Worse Than Nicotine

Holly hadn’t had many good ideas. Coming to school with a hangover was definitely not one of them.

It had to be on a day that many people were out with the flu, including Hayley. The night before, Holly had been drinking. She had a reason though: she had gotten into a big fight with her parents―bigger than usual―about her relationship with Brendon and how she was “ruining it.” She had been staying up late that night, not wanting to remember it while drinking away. She didn’t call her friends, because she really didn’t want to worry anybody. Holly wasn’t one to share a lot of secrets. Even Brendon didn’t know too much about her.

She had ended up walking to school because she missed the bus. And by walking, I mean she tripped her way to school. When she got to the building, she lazily slumped to the office, signing in and watching as the secretary gave her a weird look. She soon started walking down the hallways, forgetting that she had homeroom at the moment and then English with Brendon.

Brendon … Her mind had wandered away. My boyfriend; my happy, devoted boyfriend …

She had been doing this a lot lately, reminding herself of what she had and what she didn’t. It was the only thing keeping her sane.

Without realizing it, she arrived at her locker. She blinked her eyes a couple times and reached to turn the combination, but somehow ended up letting her head fall onto her locker in tiredness.

---

The sound reached the ears of the school’s music teacher. Mr. Gaskarth had free period at the moment, and if there was any sound to hear, he could definitely hear it in his quiet classroom. He furrowed his brow and stood from his desk, popping his head from his classroom door. At the end of the hall, rubbing her head and leaning against her locker, was the famous Holly Wolfe.

He looked back at his computer where he was updating his grades. He could spare a few minutes, right?

He walked down the hall to her, calling, “Miss Wolfe, is everything okay?”

Holly knew the voice instantly. It was only the voice haunting her every dream. “Mr. Gaskarth, I know I may look like a complete wreck right now but I would still like you to abide by my one rule to just call me Holly.”

He sighed. “Holly, what exactly are you doing?”

She lifted her head a little, meeting his eyes. “Well, Mr. Gaskarth, a hangover can obviously do wonders with your state of mind.”

“Do you want any help?”

“Nah, I gotta get to―”

“I’m going to help you.” He chuckled lightly and hesitantly pulled her away from her locker. He guided her to his classroom, sitting her on one of the couches.

“What are you doing?” She watched him through lazy eyes and rubbing her forehead.

He sat down beside her, surprising her by pressing a cold ice pack to her head. “Helping you,” he said, throwing her a small smile.

She blinked a couple times, his words confusing her. “Why?”

“Why not?”

“You’re a teacher. Don’t you have other things to do?” She gestured around the messy room. “Besides, you’ve already helped me enough.”

“And you’ve helped me a couple times too,” he shrugged. “You deserve a lot more than you get, Holly.”

She rolled her eyes as he shifted the position of the ice pack. “You would say that.”

He furrowed his caterpillar eyebrows as a small smile hinted on his face. “Explain?”

“You’re older than me. You’re supposed to sound ‘more wise.’” She shook her head.

“Okay, now that you’ve corrected me on something, may I do the same?” He didn’t give her time to answer before he continued. “You need to stop selling yourself short. You do a lot for people and you still think of yourself so little. Stop that.”

“Jeez,” she scoffed, “remind me to never mess with you, Mr. Wise.”

He chuckled and pointed a finger at her. “That’s Mr. Gaskarth to you.”

“As it always will be,” she muttered, almost blurting out what she was thinking in her head.

They stopped laughing, staring into each other’s eyes. Holly could feel the tension cutting into her insides. The ice pack he held on her forehead suddenly felt warm as her eyes moved from staring at his eyes to his lips rapidly, and she noticed he was doing the same. His eyes were such a nice brown color, and she could stare at them for hours, which she would have if he didn’t make the first move.

His hand felt limp as the ice pack fell to the cushion. He then used that hand to brush the hair from her face, all the while she was staring at him with her wide green eyes. “You’ve always fascinated me, Holly,” he whispered, looking back from both of her eyes.

Holly stammered quickly, “Um―uh―”

He didn’t let her finish. His lips molded onto hers, and didn’t feel weird. They noticed how right it felt, even though it was supposed to be wrong. He realized her lips tasted of cherry chap stick, and she noticed his were of mint and a slight dosing of Chinese food. (An ode to a teacher’s salary, she thought.)

After a moment, the bell rang and startled them. Holly was surprised she was the first to pull away, because she was enjoying it. He hand still cupped the side of her face, but they both stared at each other with wide eyes.

“Oh, my god,” he choked out. “Holly, I’m―I’m sorry. I―”

“I have to go.” She said, swiftly grabbing her bag from the ground and running out the classroom.

That didn’t happen, that didn’t happen, that didn’t happen, she constantly repeated in her head as she fast walked her way to English class.

But it did.

Notes

I told you I'd make up for the last chapter!!! Do you guys like Holly and Alex together or do you think he's just ruining her relationship with Brendon? I'm feeling like everyone like them anyways xD
Subscribe/ comment/ rate :)
Rock on \m/