𝐬𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐲 - 𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐥𝐞𝐲 𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐝𝐠𝐞

fourty-one

TW: description of attempted suicide. please, please do not read this chapter if this is something that will be distressing or upsetting for you.

if you ever need to talk to someone, there is a link in my profile bio for the Samaritans website <3

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"𝙒𝙀 𝘾𝘼𝙉 𝙁𝙄𝙓 𝙄𝙏."

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𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐀𝐂𝐇𝐀 𝐋𝐈𝐕𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐑𝐎𝐎𝐌 𝐖𝐀𝐒 𝐒𝐈𝐋𝐄𝐍𝐓 𝐎𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑 𝐓𝐇𝐀𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐁𝐔𝐁𝐁𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐎𝐅 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐊𝐄𝐓𝐓𝐋𝐄 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐌𝐔𝐅𝐅𝐋𝐄𝐃 𝐒𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐃 𝐎𝐅 𝐍𝐀𝐒 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐑𝐀𝐙𝐈𝐀 𝐀𝐑𝐆𝐔𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐔𝐏𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐈𝐑𝐒. While an argument between the two sisters wasn't an unusual occurrence, this occasion was different. Very different.

The previous day, after hearing about a fight between Razia and Sam, Nas was desperate to intervene and break it up. However, as it happened, she had been the one to get hurt as she was accidentally stabbed by her sister with a scalpel she'd taken from the biology lab.

Nas had been rushed to hospital by Mr Shah who had witnessed the incident and, luckily, the wound wasn't too deep so she was able to return home after only a few hours. The school were quick to discipline Razia, which resulted in her placement in a pupil referral unit.

To say the fallout was disastrous would be an understatement. The girls hadn't stopped arguing with each other, spinning in relentless circles of accusations and insults.

Mollie had been at the Paracha house all day, doing anything she could to support her best friend as well as to help out Mrs Paracha. As she sat on the sofa with her head laid back in exhaustion, it was clear that the mother of the family was both physically and emotionally drained.

"Can I get you a cup of tea, Mrs P? Nana?" Mollie offered gently as she leaned against the kitchen counter.

Nana shook her head, while Mrs Paracha looked up with a small smile. "Not since you asked us ten minutes ago. Thank you though, love."

Mollie flashed her a polite smile in return, leaning back against the counter which caused Saleem to look up from beside her and flash her a cheeky grin.

"I'll have a cup of tea." He said quietly, shooting her a wink. "Milk and two sugars, if you don't mind. And make it snappy."

"Cheeky little sod." Mollie muttered under her breath as she rolled her eyes slightly at his cocky behaviour, which of course only made his grin grow wider. Shaking her head in ever so slight amusement at the boy that she saw like a little brother, she caved in and walked towards the cupboard, giving his hair a playful ruffle as she went by.

The front door opened after a moment to reveal Missy, Hayley and Aaron, who walked into the Paracha home as if it were their own. Hearing the commotion from upstairs, a grimace appeared on Aaron's face and he furrowed his eyebrows.

"Is everything alright, Mrs Paracha?"

"Soon only dogs will be able to hear them." She groaned, realising that their voices were getting a lot closer to the living room and, therefore, a whole lot louder. "With any luck!"

"Make us a cuppa would ya, Mol?" Missy muttered, giving the brunette a nudge before slipping off her coat and leaning back against the counter.

"I'm not a bloody starbucks barista, you know?" Mollie grumbled under her breath in frustration, but complied as she got out three more mugs from the cupboard as it certainly didn't seem like the time to cause any fuss whatsoever.