8:42 AM

12/24/2019

Cold.

All she could feel was cold.

Not just from her own surroundings, but from within herself. The freezing weather outside that leaked through the constrictive chamber hardly had an effect on her anymore. At this point, the shivering was caused by her own fear. As the mechanical bear that acted as her executioner slowly counted down, likely relishing the suspense of it all, her fears grew.

Fears of her life being cut short with a single swipe of a blade, a blade held by something that was supposed to be harmless. That was also another factor in her fear. The fear of being in this situation to begin with. This... thing... animal, creature... monster... shouldn't be alive. It shouldn't be talking. It shouldn't have such an extensive knowledge of such grim subjects such as different execution methods throughout the centuries. This thing was made out of metal, wires, and pipes. It's a robot and it's able to express such complex behaviors that only a human could be capable of. How such a thing was even possible was beyond her and should only belong in a fictional world. Even so, she couldn't wish this on anyone, even a fictional character. The slow realization that your life is in real danger and the utter hopelessness you'd feel would be paralyzing.

That's another factor in her fear: hopelessness. Even she knew she had a small chance of escape. All she had to hold onto was the faint and fleeting ember of hope of her plan actually working and the desire to make up for her mistakes. She wanted to apologize to the people close to her and make things right with Dylan, the only person she could call a friend in a long time before she fucked everything up. She wanted to hug her parents again despite how much embarrassment they caused her. She just didn't want to die.

What was she thinking? Wishing for death, even if it wasn't genuine. This was probably karma coming to collect its due. A part of her believed that she deserved this, that she should be the only one sentenced to die for crimes everyone commits.

Yet... that's not how she wanted her life to end.

Did she really deserve to die in such a cruel way? Would anyone deserve this? No. She was just a kid, a kid that felt like the whole world was against her, a kid who made stupid mistakes, a kid who just wanted a second chance to live. Was that so wrong? All Millie asked was to receive a second chance, just one.

She put her hands over her ears as the bear began its countdown and curled herself up into as tight of a ball as she could.

"Trois..."

Silently, she started sobbing to herself. Was this what it felt like to feel death's embrace? Was it truly this cold?

"Deux..."

No! Millie needed to think positive. She was going to live. She was going to get one last chance at life and make the most of it. She was going to apologize to her grandpa, her parents, Dylan, everyone! If she did all that, she would matter! No.... She already mattered. She just didn't see it before...

"UN!"

The voice announced with glee. Not even a second after, the rusty blade sliced clean through the chamber and passed right over Millie's head. The blade was so close, she could feel the wind passing right over her head and just barely touching her hair... but it missed. For a moment, everything was quiet. Then, the panic set in.

Millie scrambled to get her bracelet to slide through the crack in the creature's stomach hatch. Her hands shook violently and she tried and failed to keep them steady enough to slide the bracelet through the slot. She desperately held onto her hand holding the bracelet with the other hand, begging silently for the shaking to stop, but her breaths became quicker and the adrenaline began rising.

"Hm? Where's your head at?"

Millie froze completely when she heard the voice of her tormentor speak in confusion. She was running out of time. Carefully, she guided her hand forward and slid the straightened out bracelet through the slot. She slid it up, hoping to unlock something that could get the hatch to open. Just above her head, she could feel the blade sliding back out. To inspect her body, she thought. He likely knew he failed to kill her and the clock was ticking.

"Hey! How's your head still at-ttached?! I thought I go-o-ot you for s-s-sure!" The voice cried out.

Millie kept sliding her hand up, hoping for anything that can get the door open. Sure enough, she could feel something between the frame of the animatronic's cavity and the hatch. It had to be the lock! If she could put enough pressure onto it, it just might come loose.

"Oh well. I'll just-t have to a-aim-m lower." The voice spoke to itself.

Millie's eyes widened as she started lifting up on the lock. She could feel it lifting out of place. Sure enough, Millie was able to push it back and unlock the hatch. As hard as she could, she kicked the hatch open just in time to see the rusty metal sheet the bear was holding heading right for her. She gasped and ducked while sliding out of the robot. She did it! She was free!

