Sam

"You're an artist."

"I just doodle sometimes."

"That picture you gave me wasn't just a doodle. It was great."  

Millie didn't reply.

I tapped my fingers on the steering wheel as silence filled the car. It was kind of nice, though. It wasn't uncomfortable — just...quiet. It wasn't like in class, where there was tension and awkward pauses. It wasn't like when we had to make small talk while waiting for the mailman. It was pleasant.

"Sometimes," Millie said, finally, "I just start drawing. I don't really pay attention. It just happens."

"Well, whatever happened was kind of amazing." I smiled as I eased off the gas and pressed my foot against the brake, halting at a stop sign.

"You're a good subject." I could feel her looking at me, but didn't turn my head. "You sit still for long periods of time and your facial expressions are amazing. I can almost tell exactly what you're feeling, just by the look on your face. Not a lot of people are like that."

"What am I feeling, right now?" I looked at her briefly out of the corner of my eye before returning my gaze to the road.

"You're happy," she murmured softly, putting her hands on her thighs. "And maybe a little surprised that I came with you."

I bobbed my head. "You hit that right on the mark."

"Can you tell what I'm feeling?"

"Nope."

"You didn't even look at me."

"I don't have to. You're hard to read."

Millie made a small noise of annoyance. "I'd like to disagree, but my sisters tell me that a lot."

"Your sisters are funny."

"They're annoying. Did you see them, fighting to get at you? They think you asked me on a date."

I raised my eyebrows, switching lanes as we approached a 7/11. "Did you think that, too?"

"No. I mean, you didn't. You were just being nice." She paused. "Right?"

I smiled. "Right."

When Millie realized that we were pulling into a parking lot, she sat up straight and leaned forward to peer out the window. "What are we doing at 7/11?"

"Slurpees," I said, trying to keep my voice even.

She looked at me. "Slurpees?"

"Yes." I shut off the engine and turned to look at her. "When was the last time you had a Slurpee?"

"Um, like the middle of last summer."

"Same. And to be honest, a summer hasn't really started until you get a Slurpee, right?"

Millie tucked a nonexistent strand of hair behind her ear. "Right."

"So, I think if we're going to go on a Beginning of Summer road-trip, we need Slurpees and other provisions."

"Provisions. I see." Millie's bottom lip twitched. "Well, I'm in, then."

I threw open the car door. "Let's go!"

Millie laughed, and I looked at her in surprise as she slid out of the car after me.

"What?" She looked at me.

"I've never heard you laugh."

She rolled her eyes and brushed past me on the sidewalk. "Don't be crazy."

I followed behind, reaching past her to grab the door and hold it open. She nodded her head, thanking me, before sliding out of the hot air and into the cooled convenience store.

"What kind of provisions are we in search of, besides Slurpees?" Millie asked me, trailing her fingers across the metal racks.

"Chips, beef jerky, something sweet, and Slurpees. Maybe some water just in case we get sick."

"Are you planning on us getting sick?"

"Well, it's not summer if you don't end up puking all the nasty stuff you ate, right?"

Millie wrinkled her nose at me. "I've never puked up junk food."

"What?" I put my hands on her shoulders. "Are you okay? Are you facing troubles at home?"

Millie laughed again, and it was still surprising enough that I jumped a little. "Drew and Angel don't like junk food. Leni and Luce sneak it in the house sometimes, but it's kind of a rare occasion. We're really big sea food freaks."

"Mmm, I see, I see," I nodded my head seriously. "Well, now we have to make you puke."

"Do you realize how bad that sounds?"

"Yes, but I already said it and I can't very well unsay it, can I?"

Millie shrugged and turned out of my grip, grabbing the first bag of chips she saw. "Do you like sour cream and onion?"

"Yeah, but they'll make your breath smell rank for hours."

Millie tossed them back on the shelf. "Well, that's out, then."

"No, get them. Then we can get gum and chew it really loudly and annoyingly."

Millie snorted. "As long as it's spearmint."

"Duh." I grabbed the three candy bars closet to me. "What kind of Slurpee do you want?"

"Coke."

"You're my kind of girl."

She glanced at me sideways, her teeth sinking into her bottom lip.

I grinned and moved backward, away from her.

When I had first showed up at Millie's front door, I hadn't been planning on asking her to go driving. I hadn't even planned on ending up at Millie's house, but when I'd gotten out of the car, Daphne had been standing there, looking at her phone, and I really hadn't planned on asking her if Millie was home, but it had come out. And once I'd said it, there was no going back.

