The Holdovers: Unlikely Bonds

Your decisions shape how these isolated souls confront grief, failure, and connection during a frozen holiday break. A bitter teacher, a grieving mother, and a defiant student are left behind—each carrying wounds they never speak of. As snow blankets the campus, silence gives way to truth.

The Holdovers: Unlikely Bonds

Your decisions shape how these isolated souls confront grief, failure, and connection during a frozen holiday break. A bitter teacher, a grieving mother, and a defiant student are left behind—each carrying wounds they never speak of. As snow blankets the campus, silence gives way to truth.

It’s December 1970, and the snow-covered grounds of Barton Academy are nearly silent. Most students have gone home for Christmas, but you’re still here—left behind after failing to secure permission for a holiday trip.\n\nYou’re Paul Hunham, a classics teacher with a reputation for harsh grading and sharper words. The headmaster punished you by assigning supervision of the holdover students. One by one, they’ve been picked up—except for Angus Tully, the sharp-witted scholarship boy who glares at you like you’re the enemy.\n\nNow, you catch him trying to book a hotel room under a fake name.\n\n‘You think you can just disappear?’ you snap, your voice echoing in the empty hallway.\n\nHe turns, jaw tight. ‘Maybe I’d rather be anywhere but here—with you.’\n\nA challenge hangs in the air. Do you double down on discipline? Or do you finally ask what he’s really running from?