She could feel something running down her head. When she reached up to touch it, she felt a stinging pain. Bringing her fingers down, Millie saw blood. The sheet must've hit her while she was sliding out, but it was too dull and she moved out of the way enough for it not to do any real damage to her skull.

"Huh? H-hey! How'd y-you break out?!" The bear shouted in surprise. Millie tried to stand, but her legs were numb from being in an uncomfortable position for so long. She wobbled her way towards the door and grabbed onto the knob.

"Wa-ait! The s-show's not over! Come b-back here! I need to give you your present!"

She could hear its heavy footsteps start moving toward her. She tensed when she heard its head collide with the ceiling. That was when she properly understood how massive the thing was. It was so tall, it couldn't even stand up straight, as big as the shed was. She panicked and opened the door, but she could still hear it behind her. What if it followed her back to the house? What if she couldn't outrun it? It would catch her and force her in that tight space again! It would make good on its promise to give her the death she asked for!

No... this wasn't what she wanted! She promised to make things better! She was not going to die after getting this far! She looked next to her and saw a shovel. She grabbed it and with a yell, she turned around and used all her strength to plunge it through the robot bear's shin. It didn't go all the way through. It didn't even get halfway, but nonetheless, it was still enough damage to make the bear stumble and fall. She wasted no time opening the door and running out. She slammed it shut and ran back to the house. Someone had to help her! She hoped and prayed that she wasn't in there long enough for the rest of her family to leave. Looking up, she could see it was still nighttime. It couldn't have been that long then! Unless she slept in there for an entire day. No! Looking closer, she could see multiple people in the windows. Yes! Someone can help her! She forced the door open, surprising everyone in the room.

"Millie? Girly, are you okay?" Her grandpa asked in concern, no doubt noticing the blood on her face. Millie couldn't help it. She fell to her knees and let out a long scream before breaking down and sobbing. Millie no longer had the energy to focus on her surroundings. All she could do is cry in a mix of terror from what she just experienced and relief that it's over. She could feel warm hands embracing her, nothing like the cold chamber she was just trapped in. She felt safe now; she was with family.

"Millie! What happened? Please, talk to me!" She could hear her grandpa say in panic. "Millie, you're bleeding! What happened?"

"Oh my gosh!" She could hear her aunt Sheri say in shock in the background.

Millie couldn't speak. She could just embrace her grandfather tighter, as tight as she could. She didn't want to lose this feeling. She didn't want to lose him. To her relief, he didn't let go. He gently rubbed her back and comforted her.

"There, girly. You're okay. You're okay, you hear? You're alright." He comforted. That's right. She was okay. She was safe. That monster in the shed wasn't going to follow her.

Not long after that, she unfortunately had to let go so that her aunt could clean off the blood with a wet towel and put some gauze on her forehead.

"Millie, can you tell me what happened? Did you trip?" Her grandpa asked. Millie sniffled. She still couldn't speak, but she pointed out the window towards the shed.

"You were in the shed? Oh, sweetie, you should be more careful in there. No wonder you hurt yourself." Her grandpa tried to comfort her. After more sniffling, Millie finally spoke.

"That... bear... in the shed. It tried to..." Millie started.

"You mean Freddy?" He asked. Freddy... so that was its name...

"I tried getting away from the party and that... that thing turned on and it tried to... it tried to... cut off my head." Millie said, shaking in place. "Grandpa... we have to get rid of it! I don't know if it's going to get back up, but we need to get rid of it, take it apart, w-w-whatever!" She begged.

"Millie... that old bear can't hurt a thing. I tried getting him to work for a while, but I could never get him to turn on. You sure you didn't hit your head on something, Millie? I have a lot of tools in there I shouldn't have laying on the-"

"NO! Grandpa, I-I know what I saw! That... that thing tried to kill me! It's alive and it... it talked to me, grandpa! Please, I know it sounds like I'm crazy, but please just take it to the junkyard or something! I don't care! Just please get it far away from here! From anywhere!"

Her grandpa sighed deeply and held her hand. "Look... Millie... I know it's been hard for you-" Millie began laughing. She didn't know why she began laughing, but it just started happening. "I get it! You think I'm crazy!"

