Chapter 11: Remember More Than You�d Like To Forget.

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Hannah woke up the next morning on the couch. She got up and got ready for another miserable day at school. She hadn’t seen Lenny since their date so this meant he had finally gotten the message and left her alone. At least that’s what she thought.

            Once she had parked in the school parking lot she exited and met her friends in the front of the school. Chase’s eyes kept drooping and Matt kept nudging him to keep him from falling asleep standing up. She laughed at him and the bell rang to start the fun filled day.

            She got through her first and second periods and walked to her locker to get her books for her third class.

“Um, hey.” Trevor said leaning on the lockers with an awkward look on his face.

“Oh, hi.” She replied.

“I’m sorry I didn’t bring you anything yesterday. I just wasn’t in the mood to see anyone.” He explained.

“No, its fine. So I take it you had a bad date?”

“Kinda.” He replied.

“I’ll see you later.” She said heading off.

            Hannah’s last class seemed to drag on forever until finally the bell rang. She walked out and grabbed her homework from her locker. She made her way to her car and waited for Sonny to show up.

“Ready to go?” she asked him.

“Yeah, I got to get home fast so step on it.” He told her.

“Why?”

“Band practice is early today.” He replied.

“Oh, okay.” She said backing out.

            They got home just before Chase pulled up with Matt. Hannah decided to drive down to the coffee shop to work on her homework in peace. She backed out and drove the ten minutes over there.

            She walked in and situated herself next to the window. She ordered her coffee and tried to finish up her math.

“Well, hello.” A familiar stranger said sitting down across from her. She looked up.

“Hi Ray.” She smiled.

“What are you working on?” he asked.

“Algebra.” She made a face.

“You can copy off mine if you want.” He suggested pulling out the paper.

“Thanks.” She said coping down the answers.

“Not all of them are right but at least you finished.” He smiled.

“So what have you been up to?” she asked.

“Nothing really, I’m just trying to keep my grades up of else no fun.” He frowned.

“Looks like you and me have the same problem.”

            They sat there talking for quite some time before Hannah cell phone rang. It was Sonny and he was wondering where she was.

“Hey, I have to get going.” She said.

“Oh, that’s cool. See you around.” He said getting up.

            Hannah came home to be interrogated by the boys. She simply avoided answering the questions and walked up to her room.

 

            Trevor hadn’t spoken to his brother since he found out. He really didn’t want to face the fact that it actually happened so he avoided the subject at all costs. Molly had called a number of times but he kept ignoring her calls. He needed to move on with his life and talking to Molly definitely wouldn’t help.

“Trevor?” his mom said walking into his room.

“Yeah.” He said looking up from his book.

“You have a visitor.” She informed him.

            Trevor went downstairs and opened the door.

“What now?” he asked annoyed.

“Look, I just want to start over.” Molly replied.

“And how do you plan to do that?” he asked.

“I want to get back together.” She replied. Trevor knew that she was basically throwing herself at his feet. He knew that this opportunity didn’t roll around that often.

“Fine, but stay away from my brother.” He said. Molly hugged him.

            Trevor didn’t really want to go back out with Molly but he liked to create problems for himself. She was a part of his past that he definitely didn’t want to relive.

            The next morning he woke up to find that everything in his room was messed up and thrown in different places. He looked sat up and surveyed the room. From the closet clothes, old toys, and junk were being thrown carelessly.

“Um, what are you doing?” he asked.

“I’m looking for my hot pink race car that you stole.” Alex replied.

“I took that from you when I was five.” He said.

“So, I want it.” Alex said continuing to rummage through the closet.

“You’re cleaning this up.” Trevor said getting out of bed.

            Once he was ready for school he sat outside in his car until Alex was ready to leave. Alex came running out of the house holding up the hot pink car. He got inside and Trevor backed out of the driveway. Alex played with the car making it drive across the dashboard.

“So, I found out your secret.” Trevor said knowing that it was better to discuss the situation now than later.

“Which secret?” he asked curiously.

“The Molly secret.” He replied.

“Oh, that one.” He replied looking down.

“I forgive you.” Trevor told him.

“Thanks.” Alex said before getting out of the car. Trevor sighed before getting out himself.

 

            After school was finished Hannah walked into the house and heard silence. The boys had decided to practice at Chase’s so she got the whole house to herself until Sonny got home.

            She turned on the TV and made herself a huge banana sundae. She knew she wasn’t going to eat it all but it didn’t hurt to over indulge herself. In the middle of enjoying her ice cream there was a knock on the door. She walked over and answered it.

“Get your stuff.”

“Dad?” Hannah was so surprised.

“Get your stuff I’m taking you back home.” He repeated.

“No, I don’t want to go with you.” She replied.

“You have to I’m your father.”

“Oh, so now you choose to be my father.” She said getting a little angry.

“I’ve always been your father, now come on pack your things.” He said walking past her into the house.

“Why do I have to go with you where’s mom?” she asked.

“Hannah, you were a bad child. Your mother gave up on you, and I couldn’t take care of you then. But now I’m ready.”

