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| 𝐇𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐀𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐚 𝐕𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐚𝐜𝐞 |

Winter break is over and it's back to school again.

Everyone's moody and dull on Monday morning, covered in their sweaters and hoodies. I'm extra moody though because I stayed up all night doing this stupid fucking assignment that I completely forgot about.

Castle came over last night for another one of our "sessions". When we were done and almost about to sleep, he asked me if I finished the Winter break assignment.

My reaction was obviously the very obvious one: "What assignment?"

"The Winter Break assignment."

I give him a 'what the hell are you saying?' look.

After that, Castle forced me up to finish the assignment which went up to five in the morning.

He could've been the perfect boyfriend and decided to sleep and forget about the world because we were in each other's arms. But no.

He made me do the fucking assignment.

"Wasn't I dating you so I can only use you and make you do all my schoolwork?" I grumble.

"Shut up, Holly." He forces a pen into my hand.

I whine.

He gives me a stern face.

I sigh, then get to writing.

We've had a lot of "sessions" over the Winter Break. Long and slow ones in my bedroom at night. Quick and hurried ones when our parents are in other rooms. Castle is getting used to them now. So used to them that he doesn't hesitate to run his hands over my naked skin or take off his clothes. I don't have to tell him anymore to grab onto my waist or touch me in places because somehow he reads my mind and does it himself. It took a long time for him to get comfortable though.

Sex is still something we're not mentioning or thinking about. It's gonna happen when we feel like the time is right. Also when Castle is ready.

My eyes are dull and tired as I sip my coffee standing beside Riley. Like me, she's the same, sipping her own coffee.

"So British Boy finally knows how to be hot." She comments, sleepily.

"He was always hot," I comment back, sleepily.

A groan escapes my lips when I remember something. "I brought my secret phone. Need to get rid of it."

Riley blinks at me, shocked. "You're throwing it away?"

I nod. "I'm done with the blackmailing business," I say, then add. "Also Castle doesn't like it and for some reason, I don't want to do things that he doesn't like."

She furrows her eyebrows at me. "Are you whipped?"

I raise an eyebrow. "Would you even be surprised if I was?" The things I did for him.

If I throw the Secret Phone in the bin at my house, there would be urges to pick it back up and keep it for future "in case". So I brought it here to throw it away for good so that I can't find it ever. I'm not gonna throw it away in the school bin. Obviously not. I'll throw it in any random bin on my way back home.

"How's Italian Boy doing?" I ask.

Riley furrows her eyebrows. "Blake is not Italian."

"Castle's not British too, bitch."

"Fair." She nods. "I don't know how he's doing. We didn't talk."

I raise an eyebrow. "For how long?"

"Weeks. I don't know. I'm trying to forget about him. So do not mention him." She warns me.

I shrug, dropping it.

The rest of the morning, we sip our coffees, trying to get some boost of energy.

The whole day goes by in a dull mood. Even Castle looks moody with darkness beneath his eyes as he slowly eats his lunch way across the cafeteria.

I really hope he gets comfortable with the idea of our relationship being out in the open soon enough. Because I so badly want to walk over to him and touch him in any way possible.

I'm getting sick and tired of sitting at this table with Maddy, the other cheerleaders and the football team. A few of them are decent and actually nice. The rest are draining as fuck.

Sean's still not here. Apparently, he didn't even come to school today. That did bring some concern to me, but I brushed it off. It's not my problem anymore. It hurts even saying that. But it really isn't my problem anymore. I have to stick to that.

I want to go over there to Castle and pull him into my arms, pepper kisses all over his face and neck and rest my head against his chest.

A longing sigh escapes my mouth. From the corner of my eye, I catch Maddy staring at me.

Her gaze flicks in Castle's direction, immediately making me straighten my back. She looks back at me, her face calculating.

I slightly narrow my eyes. What is this bitch up to?

She holds my stare for a few seconds before looking down at her food, not saying a single word.

I'm not entirely sure, but I think there's a hint of a smirk on her face.

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"Sometimes I hate you so much." Castle murmurs sleepily.

"You're the one who wanted me to do that assignment at three fucking AM," I grumble back.

"Why didn't you do it before?" He scolds, his fingers moving lazily on the controls of the game console.

"Because I forgot, you dumbass. You should've just forgotten about it too and gone to sleep."

"Then you would've lost the grade."

"Right." I sigh. "We could be going to sleep right now, you know?" I grumble, throwing him a glare.

"Just one more round." He repeats the same sentence that he's been repeating for the past hour.

I'm seriously considering burning down the Xbox.

But he loves it so I can't.

It's stupid how a few months back I would've done anything I wanted but now my decisions are always taken with the thought of how Castle would feel.

"I'm getting more worried." Castle mumbles.

"About?"

"Mom," he replies. "She couldn't lift a finger this morning or even speak."

I throw him a questioning glance. "Do you need to take her to the hospital?"

A hard look comes on his face. "I'll have to."

I scoot closer to him, resting my head against his arm to comfort him. "I'll come with you."

He nods.

Eventually, we get too sleepy to keep our eyes open that we fall asleep right there on the couch, with our game consoles still in our hands.