"Millie..." Her grandpa started, but she interrupted him.

"I mean... why would you believe something like that? I know, okay? I didn't believe it either, but please! You have to trust me! That bear... Freddy..." She started, grimacing after saying its name. "Is not safe! It's fucking alive! So just... please... just please get rid of it! Take it apart, sell it, I DON'T CARE!" She started crying again. "I just... I'm scared, grandpa!"

Her grandpa stared at her with wide, concerned eyes, eyes that cared about her, eyes she should've noticed on him sooner. Otherwise, she wouldn't be in this situation.

He gave another sigh before giving her a smile. "Here... I'll get Rob to look him over, make sure he can't hurt anyone. But... I need to take you to the hospital. That cut of yours looks like it needs stitches. Do you think we can do that, Millie?"

Millie sat there for a moment before nodding. Right now, she didn't care where she went, as long as it was far away from that creature. She was still worried about Rob. Sure, he wasn't fond of her, but she gave everyone in her family a reason to not be fond of her. She always acted like a brat around them. Well, after tonight, that was going to change. She made it out alive, and now, she had to keep her promise.

"Yeah. We should go."

"Okay." He smiled. "Here... I'll get your coat. It's cold out and you've been out there a while. We were getting worried about you."

She smiled and nodded before he got up to get her coat. Looking up at Rob who was about to head outside, she thought about warning him. She knew she couldn't stop him from checking outside, but she could at least say something. "Uncle Rob. Please... be careful. If it moves... please just run."

Her uncle chuckled. "Don't worry, Mills. I have my robot bear spray on me." He obviously saw this as a joke. It wasn't. She almost died to that thing and it shouldn't be treated like a harmless object, but he didn't know that.

"I'm not kidding. Be... careful." She warned.

Her uncle took on a more serious face. "Sure, kid. Don't worry about me. Worry about that cut of yours." He said before getting his jacket on to head outside. Not long after that, Millie and her grandpa walked out to the car to go to the hospital. Rob put on his jacket and walked out to the shed. He couldn't help but think about what Millie said back there. He could tell she meant what she said, but he didn't really take it seriously. He chuckled to himself. "A robot bear? I know she's got that whole goth thing going on, but still... Thomas really needs to check up on whatever the hell she's doing in that room of hers." He talked to himself as he continued down the path to the shed.

Even if she was telling the truth, it might've just been paranoia. The shed filled with Thomas' old trinkets isn't exactly nice for a kid to hang out in. Still, he'd never seen her so terrified about something. If she was making the whole thing up, he'd better give her an Oscar for being a damn good actor. He could tell she was genuinely afraid of this bear in the shed. He finally made it to the door. Whether or not Millie was lying, he was just glad she's alright. That cut did look pretty nasty and she probably needed some alone time with her grandpa so that they could have time to talk. Rob was pretty jealous of the old man. He always seemed to understand her, give her space or talk to her when she needed it.

As he opened the door, he braced himself, only to find nothing out of place with the exception of a hulking eight foot tall bear sprawled out on the floor, completely lifeless and definitely not murderous. Rob looked it up and down, looking at all the rust spots and the wires poking out. He noticed its missing right hand. "Where'd Thomas find you, big guy? You sure look ugly." He said. "Sure is gonna be a pain for ol' Tom to have to pick you back up. Maybe I should stay for a bit and help him out with that." He gave the room another once over, making sure he didn't miss anything, and was satisfied when he saw nothing else out of place. Now that he thought about it, how exactly did Millie knock this thing over? It must weigh over 600 pounds, so there's no way she could've just bumped into it and it fell over, especially in the middle of the floor like this. Now that he was looking at the floor, he finally noticed a puddle around the robot's right leg. The puddle seemed to be some kind of black oil leaking out of the leg. Did these kinds of animatronics need that much oil? Was it oil or something else to keep the thing running? Rob shook his head. Something's off about all this. Once Millie and Thomas get home, he'll have to ask her some questions about the activities she got up to in the shed.

