Another Flame
 | This chapter is exclusively available to members of Bittersweet Club International. |
| Another Flame | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Published | November 14, 2022 |
| Page count | 14 |
| Major characters | Mike, Lucy, Sandy |
| Minor characters | Paulo, Daisy |
| Locations | Mike’s house, Roseville High School |
| Chapter navigation | |
| ← Another Perspective | Another Rescue → |
| Read in the BCI Members’ Library | |
Another Flame is a non-canon Bittersweet Club International-exclusive comic that asks what would have happened if Mike hadn’t picked up Sandy’s call at the end of Eternal Flame. Fourteen pages of a rather different timeline follow.
Partial synopsis
The comic opens with the phone shot from Eternal Flame. Mike’s phone buzzes on his bedroom floor, with Sandy’s smiling face on the screen.[1][2] After staring at it in silence, he picks it up and remembers the tender smile Lucy gave him over her shoulder only minutes earlier. He silences the phone and begins picking his bedsheets up from the floor.[3][4]
The next morning, Paulo and Daisy are surprised to see Lucy and Mike speaking again.[5] When they question her, Lucy blusters that he’s still “a huge asshole” and says she will not easily forgive everything he has done. More quietly, she asks Mike to meet her at the bleachers at lunch.[6]
At lunch, Lucy tells Mike that she still loves him against her own better judgement, but she refuses to be his rebound.[7] Mike admits that he spent years dwelling on the worst parts of their friendship because he wanted to remain loyal to Sandy. Lucy responds by acknowledging how much pressure she put on him.[8]
Mike has bought himself a few quiet days, and not much more than that. Sandy still has no idea why her Maishul stopped picking up, and she isn’t the sort to let a silence sit forever...
Character dynamics
- Mike and Lucy: In canon, Mike and Lucy kiss beneath the tree, but Mike answers Sandy’s call later that night.[9][10] Here, Lucy tells Mike at lunch that she still loves him but refuses to be his rebound.[7]
- Mike and Sandy: Mike and Sandy had been a long-distance couple for several years before this night. Hours before the story begins, Sandy told him during a 4 a.m. call that she had feelings for her colleague Francis.[11] When she calls again, Mike sees her smiling photo on the screen and silences the phone.[3]
Trivia & observations
- The opening page has no dialogue. Across seven panels, the phone keeps buzzing while Mike’s expression hardens. Those panels expand on the incoming-call shot from Eternal Flame, including Sandy’s smiling contact photo.[1][2]
- During the 4 a.m. call, Mike pulled at the blanket on his bed.[12] Haley later found it heaped on the floor in his disordered room.[13] In this comic, Mike quietly picks the bedding up from the floor.[3]
Related chapters
- Eternal Flame: The title echoes Eternal Flame. Sandy’s incoming call in that chapter is the one Mike silences here.[2] In canon, he answers it.[10]
- On Call: This BCI comic follows Sandy during the same night and shows her end of the call. Mike picks up, and she pleads with him about what she calls her mistake.[14]
- Burnt Bridges: It continues the canon timeline after Eternal Flame. The morning after taking Sandy back, Mike tells Augustus everything and promises never to speak to Lucy again.[15]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Another Flame, page 1 🔒 (members only)
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Chapter 110: Eternal Flame, page 60
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Another Flame, page 2 🔒 (members only)
- ↑ Chapter 110: Eternal Flame, page 59
- ↑ Another Flame, page 3 🔒 (members only)
- ↑ Another Flame, page 4 🔒 (members only)
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Another Flame, page 6 🔒 (members only)
- ↑ Another Flame, page 7 🔒 (members only)
- ↑ Chapter 110: Eternal Flame, page 55
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 Chapter 110: Eternal Flame, page 61
- ↑ Chapter 110: Eternal Flame, page 28
- ↑ Chapter 110: Eternal Flame, page 32
- ↑ Chapter 110: Eternal Flame, page 34
- ↑ On Call, page 8 🔒 (members only)
- ↑ Chapter 111: Burnt Bridges, page 10