Millie hopped out of bed and step by step walked over to him. “What happened? I’ve been so worried.”
“I have been suspended from school for the rest of the week. The family isn’t pressing charges,” he said, looking at his feet.
“Thank goodness that was it,” Millie said in relief.
“Typical humans,” Benjamin retorted angrily.
“Excuse me?” Millie asked, surprised.
"That wasn’t it, Millie. We Angels love humans. We aren’t supposed to hurt them. I nearly killed him!” Benjamin said in a rage, stomping across the room.
“I’m sorry. If there’s anyone to blame, blame me.”
“He forced himself on you. That’s hardly your fault.”
“But I led him on at the party,” Millie said shamefully.
“Yeah, I saw,” he said bluntly.
“You saw what happened?”
“I saw everything.” His eyes were dull. “You looked like you were enjoying yourself.”
“I’m so sorry that you had to see that. I was drunk and I wasn’t thinking.”
“Being drunk is not an excuse, Millie. You would have kissed him if his friend didn’t interrupt.”
“I don’t know what I would have done,” Millie pleaded.
“Just keep telling yourself that.”
“It’s not like we were going out then.” Millie looked at the empty space between them. “So don’t make me feel like I cheated on you.”
Silence fell across the room. Benjamin refused to look Millie in the eye.
“We’re not all as pure as you, Benjamin. I had done stuff with other guys before I met you,” Millie finally said, breaking the silence. “And guess what? Before an Angel killed Luke, we were going to have sex. You just have to deal with it.”
Benjamin squinted his eyes at her. There was no touching, no kissing, as he climbed outside the window and stood on the ledge. Millie looked up at him. His skin was gleaming in the moonlight. He turned his face and stared at her. His eyes were full of agony.
“I just need some time,” Benjamin finally said. Before Millie could say anything more, his wings ripped through his shirt and he was gone. She sat up on the windowsill and watched the moon, wishing Benjamin would come back, until her eyes grew heavy.
Seven
The Not So “It” Couple
Millie woke with a pain in her neck. A sniffle came to her nose as she realised she had fallen asleep on the windowsill. Her legs were stiff and in pain as she tried to walk on them. She hopped in the shower, thinking about what had happened last night. Her heart sank at the thought that she had hurt Benjamin. Her heart sank even more that he wasn’t going to be at school.
She waited outside for a little with hope that Benjamin would pick her up, but he never came. A sigh escaped from her mouth as she started to walk to school.
People were whispering and staring at her as she walked through the parking.
“Great. It’s already started,” Millie muttered to herself.
She started to walk towards the school when Isabel came running over to her.
“Are you okay?” Isabel said in concern. “I came to school and everyone was talking about what happened yesterday afternoon.”
“I’m okay,” Millie said in a quiet voice.
“Tell me what happened,” Isabel pressed, looking around. “Maybe not here.”
She dragged Millie to the bathrooms. “Okay, spill.” Isabel jumped up on the sink.
“Umm, okay,” Millie said, gathering her thoughts. “Well, yesterday afternoon David kissed me.” She rubbed her hand through her hair as Isabel gasped. “Benjamin saw and just lost control. He bashed him up pretty bad.”
“Yeah, I heard that Benjamin kicked the shit out of him.”
“Yeah. The family decided not to press charges, but he’s suspended for the rest of the week.”
“That’s pretty light, but it’s lucky for Benjamin,” Isabel mused, swaying her legs. “Are you sure you’re okay? That would have been hard to go through.”
“Well, Benjamin’s angry at me, which hurts me, but it’s to be expected. I kinda led David on.”
“Oh, it will be okay,” Isabel said, sliding off the counter and hugging her.
It felt good to Millie that someone cared about her. She hadn’t hugged a girlfriend since Savannah. She missed all of the girly stuff she used to do.
“Thanks, Isabel. That means a lot to me,” Millie said with a smile.
“And don’t worry about leading him on, Millie. It happens to the best of us,” Isabel said with a gentle smile.