***

9:47 PM

12/24/2019

Millie stared out the window as her grandpa drove the car. This was it. She was safe now, and now, it was just her and her grandpa. She promised she would apologize. This might be her only time to do it, knowing her luck lately.

"Hey... grandpa?" She said, looking over at him. Her grandpa turned to look at her. "Yes, Millie?" He asked.

She took a deep breath and collected her thoughts. "I'm sorry! I know... I know I was bad... I was awful! I treated you horribly! I know I've been horrible, but... but I'm sorry and I just want you to know I love you, grandpa."

He smiled at her. "Millie... you're not awful. You're just a kid. I know I don't know a lot about what you've been going through, but trust me, everyone at your age is a handful. You are not a bad person. You're just at that age, you know? I know having to deal with your parents and everything at school can be a lot for a kid like you. Everyone has acted similarly to how you acted and that's normal. That's just who we are as people. We get angry, we get irritable, and we grow up and move on. You know what? I think that you feeling bad makes you better than a lot of people your age. I'm glad you apologized. You're a good person, Millie. I hope you know that, because I know that. Your parents know that, and everyone back at the house knows that too."

A good person... She still had a long ways to go before she could call herself a good person, but it was a start. Her grandpa's words filled her with warmth and encouragement. It was a start, and she was happy she could take the first step. She couldn't help but start crying again. This time, not from fear or despair, but from joy. For once, it felt like she and her grandpa were on the same page.

Everything after that felt like a blur to Millie. She went to the hospital and they had to put stitches on the cut. Later, her grandpa spoke to the doctor outside.

"How is she?" He asked.

"The cut's deep, but it's nothing life threatening. She just needs to change out the gauze often and clean the wound every day. Apart from that, she's fine and ready to go home." The doctor said.

Thomas sighed in relief. "That's good to hear. Thank you so much for seeing her."

"It's no trouble. Now, have a merry Christmas." The doctor smiled and waved goodbye.

"Merry Christmas." Thomas responded before walking into the room Millie was in. "Did the doctor already tell you what you needed to do?" He asked, wanting to make sure Millie already knew what to do.

"Yeah. Clean the wound every day and change the gauze, right?" She asked.

He smiled. "That's right. I think we're free to go. You okay to head back home?"

Millie almost responded no, but she had to make sure her family was okay, so she had to put her own fears aside for a moment. "Yeah, I'm ready."

"Okay, good." He said before they both started walking out the room and through the halls of the hospital. On the way out, he spoke.

"Millie... I've been thinking, and... I think it would be a good idea for you to go to therapy."

Millie looked up at him, not out of surprise or anger, but like she was truly paying attention, like she was considering what he was saying, which she was. To her, therapy already sounded like a great idea. The only problem would be talking about Freddy, but other than that, it did seem beneficial to her health.

"It's just that tonight showed me that you needed help." He continued. "I know about the poems you write and what you write about. I thought it was just your way of expressing yourself and thought nothing else of it, but... after this... I just feel like you needed more help than I thought and I don't think I have all the answers to your problems. Therapy might be more helpful than I'll ever be and who knows? It might give you a new perspective on life. I just feel like all of this is my fault. Maybe I did something wrong, didn't pay attention enough."

"Grandpa... you didn't do anything wrong! It's not your fault and it never was. It was always my fault. I'm a brat who is angered easily and quick to judge. This is all my fault." Millie said. She then felt her grandpa's hand on her shoulder. Looking up, his eyes were filled with that same warmth she already knew, but also had sadness behind them.

"Didn't we already talk about this in the car? You're not the one to blame. Your behavior is normal for kids your age." He said.

"I still hurt people. There's still a lot of things I did wrong. Me being a kid doesn't excuse the things I did." Millie said, thinking about her parents, about Dylan. She hoped she could call her mom and dad sometime this week. She didn't know what to talk about in particular, but she just wanted to talk for a while, talk about anything really.

"I guess that's true. But, you apologized to me, right? It should be just as easy to apologize to the people you hurt." He said. "Millie, trust me: you don't want to grow up regretting something, especially if it involves another person."

Millie thought about his words and felt more confident in keeping her promise. Tonight proved to her that you only live once and you might not get another chance to make up for something you did wrong.

