"Stace, seriously, I have to-hmm”
The end of the sentence is cut off lips on hers, the blonde tugging at the brunette’s ears to keep her close. Hannah pecks her lips once more before pulling away fully, backing up into the few feet of space left in the cramped closet.
The blonde throws a frown, reaching down to straighten out her skirt and top, “So are we still on for tonight?”
Hannah looks up from her jacket, quirking an eyebrow at her, “What’s tonight?”
She sighs exasperated, crossing her arms, “Harto, you said you would go to that club with me.”
Hannah tries not to cringe at the whining tone of her voice, running a hand through her short hair. “On a Tuesday night? After practice? Are you crazy, I would never agree to that.”
Considering her appearance acceptable enough to pass as not making out in one of the janitor’s closets, she reaches for the door, stopping and turning to back to the girl when she doesn’t feel her following. “Stacy, we will do something different another time, okay? But not on a school night.”
The blonde throws her hands up in the air, reaching her hands forward to grasp Hannah’s. “But why can’t we just-”
“Stace.” Hannah stares into her eyes, waiting for Stacy to look back up at her. She does, then down at her hands and steps back.
“I know, no relationships.”
“It’s just too complicated, too much with all I have going on right now, and with what you’ve going on.”
Hannah watches the pout form on the other girl’s lips, throwing her a cheesy smile in the hopes of a laugh. The blonde pushes at her shoulder with a giggle, brushing past her and creaking the door open, sticking a head out to check for anyone lingering in the hallway. Hannah assume there’s no one there, since she pushes the door open fully and steps out. Following, she smile politely at the girl once more as they are both now in the bright open hallway, going their separate ways.
“It’s not because of Jenna, is it?”
The brunette struggles not to roll her eyes, succeeding only slightly.
“This is about me. You know that.”
She nods her defeat, throwing a small wave and turning in the other direction, putting an extra sway in her hips as she marches off. Hannah allows myself 3 full seconds to admire, before turning completely to the other side. She’s polite, not dead.
The bell rings at this point, signaling the end of third period. Heading down the few hallways to where her locker is located, Hannah digs for her History book, barely getting it out before the door is slammed in front of her, nearly causing her to jump out of her skin.
“Jesus! Mames do you have to do that every time?” The brunette exclaim, eyes squeezed shut and a hand over her heart.
The bright chuckle trickles into her ears, eliciting a laugh from her lips. Opening them, she’s met with a furry of red cheeks and red hair and sharp emerald.
“Because you like to lose your shit every time, and that makes it worthwhile.” Hannah shakes her head at the taller girl, opening the door quickly to grab her notebook before she has a chance to close it again. When the door closes a second time, Hannah feels two finger sharply against her neck, pinching harshly.
“Damn Hart, what did I tell you about letting your randoms give you marks all over yourself before a big game?”
Slapping the intruding hand away neck, Hannah fixes her with a glare. “First of all, I do not have “randoms”. Second of all, I wear pads, so it’s not like anyone can see them anyway.”
Mamrie rolls her eyes in her direction, striding over to the other side of the hall where her locker is located, Hannah in tow.
“Not my point and they will be called that until you stop having them.”
Hannah is not some asshole that uses girls for her own personal needs. Really, she’s not. It’s just, girls are really pretty, and sometimes their lips are soft. But she doesn’t “do relationships” because she doesn’t want to use them. She knows that it doesn’t seem fair, but it’s what she has to do to survive. To distract herself. Those girls are the preview to the movie she will never be able to see.
“So which was it this time? Track? Soccer? Did you finally score a nerd?”
If it weren’t for the wiggling of the redheads brows Hannah would have screamed in outrage. She knows the older girl is just teasing, even if it makes her feel like shit.
“Oh man, you should go into comedy Mames, I am in stitches over here.”
She giggles at the bland tone, shutting the door with her traded books in hand. She gives Hannah’s cheek a pinch.
“I’m gold and you know it. Just get rid of the damn thing before practice, I don’t want to have to tell Coach.”
“The whole point of you being team manager is so I can get away with shit!”
Mamrie scoffs, “Never happened before, not about to happen now. See you in Chem Harto. And get rid of that damn hick!”
Hannah shakes her head as she watches Mamrie walk off, giving a slap of the ass to an approaching Sawyer on her way. Sawyer lets out a yelp, grabbing the offended cheek and giving Mamrie’s retreating form a glare. Shaking his head he turns back to the brunette, “That girl is gonna get herself in trouble one day.”
Hannah chuckle, “Oh please, she’s harmless.”
They fall into step with one another, walking down the hallway and getting greeted with several fist bumps and high fives throughout their conversation. This whole idea of popularity, of being observed and watched and judged and known by a lard part of the student body, has not become any more appealing as time has gone by.
“So you ready for Friday?”
Hannah huff out a breath, not wanting to spill her true vulnerability all over the hallway floor.
“Yeah, I guess.”
“Dude, you’re starting! Quarterback! That’s huge!” Sawyer pats her on the back to emphasize the excitement.
“I know, I know. I guess I’m just nervous.”
Sawyer shakes his head, nodding a greeting to a girl further down the hall then stopping shirt, grabbing the short girl by the shoulder with one hand and turning her to him fully.
