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"𝙒𝙀𝙇𝘾𝙊𝙈𝙀 𝙏𝙊 𝘼𝘾𝙆𝙇𝙀𝙔 𝘽𝙍𝙄𝘿𝙂𝙀."
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𝐈𝐓 𝐖𝐀𝐒 𝐀 𝐒𝐔𝐍𝐃𝐀𝐘 𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐈𝐍 𝐉𝐀𝐍𝐔𝐀𝐑𝐘, and Mollie Wilson pulled closer the hoodie that she'd thrown over her outfit in an attempt to protect her from the biting winter air. It was the depressing kind of coldness, or so Mollie thought anyway. When Christmas had been and gone, and yet the chill remained in the air. The grass remained white and frosty, frozen solid, and you could still see your breath float in the air every time you breathed out, almost like a misty cloud of cigarette smoke. To cut a long story short, it was bloody freezing.
Mollie grumbled a little to herself as she walked, wishing that she hadn't promised her last night of freedom before going back to school to her uncle and his corner shop. It's not that she didn't like working for her uncle, because that couldn't be further from the truth. Stew's News had that quintessential kind of corner-shop-charm about it, and the locals that shopped there were always lovely enough. But a small part of Mollie wished that she could spend her last night of the holidays with her two best friends, gossiping about school and drinking cheap cider until one of them (probably Missy) got sick. Instead, Mollie had to make do with an evening of stacking shelves and making smalltalk with the Ackley residents who seemingly always had to make a Sunday evening run for the bread and milk they needed for the week ahead.
Still, money was money. As positive as the girl tried to be, things weren't the best for her small family unit, and she knew sacrifices had to be made.
The familiar tinkle of the door bell rang out as Mollie arrived, stepping out of the cold outdoors and into the ever so slightly less cold indoors of her uncle's shop. She sent a chipper smile to her uncle who was behind the counter, but only received a half hearted nod from him as she started to slip off her coat.
"Woah, Stew, what's with the mardy face?" She furrowed her eyebrows.
Before the man could answer, a tall teenaged boy with a cardboard box in his hands emerged from the back room of the shop. With the same dark brown eyes as the shopkeeper, it was easy to see the resemblance between the father and son.
"Dad's pissed off because these two girls in burqas bought a load of cider off him and ran off before he could ask for their I.D.s." Lewis Wilson smirked, starting to fill up one of the shelves by the till as he answered his cousin's question. "Thinks he's gonna lose his job."
"Oh come on, everyone drinks when they're underage in this town. In fact, I'd be out with my best mates right now if I didn't have to be here." She rolled her eyes dramatically, though of course she didn't actually mind working. "Plus, no one would sack the best shopkeeper in Ackley Bridge."
"Well, I'm sorry for making your life such a misery, Mollie." Stewart said playfully, more than used to his niece's sense of humour. "But I think you'll be the one that gets sacked if you don't start stacking these shelves."
"Alright, keep your bloody knickers on, Stew." Mollie threw her hands up defensively before starting to do her work. After a while, she walked into the back room to pick up another box to sort out only to find Lewis already in there.
"Alright, Lew?" She smiled. "Excited for your first day at Ackley Bridge tomorrow?"
"Yeah I actually am, thanks." He grinned.
"Just try not to get expelled again and you should be fine." She chuckled.
"It only happened the once, alright?" He defended himself, looking down as his cheeks turned slightly pink. "Plus, we were only kissing."
"In the caretaker's cupboard? Yeah right." Mollie said in disbelief, shooting her cousin a pointed look.
Lewis, like both of his male cousins, was certainly popular with the girls. Handsome, charming and the star of the football team, it was really no surprise. But sometimes:his charms seemed to land him in danger, hence why he'd been forced to move schools.
"It was one time, and I've learned my lesson." He assured her. "I'm mostly just excited to be going to school with you, Cory and Jordan to be honest."
"Yeah, I'm looking forward to it, too." She smiled genuinely at him, before grabbing a box and heading back out into the shop. Stopping by the doorway, she looked back to him one more time. "Just...prepare yourself. Ackley Bridge College is a pretty wild place."
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𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐍𝐄𝐗𝐓 𝐌𝐎𝐑𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐑𝐎𝐋𝐋𝐄𝐃 𝐀𝐑𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐃 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐖𝐈𝐓𝐇 𝐈𝐓 𝐂𝐀𝐌𝐄 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐃𝐀𝐖𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐎𝐅 𝐀 𝐁𝐑𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐍𝐄𝐖 𝐒𝐂𝐇𝐎𝐎𝐋 𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐌. And while Jordan had left early into the mist of the morning, his two older siblings had agreed to meet up with their cousin and walk to school with him on his first day. The three teenagers chatted as they went, with both Mollie and Cory trying desperately to convince Lewis that the school wasn't a complete hellhole despite the fact that it didn't have a football team.
"I ain't playing rugby." Lewis scoffed, shoving his hands in his trouser pockets as they walked through the school gates. "I'm a footie player."
"That's what I said at first, too, mate. But it's not that bad." Cory shrugged, a cocky smile making it's way onto his face. "Don't expect to be the star player, though. That spot is already taken."
Knowing full well that Cory was referring to himself, Mollie rolled her eyes with a scoff. "Yeah, by Riz. Everyone knows he's the best player."
"He wishes." Cory shook his head. "Plus, he ain't the captain, is he?"
"Well he should be." Mollie replied, quirking an eyebrow at her brother as she folded her arms defiantly over her chest.
"Who's this Riz fella?" Lewis furrowed his eyebrows, turning to Mollie. "It sounds like you fancy him or somethin-" The boy was pulled from his thoughts by a sudden scuffle breaking out by the car park, with one of the participants being very familiar to him. "Oh shit, is that Jordan?"
