╔═══════════════════╗

"𝙅𝙐𝙎𝙏 𝘼 𝙎𝙀𝙇𝙁𝙄𝙎𝙃,
𝙎𝙋𝙊𝙄𝙇𝙏 𝙇𝙄𝙏𝙏𝙇𝙀 𝘽𝙍𝘼𝙏."

╚═══════════════════╝

"𝐌𝐎𝐋, 𝐖𝐀𝐈𝐓!" Cory called through the corridor as he spotted the small brunette that moved with the determination that could only belong to his sister. Catching up to her, he raised his eyebrows. "Bloody hell, you look like The Walking Dead."

"Very funny." Mollie rolled her eyes at his attempt to tease her. "Rather that than smell like Shrek's swamp. Is that where you disappeared off to last night?"

"Splitting my sides with laughter, Mol." Cory quipped back, before growing somewhat sheepish and scratching the back of his head. "Actually-"

Mollie groaned, taking his hesitation as an answer in itself. Although, his messy uniform probably should have been a giveaway in and of itself.

"You know what, don't finish that sentence. The less I know the better." She scrunched her face up in disgust, shaking her head quickly as if to dispel the disturbing thoughts from her mind. There was just certain things that a sister does not need to think about.

As they walked, Mollie quickly checked to make sure no one was near before lowering her voice slightly. "Look, um, this month's bills arrived this morning."

"And?"

"I think we'll scrape by just about." Mollie muttered. "But we need more food, and God knows we can't keep going to the food bank if we don't have the food vouchers."

Cory sighed, hearing the worry that was laced through Mollie's voice. He was worried too, but he did his best to put on a brave face for her sake and gave her the most convincing smile he could. "I'll sort it, okay? I'll...think of something."

"Sounds convincing." Mollie mumbled sarcastically, though deep down she greatly appreciated Cory's willingness to help. "Just don't do anything stupid, and we'll be fine."

"What makes you think I'd do something stupid?" He asked, an exasperation scoff falling from his lips, though it didn't take him long to reconsider his question. "Actually, don't answer that. Just trust me."

Mollie chuckled as they walked down the corridor towards the Sixth Form Hub. Just as she reached for the door, she felt Cory grab her arm and pull her back for a moment.

"Look, Mol, I know it's hard right now. But we'll get through this, right?" Cory said quietly, a hopeful smile on his lips.

Even though she could see for herself the faint uncertainty in his chestnut eyes, it would be a lie to say that Mollie didn't appreciate his reassurance. Even for a fleeting moment, it settled the feeling that resided in the pit of her stomach and brought a weak smile to her face.

"'Course." She said with as much conviction as she could muster which, truthfully, wasn't a whole lot. Desperate for a distraction, Mollie was quick to turn back around and swing the door to the Hub open.

Her gaze was instantly drawn to a figure sitting directly in her eyeline, an oh-so familiar figure that she hadn't seen there for what felt like forever.

His dark brown hair was swept upwards in it's trademark quiff and his lips were pulled upwards into a familiar boyish grin, only today he was back in his school uniform for the first time in a while. The only difference was the rigid metal brace that accompanied it around his shoulders.

"Lewis!" Mollie exclaimed, a genuine smile on her face as she knew what it meant to her cousin to be back at school after his accident.

"Well, well, well, look who it is." Cory smirked, leaning over to embrace the boy, even if it was slightly awkward due to the clunky halo brace. "Good to have you back, man."

"Welcome back, Lew." Mollie grinned at the boy, giving him a side hug. "Have you ever thought about customising your brace? You could get some flowers on it like Regina George."

"Who?" Lewis' face contorted in confusion, eyebrows furrowed and nose wrinkled as he wondered whether to be offended to complimented. Though knowing his cousin as he did, he could make an educated guess as to which it would be.

"Doesn't matter." Mollie scoffed in disapproval at his obliviousness, ensuring to mutter an insult as she walked towards the opposite seat. "Uncultured swine."

Falling into the empty seat next to Riz, Mollie wore a bashful smile as she leaned forward to place a chaste kiss on his cheek. Now that their relationship was common knowledge around the school, she actually much preferred it.

There was no need to hide anything from anyone, meaning they were able to show small but sweet signs of affection towards each other without any fears. Though they still had nothing on Missy and Aaron when it came to PDA, that was for sure.

"Morning." Riz chirped, a smile instinctively making its way onto his lips as he caught sight of her. The girl that he could proudly, and now publicly, call his girlfriend.

"Morning." Mollie replied, connecting their lips for a short but sweet kiss.

"Can I ask you somethi-" Riz began, but he was cut off by a hostile scoff from behind them. And to no one's surprise it came from the only person who still had an objection to their relationship.

"Ugh, get some class." Alya muttered from where she was sitting, sending a disapproving look towards Mollie.

"Ugh, get a life and stop obsessing over mine." Mollie didn't miss a beat as she muttered her response, eyes rolling backwards for a moment.

