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Theo: What’s going on? Who was at the door?
I roll my eyes at his overbearing arse.
Raine: Just one of the girls. It’s all good. See you tomorrow?
He doesn’t reply and I let out a little huff.
Boys.
They sulk worse than girls.
But that’s not my problem right now. My problem is a twelve-year-old girl with a bruise on her face and tears in her eyes.
Wetting a small flannel, I fold it into a compression pad and return to Millie.
“Here.” I offer it to her, and she presses it against her cheek, hissing with pain.
“What happened?”
“It was an accident. I… I walked into a door. I’m so clumsy.”
“A door.” I frown. “You walked into a door.”
“So silly, right?” She won’t meet my gaze, her whole demeanour closed off.
This isn’t the Millie I’m used to. There’s something so sad about her. So crushed.
“Millie, did somebody hurt you?”
“What? No!” Her head whips up, fear shining in her eyes. “I told you I walked into a door. Theo will…” She trails off, her worried gaze darting from mine.
“Theo will what, Mill?” I sit down next to her.
“When he sees the bruise, he’ll think… he’ll think the worst. And I don’t want to make him angry. I don’t want—”
“Hey.” I take her hand in mine, coaxing her to look at me. “Theo loves you. I’m sure he’ll understand it was an accident.”
I don’t for one second think it was an accident, but Millie doesn’t need an interrogation right now, she needs reassurance.
“You could help me cover it up? Before class, you could use concealer or something and we could—”
“That’s not a good idea,” I say softly.
“B-but I thought we were friends. I thought you would help me.”
“I will help you. But I won’t help you lie to your brother. Nothing good can come from that.”
“Because you’ve got a thing for him, right?”
“Millie, that’s not—” The door flies open and Theo steps into the room.
“How did you—”
“What. Happened?”
“Hey.” I bolt off the bed and put myself between him and his little sister. “You don’t get to just barge in here and demand answers. When Millie is ready, she’ll explain— wait, a second.” My brows pinch. “How did you know she was here?”
Guilt flashes in his eyes but it’s gone as quickly as it came.
