𝐬𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐲 - 𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐥𝐞𝐲 𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐝𝐠𝐞

fourty

Alya scoffed. "Oh please, come back to me when you've learnt how to speak English properly."

Flicking her bag over her shoulder, Alya stormed past Mrs Paracha and left the canteen as swiftly as she'd entered.

✰ ✰ ✰

"𝐌𝐎𝐋𝐋𝐈𝐄, 𝐘𝐎𝐔'𝐑𝐄 𝐒𝐎 𝐂𝐑𝐀𝐏 𝐀𝐓 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐒." Jordan wheezed as he passed the group on his way through the corridor, watching the onion ring that Mollie had thrown land pathetically on the floor as opposed to the screws of Lewis' brace as was the intended aim.

"I'd like to see you try. It's not as easy as it looks." Mollie let out a laugh, holding up her hands in defence.

"Are you joking? I'm literally a foot away from you." Lewis laughed, causing Mollie to let out a sigh of frustration.

"Stop moving then!"

"It's called breathing, Mol. Would you prefer it if I stopped?" Lewis chuckled, before his eyes widened and he remembered who he was asking. "You know what, please don't answer that."

Mollie chuckled, deciding it was probably best to give up the game as it clearly wasn't her forte. Grabbing one last onion ring from the bag for herself, she leaned up against the corridor windowsill and pulled out her phone which was practically buzzing after what had gone down in the canteen. After a moment, a figure leaned beside her and judging by the familiar aftershave scent, she instantly knew who it was.

"Still on for tonight?" Riz asked with a smile, looking down at her hopefully. He'd spoken to his parents about having Mollie over and he couldn't wait. He'd asked his mum to cook her best food, get the fancy cutlery out and, probably the most surprising thing of all, he'd even offered to tidy the house a little to make it look extra presentable. All he wanted was for it to go well.

"Yeah." Mollie nodded, a sheepish smile on her face. Though she was slightly nervous - scratch that, extremely nervous- she could tell how much it meant to Riz and because of that, it meant alot to her, too. "I-"

"What's happening tonight?" Cory beamed enthusiastically as he threw his arm around Riz's shoulder, having overheard the conversation.

"Oh, uh, nothing really." Riz shook his head quickly, waving his hand to try and move the conversation along.

"Oh come on!" Cory laughed, punching the boy's shoulder playfully.

Knowing that he wasn't going to drop it any time soon, Mollie sighed and gave in. "I'm going to Riz's house for dinner tonight."

"Sweet!" Cory grinned, rubbing his hands together in excitement."What time we going, then?"

"Uh, actually, I was kind of hoping it would just be-" Riz tried to explain hesitantly.

"I can't wait, mate. Mrs Nawaz's food is amazing!" Cory spoke over Riz, paying no attention to him as he was clearly in a world of his own. "Cheers for inviting us."

He patted Riz on the back gratefully, before returning back to the group of boys with a wide smile on his face. Riz debated saying something more to him, but ultimately he stopped himself and turned to Mollie with a sigh. "I'm never gonna get through to him, am I?"

"Nope. Not when he's got an idea in that head of his." Mollie shook her head with a small chuckle.

"I just wanted it to be perfect. Just you and me." Riz said, a hint of disappointment in his voice.

"I know you did, but it still will be perfect." Mollie smiled optimistically, reaching her hand out to intertwine their fingers. Riz couldn't help but smile as he looked down, her hopeful brown eyes staring up at him and her dimples showing when she smiled. "The only difference is that now we'll just have to put up with his loud eating the whole time."