Setting a Snare || Helena & Holly RH
Helena stared at the person standing before her, her mouth open. And to think this whole time she suspected the other Holly. It was true Holly Rae Hunter wasnât the best studentâ she was absent quite a bitâ but Helena never expected her to behind something like this. At any rate, she still had a hard time believing there was malicious intent behind it.
She walked over and briskly snatched the pamphlets out of Hollyâs hand, a cross look on her face. Helena put her hands on her hips and raised her voice. âWhat the hell, Holly?â So maybe that was a little unprofessional, but the circumstances called for it. She pointed to one of the desks and glared. âTake a seat. I think we need to have a little talk, donât you?â The discomfort in the roomâ coming from both of themâ was tangible. More than anything, she wanted to understand the motive behind Hollyâs actionsâ if there even was one to begin with. Sometimes people were just cruel. She didnât want to group Holly with themâ she genuinely seemed like a good kidâ but the possibility was there nonetheless.
"Is this supposed to be some sort of a joke? Because I have news for you, Holly⌠it isnât remotely funny. I donât know what you think you were accomplishing." If the goal was to piss her teacher offâ and frighten her half to deathâ sheâd succeeded. Helena had been so sure the pamphlets were some kind of veiled threat to reveal her identity, and while it was possible Holly knew more than she was letting on, it came as a great relief that the culprit wasnât Mark, Traci, or Holly Robinsonâ people who knew or possibly knew she had something to hide. Rae Hunter might have suspected she was hiding something, but thereâd be little to back it up with. And that begged the question: what did she think she was hiding? Helena sighed, slapping the pamphlet down on her desk with her palm. This was supposed to be easy; any other teacher wouldâve been able to give the kid detention and call it a day.
Helena sat at the chair by her desk and wheeled it over close to where Holly was sitting, her arms tight across her chest. âI donât think you realize how serious this offense is.â No sooner had she said it that she realized it⌠well, wasnât that serious. She lied a lot on a daily basis, and teaching was part of that. She couldnât always explain why she took so long to grade things, or why she had the worst attendance out of any teacher at the school, including the ones on pregnancy leave. And those were just the big ones. Lies always bred other lies. It wasnât fair to her students, and sometimes she felt bad about it, but the cold hard fact was that her other job necessitated lying. Bane was right. As long as Huntress was around, Helena Bertinelli could never be an honest woman.
But she liked to think her lies didnât define her. That they werenât a big deal, that her students wouldnât notice and wouldnât pick up on them. Clearly, she had been wrong. If Holly noticed, who else did? Helena rubbed her temples and sighed again. âGive me a good explanation and then we can decide a suitable punishment.â
âWhat the hell, Holly?â
Surprisingly enough, Holly wasn't taken aback by Helena Bertinelli's use of a swearword. She looked like the type of person who bit her tongue at a constant rate to keep vulgarities from slipping between her teeth. Only, this was not one of those times. Holly had done something to make one of those vulgarities slip, and honestly, a part of Holly was proud of herself. She had always liked getting a reaction out of people- it often showed their true colours. When Holly was instructed to take a seat, Holly obliged. Although, she wanted nothing more than to dip out- to go running down the hallway, the sound of nothing but her heels clacking against the tile. Only, that wasn't a possibility. She was a rabbit caught in a trap, and Ms. B was the damned hunter. Swallowing thickly, Holly tucked one leg underneath of her so that her ankle dug into the plastic of the chair while her other swung nervously back and forth, waiting for whatever onslaught of disappointment Ms. B was going to bring her way.Â
Helena's words shook Holly to her core. It was supposed to be a joke. At least, that's how it had started out. How it had gotten to this, Holly had no idea. Holly had seen a change in Ms. B's aura. She could see the changes each and every day. There was something going on with her teacher, but was there a point in telling Helena that she could see that? That with each and every passing day, there was something a little darker, something muddled hiding beneath the truth of what she was really feeling? Of course, it was that way with most people, but not to this multitude. She had seen it in others, and that was before she had recognized the truths in those whom she called family from within The Movement. Biting down on her lip, Holly let her shoulders roll back in a lazy shrug. "Yeah, it was." The disappointment covered Ms. B's classroom like a blanket, and holy shit was it uncomfortable. Holly knew that if she wasn't careful, she'd bite a hole right through her bottom lip. Releasing the pressure she had on it, Holly quickly rubbed at her lip with the back of her hand to check for blood. There was none. That was good at least.Â
Any other teacher would've asked why Holly thought it was funny. She would've been given the spiel on how it was uncool to slip pamphlets under their door, and then she would've been given detention. Only, Helena Bertinelli seemed so much more involved in figuring out why she was getting these pamphlets than anything else, and that only made her all that much more suspicious.Â
The only sound that Holly could focus on was the annoying squeaking coming from the wheels of the chair that Helena was now coming closer to her on. Watching the teacher warily, Holly crossed her arms over her chest. This whole situation was so uncomfortable. Why her, and why the hell did it seem like this was such a big deal? They were just pamphlets. Pamphlets that did nothing but educate an individual on the problems of pathological lying.Â
âI donât think you realize how serious this offense is.â
Holly's eyebrows furrowed at Ms. B's words. "Serious? How is it serious? They're pamphlets. Pamphlets, might I add, that you can find in the guidance counselor's office." Holly uncrossed her arms and gripped the sides of her desk. Anger flushed through the tiny brunette, but she quickly contained it by digging her fingernails into the cut out 'fuck you' in the side of the desk. "I don't understand why giving you pamphlets- out of a joke," Holly huffed, 'is such a big deal?" Tilting her head to the side, Holly watched Helena Bertinelli carefully. Her aura, her line of sight, the way her shoulders rolled- or didn't roll. With Holly's own explanation as to why she put them there in Helena's classroom, there had to be an explanation as to why Ms. B was so angry that they were there.Â
âGive me a good explanation and then we can decide a suitable punishment.â
Holly fought the urge to roll her eyes. She didn't even get this kind of talking to from the administrative office, and they were always on her case. Re-crossing her arms to avoid blooding up the desk with her now aching fingernails, Holly bowed her head. "It was a joke. Like I said." She refused to make eye contact, because if she did, there'd be nothing stopping her from calling her out on the lies that were spinning through her freaking chest cavity. Holly could see the anxiety and nervousness throughout Helena, especially from what was stemming due to this conversation, and it made Holly anxious, herself. She wanted to know what was wrong so she could attempt at fixing it, but that certainly wasn't her job. Wasn't Helena supposed to console students?Â










