"Hailey! Hannah! School!"
I finished stuffing my crumbled homework into my hot pink, Hello Kitty decorated backpack before darting toward the door.
"Han-"
"I'm coming, Mom!" I screamed in frustration. If she yelled my name one more time I'd probably go insane.
"You look adorable!" Dad said with a goofy grin, kissing my forehead before leaning back against the round kitchen table and sipping out of his Snoopy mug.
Adorable wasn't exactly the look I was going for. It was just another day to them, it would play out with the exact same routine. For me, it was going to be the best day of my life. I was going to finally approach Justin Davidson, the guy that had just joined the basketball team with Mason.
It would be perfect. He'd be surprised by my sudden interest in him, would then take intrest in me, then we'd start dating through the rest of junior high and into high school. We'd be high school sweethearts and it would just be a perfect life after that.
"Hailey! Two minutes!" Mom shouted, irritation clear in her emerald eyes. She was a punctual person, always everyone exactly on time, right on the second. I suppose it was something I had inherited from her, one of the only things besides her looks.
"Sorry, I was. . . why do you look like Veronica Winters?" Hailey stopped dead in her tracks in the middle of the hall, her eyes lingering on me longer than they should of.
We usually dressed the same, did our hair the same; we were just the same. At least we had been through all of elementary school. Before being boy crazy had hit me like a mack truck and left Hailey awkward around guys.
I had taken some of Mom's make-up, with her knowledge of course, and took over an hour to put it on without looking like a clown. I had also grabbed one of my tighter shirts, despite my boobs not even growing in yet, and a pair of skinny jeans. I didn't look anything like the Queen Bee, and it actually kind of hurt that my sister thought I did.
"Let's go, girls. Mason is waiting outside." Hailey momentarily forgot about me at the mention of our best friend's name. When we stepped outside, Mason immediately yanked me into a tight hug, before taking my face in his hands and inspecting me.
Of course puberty had hit him early and done him well. He had grown a few inches in the last year and had filled out pretty well.
"You look nice." he commented, a crooked smile on his face, "Are you getting all dressed up for someone in particular?" he wiggled his eyebrows suggestively. I flicked his nose, flipping my straightened hair over my shoulder.
"Maybe. Wouldn't you like to know, Mase?"
*
By the time lunch time came around, I was already mentally prepared to walk up and approach Justin Davidson.
"You girls be good, behave yourselves, and make sure to keep Mason out of trouble. I love you girls." Mom had said, pointing her finger at the three of us in back accusingly. We had all rolled our eyes and nodded.
"Love you too, Mom!" even Mason had responded with the same thing.
Standing in the middle of the hall, I could feel my hand trembling at my side. Justin wasn't even thirty feet away, and he was looking at me. Me. Hannah Jacobs.
Before I could gain enough courage to walk across the hall, he walked over and stopped beside me, one of his hands tucked in his jacket pocket.
"Hannah, right?" he questioned, earning an obnoxious giggle out of me.
"Yeah."
"Okay, so my cousin just went through this and I don't know if you're aware, but you're bleeding." every ounce of energy drained out of me, embarrassment taking its place.
What are the chances of me getting my period the one day I decide to finally talk to Justin?
"I had my friend get this for you." Justin pulled a familiar folded white object, genuine sympathy in his own eyes. "Don't worry, she just bought it."
"Oh My God." I whispered, feeling my eyes starting to sting out of embarrassment.
My freaking crush was giving me a pad and had seen a blood stain on the back of my pants.
"I know you probably don't want to go home, so I was thinking you could use this for the day." He shrugged out of his dark hoodie. The same hoodie that he had been wearing for as long as I could remember. "You know, tie it around your waist so no one can see the stain." I took the jacket from him hesitantly, my hand trembling as I reached for the pad.
"I'm Justin Davidson, by the way." he outstretched his hand, but mine were trembling too much to come close to wanting to shake his.
"Hey, don't cry." he touched my shoulder, sending thousands of butterflies flapping their wings in my stomach, "It's okay. I just don't want anyone to make fun of you." he said it so softly, quietly, that I had to fight the urge to hug and thank him.
"Look, here's my number if anyone tries to talk crap. Just give me a name and I'll be sure to find the bastard and force him to apologize." he took my phone from me and put his contact into my phone while I watched him, still reeling in too much shock to say or do anything.
"I'll see you around then, Hannah." he said with a small smile before heading back over to his friends. I stared after him for a moment before quickly wrapping his jacket around my waist and hurrying toward the Girls Bathroom.
*
"Mason's Dad is picking us up. I'm riding with them." Hailey said the second we met outside the school. I frowned, scanning the parking lot for Mom's Buick as I responded.
"Does Mom know?"
"I'm guessing so. She didn't get back when I sent her the text." she shrugged before giving me another look of sympathy and hugging my side.
"I can't believe you got Justin's number." she said with a laugh.
"It wasn't how I wanted it to happen." I swallowed, "God, he probably thinks I'm disgusting now."
"If he thought that, he wouldn't have given you his number and jacket. Giving you his jacket means you'll have to see each other again, giving you his number means he wants to see you again." Hailey explained, as if she were some sort of relationship genius.
"You think so?" I whispered, shifting on my feet nervously.
"I know so, sis." she paused and started waving her arm frantically, "I'll see you at home. Love you!" I watched in silence as my mom hurried off in another direction, toward Mr. Banks' car.
I stood out there, in the nippy weather for over a half hour. The car was almost entirely clear of cars, Hailey was long gone. I felt as if I were alone.
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