painted a pale pink. There were Dear John and Mean Girls posters hanging around the room. Her white desk was full of dirty laundry. The bedside table matched the colour of her desk. The sheets on her bed were hot pink, with many different coloured pillows spread across it.

  Millie walked over to her queen-sized bed and collapsed on it. She took off her shoes and her pants, and slipped underneath the covers. Her head rested on the pillows and she thought about Benjamin. All she could think about was him. She tried to think about anything else, but nothing kept her focus.

  She thought about his prominent chin and cheekbones. She thought about his crystal-blue eyes with a hint of green specks here and there. They were so beautiful to look into, so mesmerising. She thought about how his lips were perfectly even, how his dark brown hair fell just onto his neck, barely covering the top of his ears, and how the front of his hair was perfectly brushed back. She thought about his touch, how safe and protected she felt in his arms, how his chest felt so warm, how his face was perfect in every way. Millie was shocked at how much she knew about him. She kept on thinking about him as she slowly drifted to sleep.

  * * * * *

  Luke grabbed Millie’s hand and he led her into a bedroom, closing the door behind them. His short, surfy, blond hair gleamed in the moonlight that came through the blinds. He stood just a little bit taller than Millie, with his white teeth showing through his lips as he grinned.

  “What are you doing?” Millie asked with a little smile.

  “I know you like me, and I like you a lot, Millie,” he said, heading towards her.

  Luke’s and Millie’s faces were almost touching. Millie started to slowly walk backward, and Luke followed, never losing eye contact. Millie hit the end of the bed and sat down on it. Luke put both of his hands on the bed and brushed his nose against hers. Bit by bit, Millie moved along the bed till her head hit a pillow. Luke followed, always on top of Millie, never looking away from each other’s eyes.

  Luke now lay on top of Millie: hips touching hips, chest touching chest. Luke put his hand on Millie’s cheek. He placed his lips on Millie’s. They started kissing. Every kiss became harder and longer. Her heart was racing. She was finally kissing the guy she had liked for so long. His lips were firm and strong. Millie’s hands were now on Luke’s back, moving up and down. Luke’s hand was now on Millie’s chest. He massaged her chest, then slowly stroked her stomach. Millie’s cheeks began to blush.

  Luke then unbuttoned and unzipped her pants. He slowly put his hand in her underwear. Millie started to breathe heavier and heavier as he kissed her neck and face. Her whole body was tingling. Everywhere he put his hands became weak and lusted for more.

  Luke stopped and looked at her. “Do you want to?” he asked.

  Millie nodded. Luke sat up and started to take off his shirt, until something bright came in the window and hit him with such a force it repelled him across the room. He hit the wall and fell to the ground. Luke lay there lifeless. Millie was frozen on the bed in shock. She wanted to move, but she couldn’t. She looked at Luke. His eyes were white. She jumped up just as Savannah opened the door with such a force that Millie felt a breeze sweep across her face.

  “The forest is on fire!” Savannah
yelled.

  She looked at the paleness on Millie’s face, and then she saw Luke lying there on the ground with those white eyes. Savannah screamed.

  * * * * *

  Millie woke up with Savannah’s scream ringing in her ears. She held her hands to her ears till Savannah’s scream faded away. Millie wiped away a tear running down her face. As she wiped the tear away, she realised that some of her memory had come back. She had a dream and remembered something that happened. How could I not remember that? she thought to herself. How could she not remember that moment with Luke, the moment she was going to give her virginity to him? She always had a crush on Luke, and they could have become something she had always wanted. More than friends. As a couple. Together.

  Millie rolled over in distress and realised what the time was: 12:00 noon. She had slept through the whole night and well into the next day. Fortunately, she had taken that day off from school--she was taking the rest of the week off, too. Millie lay in her bed for a long time just thinking, but she didn’t want to sleep. She didn’t want to relive every one of her friends dying every time she closed her eyes.

  * * * * *

  It was a long week for Millie, but before she knew it, it was Monday once again. That morning, she put on a just-above-the-knee, navy-blue-and-white-striped dress. She packed her bag, had breakfast and her mum drove her to school.

  Once again, as she walked through the school, everyone was starring at her. Millie couldn’t decide if it was because of what happened in the forest or because she and Vanessa had had a cat fight.

  All through her lessons, she didn’t really pay any attention to what she was learning. Every time someone looked at her, she thought of what they were thinking. Were they thinking “murderer” . . . “psychopathic killer”? Were they thinking, “The bitch fight would have been so much better if it had involved mud”?

  Millie grabbed her lunch from the cafeteria and sat on a table outside in the slight breeze. She started to eat until a shadow came across her food. She looked up and saw Benjamin.

  “Hey, do you mind me sitting here?” Benjamin asked, pointing to the chair across from her.

  “No, not at all; it’s fine,” Millie said, swallowing her food.

  “How are you doing?” Benjamin asked.

  “I’m doing all right. I get random headaches and I’m having trouble sleeping.”

  “That’s not good,” Benjamin said, sounding concerned. “Is it the headaches that are causing you not to sleep?”

  “No, it’s just that every time I close my eyes, I have nightmares about my friends,” Millie said. “I relive their deaths.”

  Millie was shocked at herself for telling a guy she hardly even knew about her problems. “Sorry, I don’t normally say stuff like this to a guy I just met,” she confessed, scratching her head.

  “Maybe it’s because you haven’t talked about what happened to anyone and you don’t want all this pain kept inside of you,” Benjamin replied without even blinking.

  He’s right, Millie thought to herself. She hadn’t spoken to anyone about anything because she would always tell this kind of stuff to her friends, but now they were all gone. For some reason, Millie trusted Benjamin, even though she didn’t know him.