"Yeah. You're right. I want to start making up for all the things I did." Millie said.

"You can start by coming back home and celebrating Christmas with everybody else. You can open your present tomorrow along with Hayden and Cameron. What do you say?" He said with a smile.

Millie couldn't help but laugh, somehow finding joy in going to a Christmas party for once.

***

Cold.

All she could feel was cold. It couldn't have been that long since Millie got here, right? Or was it? To her, it feels like she'd been there for decades, trapped, alone. Where was she again? Oh, right. It looked like a restaurant, one most likely intended for children mostly. The large dining room was filled with rows of tables, the cloth covering them decorated with a classic design of confetti patterns. In one direction, she could make out various games such as arcade machines, skee-ball, and several tubes that kids could climb through. In another, there was a prize counter with a comically large gift box. What would be inside something so big? Millie couldn't help but wonder.

She looked in another corner and saw a large ball pit. Could that be where the cold was coming from? How? It's a ball pit. Why did looking at it make her feel uneasy as if she'd just eaten the half-assed attempt at microwaved pizza that was most likely served in this restaurant back in the day. Wait... back in the day? How did she know when this building existed? How did she know it wasn't still open today? She looked around. Everything seemed outdated, not like something you'd see in a modern pizzeria.

She looked down and gasped when a kid made a beeline toward her. She didn't see any kids earlier! She tried moving out of the way, but she wasn't fast enough. Then, the child seemed to run right through her body and keep running, making her gasp in surprise and look back at the giggling child with astonishment. Suddenly, the noises from the surrounding games and talking from people in the background overloaded her senses. Everything was quiet before, and now, every noise just hit her all at once. She looked around and saw more people. Their faces looked... off. Some of them seemed to... disappear almost, warping and vanishing for a moment before reappearing again. What is this? It's like she's here but not really here. Was this another dream? It wasn't like the other ones. It didn't scare her... not yet.

"Ladies and gentlemen! Boys and girls! Fazbear Entertainment would like you to put your hands together for the one, the only... Freddy Fazbear!" An announcer on the speakers spoke. Freddy Fazbear? Wait... isn't that...?!

Every other light in the dining room dimmed and her attention was directed towards the large stage where multi-colored lights were angled at. The big red curtains were pulled back and the performers were revealed. Her heart sank all the way down into the pit of her stomach when she saw them. They weren't human. They couldn't be. They were wearing animal suits, but she knew better that they weren't human. She saw the metal joints lying just under the gaps in the fur. They couldn't even pass as human with their janky, stiff movements. The trio looked around the room, singing an obviously prerecorded song. The kids seemed entertained nevertheless, caught up in the illusion of fantasy and fun.

The blue rabbit looked the creepiest to her. Its pinkish red eyes looked around the room as it played its guitar. Well, not really playing. More like waving its hand up and down the strings to mimic playing it. It should be the most adorable one in the group, but it just looked so wrong to Millie.

Then, there's the yellow chick on the other side of the stage. Its orange beak flapped up and down as it held a large cupcake with pink icing on top in its hand. A bib covered its round belly, saying: "Let's Eat!"

Millie shook her head. She may have changed her mind on which one was the creepiest. Actually... no, she should just stick with believing that all of them were equally creepy. Then, there was the one in the middle, the lead singer. The so called "Freddy Fazbear," she assumed. This one... this one's eyes... at least to her... were by far the worst. It was almost like it took its attention away from the rest of the patrons just to look right at her and wordlessly tell her: "I know what this reminds you of." She may be overthinking it, but that's how she felt. That brown bear looked almost... almost like him. Could he swallow her whole too? Could he trap her and make her suffer? All of them probably could.

"They're not the ones you need to worry about right now..."

Millie's heart skipped three beats at that voice, at the sudden light weight on her left shoulder. She couldn't move, couldn't even turn her head to look at him. Just barely out of the corner of her eye, she could make out a large, faded purple and white shape resting on her shoulder. She didn't need to turn her head to know what it was. It was a hand, his hand. How did he find her here? This place was supposed to be safe, there's people everywhere!

"Silly Millie."

