24
When Hannah arrived back home her dad was waiting and he didn’t look happy.
“Were you driving a Range Rover when you left?”
“Yes. It’s Cody’s.”
“I don’t want you driving someone else’s vehicle, Hannah.”
“He doesn’t have a license, Dad.”
Hannah’s father looked perplexed. “Do I even want to know?”
She hated lying to her father. It was their one rule. He was analytical and never really overreacted or got upset about things. He just wanted to be accurately informed.
“Dad, do you remember hearing about Cody Matthews in the news?”
He shook his head.
“He got in that car accident . . . and his girlfriend died.”
Her father’s eyes grew with recognition. “They were students at your school.”
“Yes. Cody still is.”
“Hannah, I don’t like this.”
“Dad, it’s not a big deal. We’re working on a project together for school and I’ve offered to give him rides since he can’t drive. We took his car today, but I won’t do it again if you don’t want me to.”
Her father cut his eyes suspiciously at her. “And what about, H?” he asked. “Is he part of this school project?”
“H?”
Her father picked up a white box that Hannah missed amongst the daily clutter of items waiting to be carried up the stairs. It was a Macbook Air, with red handwriting scrawled across the top of the box. Problem solved. Call me if you need anything else – H. A phone number was scribbled beneath the note along with a tiny heart.
Hannah looked at her father’s suspicious glare and groaned. This was precisely why she’d asked Harrison NOT to send her a laptop.
“Dad, I told him I didn’t need it.”
“Who’s it from?”
“Harrison Cohl.”
That was a name he did know. Hannah’s father provided the Cohl’s security software for their computer. Well at least he used to, before they’d been elected to government positions. Losing their account had been a big hit to his business.
“Is he mocking your computer?” he asked in astonishment. “Because I can tell you right now, it’s far superior to this toy!” he muttered waving the Macbook around.
“No! Dad. I bumped into Harrison in the parking lot today and dropped my laptop. The screen smashed and he feels like it was his fault so he offered to get me a new one. I told him it wasn’t necessary,” Hannah replied trying to soothe her father’s uncharacteristic hostility. “He’s just trying to be nice.”
“We don’t need his charity.”
“I know, Dad. I’m going to call him and return it, okay?”
Her father nodded and handed Hannah the slim white box. “Please do.”
Hannah sighed as she watched her father disappear back into his study. Today was not her day. She trudged up the stairs with the Macbook, already typing Harrison’s number into her phone and shooting him a text.
THANKS FOR THE LAPTOP.
IT WAS VERY GENEROUS.
BUT I CAN’T ACCEPT.
Hannah paused before hitting send. She couldn’t piss Harrison off if she still hoped to get an invite to his party. She added to her text message.
MY FATHER ALREADY REPLACED IT.
DON’T WANT TO HURT HIS FEELINGS.
BUT THANK YOU – HANNAH
An immediate response came through.
AT LEAST KEEP MY NUMBER ;-) – HARRISON
Hannah blushed and texted back a smiley face.
GLAD I BUMPED INTO YOU – HARRISON
She laughed. Bumped? Well that was one way to look at it.
LOL – HANNAH
CALL IF YOU NEED ME – HARRISON
OK – HANNAH.
Hannah shook her head at the strangeness of her day. She’d finally gotten Harrison’s attention. It wasn’t how she’d planned it, but she could adjust. The important thing was he knew who she was and seemed to be flirting with her! Now that she had his number she could talk to him without his Golden army watching—judging. If she watched enough rom-coms she should be able to charm the pants off him. She had Harrison right where she wanted him. High school perfection was in sight!
So why was it that she couldn’t stop thinking about Cody?
She couldn’t shake the nagging feeling that he was hurting and she was probably the only one who knew, or cared. Hannah picked up her phone and tapped out a quick message. Yes, she knew Cody wasn’t her actual boyfriend, but he was still human and she refused to sit by and let him suffer silently. She knew too well what that felt like.
JUST CHECKING IN – HANNAH
After ten minutes of relentlessly checking her phone, Hannah, tapped out another text. She tried a different approach this time since Cody apparently preferred denial rather than dealing with his issues.
DO YOU WANT TO COME TO MY TENNIS MATCH TOMORROW? – HANNAH
Relief flooded her when she saw the text bubble pop up. Had she really thought he’d harm himself? Perhaps she was overreacting, but that was par for the course when suicide runs in your family.
IS IT A BOYFRIEND DUTY? – CODY
NO. IT’S A FRIEND DUTY – HANNAH
WE’RE NOT FRIENDS – CODY
His words stung, but she knew he’d meant them to. Hannah fleetingly thought Cody would be a worthy chess opponent. He had a tactical mind. But she wasn’t pushed away so easily.
COME ON. DON’T BE A SHEEP – HANNAH
She smirked at her clever retort, knowing he’d be proud she was quoting Cruel Intentions.
I HAVE PLANS – CODY
LIAR – HANNAH
Hannah finally gave up when there was no response after an hour. She flopped into bed and turned the light off, determined not to let her boy trouble consume her dreams.