“Harto. You got this. You have the whole team behind you, the whole school! It’s in the bag.”
She scoff, “Not the whole team.”
The tall brunette nods, breathing in deeply and puffing out his chest, “Well Greg and his merry band of douche nozzles aren’t what’s important here.” He pauses, shaking his head with a scrunched forehead, “You’d think the guy would treat his girl’s best friend a little better.”
The end of his sentence causes her heart to splinter further, opening up the cracks a little wider as she tries, unsuccessfully, to hide the hurt on her face, “He’s just jealous ‘cause I’m starting and he’s not.”
Sawyer sets one hand on his hip, eying the girl carefully, “Or maybe he’s jealous because you treat his girlfriend better than he ever could.”
“Stop, Hartman. ‘S not gonna happen.” Hannah remark, turning around the bend and heading down the stairs to the main hallway.
“I just don’t know how she doesn’t see it! I don’t know how no one sees it!” Sawyer exclaims, running to catch up to her. “Mamrie and Tyler must be blind!”
“Mamrie is friends with both of us, so it’s not fair to put her in that position, and Tyler is too busy splitting time between making out with anything with a dick between it’s legs and taking the internet by storm to be able to notice.” She stops and turns to him, pointing a finger in his chest, “And the only reason you know is because you’ve known me longer and where around when I figured it out, and I had to tell someone.”
He holds his hands up in surrender, waiting a moment before broaching his next question, “Has your aunt figured it out yet?”
The image of the older woman stretches Hannah’s lips in a smile, “I can’t imagine how she would, but she hasn’t said anything to me yet.”
Sawyer rolls his eyes, “Yeah, ‘can’t imagine’ as if it isn’t the most obvious thing on the planet. Still, I am personally incredibly honored and I’m going to lose you in about 5 seconds.”
Hannah quirk an eyebrow at him, confused at the sudden change at the end of his sentence, but before she can question him, a pair of familiar lips press against her cheek, sending her heart spinning and the butterflies pounding against the lining of her stomach.
“Hey you. Hi Sawyer!”
The boy smiles brightly, waving and tossing “See you in 2” over his shoulder as he heads off to the classroom at the end of the hall.
Turning her head, Hannah greeted with her favorite color, diving head first into pools of chocolate.
“Hey.”
“Didn’t see you in Calculus.”
She shrugs, quelling the pain of guilt that flares in the pit of her stomach. “Had something I had to do.”
Grace rolls her eyes with a giggle, looping their arms together and walking down the tiles. “Uh huh, sure. You coming to dinner after practice?”
“What’s today, Wednesday?”
“You ask that every time as if the day matters.”
“You ask that every time as if something could stop me from spending time with you.”
The school bell is a distant hum to the melody of her laughter, flowing in the brunette’s ears and swimming through her veins.
“Good point, Casanova.”
Hannah glances over, catching the bright smile. She opens her mouth to speak, hoping for the world’s greatest sonnet to fall out.
“Babe!”
She’s cut off by the deep voice echoing through the throngs of people. The pair turn, eyes taking in the tall lanky teen across from them.
Greg Fox is…not huge. He’s got some muscle on his arms, but that’s it. The kid can still power a football; easily the most popular guy in high school, however that matters. He towers over everyone, you’re able to spot his sandy blonde hair and piercing greens from a mile away. He’s not the brightest human, but he’s no idiot either. An idiot couldn’t score a girl like Grace Helbig.
Hannah should consider him an enemy: the man standing in the way of the thing she wants most, the person she must defeat in order to get the girl.
Yet all she feels when she looks at him, at the end of the day, is an all-too consuming jealousy.
Grace waves at him, making a motion towards them with her hand as he makes his way down the hall.
“’Sup Harto? Hey you.” He greets Hannah with a nod, leaning over and kissing Grace fully on the lips.
It’s because he’s tall. He’s like a freakin’ tree that she could swing off of. He can pick her up with one stupid hand and fling her on the back of his stupid horse and ride off into the stupid sunset.
….okay. Maybe she hates Greg a little.
“Greg, can you please tell Hannah that she has nothing to worry about and that she’s gonna do great on Friday?” Grace questions up at him, fixing Hannah with a look.
“Oh sure. You’ll do great. Not as good as I would have done, but you know Coach and his equal opportunities.” Greg flashes the short brunette a big, fake smile, Hannah returning one in kind.
“Thanks so much G, I feel better.” She answers sarcastically. She looks back to Grace, who’s frowning up at him. “I’ll see you, okay?”
Grace slaps him in the chest, stepping out of his embrace and grabbing her arm before she can get a few steps away.
“Hey. Seriously. You’ll be great. You’ve got me on the sidelines.” She smiles that smile and Hannah can feel her bones melting beneath her skin. She smiles light at the blonde, squeezing her hand and turning to head off the class.
Before she enters the door, she turns to watch the pair; watch the way she giggles and the way he brushes a hair out of her face, kissing her cheek. Watch them walk hand-in-hand in the opposite direction, carrying her fragile heart right along with it.
aAnd damn it if it doesn’t feel like a knife twisting through her stomach.