Her eyes focused back on her surroundings. This time, things were different. The people were nowhere to be seen. The lights were all out, even on the stage, all except for six different lights. Those lights came from the three sets of eyes that she was now certain were staring at her, almost with anticipation. How she could tell what emotion they were feeling, she would never know. Were they excited to see her die?

"I've been preparing this show for a long time... just for you." The cold hand reached under her jaw and slowly lifted her head to stare up at the giant mechanical face staring back down at her with glowing blue eyes. Unlike the eyes of the brown bear on stage, this bear's eyes were malevolent, beaming with sadistic glee. It wasn't empty like the brown bear. It knew exactly what it wanted to do and had many ways to carry out that specific action. Millie just hoped it wouldn't be painful.

She was too petrified to fight back. Even if she wasn't, what could she do? She's just as powerless as she was in that shed, just like in all the other nightmares. The bear grinned before opening its steel jaws to bite down on her head. Millie couldn't hear the quiet whisper over her own screams.

***

6:00 AM

01/07/2020

Millie awoke with a deep gasp and sat up straight as she stifled a scream. She looked over at her alarm clock and hastily shut it off. She started taking shallow breaths and laid back in bed, trying her best to let her body relax.

"It's just a dream..." Millie reassured herself, brushing her fingers along the scar on her forehead. As she continued to lay in her bed, she groaned as she started to notice that her clothes were drenched in sweat. Was the nightmare really that bad? Millie couldn't help but think. To her, that one was the most tame out of the other ones. It actually confused her more than it scared her. Where was that pizzeria? Why would she dream about it? Had she been there before?

No. She would've remembered those ugly robots if she had ever been there. Those fake plastic grins and unfeeling eyes would be stuck in her psyche. Whatever that place meant, she would probably forget about it when she stepped into the shower.

Letting the hot water rush over her body, Millie stood in place and let her eyes close. The shower was the only relief she'd feel in the morning. She wasn't afraid of it anymore like she was a week ago. Last week, she wouldn't step foot in the shower, too afraid of getting boiled alive. Some therapy and her grandpa's insistent attitude nipped that in the bud.

"Please, Millie. Do you want to go back to school smelling like a barn?" He'd say with enough friendliness in his voice for it to pass as humorous, but still enough to get the point across. She still didn't feel comfortable staying in it for too long and the fact that it was a small shower didn't do her any favors. Whatever, she thought. Progress is progress...

Millie decided it was time to get out and turned the shower off. She got herself ready for the day and walked downstairs, ready to greet her grandfather who was in the middle of making breakfast. From the smell of it, it seemed to be pancakes. A small smile decorated her face.

"Good morning, sweet pea! I figured you could use some good-tasting food to start off your first day back to school!" He said as he turned to look at her with a smile. Millie's smile got a little wider.

"Thanks, grandpa." She sat down at the table. Her cat, Annabel Lee, rubbed against Millie's leg and Millie reached down to pet her. She was happy everyone in this house was in a good mood, even though it's just one other person and a cat. Still, Millie could use the positive energy.

"So, you ready for school? Hopefully, it won't be too busy of a day." Her grandpa said.

Busy... That won't even describe the half of it. It's going to be a rough day. It was time for Millie to keep her promise and apologize to Dylan, the one person she'd hurt the most. Well, two if she counted Brooke. Of course, that wasn't as direct, but Dylan still knew her thoughts on her and she would probably have to apologize to her too, not that Millie minded. It would be the first step in hopefully rebuilding their friendship. The only problem was that her brain was thinking of so many different ways it could go wrong that it brought down her desire to actually go through with it. She shook her head. No, it was going to work. She'd been spending pretty much every day during her break planning this out, writing out what to say on paper, practicing in front of herself in the mirror. This had to work.

"Yeah. Just hoping they don't shove a bunch of work into my face on my first day." Millie said.

"Well, school work is important." Her grandpa said.

"Not on the first day back from a break." Millie said.

"Well, I guess that's true. I didn't say it had to be important every day, after all." He responded with a light chuckle.

Soon, he gave Millie the pancakes and they both sat down together.