"As if I care about you in the slightest." Alya chuckled dryly, quirking an eyebrow.

"Alya-" Riz sighed, desperate to avoid any more explosive conflict between the two. He didn't want to see either of them get hurt.

"Here's an idea, hun." Mollie spoke up, a faint sneer on her face. "Maybe you should get a bit more practice in for that persuasive speaking competition later. Because right now, you're not fooling anyone."

Riz couldn't help but let out a slight chuckle, against his better judgement as he knew it would only aggravate Alya further. An outraged huff left her lips and she turned away from the couple, instead burying her gaze into her phone.

Consumed by anger, Alya didn't even allow herself a second thought before opening up her group chat and doing the only thing she could to get back at Mollie.

✰ ✰ ✰

"𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐓𝐎𝐓𝐀𝐋𝐋𝐘 𝐒𝐇𝐎𝐔𝐋𝐃'𝐕𝐄 𝐖𝐎𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐀𝐓, 𝐁𝐀𝐁𝐄." Mollie smiled comfortingly at Nas as they walked into the canteen after the public speaking competition. "You were so much better than the others."

To tell the truth, Mollie had practically fallen asleep during the rest of the speeches and had only stayed awake to give Nas a hearty round of applause after hers. But even still, she was more than certain that her best friend should've been victorious.

"Thanks, Mol." Nas smiled, before shrugging. "I'm just glad it's over. I literally think it was just so Miss Carter could make the school look better."

"Sounds logical. Put on a speaking competition, and suddenly everyone will forget about how much of a shithole it is." Mollie replied sarcastically, earning a chuckle from the raven haired girl.

As they walked, Mollie couldn't help but notice a few students glancing at them intently. Something about their expressions seemed odd to her and made her feel slightly uneasy, but she brushed it off as best as she could and put it down to the fact that Nas has just competed in the competition and they were probably just discussing that.

Probably.

Turning her head, she caught the sight of Cory standing at the head of a lunch table full of his friends. He wore a hurt expression on his face as he looked at something on Riz's phone, with the Nawaz boy seemingly guilty.

At this, the strange feeling in Mollie's stomach only seemed to grow and she lightly tapped Nas' arm with a weak smile.

"I'm, uh, just gonna go speak to the boys for a sec. I'll catch up with you."

Nas nodded in understanding, and Mollie diverted her path over to where the boys were sat.

"What you looking at?" She asked with furrowed eyebrows, trying to get a glance at the phone for herself.

And that was when her heart dropped.

On the screen was a photo of her, at perhaps her very lowest. A photo of her at the food bank only a few days ago. She had her head down and hood up, but there was no mistaking that it was her.

And if that wasn't enough, the caption beneath it only made things worse

Omg! Mollie Wilson is a food bank skank.

Sent by Alya Nawaz

Before she could process a response, Mollie's head snapped upwards at the sound of what could only be described as smug footsteps strutting towards the table. And there, clutching the competition trophy with an even more smug grin on her face, was the sender of the message.

Alya.

"Aren't you going to congratulate me?" She asked, her voice sickly sweet as she waited intently.

"Congratulate you for what?" Riz asked angrily, his jaw clenched as he turned the phone towards her. "This?"

Glancing at the screen, Alya's face dropped and her eyes widened. "How did you get that?"

"Leave it Riz." Cory said plainly, before waking around to face Alya directly. Looking down at her, he shook his head. "All that talk about charity. Look at you, you're so full of yourself. Just a selfish, spoilt little brat."

With that, Cory turned on his heel and walked out, leaving the canteen in silence for a moment that seemed to last forever.

Though her head told her to leave after him, Mollie's heart couldn't stop her from making her own way towards the girl and looking her straight in the eyes. Hurt meeting guilt.

"You know, I don't know what I ever did to make you hate me like this...my friends and family, too. All you do is try to tear other people down to make yourself feel better. Posing like some good girl model student. Well, I'm just glad that everyone now knows what you really are." Mollie spat, her voice laced with venom as every single student watched on in a stunned silence. "I hope that winner's trophy makes you happy, Alya. I really do. Because it seems like you've lost everything else today."

✰ ✰ ✰

"𝐈'𝐌 𝐒𝐎 𝐒𝐎𝐑𝐑𝐘." Riz sighed, as he sat outside on a bench with Mollie and Cory. He knew that he didn't need to apologise for his sister's actions, but somehow it felt like the only thing to say in that situation.

"It's okay." Mollie muttered, her lips twitching weakly though her eyes remained fixed down on her nails. "You shouldn't have to apologise, you weren't to know she'd do something like that."

Riz nodded his head weakly, knowing she was right but still feeling a sense of guilt for the whole situation.

After the twins left the canteen, he was quick to follow them out and brushed past his sister in irritation. He'd seen her do alot of petty and sometimes spiteful things, but this was different. This time it wasn't a joke. It was real.

