𝐬𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐲 - 𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐥𝐞𝐲 𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐝𝐠𝐞

fourty-six

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"𝘼𝙋𝙋𝙇𝙀 𝘿𝙊𝙉'𝙏 𝙁𝘼𝙇𝙇 𝙏𝙊𝙊 

𝙁𝘼𝙍 𝙁𝙍𝙊𝙈 𝙏𝙃𝙀 𝙏𝙍𝙀𝙀, 𝙏𝙃𝙀𝙉, 

𝘿𝙊𝙀𝙎 𝙄𝙏?"

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𝐆𝐂𝐒𝐄 𝐄𝐍𝐆𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐇 𝐏𝐀𝐏𝐄𝐑 𝟏.

The words were written out in block capitals on the board outside the main hall. The time had finally come, and it wasn't hard to sense the nervous buzz that travelled around the school. From the students who hadn't done any revision saying they thought they'd be fine, to the ones who had revised non-stop claiming they hadn't done any at all, it was the only thing anyone could talk about.

Mollie and Nas had walked Missy to her exam, testing her on any of the last few neon pink revision cards that she'd been struggling with. Mollie was proud to see her disappear into the hall after everything she'd been through leading to that moment, and she was confident that the girl had worked hard enough to achieve everything she wanted.

But when Nas headed onward to class, Mollie stuck around outside the exam hall for one more person that she wanted to see before the exam started. As she glanced up at the clock in the hallway, she watched the minute hand tick by faster that it ever had, and she worried that he wasn't going to come. But at the sudden sight of a pair of red scuffed trainers, she felt the relief wash over her. He'd made it.

"Jord!" She called, catching her brother's attention as he nervously approached the main hall. "First exam, you ready?"

"What do you think?" He asked, an uneasy look on his face that told Mollie he was caught up in his own head.

"You eaten breakfast? Something to power your brain, and that." She asked, doing her best to ignore how much she sounded like his parent rather than his older sister. He replied with a light shrug, causing Mollie to roll her eyes. "Crisps don't count as breakfast, Jordan."

"Very funny." Jordan sent her a sarcastic smile. "Had some toast before I left, didn't I?"

"Alright, good." Mollie let out a relieved breath, before looking at him with a gentle smile. "Now get in there and do your best, yeah? That's all you can do, and we'll be proud of you no matter what."

"Won't be saying that when I've failed everyone single one." He rolled his eyes, before looking down at the ground.

"Oh shut up, would you? You've gotta have a positive mental attitude or whatever it is that the teachers always bang on about." Mollie sighed, reaching out to brush some dust off the shoulder of his blazer. "I believe in you, alright?"

"Get off me, you soppy cow." Jordan pushed her hand away in irritation, but after a moment he looked at her with a sheepish smile as he walked towards the exam hall.

"Love you, kid." Mollie shouted after him with a grin, knowing that is was enough to embarrass him. And as his older sister, she'd be failing her duties not to do so, even if it was only minutes before an exam.

He turned around to her with a grimace and a roll of his eyes, but he couldn't bring himself to walk into the exam hall just yet. There was something weighing on his mind, and as he took the hesitant steps, he couldn't quite shake it off. Turning back towards Mollie, he looked at her hopefully and bit down on his lip.