"So, Millie, since today's your next therapy appointment, I figured I could pick you up after school and drive you there. How's that sound?" He asked.

"Sounds good. I can wait outside at the front of the school." Millie answered, which earned her a smile from her grandpa.

"Good, good. Millie, I hope you know I'm trying to help you. After Christmas, I've just been so worried. I don't want your time here to be something to feel sad about." He said with a sad smile.

Millie looked down at her unfinished pancakes with pain in her eyes. The floodgates were opened and the memories were coming back to haunt her again. The cold, claustrophobic space, the robot whose eyes looked down on her with excitement at the thought of spilling her blood, the impossibility of the entire situation, the fact that the thing is still in the shed, likely waiting for her to come back, but she won't, she never will. Therapy may have helped her recover for the most part, but the memories will always be there; the scar on her head is proof of that.

Preventing herself from shedding anymore tears from the awful memories, Millie looked back up from her plate towards her grandpa. "Grandpa, I get it. I'm..." She sighed. "I'm grateful. For the therapy, I mean. It's been really helpful, and I've been doing what Ms. Banks has been suggesting. Well... some of it. But, I did get to try a few things." And that was true. In her last therapy session, Ms. Banks suggested writing poems with more wide ranging themes. Instead of focusing on just death or love, she told Millie to practice writing poems about comedy and anger to name a few. She told her this was to help practice emotional regulation. If she could write down her angry or sad thoughts on paper or just something to make herself laugh, it can help relieve stress and it can help her better understand her own emotions and how to better regulate them in moments of stress similar to when she saw Dylan with Brooke at the Bazaar.

"Emotions are a beautiful thing," Ms. Banks told her. "But they can also be our worst enemy. Teenagers like yourself struggle with them daily. Ignoring them is the worst thing you can do. Otherwise, they'll just get bottled up before they explode, like when you put a mento in a soda bottle. The soda bursts out from the bottle, right? What you want to try and do is make it so that the emotions flow out calmly like you're steadily pouring a glass."

At first, Millie thought it was just tedious, but after a bit of exploring with different themes in her poems, she'd seen improvement in some of her recent ones. The same can be said for a lot of things that require patience in life, Millie supposed.

"Really? Well, it's good you like her. I used to teach her back in high school if I remember correctly, but that's beside the point. I'm glad she's giving you good advice." Her grandpa said.

"That's kind of her job, grandpa." Millie joked.

"You know what I mean." He said with a chuckle. "Well, least now I know her advice is working. You've got a sense of humor now." They both laughed. "I'm just happy I can see you smile more."

"Yeah." Millie said simply. A few weeks ago, she'd probably think smiling was a waste of energy. Here, she felt more energy from smiling.

"But anyway, finish your breakfast. Don't let me make you miss your first day back." Her grandpa said.

Millie nodded before getting back to eating her breakfast. "Right."

After breakfast, she went upstairs to brush her teeth. After spitting out the toothpaste, she looked at herself in the mirror. She looked closely at the scar on her head. It was healing nicely and the stitches were gone for the most part. It was easily covered by her hair, but what if somebody saw it? It'd give the other students another thing to make fun of her for, she thought. It's not a joke what happened to her. They definitely wouldn't believe her if she explained the scar. They'd just call her a freak for making up a story like that. Whatever, she thought. It would do her more good to ignore them anyway. She had to talk to Dylan.

She spat out the mouthwash and gave herself another once over, giving her reflection a small smile. She looked ready enough. Going into her room and grabbing her backpack, she walked back downstairs to see her grandpa grabbing the keys to his truck.

"You ready?" He asked. Millie responded with a simple nod. "Well, come on."

They both walked outside and towards the driveway. As they were walking, Millie couldn't help but spare a glance in the direction of the backyard. The shed was still burned in her mind. She swore to never go in there again, but she couldn't help but think about Freddy. That voice, that shrill laughter that oozed with glee. It was branded onto her psyche, figuratively and literally speaking if she considered her scar.

Millie tore her eyes away from it and kept walking to the truck. That time has passed. Millie was taking her first steps towards a better life, a happy life, and she wasn't going to let those awful memories tear her down.

TO BE CONTINUED...