“Mom didn’t give up on me.” Hannah said.

“Yes, she did. She gave up on me too I know how it feels.” He said walking up to her room and grabbing her bags. He stuffed her things in the bags carelessly.

“You cheated on her she had a reason to give up on you. Now get out I’m not going with you. I want to stay with Aunt Mae and Uncle Jim.” She pleaded.

“They aren’t your parents. They only agreed to keep you because we’re paying them.” He revealed.

“You’re paying them?” Hannah said in disbelief.

“I’m sorry.”

“No, no you’re not.” She said running down the stairs and out the door. She didn’t want to live with either of them. She ran down the street and through a park until she reached the school. She didn’t know where she was going to stay but at least it wasn’t with them.

            She walked around aimlessly and hoping that she wouldn’t get caught. She didn’t have any money so she couldn’t stay in a motel. She finally decided the best place for her to sleep where no one would notice her was in a tree. She climbed up a huge oak until she found a good spot. The sky was getting dark and the air was getting cooler. She closed her eyes and tried to not think about what had happened.

“Hannah?” she opened her eyes to see a boy standing right under the tree looking up at her.

“Oh, hi Ray.” Hannah replied.

“Why are you in a tree?” he asked.

“Um, long story.” She said climbing down. “What are you doing at school it’s a Saturday?”

“I’m just looking for people in trees.” He smirked.

“Come, I’ll walk you home.” He offered.

“No, I don’t want to go there.”

“Why?” Hannah bit her lip should she tell him?

“Long story.” Was the neutral answer she came up with.

“You know, if you tell me why, I’ll let you come to my house and take a shower.” He smiled.

“Is this your kind way of telling me I stink?”

“Maybe, now come on just tell me.”

“Fine, my parents were paying my aunt and uncle to keep me.” She replied.

“No offense but that doesn’t sound that bad.” He said walking in the other direction.

“It’s not but I just can’t believe that they had to get paid to keep me. It’s like I’m the devil or something no one wants to keep me. So, I just get hacky sacked around to relatives until they decide they don’t want to keep me.”

“Why do you get hacky sacked?” he asked curiously.

“I’m ‘bad’.” She said using air quotes around bad.

“Well, if it makes you feel better my parents think I’m the antichrist.”

            They walked over to Ray’s house which was more like a mansion. He lived in a gated community with huge houses and long driveways. By looking at Ray you would never had guessed that he came from such a wealthy family.

            They walked into the corridor and Hannah took in the beauty of the house.

“Wow, you live here.” She said looking at his bored face.

“It gets old when you see it everyday.” He said. “Now,” he said walking up the stairs, “This is the bathroom, towels are on the top shelf in the closet, here are some clothes, and if you get lonely just let me know.” He smirked.

“I think I’ll be just fine. Are you sure your parents don’t mind me being here?” she asked him.

“They’re never home.” He replied closing the door.          

            Hannah got into the shower and washed her hair quickly. She got out and put on the pair of boys basketball shorts Ray had given her and a wife beater. She dried her hair and put it up in a pony tail. She tried to fix her make up but ended up washing it off. She saw that Ray had some eyeliner in one of the drawers so she just applied that and walked out.

“Ray?” she said getting lost on the second floor.

“Down here!” he called. Hannah walked down the stairs and assumed he was in the kitchen. She walked in to see a modernized kitchen. It had stainless steal appliances the walls were painted red with pieces of abstract art hanging on the walls.

“Okay, I made pancakes because I thought you were going to be hungry and I just wanted them for myself.” He smiled. Hannah took the plate and sat down at the breakfast table.

“Your house is simply amazing.” She said.

“Really, we had it styled because my parents didn’t have time to worry about it.” He said stuffing the whole pancake in his mouth.

“Do you like it?” she asked him sipping her orange juice.

“Yeah, I like the kitchen and my room the best.”

“Why the kitchen?” she asked.

“I want to be a chef.” He replied.

“Really, well no wonder these pancakes are amazing.” She smiled.

“Come, I’ll show you my room.” He said getting up.

            They walked upstairs and through the hall until they had gotten to Ray’s door. He opened it and revealed his room. It wasn’t like his kitchen but it was him and it was definitely unique. The walls were a pale blue with contrasting green. There were posters and pictures everywhere in the walls. It was almost like organized chaos because things had been thrown in every direction and everything seemed to be in a pile.

“You have barney bed sheets.” She laughed.

“I find him extremely attractive.” He smiled.

 

            Trevor was out with the rest of the boys looking for Hannah. No one had noticed that she was gone until this morning. It seemed like no one knew that she had disappeared. The Bearings were at home calling places and Sonny was with Jason driving around to find her. All of them had no clue where she could be.

“Any luck?” Trevor said spotting Chase.

“Nope, I checked the Dinner Diner and the school and still no sign of her.” He replied.

“Well, she’s new to the area so that should limit the places she could go.” Trevor said.

“What happens if we don’t find her?” Chase asked.

“We’ll find her. We have to.”