* * * * *
“I love it how your boyfriend has a bad side and is not all Mr Dreamy all the time. Very hot,” Michelle said at lunch.
“You have got to be kidding me.” Sasha stared at Millie with apologetic eyes.
“Michelle, would you cut that out?” Isabel said, staring pointedly at her.
“What? I’m just saying,” she said, rolling her eyes.
“So your boyfriend bashed up a boy over you. That’s hard to believe.” Vanessa was standing right behind Millie; none of them had noticed her approach. Sasha and Isabel gave her hateful looks, whilst Michelle just chuckled.
“It’s hard to believe you care,” Millie said, turning around.
“Oh, I don’t. I just don’t get it how a guy even goes out with you after you killed all of your friends,” Vanessa said with a smirk.
Millie’s hands tighten into fists as her face went red with anger. Isabel put her hand on Millie’s to calm her down. Millie looked at Isabel and saw her calm face. She then took a deep breath and calmed down herself.
“Well, you better watch out. You could be next,” Millie said with a smile.
“Oh, is that a threat?” Vanessa asked sarcastically.
Millie stood up as the whole cafeteria went silent. “Your face actually looked better with a black eye.”
“Well, your face didn’t improve with that scar. Maybe some plastic surgery might fix your face up, but I doubt it.”
Millie became enraged. Her scar was her only reminder of what had happened.
“You don’t even know what happened to me, how I got this scar. I saw all of my friends die. Do you know how that feels? All the people I cared about and loved, dead. I saw their bodies, and there was nothing I could do about it. I just kept running and running until I fell over and hit my head. That’s how I got this fucking scar. Now every time I look in the mirror, I remember what happened. I have to live with that for the rest of my fucking life, you bitch. So don’t come over here and taunt me to make yourself feel better. How about you look in the mirror and think about how good you’ve got it, you prissy bitch,” Millie said in a piercing voice.
She picked up her bag and left the cafeteria whilst everyone looked on in silence.
She walked past the memorial for her friends. It had significantly shrunk since the first time she had seen it. There were only two vases full of flowers and the candles were all gone. There were a handful of photos still there, however, reminding Millie of her dead friends.
* * * * *
Ashley and Wendy finally returned from their business trip. They greeted Millie with a kiss on each cheek. She put on a happy face, but deep down inside she was worried about Benjamin. He hadn’t turned up at school after his suspension was over. Isabel kept on asking where he was, as if she didn’t believe Millie when she told her that he was on vacation. Millie tried calling him, but he never picked up.
Her parents asked how everything was going. Millie lied, telling them that her life was happy and fantastic. She told them about her new friends: Isabel, Sasha, and Michelle. Their faces lit up as she gave them this news; they were glad that she had new friends.
It was good to have a home-cooked meal by her mum. It was roast lamb with crunchy potatoes. Millie ate quickly, and by the end, she was stuffed. Her parents kissed her good night as they went to bed.
Millie fell asleep once again on her windowsill, waiting
for Benjamin to come back. He had abandoned her again, and she felt lost without him. She hated how he had left her for weeks without any explanation. This was the second time Benjamin had ignored her, but she still loved him. Regrettably, she had never told him that. She longed to tell him that her heart was his.
* * * * *
The doorbell rang as Millie ran downstairs in a yellow summery dress and opened the door. Isabel stood on the other side with her friendly smile. “Are you ready?” she asked.
“I’ll just grab my purse,” Millie replied.
“Who’s at the door?” Wendy asked.
“Oh, it’s Isabel. Remember, we’re going shopping,” Millie said as she grabbed her black purse off the kitchen table.
“Hello, I’m Millie’s mother, Wendy.” Millie turned around and saw her mum at the front door.
“Hi, I’m Isabel,” her friend replied kindly.
“Glad to meet you. It’s so nice how Millie has friends now.”
“Okay, bye, Mum,” Millie said, grabbing Isabel’s arm and leading her to the car.
“Bye,” Isabel shouted back.
