Chapter 43: Chapter 43: If It’s the Cousin, Then That’s Okay
A thought belatedly struck Holly, and she typed out a ssage: Did you block Dad from seeing your post?!!
He was silent for a minute before replying: Dad deleted .
Holly: "..."
She replied: Why? What did you say?
I said, "Hello, I’m Mortir Quincy," and Dad deleted . Babe, I think your dad really has it in for .
Mortir Quincy’s ssage was tinged with a sense of grievance.
Holly: ...
Her father, Wyatt Winslow, had only reluctantly agreed to her dating in the first place, and now this guy had gone and introduced himself so directly.
Ahem...
’If it weren’t for the fact that he was handso, Wyatt Winslow probably wouldn’t have even given his grudging approval.’
"BANG BANG! Beds one, two, and three! Phones away, ti for sleep!" the dorm matron called out, rapping on the iron door.
Holly quickly shut off her screen and stuffed the phone under her pillow. After a couple of minutes, she poked her head out from under the covers. Once she was sure the dorm matron was gone, she fished out her phone to reply to Mortir Quincy.
Mortir Quincy had sent three more ssages.
Need comfort.
Need hugs.
Need kisses.
...
「Monday, at noon.」
The five of them took a six-person table. Anna Willow and Holly Winslow exchanged a knowing glance and giggled, deliberately arranging for Chris Chaucer and Iris Kensington to sit together.
Iris Kensington blushed all the way to her neck. Anna Willow couldn’t help but laugh. "Chris, hehe, Holly and I want so candy for this."
Chris Chaucer looked a little embarrassed too. He nodded. "I already bought so. Ellie will give it to you guys later."
Hearing him call her "Ellie," Anna Willow let out a teasing "Ooooh!" and waggled her eyebrows at Iris Kensington, who buried her head even lower in embarrassnt.
Brian Willow tapped his sister, Anna, on the head. "Just eat." From the corner of his eye, he glanced at Holly Winslow, who was thoroughly enjoying the show.
Holly noticed that the pork rib dish today was mostly filler, with only three or four actual ribs. Just as she was about to grumble about it, she heard Anna say sothing outrageous. "Holly, what do you think of my brother?"
Anna’s eyes darted between Holly and Brian. ’Hmm,’ she thought, ’even though my brother isn’t quite good enough for Holly, I guess he’ll barely pass.’
Holly froze for a second, then started coughing and quickly took a few gulps of water.
’Gotta calm my nerves.’
Anna licked her spoon. "You know what they say, keep the good stuff in the family. Holly, my brother might not be all that, but he’s barely acceptab—Ow! Holly, I’m sorry, let go!"
"I was just kidding, Holly, let go!"
When Holly finally let go, Anna rubbed her own thigh.
Holly looked at Brian Willow and said with mock fierceness, "Brother Brian, make sure Aunt and Uncle Willow give her a good talking-to when you get ho. She’ll joke about anything."
"Holly, you’re so cruel! Can’t you forgive
now that I’ve admitted I was wrong?" Anna said in a placating tone, placing a piece of pork rib in Holly’s bowl.
Brian Willow glanced at Holly. He saw nothing but awkwardness on her face. Lowering his head to take a bite of food, he simply said, "Okay."
"Brother! Are you even my real brother anymore!" Anna shot him a wounded look.
"Hehe, Anna, you’re dead at. When you get punished, be sure to call
and Holly so we can have a good laugh."
Iris Kensington, who Anna had just been teasing until she blushed, had no qualms about kicking her while she was down.
"Ellie, I’m gonna get you for that!" Anna said, playfully wrapping her hands around her neck.
...
After lunch, Chris Chaucer and Brian Willow took care of the dishes.
The three girls—Holly, Anna, and Iris—strolled leisurely down the path, each with a lollipop in their mouth.
Anna suddenly leaned close to Iris, a mischievous grin on her face. "Ellie, have you and Chris...?" she asked, puckering her lips into a kiss.
