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| 𝐇𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐀𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐚 𝐕𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐚𝐜𝐞 |

Confusion and anxiety both make my palms sweaty as Dad and I make our way toward the principal's office. Mom stayed home with Castle.

I have literally no clue what I did now.

Before whenever the principal used to call my parents, I knew what I was getting in trouble for. But now? I have zero clue. I didn't even go to school this week. Then why the fuck is he saying I'm expelled?

Surely, there's been a mistake.

After checking in with the school office, we finally enter his room.

I look at the principal sitting on his chair behind a huge desk. He's a fairly tall man, with white-ish blonde hair and blue eyes. I know he has four kids even though he's still thirty-five years old. His face is angular and still young looking.

His mouth stretches into a smile that doesn't reach his eyes. "Mr. Versace." He greets my Dad, familiarly, because of how many times they've already met.

"Mr. Raymond." Dad nods back, sitting on the chair in front of his desk without any instructions. I take my familiar seat beside him, my back tense as I watch Mr. Raymond's face for any clues about what happened.

His eyes slide towards me and his face drops into one of disappointment. He leans his elbows on the desk, scratching his eyebrow tiredly. With one hand, he opens a drawer on his desk and pulls out something, placing it between us on the desk.

My heart drops to my fucking stomach when I see what it is.

My secret phone.

That Maddy bitch actually fucking did it.

Anger flares through every inch of my body and I have to do my best to school my features to show indifference.

"Take a look." Mr. Raymond gestures to my dad with a hand. "Password is 621457."

My eyes almost bulge out of my head.

Keep calm.

Dad gives a puzzled look, before slowly reaching for the phone and picking it up. The urge to snatch it back has my fingers twitching.

I've been so lost with Castle that I completely forgot that Maddy still had my secret phone.

Dad goes through it, his eyebrows cinching and eyes widening as he sees God knows what.

The whole time, my hands remain in tight fists on my lap. My heart beats erratically in my chest, threatening to tear out.

It feels like hours before Dad finally speaks out.

"I...I don't understand." He shoots me a confused look before looking at Mr. Raymond.

Mr. Raymond places his hands under his chin, his elbows on the desk. "That's Holly's phone. She's been secretly recording students and teachers and blackmailing them with it."

For a moment Dad doesn't react, as if he's processing Mr. Raymond's words. Then his head whips towards me, his eyes wide with shock and disbelief. I refuse to look at him as I shut my eyes, looking down at my lap.

"S-surely this is a mistake." Dad looks back at Mr. Raymond. He drops the phone onto the desk, shaking his head. "I know Holly hasn't really been an obedient student, but she wouldn't go that far."

"I have proof." Mr. Raymond states.

Proof? I furrow my eyebrows.

He pulls out another phone from his drawer. Curiosity has me furrowing my eyebrows as he scrolls through it. He taps on the screen and suddenly there's a sound filling the room.

A voice.

My voice. My eyes widen.

"You have proof that people are being recorded. But do you have proof that it's me who's doing the recording?"

"Oh Maddy. Good job for the attempt though."

"We'll see who dares to cross me. If anyone hurts Castle, I'll destroy them."

"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."

"When you hold someone's darkest secrets, they automatically fall to your feet."

"You can keep the phone. I catch people at the perfect time. It has some really steamy recordings that you might enjoy."

The room falls silent when the voice recording stops. My words echo throughout my head, horror coiling low in my stomach.

She...voice recorded me?

She fucking voice-recorded me.

I can feel Dad's and Mr. Raymond's eyes burning holes into me, waiting for an explanation. An excuse. Anything.

I try to come up with something. I try my hardest to work my brain to come up with at least one fucking word. But...

But I'm exhausted. My brain is blank and tired because I'm fucking exhausted from what's been going on since last week. I feel like I'm going to suffocate and evaporate. No one can witness a murder, hide dead bodies, watch and take care of someone whom you absolutely adore who lost his mom, and still be mentally functioning.

On top of that, now this. This was just the fucking cherry on top.

"Holly." Dad says my name, calmly and waiting, "Say something."

There's no point in saying something. Maddy gave in the phone and voice-recorded our conversation for proof.

"Holly." Dad calls my name again.

"I did it," I whisper, my voice tired and defeated.

He halts, his gaze boring into me. I can feel his disbelief and shock rolling in waves, pulling me under. I can never take my dad's disappointed look. Whenever he's disappointed in me, I know I did something terrible.

Mr. Raymond straightens up, clearing his throat. "Usually, all of Holly's delinquent acts have been accepted with a small punishment or detention. But this," he gestures to my secret phone with a hand, "is highly unacceptable. It's a violation of privacy and illegal too. Not only did she record people, but she also threatened them with it." Mr. Raymond cuts his eyes to me, narrowing them. "She threatened to beat up students and break bones. A few of my staff are questioning students, asking them if Holly has ever harmed them."

Oh fuck.

I'm literally utterly fucked.

Dad sits there with a sort of frozen look on his face as if he can't believe what's spewing out of Mr. Raymond's mouth.

"Even after all this," Mr. Raymond speaks up, running a hand through his hair, breathing out a tired sigh. "I'm ready to go easy on Holly just because of my respect for you, Mr. Versace."

Dad stares at him, giving him an unsure look. "What do you mean?"

Mr. Raymond reaches for a file at the corner of his desk and slides it toward Dad. "I've already prepared Holly's transfer letters and documents. I've contacted the school too."

Wait what?

Dad flips through the pages and I lean slightly to take a look.

Panic slams into me when I realize what I'm seeing.

"That's not a school! It's a prison." I blurt out.

