𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐝.

𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐲 𝐞𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭

It had been a few days since the fight, and Holly was sitting in her third period class. It was science, so she sat next to Toby and Tianah, but obviously Tianah had been suspended. So for today, it was just her and Toby. 

The two of them were asked to hand out files to everyone, so they exited their seats, leaving their desk unattended. Around five minutes later, the two of them returned to their seats and opened their textbooks. Holly opened her pencil case to find a piece of paper hidden inside of it. 

She grasped it and pulled it out, examining it closely as she opened it. It was a note. 

"Don't tell anyone about where the cut came from. If you do, everyone will know what we did." 

The letter was addressed to Holly anonymously, but as soon as she read the message, she knew exactly who it was from. Toby noticed her expression change. "What's that?" He questioned innocently. Holly was slightly shaken up by the note, as to her, it came off as like a threat almost." She snapped slightly. "It's nothing, okay? Let's just do our work."

Holly's eye was still a bit bruised, so every now and then someone would make a comment about it. The eshays mostly joked. One of said eshays sat a row or two behind her, so he decided to partake in a little publicity stunt. 

"Oi, Holly!" He addressed, clicking his fingers in her direction. She turned around to look at him. "Tell me what it's like to be beaten by fucking Taylor Brown out of all people!" He questioned maliciously, causing Toby to turn around and put in his two cents. "Shut the fuck up Jayme!" He hissed, shooting the boy a displeased look. 

"Woah, woah, woah! Calm down Jamal, don't pull out the nine!" He defended, letting out a slight chuckle at his remark. "How about you shut the fuck up or you can tell everyone what it's like to be decked by Toby Criddle 'of all people'" Toby retorted, mocking Jayme's impression of himself. 

Jayme ignored the chocolate haired boy and turned his attention back to Holly. "You're just so petite and small aren't you? Always need your two little boyfriends to fight your battles for you." He laughed. His friends laughed too. Toby knew that this could go very wrong if either of them reacted badly, so he rested his hand on Hollys back and turned her attention back to their work. "Don't listen to him Holly, he's just trying to start shit." Toby reassured, looking at her. "He's right though." She protested. Toby looked at her, a sense of anger and confusion on his face.

"What the fuck is that supposed to mean?" He interrogated, his tone stern and demeaning. "I'm just saying, every time something happens, someone else always fights the battle for me. You and Henry stick up for me to like Taylor and shit, and then the other day I had Tianah beat the fuck out of Taylor for punching me." Holly admitted, disheartened. 

Toby's angry gaze softened, he felt bad for her. "I'm sorry, Holly. I didn't know you felt that way." He apologised. She looked at him, a faint smile on her face. "It's fine. I'm sorry I'm a little off today, I guess I'm just still a little shook up from the other day." Toby slid his hand under the table and intertwined it with hers so that nobody could see. "That's okay, you know I'm here if you need anything." He restated, giving her a smile as his thumb stroked the top of her wrist. 

Toby's sentiment mixed in with all the negativity around her lately caused her to shed a few tears. Toby noticed this, and he leaned in slightly. "You know, even with tears in your eyes, you're still the most beautiful girl in the room." He whispered, looking up at her with pure admiration. Holly's heart warmed up slightly, and she shot Toby a faint smile as she tilted her head slightly. 

The two of them stared at each other before they were interrupted by their teacher. "Miss Hannah, Mr Criddle! I sure hope you two are doing your work and not slacking off. It would be a shame if I had to keep you guys after class." He announced, staring daggers in their direction. Holly and Toby quickly broke eye contact with each other and reverted their gaze towards the teacher. "Of course we are, sir." Holly defended. "It's just that Toby had something in his eye and I was trying to see what it was!" She spoke, an angelic smile making its way across her face. 

The teacher gave the two teens a quick nod before returning his attention back to the student he was initially helping.