Secrets Within The Shadows 29

Mildred stayed in the hospital for a few more days. Bill wasn't always there for he had to go to school. However, he visited in the afternoon after they were dismissed. He assisted Shanica in taking care of Mildred so that Shanica can rest from time to time. Shanica also had to take care of the house, so she was glad that Bill was kind enough to help.

Finally, Mildred was released from the hospital. Shanica brought her home and told her to rest. It was a Wednesday, so Bill wasn't there to help out.

"Hey Mildred, you won't be going to school for the rest of the week, okay?" Shanica said.
"What???" Mildred was surprised.
"Don't worry, I called the principal and told him what happened, so he excused you to rest. He said that he'll assign your seatmates in school to help you with homework and all."
"O-oh… Okay then…"
"I'll be going off to work… You think you can take care of yourself meanwhile?"
"Yeah, I'll be fine… I'm sure Bill will come over before you come home."
"Okay then… Bye Mil!"
"Bye…"

Shanica left Mildred's room and Mildred lay on her bed. She wondered why her bones don't ache so much that the doctor released her early. She thought that she'd be staying longer due to the cracks on her bones. She then touched her neck wound and felt the pain that she felt when her blood was being drained. She had a flashback of what happened as she touched her wound.

Later that afternoon, Mildred went down to check the refrigerator for a snack. She then took out a piece of chocolate bar and went up to her room while eating it. When she arrived, she saw Bill sitting on her bed. He was holding some papers in his hand and was scanning them.

Mildred chuckled, "What're you doing here?"
"Well, I am your seatmate, and I was assigned to take care of your homeworks in the subjects we're together in. Although, I figured that your other seatmates would do the same for the other subjects that we're not together in, so I asked them to let me do the favor since I come here all the time." Bill smirked.
"Well, I didn't hear a knock…" Mildred said.
"I knocked and the door's wide open." Bill said.

Mildred just rolled her eyes knowing that she won't win against him that time. She just went to him and sat beside him, still eating the chocolate bar she took.

"How're you feeling?" Bill asked.
"Much better…" Mildred said.
"Good…"
"Hey, did you use your regeneration thingy on me?"
"Yeah, so that you won't suffer too much pain when you wake up."
"But why didn't you use it on the rest of my wounds?"
"Shanica came before we could get you home… and I needed a reason for your blood drainage."
"You can't restore blood?"
"No, I can't. That's why I donated to you."
"Oh, I see…"
"Mildred, I know that it's pretty late, and prom's getting near, so I wanted to ask you…"
Mildred interrupted, "Oh prom!! I haven't chosen a dress yet!" she hit her forehead with her palm.
"I can help with that…"

Bill then ran out of the room through Mildred's window. Mildred wanted to follow him, but she didn't know where he was going. She just continued to eat the chocolate bar until she finished it. She then threw the wrapper into the trash can and went back to her bed. Moments later, Bill came back with a brown box. He placed it on her bed and cut the tape that sealed the two flaps with the tip of his finger.

"I got this for you weeks ago just to make sure you'd have a dress." Bill said.

Bill opened the box that contained a lavender gown. It had sleeves that covered the shoulder and purple cloth designed as a flower at the center. The upper half, which covered her chest up to her waist, was rough and had glitters while the lower half was as smooth as silk. It had a zipper that reached from the lower back up to the top.

"I didn't know whether to get you purple or pink, so I took the one in between." Bill smiled.
"It's beautiful!" Mildred grinned.

Bill took it out carefully and made its shoulders meet Mildred's to measure if the size was right.

"Ah, my calculations never fail me…" he winked.
"It's perfect!" Mildred held the dress, "Wait, 'your calculations'?"
"Uhm… Let's just say that I was measuring you from top to bottom, side to side on the day that we had a field trip to the woods…" Bill said.

Mildred placed the dress on the bed and hugged Bill.

"Thank you… so much!" she said.

Bill hugged her back and kissed her head. They then pulled back from each other.

"So, shall we do your homeworks?" Bill asked.
"Okay… What do we have?" Mildred asked.

The two sat on the bed again.

"Mildred, I wanted to ask you about prom…" Bill said.
"Okay, go ahead." Mildred said.
"Would you… like to be my date for the prom?"

Mildred smiled, turned away and blushed. She felt so flattered that Bill asked her. Seconds later, she faced him again.

"I'd love to, Bill…" Mildred said.

Bill smiled when Mildred affirmed. Mildred moved herself closer to Bill, and slowly, they moved their faces closer to each other, closing their eyes. Before they could make their lips meet…

"I'M HOME!!" Shanica shouted from downstairs.

The two quickly pulled back and Mildred moved away from Bill back to where she was sitting. Later on, they heard Shanica coming up the stairs.

"Mildred!! Did you eat my…" Shanica then arrived at Mildred's room and saw Bill, "Oh, hello Bill."
"Hello Ms. Leighton." Bill smiled.
"How long have you been here?" Shanica asked.
"Around half an hour, ma'am." Bill said.
"Well, thanks for keeping Mildred company…" Shanica smiled then turned to Mildred, "Did you eat my chocolate bar????"
"Oh, that was yours?" Mildred chuckled, "Sorry, I didn't know… I thought this was a free country…"
"Errr!! I'll just get myself another one from the grocery and you can't have it, okay?" Shanica stressed.
"Okay, okay." Mildred laughed.
"Enjoy the rest of the night, you two." Shanica smiled.

Shanica then left the room and went to her room to dress up for house clothes. Bill then prepared the papers for Mildred's homework.

"I uh… I wrote them in German… It's kind of my habit already, then I'll write it in English." Bill said.
"It's okay… Like I said, I grew up in Hamburg. I don't think this'll be a problem." Mildred winked.

The two then took out blank papers for the given assignment and did the activity together.

"You know, it's the third time we attempted…" Mildred whispered.
"I noticed… Don't worry, we'll get it right soon…" Bill whispered back.