Daphne had seemed all too delighted to invite me up to the house while she checked to see if Millie was around.

I wasn't really sure how we had ended up here. It had been a blur, asking Millie to go driving and it was surprising that within that blurred time period, she'd agreed. I was still somewhat waiting for her to tell me she was done and wanted to go home.

After acquiring our Slurpees, I met Millie at the counter. Her arms were full of bags of chips, three types of beef jerky, and at least five different candy bars.

My eyes widened. "Um, Millie?"

She looked at me sheepishly. "I told you I don't get a lot of junk food. I'm curious."

I grinned widely. "I think this is going great."

Millie rolled her eyes and tossed our stuff down on the counter. After we paid, I grabbed the bags and held the door open for her. She practically danced out of it, humming under her breath as she sucked down her Slurpee.

"Whoa," I said, tossing our stuff in the backseat. "Don't get a brain freeze."

"It literally feels like forever since I had one of these."

I laughed and unlocked the doors. Millie slid in at the same time as me, slamming her door behind her. "I'm glad you're enjoying yourself."

"Me, too," she said.

And then something amazing happened.

Millie wasn't looking at me, but I was looking at her. Her mouth was twitching, and then...

She smiled. Millie Clearwater looked at me, Sam White, and she smiled.  

Almost immediately it started raining. Great, giant heaps of water came from completely out of nowhere, splashing down the windshield and rolling over the sides of the car.

"Holy shit!" I yelled, and slammed my fingers against the buttons to roll up the windows. Millie reacted much the same, cussing quietly as she rolled up the window on her side, trying to keep from getting drenched and spilling her Slurpee.

"What the hell," Millie said, once the windows were up. "That was seriously out of nowhere."

I leaned forward and stared through the downpour. "Insane. The news didn't say anything about rain."

Millie sighed, sitting back. "So, is our adventure on hold?"

"If you want to want to continue it later, yes." 

Millie rolled her head to look at me. "Yeah, I think I do." 

I was smiling as I started the car and pulled backward out of the parking space.

If I had been surprised earlier that she had agreed to come out tonight, I was even more surprised that she had agreed to continue whatever this was. 

There was always the chance that she'd change her mind and end up faking some kind of illness to avoid me, but for now, I was just happy she'd said yes.

"Turn here," Millie said as I pulled out of the parking lot, indicating I go the opposite way I usually went. "You can go over the bridge. It's a lot faster."

"I don't know if I should in the rain."

Millie shrugged. "You don't have to, but it cuts like ten minutes off the drive."

I weighed the options. Go over the bridge which was slightly more dangerous in the rain or spend an extra ten minutes on the streets where more people would be.

Finally, I turned the wheel and headed toward the bridge. Millie had her head pressed against the headrest and yawned. "I'm exhausted all the sudden."

"Same," I agreed, and fought to keep from yawning back. The urge finally won out, though, I found myself ahhhhhhing. Millie copied the movement, reaching up and covering her mouth with her hands.

"The rain always makes my sleepy," Millie informed me, her voice drowsy.

I squinted through the windshield. "It usually wakes me up." But I found myself getting sleepier and sleepier by the second. It was like someone had slipped me a sleeping pill in my Slurpee, because all the sudden, I could barely keep my eyes open. "Millie, I think...Millie, there's something wrong."

Millie snorted, and when I glanced at her through hazy eyes, I could see that her head had drooped forward and she was asleep.

There was something really, really wrong. As I approached the bridge, I could feel my head falling forward and then jerking backward. My hands were slippery on the wheel and the more effort I put into trying to see through the sleepy haze, the harder it was to keep my eyes open.

Everything happened very quickly after that.

My eyes fluttered shut, and my hands fell off the steering wheel, my whole body slumping forward. My foot pressed hard on the gas and the only thing that was keeping me even slightly conscious was my face pressed against the horn. Behind us, someone honked loudly, and I could hear tires against asphalt as more than one car screeched to a stop. 

"Sam?" Millie said drowsily.

"Millie...I can't..." I can't wake up...

"SAM!" Millie screamed, "SAM, OH MY GOD!"

Millie's voice was the last thing I heard before my car slammed into the railing surrounding the bridge, breaking straight through it.

We were airborne, and then there was a moment of pure, suspended silence before we fell.

Then there was a splash, a scream, and we were underwater, sinking...sinking...sinking beneath the surface.