Mollie and Cory both followed Lewis' gaze to see their younger brother getting manhandled by a figure dressed in all black. Protective instincts kicking in, they ran towards the scene with Lewis following behind quickly.
"Oi, what's going on, here?" Cory asked, his voice firm yet full of concern. "Get off him."
The man didn't let go, causing Lewis and Cory to push him off while Mollie pulled her younger brother away. Shrugging himself out of their grip, the older man snarled at Jordan.
"Where's the money? You know what happens when you don't hand over the money."
Sheepishly, Jordan glanced over at his siblings and Lewis before looking back at the man. "I got robbed." He muttered quietly as if with shame, although it proved futile as a crowd had started to form around them.
"Robbed?" Mollie questioned worriedly, although she received no answer as Miss Keane rushed over suddenly and all eyes shifted towards her.
"Jordan, is he bothering you?" Miss Keane asked, looking at the older man suspiciously.
"Jordan and me go way back." He replied dismissively, although it came across rather unconvincingly.
"And you are?"
"A friend." He muttered, causing the female teacher to scoff.
"And that's how you usually greet your friends is it?"
"Jordan has something that belongs to me."
"I got robbed. Look, I'm sorry-" Jordan tried to explain, desperation in his voice.
"Who robbed you, Jordan?" Cory asked, his jaw clenching.
"And when?" Mollie added, equally as concerned.
"Yesterday. I...um...I didn't see their faces." Jordan swallowed nervously.
"Why? Were they wearing masks or something?" Miss Keane asked, her eyes narrowing at the hooded boy.
Jordan simply shook his head and looked down to the ground with embarrassment. "Burqas."
At this, the group of boys that had gathered at the scene burst into laughter. "He got robbed by my auntie."
"Shut up." Jordan fired, leaning forward to grab Zain by his blazer collar.
Desperate to break up the commotion, Miss Keane sent all of the pupils away to class. As the group dispersed, Mollie tried to grab Jordan's attention but he simply rode away on his bike before anyone could stop him.
"God's sake. What's he done now?" She bit her lip, exchanging a worried glance with Cory.
"I don't have a clue. He's only just gotten out of juvie and now God knows what kind of shit he's got himself into now." Cory sighed.
With furrowed eyebrows, Lewis looked between his cousins. "So does stuff like that happen alot here, then?"
"All the time." Mollie said plainly. "Welcome to Ackley Bridge, Lewis."
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"𝐖𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐖𝐀𝐒 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐅𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓 𝐀𝐁𝐎𝐔𝐓 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐌𝐎𝐑𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆?" Nas asked as she emerged from one of the cubicles in the empty bathroom and walked over to the sink. At the sound of her voice, Mollie was pulled away from her thoughts about the morning's events.
"I...dunno. Some creepy guy kept asking Jordan for money, but he said he got robbed by some women in burqas." Mollie bit her lip. "I think he's got himself into some serious trouble again."
"Trouble?" Nas asked nervously, her eyes widening as she looked at Mollie through the mirror. "What kind of trouble?"
"I think he's fallen back in with that dodgy crowd that he was involved with before Christmas. The ones that got him banged up." Mollie said, beginning to fiddle with her fingers worriedly. "There was something weird about that guy. I dunno what he'll do to Jordan if he doesn't give him the money he owes."
The sudden sound of a toilet flushing could be heard, with Missy shortly walking out of the cubicle and towards the sink next to Nas who shot her a subtle glare.
"Did you hear that, Missy? Something bad might happen to Jordan if he doesn't find that money that got stolen from him." Nas gave the girl a pointed look.
Too distracted by her own thoughts, Mollie didn't even pick up on the unspoken secret between her two best friends. The secret about the lost money that they desperately hoped she wouldn't find out.
"Well...I'm sure he'll find it." Missy said quickly, eager to change the subject. "How come you never tell us how fit your cousin is, Mol?"
"Huh?" She looked at the blonde with furrowed eyebrows, confused at the sudden change of subject. "Lewis?"
"Yeah, where you been hiding him? He's proper gorg." She gushed. "Can you set us up?"
"You and Lewis? Nope, never, no way." Mollie shook her head in disgust at the very thought of anyone fancying her cousin. Especially when she knew his usual ways with the ladies. "That would be almost as gross as when Nas kissed Cory."
"Oi! I thought we agreed to never speak of that again." Nas exclaimed, grabbing a paper towel to throw at Mollie.
"Firstly, nothing could ever be that gross." Missy scrunched up her face. "And secondly, Nas has got a new man in her life now. Haven't ya?"
Nas rolled her eyes at the smirk painted across Missy's face. "I wouldn't call Naveed my 'man'. I don't know if you've forgotten this, but he's-"
"Gay?" Mollie answered.
"Ackley's answer to Tom Daley?" Missy said, causing Nas to groan while Mollie burst out with laughter.
"I hate you both." Nas deadpanned, before glancing at her phone. "Oh no, I promised I'd meet Naveed five minutes ago. I'd better go."
"Have fun." Missy said with a playful singsong voice.
"Don't do anything we wouldn't do." Mollie smirked, waving to the Paracha girl as she backed towards the door with an unasmused expression.
Once she was gone, Missy turned back to Mollie with a grin. "So...about Lewis?"
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me 🤝 not holding back w my love for mason mount every time i write about Lewis in this story...oops?
basically just wanted to use this chapter to introduce the new characters, but dw all the others will be back soon!!
hope ya enjoyed the first chapter of series 2!! strap yourselves in for a journey here folks
<3