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Every teenage girl has pulled apart her mom's closet at least once, but Milly wasn't every teenage girl. She wore the same faded jeans with pasta stains and a mix of random fashion-crime t-shirts. Her mother stopped buying her 'cute' clothes at a young age because she didn't wear them. Saturday night was the first time Milly had worn a dress in five years - the last time being at her aunt's wedding when she was a flower girl.
Milly opened her mother's closet and looked for something that was pretty. She had no idea what she was looking for.
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Milly met Viraj at the front gates before school.
"Milly! You Barbie! I've never seen you so pink," Viraj laughed.
Milly wore a loose pink boyfriend sweater, peach sunglasses, and a pair of white jeans, which crumpled up at the ankles because they were a bit too long. She had tried to use her mom's hair straightener with limited success.
"It looks terrible…" Milly said.
"No… No…" he said, "It's really nice. You should dress like this more."
"Really?" she said with relief.
Stevie had messaged them that she was stuck in bed sick. It would be just Milly and Viraj today. Gone were the days when she wandered around campus alone, watching the other kids chatting away in their little impenetrable groups. They would meet all the time now - morning, lunch, and after school for FilmSoc. It was too bad that they had no classes together.
Viraj yawned, "I forgot to drink coffee…"
"You really need sleep. Modern cinema can wait," she laughed.
His eyebags had gotten darker.
"Modern cinema waits for none!" he said.
Viraj had this terrible habit of staying up all night to watch movies.
"Don't you do homework?" Milly laughed.
"Milly! Homework is for losers. I am meant for bigger things than trig and damn meiosis! I am an actor, artist, director, and executive producer!" He exclaimed.
Milly laughed.
They had been watching Hitchcock after school for the past week. She even had a dream where Viraj had been dressed in his mother's nightgown like Norman Bates in Psycho. Milly admired his passion for the craft. She wished she had something like that.
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She opened her locker and found a clump of thick blue goo mushed all over her textbooks. It had a minty smell.
There was a note which read, "Your breath stinks, Tarzan. Brush your teeth!"
"Aw man… That ain't right," Viraj said.
"You see what I have to deal with? Why can't they give me a break?" Milly fumed, scooping up the toothpaste and chucking it at a wall.
"Don't do that Milly…" he said, "Leave that for Zahra."
Zahra? For the first time, Milly didn't believe that Zahra did this. How could she save a chubby kid from bullies on Saturday and vandalise Milly's locker on Monday. It just didn't fit. Something about her had changed. Still you couldn't rule it out. Zahra had mushed a peanut butter sandwich on her locker door in fifth grade.
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The Villain Squad were gossiping in the stairwell. Zahra wasn't there. Viraj had pulled out his phone to film the encounter.
"Hey! Who did this?" Milly said, holding up her hand covered in toothpaste.
Rosa laughed, "Are you a five-year-old coming to show us your mess?"
The other girls laughed.
"That's not funny," Viraj said.
Milly ran at Rosa and smudged her minty gooey fingers onto Rosa's sweater. Viraj began to laugh.
"You freak! You did not just do that?!" Rosa shrieked.
Milly wouldn't let go, and Rosa began to push back, hitting her repeatedly on the head, "Get off me!"
Viraj grabbed Milly by the shoulders and began to pull her off, but it was not until Andrew Perry walked by that the fight ended. He grabbed Milly and pulled her to the floor. Her sunglasses broke as they hit the floor.
"What the hell is going on here?" He said.
Andrew wore a green singlet which showed off his chest muscles and a grey unzipped hoodie. His strong pelican nose could poke your eye out.
"That freak ruined my top!" Rosa said storming off to the bathroom with her goons following behind.
Viraj tried to explain it to Andrew, "It was not Milly's fault. They put toothpaste on her locker -"
"So you decided to go and attack Rosa because of it," Andrew said, "Are you stupid?"
Milly scrunched up her face and ran away.
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Milly got a message from Viraj: "I couldn't stop them. They’re gonna tell on you."
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In first period, Milly was called to the principal's office. Mr Stephanopolus was a tall skinny man with a black goatee and long curly hair that was tied at the back. He played bass in the '90s for a Greek rock band, but his real passion was teaching. He was the only reason Milly hadn't been expelled in the past few months.
"Tell me Milly, what happened?" he said in a slow, easy-breezy voice.
"Nothing…" she said.
"You put toothpaste into Rosa's sweater. You are a good kid, Milly. I don't believe you did it without a reason," he said.
"They… They put toothpaste all over my locker first… They won't leave me alone," she said.
"I understand Milly. Don't worry, I will talk to Rosa about this. But you'll have to take responsibility too. Fighting is not the answer," he said.
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She had afternoon detention for the next week. No FilmSoc for a whole week; no Viraj and Stevie.
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Milly was in a mood. She met up with Viraj at lunchtime, and for some reason, Jojo was there.
"Hi Milly," Jojo said, getting up from his chair.
"Hi," she said, sitting down.
"Good news. Jojo said that he saw them do it… he is going to tell…" Viraj said.
"No, don't do that… I can handle this on my own," Milly said gruffly.
"You don't have to be the only one in trouble," Jojo said.
"Yeah, it won't matter! I am always the one in trouble!" Milly said.
Jojo sighed and sat down to nibble on his sandwich.
"I am frankly tired of your dumbass behaviour. You are not the only one who has been bullied,” Viraj said.
"You know what? I don't need you!" Milly said before leaving.
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Milly had a place to herself.
She hadn't been there in quite some time. If you slid through a few bushes in the garden, you would find yourself in a small grassy pocket where a cement fountain sat. It wasn't working anymore.
Other kids had been here; they'd carved their names and profanities onto the sides of the fountain, but ever since Milly had been at Savanna High, no one came by. Being friendless meant she had so much free time, and she had stumbled upon it while exploring.
She covered the long untrimmed grass with her jumper and laid down to feel the sunbeams streaming through. At least the sun would never hate her.
Who was she kidding? Viraj and Stevie, like all the others, still saw her as a monster. They were tired of her behaviour. Milly needed to be controlled - muzzled like a rabid dog. She didn't have any real friends.
Then her mind drifted to Fred Finnegan. He kissed that girl in the theatre. Milly could never be that girl. Pretty girls always got the guy. Milly was not meant for love.
Milly's train of thought was interrupted by a deep snore. What?
The snore came from behind the fountain. She looked over to see Zahra fast asleep, holding a novel. Milly had never seen her like that. So innocent…
What was Zahra doing here? This was so weird. Milly felt like an intruder.
She got up to leave, tripped over her feet, and fell into the fountain. There was no water, only cement to break her fall. Her knees hurt. Zahra opened her eyes slowly, emerging from a sweet dream, only to see Milly in front of her.
"Tarzan?"
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