"It's a school for delinquent students. If you want to graduate smoothly without a pause on your studies then that's the best option I came up with."

No. No. No. No.

I've heard about people who go there. It's a literal fucking prison! Students who go in there once aren't allowed outside until they've graduated. There are rooms built in the school where you'll have to stay during the night and during the day, you're tortured with extra studies with no activities.

"I can't go there." My voice rises with slight panic. Castle needs me. He needs me to be there for him at night to hold him. He needs me to sneak into his room with food and make sure he's eating properly. He needs me more than ever right now. I can't leave him to go to that fucking prison for the remaining three months until graduation.

"You've given me no choice, Holly." Mr. Raymond sighs. He gives me a disappointed look. "I actually liked you no matter what pranks you played on me. The things that came out of your mouth, I found those hilarious sometimes. But this...it's just too much, Holly. Once my staff comes back and it's confirmed that you actually did harm students within the school, I can't change anything."

I look towards Dad for the first time, and immediately regret it, when he looks at me with refusal and betrayal.

"Why did you do all this?" He asks, his voice low and in disbelief. "Why?"

I remain quiet, staring down at my lap.

He shakes his head, taking in a deep breath as if to calm himself. He looks back at Mr. Raymond, his face dead serious. "Anything else?"

"That's all, Mr. Versace."

Dad stands up harshly, a dark look on his face as he stares at me intently. "We'll be taking our leave now then. Good day, Mr. Raymond."

｡☆✼★━━━━━━━━━━━━★✼☆｡

"What on earth were you thinking doing all this?"

My heart stops in my chest. Because Dad is yelling at me. Yelling. He's so angry right now, it scares the fuck out of me. I've never seen him so furious with me before. He's always been annoyed or tired, but never angry.

I sit timidly on the kitchen stool, my hands on my lap as Dad paces in front of me.

Mom and Castle are standing behind Dad. Mom's staring at me with disbelief in her eyes while Castle stands with his head down. If he wasn't grieving right now, he would've definitely given me an 'I fucking told you!' look.

"Blackmailing? Threatening? Secretly recording people?" Dad emphasizes each word with frustration. "Who even gave you the idea to?" He demands.

So many regrets hit me in every direction. Castle's words didn't make me regret my decisions before but with Dad yelling at me...I wanna burst into fucking tears.

"Tell me. Why did you do all that?" He stops in front of me, looking down with his arms crossed.

I keep silent. What do I even tell him? That I recorded people so that they don't get in my way? That I threatened and blackmailed them because they spread rumours about me and my family? That I beat up people when they didn't do things my way? Hell no. I'll have to listen to a longer lecture if I tell the truth.

"How did Mr. Raymond get the phone?" Dad raises an eyebrow.

"Some girl that hates me gave it to him," I mutter. I'm surprised I'm not having thoughts about killing Maddy right now. I expected myself to be raging with anger and conjure up plans where I ruin her, but...I don't. I feel stuck. I feel exhausted. Trapped.

The only thing in my mind right now is Castle. Of how he's feeling. Of how he's going to feel.

"Who's the girl?" Dad questions.

"You don't know her," I reply.

Looking at Dad's angry face, a sigh escapes my mouth. "Not that it helps, but I stopped doing all that and threw the phone away. The girl, Maddy, picked it off the trash and came to me, voice recorded our conversation and went to Mr. Raymond."

Dad blows out a breath, running his hands across his face in weariness. He looks back at Mom, before looking back at me, with a defeated look. "Holly, I always excused your behaviour and tried to impose as less rules as possible on you. I did everything to make sure you had the best life that I didn't have when I was young. But then you go ahead and do this and now you have to be locked up at that school – the school filled with delinquent and dangerous kids."

Castle's head snaps up at that. He gives a confused look with a hint of panic in his eyes.

"She's leaving?" For the first time since his mom's death, his words don't sound empty or void.

Dad runs a hand through his hair, giving a nod. "She's going to be leaving for three months till graduation. Tomorrow morning."

Castle's eyes snap towards mine and I can clearly read his eyes. 'Please tell me this is a joke'. I wish it was. I really wish it was. I give him a small helpless shake of my head. His eyes turn glassy, and he quickly blinks to hide them.

I nearly jump off the stool to march towards him to pull him into my arms. It takes great effort to stay still.

Fuck, I hate this. He's already grieving Camille's death and now he has to go through three months without me. It makes me wanna go back and change all my decisions. I'd do anything to reverse time. 

"There must be something we can do," Mom speaks up, worry on her face. "That school is filled with young criminals."

Doesn't matter if I go there then.

"I already tried everything." Dad gives a weary look. "Mr. Raymond doesn't want Holly back in school and there isn't any other school that wants to accept her in the last three months of the school year. And what Holly did—it's not a small thing. She did something illegal."

I wince at the words.

My parents continue discussing and worrying among themselves. I look at Castle again and give him my sorriest look. He has his lips pressed tightly together as if he's stopping himself from crying. His fingers are wringing together, and he swallows to keep calm.

"Can we not do this anymore?" I blurt out. My parents stop talking to look at me. Fuck, I sound like a bratty kid. "I know I did a mistake and I'm...sorry." The only reason I opened my mouth was so this conversation can end quickly because it's clearly torturing Castle.

Dad gives me a stern look. "Go to your room and remember to pack your bags."

I look back at Castle, giving him the barest nod, before sliding down the kitchen stool and making my way towards the stairs.

Maddy really chose the best time to fuck me out, didn't she?

★・・・・・・★

Don't worry my overthinking readers! There is a happy ending. Let's just get through a few more chapters of torture!

What are your thoughts and reviews so far?

Words: 2,300

Date of publishing: 16th August 2023