𝐬𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐲 - 𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐥𝐞𝐲 𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐝𝐠𝐞

thirty-four

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"𝙅𝙐𝙎𝙏 𝙁𝙊𝙇𝙇𝙊𝙒 𝙔𝙊𝙐𝙍 𝙍𝙊𝙈𝙀𝙊,
𝙒𝙄𝙇𝙇 𝙔𝘼?"
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"𝐍𝐀𝐕𝐄𝐄𝐃, 𝐉𝐔𝐒𝐓 𝐓𝐀𝐋𝐊 𝐓𝐎 𝐇𝐈𝐌!" Nas pleaded with the tall boy as they stood outside, waiting for Mr Quereshi's memorial service to begin.

"What's the point? He hates me." Naveed responded, his tone filled with despondence as he shot a glance over at Cory.

"Who hates you?" Mollie asked inquisitively as she approached the pair, crossing her arms over her chest to keep herself warm in the crisp morning air.

"Uh, no one." Naveed quickly muttered, before slipping away from the two girls.

Mollie raised her eyebrows at his sudden departure, shuffling closer to Nas. "Looks like someone got out of bed on the wrong side today."

"Shut up, you." Nas chuckled before looping her arm through Mollie's and huddling closer to her. "Keep us warm, would ya? It's bloody freezing."

"Says the one with the velvet coat." Mollie fired back with a smirk, nodding towards her thin denim jacket as if to further her point.

"Actually, it's velour. Think I'm made of money, babe?" Nas giggled, earning a laugh from Mollie. As the two girls turned their attention back towards the teachers, they were distracted once more by a familiar voice.

"Nas?"

"Oh Missy, please just stay away from me." Nas rolled her eyes, still not on good terms with the blonde after her involvement in the catfishing situation.

"All I wanted to do was stop your mum from doing owt stupid. I never meant to hurt you, I swear." Missy explained with a defensive tone.

"Look, I just really wanna pretend that it ever happened, okay?" Nas said, finally making eye contact with Missy.

Missy nodded understandingly and shoved her hands into the pockets of her leather jacket, an awkward silence lingering between the three girls. After shifting awkwardly on her feet for a moment, Missy couldn't help herself from voicing what was on her mind.

"Does that mean we can talk about me now?" She blurted out, earning a tentative nod from her two best friends. "It's Aaron. Said he loved me, didn't he?"

"Oh my God, Missy!" Mollie squealed, causing everyone in the crowd to turn towards the three girls. Noticing the sudden eyes upon them, she tried to style it out by clearing her throat and scratching the back of her head awkwardly.

"That's amazing, Missy." Nas whispered with a beaming smile, more aware of their surroundings than the Wilson girl had been.

"No it's not." Missy pouted, before sighing. "We were getting on fine and then he goes and does this."

"Oh no! A nice, good-looking guy telling you he loves ya." Mollie said with a sarcastic tone, shooting the blonde girl a playful smirk. "You poor thing."

✰ ✰ ✰

𝐌𝐎𝐋𝐋𝐈𝐄 𝐃𝐑𝐄𝐖 𝐈𝐍 𝐀 𝐃𝐄𝐄𝐏 𝐁𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐓𝐇 𝐀𝐒 𝐒𝐇𝐄 𝐌𝐀𝐃𝐄 𝐇𝐄𝐑 𝐖𝐀𝐘 𝐎𝐕𝐄𝐑 𝐓𝐎 𝐑𝐈𝐙, 𝐀 𝐂𝐋𝐄𝐀𝐑 𝐌𝐈𝐒𝐒𝐈𝐎𝐍 𝐈𝐍 𝐇𝐄𝐑 𝐌𝐈𝐍𝐃. After their kiss in the locker room and their constant flirtation since then, she was clear in her feelings for the boy and had finally built up the courage to talk to him about it.