millicent “millie” kelly - 21, zoey deutch, dionysus
baby millicent was the last kelly child born, and once she grew up, she’s pretty sure her parents were glad that she was the last. as the fourth baby, her childhood was pretty normal. her parents already had plenty on their hands to deal with, so there aren’t baby albums filled with baby millie doing cute things. there’s a few shots here and there, but when her high school yearbook asked her for a baby picture, she had to sift through albums and albums of her older siblings to find the handful that she was in. not to say that she was ignored, she was a colicky baby so it was pretty difficult to do that, but by the time millie was going through all her firsts, it was the fourth time her parents were doing it so they were, understandably, less excitable about it. her early life was pretty mundane--she was extraordinarily average. she wasn’t ahead or behind in anything, just… middle of the pack. the only thing she was especially good at was piano. it was by far millie’s favorite activity that her parents tried to get her to engage in.
growing up, she was always trying to tag along with her siblings. they were older, smarter, faster, but she wanted to keep up with them as much as she could. the most patient one (or perhaps the only one she could have kept up with) was andrew, the second youngest. he let her tag along most of the time, entertaining her ambitious thoughts of what she could do. he’d do his best to help, but was mostly there to comfort her when she realized that she was too young or too little to do something.
when she was seven, however, her picturesque childhood took an unexpected turn. andrew was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis. millie felt as if she might as well be background noise for all the attention her parents paid her once he was diagnosed. it was hard to hold it against andrew--it wasn’t his fault, after all, but it was difficult to deal with regardless. millie grew up holding this against her parents. no matter what she did, good or bad, it barely seemed to register with them. at first, it was her trying to be bigger and better at everything she did. she worked to pull herself up towards the top of her class in middle school, asking her older siblings to explain things to her so she could impress her parents by how well she was doing at school. very quickly, however, she realized that doing well wasn’t the way to get their attention.
millie became destructive. she would pick fights at school, would bully other girls and even some boys, finding herself in the principal’s office more than a few times. this, certainly, got her parents’ attention, seeing as they would have to bail her out most of the time. they were annoyed, but at least they were paying attention to her instead of pretending she wasn’t there because they had bigger problems to deal with. the only punishment that they doled out that actually affected her was when they took her out of piano lessons. she threw a fit of epic proportions, but little did she know that they would have taken her out of them soon eventually. andrew’s treatment was expensive, and piano lessons were quickly becoming a luxury they couldn’t afford. but, millie loved playing the piano. it was the only thing that helped take her away from the reality that she was going to lose her brother. she started sitting with kit when he played, watching his fingers and reading the music along with him, and before long he was continuing her lessons. she cherished those afternoons when her parents would be away at the hospital with andrew and kit would be in charge. he once tried to teach her guitar, but she quickly deemed that “too boring” (read: too complicated for her) and only wanted to learn piano.
when she was thirteen, the inevitable happened. andrew died. the life expectancy for cf is generally longer, but andrew was not lucky, in that and many other respects. andrew’s death ruined millie. it was a week or two of extreme sadness, uncontrollable crying, and cursing at god for doing this. and then, once the dust settled, she was just… angry.
she started high school and immediately clawed her way to the top of the food chain, befriending those with power and bullying those without. whenever someone told her that she couldn’t do something, she’d say, “watch me.” nobody told millie what to do, she told others what to do. every “no” that came her way was a challenge. “no freshman can date a senior!” watch her.
his name was carter markham. when he broke up with his girlfriend, millie pounced. she was small, she was young, but she was smart, at least when it came to social matters. she knew what strings to pull, and soon enough he was hers. perhaps she enjoyed the look on his ex’s face when they walked through school together a little too much. for their age gap and the fact that he was a high school senior, carter was surprisingly not… terrible. which is to say that millie had to convince him to take her virginity, not the other way around. it was the night of his senior prom, and of course millie had been there on his arm. he seemed a bit hesitant at first, but millie talked him into it eventually (and perhaps there were a few games of beer pong at the after party that helped ease his worries). it was… disappointing, to say the least, on millie’s part. carter had the time of his life, as he told her numerous times afterwards.
carter went off to college, with promises to stay faithful to millie. which, really, only kind of complicated things. for about a month, it was fun to talk about her college boyfriend, but then the reality of him being thousands of miles away sank in and boredom set in. it probably would have been easier if he had just broken up with her. millie was caught up in the romance of the moment, or else she would have done it herself. but, without him there to pay attention to her in person, she quickly grew bored. she stayed with him, made sure she spent time with him when he came home, but she was far from faithful. sure, she liked him. she had handpicked him after all, she could have picked any senior to accomplish her goal. he was cute, not too smart, not too dumb. and, most importantly, he worshipped the very ground she walked on. things were perfect when he was around to constantly bathe her in attention and affection and, when he was gone, he really didn’t need to know she had a rotating cast of the football team to keep her busy. so, they carried on like that until millie was a senior.
after carter left for college before her senior year, millie missed a period, and immediately flipped out. she kept that information to herself and buried it deep down, telling herself she’d deal with it later. but, of course, in typical millie fashion, she got into a yelling fight with her parents and let it slip that she thought she was pregnant. immediately, her parents went from angry to scared for her, exchanging a look of panic. the next day, millie found out why. her parents sat her down and told her the truth. she was so young when andrew was diagnosed, they didn’t think she should know until she was a bit older. she was a carrier for cf. any child she had would have a chance of ending like andrew. her parents told her they had all of the kids tested after andrew was diagnosed, but she was too young to understand the consequences. the next morning, her mom accompanied her to planned parenthood. millie felt as if she didn’t have a choice--she didn’t particularly want kids, at least not until it seemed like she shouldn’t. for the first time in her life, millie was faced with a “no” that she didn’t feel like challenging. millie calmed down after that, stopped hooking up with people, started taking birth control religiously, and actually ended up being faithful to carter. she even kind of meant it when she told him she loved him.
he came home for his christmas break and, shocking everyone (most importantly millie), he came home with an engagement ring. he wanted her to marry him after she graduated. yeah, and that was gonna be a hard pass from millie. she didn’t accept it, and told him it would probably be best if they took some time (read: forever) apart. the thought of getting married terrified her. she’d have to tell carter about being a carrier. she’d have to share herself fully with him. she couldn’t do that. she hadn’t even figured out who she was.
millie graduated from high school, single as a bird, with mediocre grades, and no colleges she was interested in going to. however, her drama teacher got her a job at atf, and she was so pleased that she never left. she took to acting like a fish to water, and was soon landing small roles here and there. now, she’s working her way up to supporting characters and pretty soon, she thinks she’ll be given a lead role. nowadays, millie fills up any time not taking up by the festival with working at the resident actor’s haunt, last call, and giving her number to any guy or gal with a good pick up line. millie’s not easy, in any sense of the word, but especially when it comes to love. if you think she’s easy, that’s what she wants you to think. she’s a chameleon, becoming whoever she needs to be for whatever situation. truth be told, she doesn’t really know who she is. she’s spent so long trying to prove people wrong, just to be contrary, that she doesn’t really know who she is anymore.
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