And what made it worse was the hurt on their faces. If their home struggles weren't hard enough, it was now common knowledge throughout the school as the photo had spread like wildfire.

Breaking Riz from his thoughts, Cory stood up from the bench and swung his bag over his shoulders.

"I'm out of here." He huffed. "Can't stand to be around all those idiots staring at us all day like we're charity cases or something. I'll see you at home, Mol."

He slipped away without another word, leaving Mollie and Riz at the table in a deep silence.

Mollie focused on her hands as she recalled the image and the accompanying message. She'd never felt so degraded or vulnerable as she had done in that moment as everyone looked at her with pity in their eyes, like spectators of her misery. She knew they meant well, but their pity only made her feel worse. Like Cory, she just couldn't bring herself to go back in there.

"You're probably so ashamed of me, right?" She asked after a while, breaking the silence between her and Riz. "Your girlfriend, the food bank skank."

"Ashamed?" Riz asked, almost stunned by the assumption. "God, no, Mollie. I'd never be ashamed of you, especially not for something like this."

Riz wasn't naive to the fact that their home lives were drastically different, with him having a significantly more stable upbringing and lifestyle than Mollie ever had. But at no point had he ever looked down on her for that, for having to work to support her family and especially not for using a food bank.

Reaching over the table for her hand, he caressed it softly with his thumb and squeezed it. "This doesn't make me think any less of you, Mol. You're still the girl that I'm in love with, and I don't care who knows."

"You mean that?" Mollie bit down on her lip as she met his deep brown eyes. Maybe it didn't fix everything, but having Riz's presence there was what she needed in that moment.

"More than anything." Riz nodded, without a second thought. He didn't need to think about it, he was damned sure. "I was, uh, going to ask you this earlier, actually but I didn't get around to it. I don't know if it's the right time, and you can say absolutely no if you want and-"

Mollie watched the boy grow slightly flustered, a flush on his cheeks and he scratched the back of his head with his spare hand. Cutting him off, she let out a faint chuckle of affection. "What is it?"

"I, uh, I want you to meet my parents...as my girlfriend." He said, swallowing anxiously as he tried to read her expression.

Mollie's eyes went wide, her eyebrows rising in surprise. It still gave her butterflies whenever Riz referred to her as his girlfriend, but this time even more so. There was a sincerity in his voice and his intention that virtually made her melt into his palm.

"You want to tell them about us?"

"If you don't want to-" Riz began nervously, but Mollie simply shook her head with a faint smile.

"No,no, I'm just surprised, that's all." Mollie admitted, genuinely taken aback by what he was saying and by his genuine love for her. "I'd love to."

"Great." Riz smiled, a beam of pure relief that practically reached his ears. "Is tomorrow okay?"

"'Course. Friday is my day off work, anyway." Mollie nodded sheepishly, before a certain recollection caused an uneasy feeling to settle in her stomach and reduce her back to her most vulnerable. "What about, uh, Alya?"

Riz's expression hardened, sensing the fear in Mollie's voice. "I won't let her say or do anything. In fact, I don't even have to tell her, so that she won't be there."

"No Riz, I don't want to come between you-" Mollie said honestly. Despite the anger and pain that Alya had caused her, she couldn't ignore the fact that she was Riz's sister and she didn't want to tear their family apart.

But standing firm, Riz shook his head. "Mollie, she's the one that's come between us by doing what she's just done. She might be my sister, but I don't have a thing to say to her right now."

Mollie didn't reply, instead focusing on their interlocked hands. The only constant thing in her world, which otherwise seemed to be falling apart at the seams, fraying like old fabric that was tattered and torn.

He gave her strength and made her feel valued when it felt like nobody else did. And like hell did she love him for that.

"Yeah okay, I'll do it." She flickered her gaze back up to meet his warm brown eyes and let out a sigh, wisps of dark hair falling into her face. A subtle smile grew on Riz's face at her agreement, full of nothing but love for her. The couple shared each other's gaze for a moment, finding nothing but comfort in each other as they always did.

The idea of going back into school didn't so much scare her, but instead she just couldn't find it within her to deal with it. She felt drained just thinking about it.

Sucking in a sharp breath, Mollie jolted into action and grabbed her bag from under the bench.

Screwing his face in confusion, Riz followed her with his gaze. "Where you going?"

"As far from this dump as I can get." Mollie shrugged as if it were obvious. Walking around to Riz's side of the bench, she held out her hand for him to take. "Come on, don't leave me to bunk off on my one."

✰ ✰ ✰

anyways...
you won, Alya. enjoy the trophy, I hope it makes you happy. dear lord, what a sad little life, alya.

I'm sorry I had to do that, that's the energy I got from mollie's lil speech to Alya. I love writing their relationship bc it's probs the most dramatic in this whole book lol, and ofc there's definitely more to come!

hope you enjoyed and sorry it's been a lil while! hope you're all well! <3