𝐬𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐲 - 𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐥𝐞𝐲 𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐝𝐠𝐞

thirty-eight

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"𝙐𝙎 𝙏𝙃𝙍𝙀𝙀 𝘼𝙂𝘼𝙄𝙉𝙎𝙏 𝙏𝙃𝙀 𝙒𝙊𝙍𝙇𝘿,
𝙍𝙄𝙂𝙃𝙏?"

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𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐋𝐄𝐒𝐒𝐎𝐍 𝐖𝐄𝐍𝐓 𝐁𝐘 𝐐𝐔𝐈𝐂𝐊𝐋𝐘, 𝐎𝐑 𝐒𝐎 𝐈𝐓 𝐒𝐄𝐄𝐌𝐄𝐃 𝐅𝐎𝐑 𝐌𝐎𝐋𝐋𝐈𝐄 𝐖𝐇𝐎 𝐂𝐎𝐔𝐋𝐃𝐍'𝐓 𝐅𝐎𝐂𝐔𝐒 𝐎𝐍 𝐀𝐍𝐘𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐎𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑 𝐓𝐇𝐀𝐍 𝐂𝐎𝐑𝐘'𝐒 𝐎𝐔𝐓𝐁𝐔𝐑𝐒𝐓. Ignoring the snarky comments from the rest of the class as well as the many reassuring nudges from Nas, Mollie sat in a stunned silence until the bell rang out to signal the lesson had finally ended.

She was quick to dart out of the room, to get away from the scene as fast as she could. Nas called after her in concern, about to follow her until she noticed Riz slip out of the room. Despite the urge to comfort Mollie, she knew it was probably best to give the couple space to figure things out.

As Riz left the room, the only thing on his mind was Mollie. He was reeling from the situation, but he thought it best to make sure Mollie was okay.

Or, at least, as okay as she could've been.

It didn't take long for him to catch up with her as she made her way down an empty corridor, desperate to get away from the scene and the many pairs of eyes.

"Mollie, stop." Riz called out as he got closer, and sure enough she halted in her tracks at the very sound of his voice. As she turned around, he couldn't quite make out the expression on her face. She was usually an open book to him, but not this time. Holding out a hand, he offered her a gentle smile. "Hey, come here-"

"Riz, why aren't you freaking out?" Mollie furrowed her eyebrows as her face contorted suddenly in anger and she ran a hand through her hair. "I swear, I am gonna kill that boy. I mean, who does he think he is exposing us like that? Now everyone knows, and they're gonna talk about us and make comments. This is exactly what I didn't want to happen and-"

As she spoke, all of the thoughts that were spiralling through her head came out and her tone shifted from anger to panic. Taking a step closer, Riz intertwined their hands and squeezed them gently to get her attention. "Hey, hey, hey. Take a deep breath."

In truth, he was freaking out and, like Mollie, he was both scared, confused and hurt. But at the same time, he wanted to be strong for Mollie, and that meant trying to make the best of a bad situation.

Rubbing his thumbs across her hands gently, he looked her in the eyes. "So maybe everyone knows about us, and it's not what we wanted to happen...but maybe it's for the best. I mean, we don't have to hide anymore, or keep it a big secret."

"I guess." Mollie bit down on her lip, knowing that Riz had a point. "I just wanted to be able to do this on our own terms, when we felt ready. Not like this."

"I know, I can't exactly say I wanted our relationship to be revealed like an episode of Jeremy Kyle." Riz chuckled lightly, earning a faint, momentary smile from Mollie. "Look, if you want, we can bunk off school together and forget about everything. Or, we can go in that canteen and show everyone that we don't care what they think or say. It's up to you."

"Bunking off sounds really appealing." Mollie muttered wistfully, enticed by the idea of forgetting about it all. But, letting out a sigh, she knew that she couldn't run away from it. They'd have to face up to it eventually, and it seemed there was no time like the present.