Iris’s face instantly flushed red. "N-no..."
Flustered, she tried to change the subject. "Holly, Brother Brian is actually a great guy."
Holly: "..."
Under their combined stare, she said with the utmost seriousness, "I’m a married woman."
Anna and Iris both let out a disbelieving "Pfft!" at the sa ti. Anna giggled. "Holly, if my brother won’t do, what about Jared Zimrman or Xavier Jennings?"
Holly: "..."
"If it’s my ’cousin,’ then maybe."
Anna and Iris burst out laughing, both thinking she was just joking.
Once again, the two of them missed the truth.
As they passed the display board, they saw it had been updated. A solo photo of Mortir Quincy took up a fifth of the space. It had been taken by the school flowerbeds, and he was one of the rare few who could still look handso despite the curse of the school’s cara.
"Holly Winslow." Two girls suddenly called out to her.
Holly turned her head. They seed to be students from Class 3. "Yes?" she asked, puzzled.
The girl with straight-cut bangs, wearing a white padded jacket, stamred, "Holly, c-could you give this to... your cousin? Thank you." She handed over a pink envelope.
There was a large red heart on the envelope.
...
Mortir Quincy had just finished lunch when he received a picture ssage from Holly: a photo of a pink envelope with a red heart on it. He raised an eyebrow and imdiately called her. The mont she picked up, he said, "Babe, throw it out. If you want to get letters, I can write you one every day."
He thought it was a love letter for Holly from another guy.
Holly glanced at Sean Hayes and Mina Shaw, then ducked down below her desk and whispered, "It’s for you. Soone gave it to you."
Mortir tapped his finger against his phone, his body leaning against the balcony railing. "Got too much ti on your hands, babe? Copy down the Grade 10 math formulas ten tis. I’ll check your work on Saturday."
"..."
Holly hung up.
...
By Wednesday, the students were getting stir-crazy. So were already plotting to sneak out during the big afternoon clean-up by climbing the wall behind the tuck shop.
After finishing a math worksheet, Anna was completely drained. When class ended, she called Holly and Iris to go to the bathroom with her. "Holly, Ellie, let’s sneak out for so milk tea. I’m going to die of boredom in here."
Holly said, "Mr. Carlton won’t give us a leave pass."
But when she saw Anna wink, Holly knew exactly what she was suggesting. "No way."
’Truth be told, it wasn’t like she hadn’t climbed her fair share of walls in high school.’
"Co on, Holly! I went with you last ti you suggested it," Anna pleaded, shaking her arm.
In the end, Holly caved.
When the last class ended, the three of them snuck over to the back of the tuck shop. The wall here was the lowest, only about five-foot-seven.
Three or four boys were already in the process of climbing it, Jared Zimrman among them.
He glanced at Holly. "Need a hand?"
Holly refused. "No, thanks."
Jared Zimrman didn’t say anything else, but he stopped climbing and waited by the wall.
As usual, Iris was going to help Anna and Holly over first. But Holly had just placed her hands on the wall when a sharp voice barked, "What class are you in! Get down from there, now!"
The other boys heard the voice, scrambled nimbly over the wall, and took off running, leaving only Holly’s trio and Jared Zimrman behind.
Holly: "..."
Anna: "..."
Iris: "..."
The three girls walked over with their heads hung low.
It wasn’t the dean, just a security guard. He said, "What class are you in? Show
your school IDs."
None of them moved. Anna lied ekly, "We don’t have them."
"No ID, then you’re coming with
to the security office to get registered!" the guard said.
’A trip to the security office definitely ant getting their parents called.’
Holly quickly tried to apologize. "Sir, we know we were wrong. It won’t happen again. Sir, if our teachers find out, we’ll get derits."
"You knew you’d get derits and you still tried to climb!" The security guard looked them over for a mont. They seed a bit familiar, maybe like students from Class 8. "Go on, get back to class. Don’t let this happen again."
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