Guys Our Age (Wattys2017) (UNDER CONSTRUCTION)

Chapter 35: The Devil's Tale (Hannah)

The worst part was Mom had promised to be here, and she was always on time. This time she was almost an hour late.

"Are you waiting for someone?" a quiet voice came from behind me. I turned to find a petite brunette with her head bowed.

"My mom." I answered.

"Me too. I guess they're both late, yeah?" She laughed quietly, fidgeting.

"Yeah." I nodded, "It's just funny because my mom is never late."

"You're Hannah, right? The girl Justin asked me to get the pad for?" I started to nod, my eyes roaming the girl skeptically. Her big brown eyes lightened a little, as if she had just figured out a puzzle.

"He's a really good guy." she smiled, "I mean, he's totally undateable in my book, but really sweet. I think he likes you." I could feel myself blushing as I turned away from the girl.

"I doubt it." I muttered.

"I'm Sophia." She outstretched her hand, looking just as nervous and shaky as me.

"You already know my name." I pointed out as I took hers in my own.

"Oh! There's my mom's car!" She squeaked suddenly, waving her hand with a grin. A mini-van slowed to a stop along the curb in front of us.

"Soph, I'm sorry for being late. Your Papa was trying to finish another project and we lost the keys." Sophia rolled her eyes, acting as if it were an everyday occurrence

"It's okay, Mama." Sophia responded with a polite nod.

"Sophia, who is your friend?" the dark haired woman asked, nodding in my direction.

"Oh, this is Hannah Jacobs, Mama. One of the twins with the Papa that works at the high school." Sophia explained, giving me a gentle shove toward the sky blue mini-van.

"Your Mama and Papa aren't here to pick you up yet?" she questioned.

"No, Mrs. . ."

"Cruz." She smiled warmly, "I can drop you off. There's no need for a little girl to walk home by herself." I wanted to assure her that my mom would be here any minute, or maybe my father with some really good excuse to why she wasn't.

But I was cold, and hungry, and I needed to get this bloodstain out before it stained permanently. And after an hour, I should be sure that neither of my parents were coming.

"Thank you, Mrs. Cruz." I replied as I climbed in back with Sophia, my hands clenching Justin's jacket tied around my waist. Sophia started talking then, going on about Justin and some other guy named Johnny on the basketball team. She spoke to her mother so openly about boys that it made me feel awkward. Sure Mom probably knew I had a crush on Justin, everyone probably did, but I had never outright told her about it.

"This is your home?" Mrs. Cruz asked twenty minutes later, slowing to a stop in front of my house. I nodded.

"Yes, Ma'am. Thank you for the ride." I climbed out of the car, sucking in a deep breath as Sophia waved.

"I'll see you at school tomorrow, right?" She questioned, eyebrows raising until they blended with her eyebrows.

"Yeah. For sure." I waved before jogging up my driveway. Mrs. Cruz waited until I was safe on my porch to drive off. I opened the door quietly, afraid I might be walking into a fight.

Mom and Dad had them a lot lately. Some got so bad that one of them would leave and come back the next morning. Hailey and Mason had thought it was nothing, I wasn't so sure.

"Have you seen Mom?" Hailey rushed into the room, slamming right into me with wide eyes.

"No." I could feel my heart starting to race, "I just waited for her for an hour. She's not here?"

"Not at work either." Hailey shook her head, tears glistening in her eyes.

"Have you called Dad?" I questioned.

"Yeah, he's on his way. Did you?"

"Yeah, but he said he couldn't pick me up. One of Justin's friends' Mom dropped me off." my sister nodded before turning on her heel and heading back down the hall. I followed.

We stopped in our tracks when we saw Mom's side of the closet wiped clean entirely, her throw pillows gone, her shoes, her rack of shirts and jeans. All gone, half of the room empty.

"You don't think-" Hailey started, then shook her head and stopped herself. I shook my own head, wrapping my arms around myself.

"No, of course not. It's Mom." I whispered, "She'll come back."

As I hugged my crying sister, I couldn't help but realize how bad the lie I was. If Mom had any desire to come back, she wouldn't have taken her stuff, cleared out her entire closet. Because doing that, she would have absolutely nothing to come back for. 

***AN***

Just a little insight on the day the girls' mom left so the next chapter will make a lot more sense. 

Hope you enjoyed!

Let us know what you thought! 

~ChasingMadness24