Millie hopped in the back of the car next to Sasha.
“Hi,” Sasha and Michelle said.
“Who’s ready to go prom shopping?” Isabel asked in excitement as she drove the car into town.
Isabel parked the car. They hopped out and started walking around in search of the perfect dress and accessories.
“This looks hot,” Michelle said as she strutted a white, halter-neck mini dress.
“It looks great on you,” Isabel said.
“This is the one.” Michelle twirled around. “I’m buying it.”
Sasha and Millie looked through dress after dress on the racks in a shop called Everything Fabulous. Isabel joined them after she gushed over how fabulous Michelle looked in that dress.
“You’re too nice,” Sasha said.
“No harm done being too nice,” Isabel said, holding a dress up.
Millie and Sasha looked at her. “Nahhh,” they said in unison.
“Well, it looks like we’re moving on to another store,” Isabel sighed, putting the dress back on the rack.
In the next shop, called Diamond Dresses, Sasha and Isabel found their dresses. Sasha found a dress that ended just above the knee and was strapless. It was a deep purple with a silver belt around the waist. Isabel found a floor-length dress that was black. It was strapless, but on one side of the shoulder was a puffy blue strip of material. They both had huge smiles on their faces as they had found their perfect dress.
They went to two more stores until Millie too found her dress.
“Oh, my god,” Isabel said loudly. “That looks fantastic on you.”
“You will win Prom Queen if you get that dress,” Michelle said in a dull voice.
“We are not letting you leave the store without you buying that dress,” Sasha ordered. Millie smiled and twirled around with glee.
“Don’t need to rub it in,” Michelle mumbled to herself.
The rest of the day was spent getting some lunch and buying accessories. Michelle bought some red hooped earrings and some red shoes to go with her dress. Isabel bought some black studded earrings and a pair of blue shoes that matched the puffy strap on her sleeve. Sasha bought some silver five-inch heels and some silver earrings that came down to her neck. Millie bought black heels and some long straight-lined black earrings.
They laughed and sang to the songs on the radio until they dropped off Millie with a smile. Millie opened up the front door to find the house empty. There was a note on the kitchen counter:
We have gone shopping and will probably eat out for dinner.
Love, Mum and Dad
Millie put the note in the trash and sighed at the thought of making dinner again. When dinnertime came around, Millie was too tired to make the effort so she ordered pizza. When the doorbell rang, she paid the delivery man and gave him a huge smile. She ate the pizza whilst she watched TV. Wendy and Ashley came home and quickly kissed her good night, claiming that their bodies were still in a different time zone.
Millie turned off the TV and brushed her teeth. She once again sat on the windowsill, waiting for her Angel to come back to her. Her head hit the window as her tiredness finally took over her body.
She could feel a light breeze on her face as somebody picked her up. Her body was being carried to bed. Her eyes opened with difficulty. It was Benjamin. His stunning blue eyes were staring into hers as he put her under the covers of her bed.
“You should stop falling asleep on the windowsill. Your muscles will always hurt when you wake up and worse you could fall,” he said, tucking her in.
He was wearing long, dark blue jeans and was shirtless. Millie admired his chest and torso. It was so beautiful that Millie forgot she was mad at him for a second.
“Well, you could heal me if you were here,” she said in a croaky voice as she became angry at him again.
She sat up as Benjamin sat on the bed.
“Remember how you said ‘I don’t want to ever hurt you again’? Well, you have, Benjamin,” she said, rubbing her tired eyes.
“I am so sorry that I have hurt you again, Millie. I don’t like the fact that I keep hurting you. I just needed some time to rethink everything.”
“Rethink what exactly?” Millie spat out.
“Us. I nearly killed a human over you. I have broken rules of Heaven to be with you. It makes me jealous that you have been with other guys. I really do hate the fact that your lips have kissed other boys, that people other than me have stroked your body, and I didn’t believe in hate until you told me that you have done other things with people.”
