𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐝.

𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐲 𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐞

It had been a few hours since the kiss, and Henry had gone home, leaving Holly in the house by herself. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't get what happened with henry out of her head. First she had Toby admit his feelings, then literally the day after that, Henry did too? Holly had never felt so confused. She felt the same way about both boys, but there was no universe in which she could have both. That wouldn't end well for anybody. 

Holly tried not to stress, and so she decided to start scrolling through her socials, when she got a text. It was from Ryan. Now for context, Ryan and Holly were friends, but they weren't all that close. They never really spoke much. However, she was quite close with his little sister, Ella. 

R: "Hey, Holly. I was just wondering if you'd like to come over. Ella wants to see you."

Holly responded.

H: "Yeah, sure! I'll be over in like 15."

Holly liked Ella. Ella was maybe a year or two younger than Holly, but they still got along really well. Holly grabbed her purse and her keys before heading out to her car. She was driving for a good ten or so minutes before she pulled up into Ryan's driveway. 

She exited her car, closing the door behind her and walked up to their front porch and pressed the doorbell. Holly was greeted by Ryan, who stood with a pearl coloured towel wrapped around his waist. Water droplets cascaded down from his chest and over his toned abs."Oh hey, Ella's just through here." He spoke, running his hands through his wet, auburn hair. Holly walked through the entry way with Ryan guiding her until they reached the living room. 

Ella sat on the couch, patiently waiting to greet Holly. The two girls just sat on the couch whilst Ryan sat cross legged on the floor as he played one of his stupid little games. Holly and Ella mainly kept to themselves, however every now and then they'd tease him. Ryan liked being in Holly's company, even though they weren't close, and they didn't talk as much as he'd like, he still really liked being in her company. She was funny, always nice to him, and it seemed like she genuinely cared about his feelings. She was a good friend to him.

The girls were having fun. They were chatting shit, playing little games, and overall just had a good time. Soon enough, Ryan's parents came home from wherever it was they went to, and they offered Holly a place at the dinner table that night. Holly wasn't the kind to impose on a family's nightly routine, so she respectfully declined, however, Ella was insistent. "You're fine Holly." She spoke, encouraging her brother to partake in her attempts at persuading Holly to stay. Ryan flashed her a faint smile. "Yeah, stay. It'll be fun." He said before making his way to the kitchen. 

Holly realised that there was no point in fighting it, so she sent her dad a text.

H: "Hey, Dad. I'm just texting to let you know that I'm staying at Ella's for dinner tonight, I shouldn't be home too late."

Holly waited a few minutes for his response.

D: "Yeah okay, sweetheart. Thanks for telling me. Have fun, love you xx"

Holly smiled at the message as she locked her phone. She looked up to Ella, who seemed impatient to know the final verdict. "Dad's fine with it, so I'll stay for dinner." Holly spoke with a smile. Ella's face lit up with excitement, and honestly, Ryan seemed happy too. Ella's parents seemed overjoyed to have a special guest in their home. The three teenagers sat on the couch and watched the nightly programmes as they waited for dinner. 

Around an hour later, Mr and Mrs Mackay beckoned the trio into the kitchen, and alerted them that dinner was ready. Ella sat next to Holly, and Ryan sat across from the two girls whilst the parents sat at the end of the table. 

"So, Holly.." Mrs Mackay started as she pierced her fork through a piece of food. "How is school going?" She questioned. Holly looked up from her plate. "Oh, school is fine, just trying to keep my grades up so I can get into uni eventually." She informed as Mrs Mackay nodded. "Yeah, it's nice to see someone interested in progressing into a successful future, unlike some people." She looked at Ryan as she said this. Ryan rolled his eyes. "Do we seriously have to talk about this now?" He groaned. His father stared daggers at him. "Yes, we do.Now stop being so disrespectful to your mother and listen to what she has to say." Ryan groaned again. "Ryan, we just want what's best for you. You'll go nowhere in life if you just keep sitting around all day playing games. You need to stop slacking off in school." She continued to lecture. Ryan set down his cutlery and stood up. "I'm not hungry anymore." He spoke in a monotone voice before angrily walking off to his room in a hurry. His parents sighed. "Where did we go wrong with him?" Mr Mackay queried as he shook his head.