Page 160 of Something So Strong

Her arms spread, and she steps towards me.

I slide back, my eyes still wide from the confrontation.

She retracts her hands quickly. “Don’t you remember me?”

“Of course I remember you, Millie.”

Her face lights up again, but I don’t repay her the favor. “What are you doing here?” I ask bluntly.

“No need to be rude,” she giggles, slapping me on the arm like she used to.

“I’m not… Why are you here?” I don’t have time for small talk. I need to get to Jesse and go straight back to Vistas.

She crosses her arms with a sassy huff. “And why exactly are you here?”

“I live here.”

“You do? That’s awesome. Why didn’t you ever tell me? I could have come to visit—”

“What the fuck are you doing here, Millie!?”

“Alright!” she snaps back, and year’s worth of memories come flying at me like rubber bullets. Painful, but not enough to kill. “It was a surprise trip. We got in last night and we’re leaving on Monday.”

“Aren’t you lucky?”

“What’s with the tone, Kai? We used to be best friends before you fell off the face of the earth. I thought you’d be happy to see me.”

I didn’t fall. I ran.

“You know what my life was like, Mill. You saw where I lived the last two years of high school. Why the fuck would I wanna remember any of that?”

“Come on now, you know I hate your parents as much as you do. And it was cowardly how the guys beat you up.” She reaches out and rests her hand on my forearm. “But that was a long time ago. Josh has changed.”

I tear my arm away from her. “How do you know he’s changed?”

“We were all just kids. Aren’t you overreacting a little bit?”

“The fuck did you say? You’re the one who found me in my backyard, Millie.”

“Your dad was the one who knocked you out and threw you down the stairs, not Josh.”

“Have you forgotten what happened in the park when you and Amy, Candace, and Laura all got driven away?”

“Of course I haven’t. That’s why I broke up with him, and the girls all did the same.”

“So, why are you defending him?”

Millie covers her left hand with her right. “Doesn’t time heal all wounds?”

“Show me your hand?” I’m trying my hardest to keep my composure, but my voice still comes out like a growl.

“No.” She moves it further away from me.

“Show me your hand, Millie!”

“Look, why don’t I just give you my number and if you’d like to catch up over the next few days, you can give me a call?”

“I don’t wanna catch up.” I grab her by the wrist and shake her right hand off. “What the fuck is this?”

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