Millie’s face became saddened. “I’m sorry that I made you angry and jealous. I’m not a slut, if that’s what you’re worried about. I have only kissed like four guys, and I have never had sex.”
“But you would have had sex if the Fallen and the Angels didn’t have a battle,” Benjamin said, looking at the ground.
“Yeah, I would have, but the important thing is that I didn’t. I had a crush on Luke for a long time, but I wasn’t in love with him.”
Benjamin looked at her as the moon shone into the room and his skin gleamed.
“Have you been in love with anyone?” he asked softly.
“Yes,” Millie said as Benjamin’s eyes saddened.
Millie moved closer to him and gently stroked his dazzling chest and torso. “You,” she said quietly, staring at him. “I am in love with you.”
He turned his face towards her. “Even after I have hurt you so many times?”
“Yes. I do want to hate you, but my feelings will never change towards you,” she said in a sweet voice as she cupped his cheek.
He opened his mouth to say something but nothing came out. His eyes were happy but then sad.
“You know that we could never be together forever,” he managed to say.
Millie’s heart sank. She had never thought about that, what kind of future was in store for them. An Angel and a human. They sat in silence for a couple of minutes until Millie stood up. She unzipped her yellow dress and let it fall to the floor. Benjamin stared in amazement. Millie walked closer to Benjamin. She grabbed his hand to pull him up. He stood up towering over Millie, as she gently put her head on his chest and kissed it. He entwined his fingers within her hair.
They hugged each other for a while until Millie pulled away. She took off her bra and slid off her underwear. Benjamin still stared into her eyes. Millie was naked--nothing now could hide her faults. Benjamin took a step towards Millie and cupped her face with his warm hands. His soft lips kissed hers ever so gently. She wanted more, but Benjamin stopped kissing her. He unzipped his jeans and slid them off his legs.
They were both standing there naked, with no clothes concealing their bodies. Benjamin put his hand on Millie’s neck and slid them down to her hands, which he held onto tightly.
“I will never hurt you again. This time I mean it
,” he said, bringing up one of her hands and kissing the back of it. “I care about you too much.” He brought the other hand up and kissed that one as well. “I’m in love with you, Millie,” Benjamin said, planting a passionate kiss on her lips.
Millie’s heart skipped a beat. She kissed back harder and harder. Their bodies were touching each other; his naked body was sending warm volts through Millie’s.
Benjamin picked her up and gently put her on the bed. He lay on top of her, watching that he wasn’t losing control of his strength. Millie traced his back as he planted delicate kisses on her neck and cheeks. Their breathing became louder and louder. Their bodies wanted to do more, but they both held onto their self-control.
Benjamin rolled over onto his side and entwined his body with Millie’s. The kissing became softer and longer. He tucked her hair behind her ear as their eyes met. Millie put her hand on Benjamin’s cheek. They lay there for the rest of the night, their bodies entwined into one person, their hearts belonging to one another. They didn’t say a word. They just stared deeply into one another’s eyes until Millie couldn’t stop her eyes from closing anymore.
* * * * *
Millie woke, rolling over to kiss Benjamin, but she found that he was wasn’t there.
“Of course,” Millie huffed to herself.
She hopped into the shower and washed her hair. She threw a red, short, strapless dress over her head and rubbed the dress to get rid of any creases.
As she walked down the hallway, she heard voices in the kitchen. Wendy was talking to Benjamin. Millie’s jaw dropped in surprise. They both heard her and turned around.
“Since when do you have a boyfriend? And a charming one at that,” Wendy asked.
“Oh, sorry, Mum. It must have slipped my mind,” Millie said, shooting a gleeful look at Benjamin.
“The doorbell rang about fifteen minutes ago, and this young man was telling me that he was your boyfriend. I was very embarrassed that I didn’t know, Millie.”
“You guys were away when we started going out, but the next time I get a boyfriend, I’ll be sure to tell you straightaway,” Millie said with a chuckle.
“I hope you don’t get another man. This one is polite and just delightful,” Wendy said.
White Wings Page 8