𝐬𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐲 - 𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐥𝐞𝐲 𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐝𝐠𝐞

thirty-four

Despite how nervous she was, she flicked her freshly washed hair over her shoulder and dusted down her skirt. Not that she'd admit it, but she'd definitely made an extra effort with her appearance with that conversation in mind.

Approaching his locker, she continued to take deep breaths and cleared her throat to get his attention. When he looked up, she offered him an awkward smile. "Riz. Hi."

"Hi." He replied, although it came out as more of a question than a greeting as he could sense her awkwardness from her expression alone.

"We need to talk." She said assuredly, having rehearsed those words about a million times to herself. But as Riz nodded in agreement, the Wilson girl realised that she hadn't really planned much further than that and was now completely stuck on what to say. Looking down at her hands, she bit her lip. "So, um, the kiss."

That was all she managed to utter as their conversation was cut off by the sound of Missy's voice, loud and angry as the blonde stormed over.

"I want a word with you!"

"MIssy, leave it!" Hayley called out desperately as she trailed behind, but Missy ignored this as she pulled Mollie's arm so that she was facing her.

"Tell Lewis to keep my Hayley out of that big gob of his, or it won't just be his neck that's broken!"

"You tell her, Missy!" Dan called out with a smirk, part of the crowd that was rapidly forming around the two girls.

"You can shut your face and all. Does it make you feel like the big man, talking trash about my sister?" Missy spat, turning to the boy with venom in her eyes.

"Hang on, what the hell is going on?" Mollie asked, her eyebrows furrowing as she genuinely had no idea what Missy was talking about.

"Lewis has been shooting his mouth off about Hayley. Telling all the boys in their group chat that she's done stuff for him." Missy said, causing Mollie's eyes to widen.

"Missy, I had no idea. I-" Mollie's explanation was cut off when she felt a painful sting on her cheek as Missy struck her with a forceful slap. Her hand instantly rose to clutch her cheek, tears welling in her eyes from the impact of it.

The crowd around them began to cheer them on, growing excited at the possibility of a fight. But as she watched on helplessly, Hayley felt as though she needed to put a stop to this. Closing her eyes tightly, she drew in a sharp breath before opening her mouth.

"Missy, he's telling the truth!"

The whole corridor fell silent in a millisecond, so much that the sound of a pin drop would seem deafening. Everyone turned towards Hayley, including Missy who looked at her sister furiously. "What did you just say?"

"I'm sorry." Hayley said simply, her bottom lip quivering as she met Missy's eyes. But it seemed that it wasn't just her sister that was upset as she heard the voice of her best friend.

"You devious little cow!" Razia's voice was filled with hurt, and that was the last straw for Hayley who quickly ran away, her eyes brimming with tears.

Missy followed her down the corridor, leaving the crowd of teenagers both disappointed at the short-cut fight, but also confused as to what was actually going on.

Turning to Mollie, Riz placed a hand gently on her arm and looked at her with concern, wanting to make sure she was alright. Well, as alright as one can be after a bitch slap from Missy Booth. "Mol, are you okay?"

Of course she was reeling from the slap, but in that moment, she was more concerned by her cousin's treatment of Hayley. The younger Booth was like a little sister to her and so she would always look out for her, especially in a situation like this. But as she thought about Riz's close friendship with Lewis, Mollie felt a sense of dread build in her stomach. Looking him in the eyes, she ignored his question entirely and posed one of her own.