its been a long minute since I last updated and for that, I am super duper sorry. 

Sam

Less than thirty minutes later, I was in the front seat of Brandon's car.

Millie had crawled into the back before anyone could say anything, and had kept her lips pressed firmly together. The silence that hovered between us was thick and heavy, and we would need a chainsaw to cut through the awkwardness.

And the tension was aplenty. I wasn't really sure if it was Millie's fault or Brandon's or mine that none of us could communicate with each other properly in that moment, or possibly a combination of all three of us. Every few moments, I saw Millie's mouth open but she'd snap it shut before anything came out. Brandon kept glancing at me, trying to catch my eue, but I kept my gaze forward.

Even though it was clear that both my best friend and the girl I'd been crushing on for years wanted to break the quietness, I, personally, had no qualms about keeping absolutely silent. Part of me might've been doing it just to bother them.

While I wanted to know everything that had transpired, I'd rather hear it from Brandon's mom than deal with either of them.  I'd been friends with Brandon longer than I could remember and he'd kept this huge, monumental secret from me. He'd never even tried to tell me he was a witch. 

And Millie . . . I didn't have enough words to describe the hurt I felt about the way she'd handled things. 

Brandon turned onto his street, and as he did, the car started to bounce. I glanced at him, confused. His street was pretty smooth. Brandon seemed just as confused, until he looked out the window.

Just when I thought the car ride couldn't get any worse, Brandon slammed on the brakes. Millie flew forward and I put my arm out to keep her from going through the windshield.

"Dude," I snapped. "What the fuck?"

"Look out there," he said, his voice tense. "Do you see . . . ?"

I sat forward and my jaw dropped. "Are those . . . ?"

"Fish," Millie whispered. "They're everywhere."

"They're dead," Brandon said.

Sure enough, the entire road was covered in dead fish.

Brandon's house, unlike Millie's and mine, was not anywhere near the beach. He was pretty gridlocked on the far end of the town.

Even if he had been on the beach, though, it would've been beyond weird to see fish all over the street. 

"What are they doing here?" Millie asked.

There was no reply. Neither Brandon nor I had an explanation.

Brandon eased forward, but suddenly there was a familiar squawking sound, and something hit the windshield. The car stopped again.

A dead fish, mouth gaping open, stared at us.

A seagull swooped low, as if making sure we had seen it.

"What the fuck?" My voice was barely audible.

"It's the curse," Millie replied.

Brandon started forward again, his expression hard.

The rest of the car ride was silent, except for the dull thwack the fish made as they were dropped on the windshield and the squishing sounds they made under our wheels.

As we pulled up in front of Brandon's house, he said, "I don't know if this is a good idea."

I could see Millie frown in the rear view mirror. "We need to find out how to break the curse."

Brandon's gaze flicked to me. I still didn't look at him. "Right, but you aren't going to like what she has to say."

Millie sat forward quickly, her gaze darkening. "Do you know how to break the curse?" There was a lethal edge to her voice that made my head turn sharply.

Brandon cleared his throat as we both stared at him. "Yes, but you need to hear it from my mom. Not me."

"Why?" I asked, also frowning.

I could see Brandon hesitating, his expression uncertain, especially when he realized I was talking to him instead of ignoring him. "Just...hear what my mom has to say first." Brandon shoved open the car door and stepped out before Millie or I could reply.

"Oooookay," I drawled, and turned my head to look at Millie, only to find that she was already staring at me. Her eyes, clear and bright, looked almost feverish in the dimming light. She had a giant question mark as a face, and the second I realized she was waiting for me, waiting to see my face, my eyes, I quickly looked away.

There was a huge part of me that was trying to understand why Millie had pushed me away and had pretended nothing was wrong. I just kept thinking about how scared she had been after the crash on the bridge. She'd been terrified, and she had really thought she was going to die. I kind of understood how she might want to protect me from being that worried, too. If you always thought you were going to die, how were you supposed to live?

But then the much larger part of me was pissed off. She really didn't have any right to keep this kind of thing from me. I didn't care that she was scared, when it meant my life was literally in her hands.

Not to mention, I was still confused about what Millie had to do with Brandon.

Shifting so she could grip both of the head rests in front of her, Millie said, "Am I missing something? Is he unaware that we'll both die if someone doesn't help us?" She stared through the car window Brandon's back, her lips tight.

I didn't get it, either, but I didn't want to say that. Instead, a little testily, I said, "Shouldn't you know why he's upset?"

"Why would I know anything about Brandon?" Millie half rolled her eyes.

"You're the one spending time with him." I raised my eyebrows.

Millie's gaze sharpened. "You don't really think I'd ever be with Brandon, do you?"

Ignoring Millie, I got out of the car and slammed the door behind me. She scrambled to follow, her expression closed off again as she walked behind me up the walkway. Brandon had already charged inside and left the door open behind him, and Millie and I slipped inside. She tried to shut the door softly behind us, but in the empty foyer, it sounded like a bomb going off.

"This doesn't look like the house of a witch," Millie whispered from behind me. I could feel her growing closer to me as we stood in the silent, empty hallway together. Her hand touched the back of my arm and I had to resist the urge to move away from her. "I just — Sam, will you look at me."

"No."

I closed my eyes. It wasn't just that I didn't want to look at Millie. I couldn't stand to see the same look she'd been giving me in the car. I knew I'd melt. I was pissed off, but I wasn't exactly immune to Millie's "charms." I never had been.

"Sam?" Millie sounded like she was choking on tears. "I'm so sorry, I —"

"There you two are." I jumped, my eyes flying open, surprised by Brandon's mother's sudden appearance.

Bridget Smith smiled from the doorway of the living room, but it was hard and her eyes were dark, just like her sons'. She looked practically ferocious, the golden sunset illuminating her from the picture window in the living room.

"Hi, Bridget," I said, clearing my throat. I felt Millie's grip on my arm tightening under her intense gaze. "This is Millie —"

"Clearwater," Bridget interrupted, looking at the girl hiding behind my arm. "Yes, I know. You look a lot like Moira did. You should come and sit down. It seems that we have a lot to talk about."

I glanced back briefly at Millie before following after Bridget. Brandon was already in the living room, his back to the rest of us as he sat at the piano in the corner of the room.

Still behind me, Millie hissed, "Moira? How does Brandon's mom know about Moira?"

"I don't know, since I have no idea who Moira is," I replied, still avoiding her gaze. I sat on the familiar blue couch, and Millie glommed to my side, practically in my lap. Bridget raised her eyebrow at me but didn't comment as she sat across from us, on the other couch.

"So," Brandon's mom said, clasping her hands together in her lap. "I hear you guys want to break a curse."