  “Yeah, you’re right,” Millie said, tucking her hair behind her ear.

  “It must have been hard for you to go through what happened alone.”

  “Yeah, it was,” she said, biting her lip, fighting back tears.

  Finally, Millie couldn’t keep the tears in any longer and they started to stream down her face. “I’m so sorry,” she said, feeling embarrassed. She looked through her bag, trying to find a tissue, until she saw that Benjamin was holding out a tissue for her. She grabbed it and wiped away her tears. “Thanks.”

  “Anytime.”

  “I am just so sick of crying all the time. My eyes always hurt.”

  “It’s good to just let it out, and you have been through a lot,” Benjamin said in a caring voice.

  “Yeah, it sucked going to five funerals in one week—with everyone staring at you. The parents always looked at me like, ‘Why did you survive and not my child?’” Millie said with more tears flowing down from her eyes. “They would always ask me what happened, but I don’t know, I can’t remember--I don’t want to remember.”

  “You’ll get through this,” Benjamin said, reaching for her hand.

  As he touched it, a warm feeling went through Millie’s body. She felt safe right now. She felt like she could tell him anything and he wouldn’t judge her.

  Millie looked up at Benjamin. They stared at each other in silence. She studied his perfect face. She didn’t want to look away.

  “Millie.” Goosebumps appeared on Millie’s skin when Benjamin said her name. “Everything will be fine in time. You just have to get through this, but I promise you, it will get better,” he said in the most caring voice.

  Millie grabbed onto Benjamin hand. “I really needed someone to say something like that to me,” she said with a small smile. “Thank you.”

  “No problem.” He returned her smile.

  Millie looked at their hands. She had a vision of when she and Savannah were holding hands, running through the forest. Millie shook her head and pulled her hand away from Benjamin’s.

  “I gotta go,” she said, grabbing her bag and walking away quickly, leaving her lunch behind, and Benjamin.

  “Millie,” Benjamin called after her, but regrettably, Millie just kept on walking.

  * * * * *

  Millie threw her bag on the ground and lay on her bed. She thought that Benjamin would have to think she was a complete idiot, walking away unexplained after she told him personal stuff. Millie’s mum barged into her room.

  “Mum, what have I always told you?” Millie yelled.

  “Sorry, babe, it’s just a habit,” Wendy said, walking towards her.

  “An annoying one,” Millie replied as Wendy sat down on her bed.

  “I’m just letting you know that your father has to go away again, and as usual, I am going with him. We will be leaving tomorrow whilst you’re at school and we won’t be back for a month.”

  “A month?” Millie asked.

  “Yes, a month, Millie. We have been gone longer than that before. I’ve put some money in the jar in the cupboard above the fridge for you.”

  “Okay,” Millie said in a dull voice.

  “You’ll be all right, honey,” Wendy said, tapping the top of Millie’s head.

  “Thanks, Mum.”

  “Oh, so how was your second official day back at school?” Wendy said, standing up.

  “All right,” Millie said, smiling as her mum was leaving the room.

  “That’s good.” Wendy returned her smile and then left the room, closing the door behind her.

  Millie lay on the bed thinking about her day and, of course, Benjamin.

  * * * * *

  Wendy dropped Millie off at school for the last time for a while. Millie kissed her mum good-bye. She then turned and walked into school. Millie stopped as she saw Vanessa with a black-turning-green eye, and she giggled to herself. No makeup could cover up one of my punches, she thought to herself. The bell rang, and Millie made her way to class, but she stopped right before her classroom. She saw Benjamin putting down flowers for the memorial, and Millie swore he mouthed something. Someone bumped into Millie and she looked away. By the time she looked back, Benjamin had gone.

  Lunchtime came around. Millie sat underneath the same tree that Vanessa and she had fought under just days ago. She lay on the grass soaking up what was left of the sun.

  “Millie.”

  Millie opened her eyes and sat up, startled.

  Benjamin was sitting up against the tree.

  “Oh, hey, Benjamin,” Millie said, sitting up and brushing the grass out of her hair.

  “Sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you.”

  “It’s fine.” Millie combed her hands through her long hair. “How long have yo
u been sitting there?”

  “Don’t worry, not long,” he said with a smirk.

  “Good to know. Listen, about yesterday--sorry that I suddenly left. Something came into my head and I just had to go.”

  “It’s fine. I understand you’re going through a tough time. No need to explain yourself.”

  “Cool, thanks,” Millie said, nodding her head.

  Benjamin made his way over to Millie and sat next to her. He opened up his bag and gave her some papers.

  “It’s the work you missed last week. I didn't have a chance to give it to you yesterday,” he said, nodding to the sheets of paper.

  Millie's cheeks turned rosy and she remembered walking away from him yesterday unexplained.

  “Thank you,” Millie said.

  “Don’t thank me yet. We already have a history assignment and you’re partnered with a guy named Jonathan.” Millie remembered the times in history class where she and Savannah would always persuade the teacher to let them be partners. Every time it worked, and every time they failed.

  “Just great,” Millie said. “Well, my parents are going away for a month. My dad always used to hog the computer because of work. Maybe I can actually do an assignment at my house for once.”

  “A month?” Benjamin questioned.

  Millie realised he actually looked concerned.

  “Yeah, a month. They have done it before, but Savannah always slept over when they went away and the guys would sleep over on the weekends. But now it looks like I am going to be all alone. Great timing on my parents’ part. The last thing I want to be right now is alone.”

  “Have you told anyone else this?” Benjamin asked in a stern voice.