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Cheerleading practice has my muscles aching and shaking by the time I reach the girl's locker room. After showering, I stand near my locker, putting on my clothes and checking myself in the mirror of my locker door.

Tonight, I have to be there at Castle's house. He promised me dinner and those wraps that I really like. It's still so surprising how he can make the most delicious thing with just three ingredients.

It's not even his cooking. It's his neatness. Everything in his house is organized and clean. He nearly bit my head off when he saw my wardrobe.

I'm combing a brush through my hair when someone's face appears in the mirror behind me.

I mentally take a deep breath, closing my eyes briefly.

Opening my eyes, I flash a fake smile to Maddy through the mirror.

"Miss me already? We had practice just ten minutes ago."

She plays with a curl of her hair, twirling it around her finger. There's a smug look on her face. "I have something of yours."

"I knew it was you who stole my lip balm."

She gives me an 'Are you done joking?' look.

I raise an eyebrow, my brush pausing halfway through my hair.

She pulls something out of her pocket, and it takes me a moment to realize what it is.

My eyes widen.

No.

I spin around to make sure I'm truly seeing what I'm seeing.

There in Maddy's hand is my secret phone.

I try my best to school my features and appear calm even though I'm utterly baffled inside. How the fuck did she get that?

"What's that?" I ask, nonchalantly.

She shakes her head in amusement. "Don't play innocent. I saw you throwing this in the dumpster myself."

"So you went ahead and picked it out?" Because I remember the bin being huge and the phone landing at the bottom of it.

"That's not the point," she says. "I have proof now that you record us. There are texts of you blackmailing people too."

I narrow my eyes at her. "So what are you going to do about it?"

A look of triumph comes on her face as she pockets the phone. "I'm going to show this to the principal."

"And?" I raise an eyebrow.

My nonchalant tone catches her off guard as her smirk slips off a bit.

"You'll be expelled, and God knows what since secretly recording people like this is clearly illegal for violating someone's privacy rights."

"Here's the question, Maddy," I observe her face. "How are you sure that's my phone?"

This time her smirk slips off entirely.

"You have proof that people are being recorded." I lean towards her. "You have proof that people are being blackmailed." I get close to her face. "But do you have proof that it's me who's doing it?"

She goes silent, her mouth parting open in realization.

The corners of my mouth tug up into a wide mocking grin. "Oh, Maddy. Maddy." I shake my head. "Good job for the attempt though."

Her face twists into a glare. "You won't get away with this."

"But I already am." My grin gets bigger. "How many times has it been that you tried to bring me down but never succeeded?" I lean closer to her face, taking a lock of her hair between my fingers, and playing with it. "Never. You've never managed to bring me down. You just have to accept it at this point now that no matter how hard you try," I give her an assertive look. "I'm always going to be superior."

Her hands ball into fists, a confounded look on her face as she stares back at me. "I can still tell everyone about you and Castle." She spits back.

"Go ahead," I smirk. "We'll see who dares to cross me. If anyone hurts Castle," A dark look slides onto my face. "I'll destroy them."

Her mouth parts open again. This time in disbelief. "You...you actually like him?"

It's something more than that, you bitch.

I lean back away from her, giving her hair a small tug as I do so. I pick up my hairbrush again, bringing it to my hair. "I seriously don't get why you hate me."

A fierce look comes on her face. "I can still show this phone to the principal and put you under his suspicion."

"So what? I'll keep denying that it's mine. Everyone knows how much you hate me. It'll just seem like an act to put me down. Maybe you should go show it to him so I can make everyone believe that you're the one who records people and is trying to fraud me."

I can see the way each and every word of mine sparks a rising anger and frustration in her eyes.

"How do you even do this shit?" She bursts in frustration, throwing her hands up. "If you're so sure and mighty of yourself, why blackmail and threaten people when you know you're superior?"

I shrug, brushing the other side of my hair. "It's fear, Maddy. When people fear you, you're automatically superior. When you hold someone's darkest secrets, they automatically fall to your feet."

"So there's nothing you fear?" She challenges.

"Does breaking a nail just after getting it done count?" I ask.

An exasperated look comes on her face. She's losing patience with me.

I finish up with my hair, throwing my hairbrush back into my locker and shutting the door.

"It was nice talking to you." I pick up my bag, pulling it over my shoulder. "You can keep the phone. I catch people at the perfect time." Shooting her grin, I saunter past her, making sure to give her a little push with my shoulder as I make my way out. "It has some really steamy recordings that you might enjoy."

Once I'm outside, my grin drops.

A huge breath releases from my lungs that I had been holding the entire time.

Fuck.

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

That stupid bitch and her fucking problem with me!

I hope I handled that well. If I demanded the phone back, she'll blackmail me with it. The best way to approach that was to appear unconcerned about it.

The phone had a really strong password, but she must've cracked through it by someone else or something.

I have to figure out how to steal the phone back and shut that bitch up forever.

Something tells me that even though I handled that pretty well, there's something seriously bad going to happen.

Female intuition never lies.

★・・・・・・★

What are some of your kinks? I seriously have a degradation kink. Something about it just...turns me on.

⚠️ TRIGGER WARNING FOR THE NEXT CHAPTER ⚠️

Words: 2,100

Date of publishing: 14th August 2023