The Farmer and The Rich-Boy

Chapter Eight

Sips' Point Of View

It's evening by the time I return home, the Sun just low enough in the sky to kiss the horizon. I enter my house with an absent smile that falls when I see Holly sat waiting on the stairs.

"Sips! You're finally home!" She jumps up and runs to me but I stop her, breathing in.

"Holly, this needs to stop. You need to stop." I swallow before continuing, "You're making me miserable! You should just leave."

Her expression becomes confused and hurt, "But... Ridge said that this would work..."

"What?"

"He knows that I get lonely and he said that you get lonely too. And that if you said no, you're just playing hard to get. He said that if I refused to take no for an answer, you would eventually say yes!" Her eyes fill with tears and she suddenly starts to sob loudly. I step forward and tap her shoulder awkwardly. Is the comforting?

"Holly, that's not how love works. You can't force it, it just happens. And forcing someone to do something they hate is bad." I give some shoddy advice, just wishing that she would leave in all honesty.

"B- but what else can I do? Ridge said-"

"Don't always listen to Ridge, he doesn't know everything," or anything for that matter, "About how to be a good person. Try and be yourself, not Ridge."

She nods and wipes her eyes, "I'm going to go." Thank god... I think as she leaves, letting me go to my bedroom and flop onto my bed.

She's gone. I don't have to deal with her anymore! I grin to myself and grab my phone to text Sjin about what happened.

Sjin's Point Of View

The next day, I wake up late and end up rushing to get ready. If I miss the bus then I'm guaranteed to be late for school. I'm shoving some toast in my mouth when my Dad comes downstairs.

"You okay, Sjin?" He asks, putting the kettle on.

"'M gunna be late." I say through a mouth full of toast, shoving random books in my bag in the hopes that they're the right ones.

He rolls his eyes, "Stop rushing, I can drive you."

"Really?" It occurs to me that usually Dad's already working by now.

"We're ahead on the harvest so I've decided to take the day off." He smiles, his tanned skin crinkling by his eyes.

I return the smile and before long we're both sat in the old beat-up car that we've had almost my whole life.

"So, Sjin, how's school?"

"It's pretty good." I say, deciding not to tell him about any of the drama or how I actually got the bruises and cuts last week.

He nods and taps his fingers on the steering wheel, "How are your friends? No falling outs I hope."

"We're all fine, Dad."

"You should invite some people round, I haven't met most of the people I hear you talking about. What about that Sips boy, you talk about him a lot?"

I feel myself flush and I beg that he won't notice the seemingly random red cheeks, "Maybe, I'll have to ask him."

"Good, good."

We sit the rest of the journey in silence, until we're about a minute away from the school, "And Sjin?"

"Hmm?"

"Me and your mother both know that you're at the age where you may want to bring home a girlfriend or boyfriend so don't feel scared to, okay?"