The Apocalypse (7 page)

Hannah stared. She felt so overwhelmed by the girls' talking and touching that she could barely breathe, let alone think of something to say. Tisha and Libby were looking at her expectantly, so Hannah shifted her gaze to Morgan, who appeared more sympathetic. "Uh, no, not really."

Tisha gasped. "You haven't? Oh my God, Han! I can't believe—"

"Hush, Tish," Morgan interrupted. "Hannah just got home. I highly doubt she feels like socializing with everybody."

Libby's eyebrows knitted together as she studied Hannah. "Do you still feel bad? We thought you were okay since your mom invited us over."

"I…I don't know." Hannah took a deep breath and examined her bedspread, spotting a tiny bluish stain. "Everything just feels weird."

"Of course." Tisha nodded as though she understood perfectly and gave Hannah's forearm a gentle squeeze. "But it'll get better. You're home now."

Home,
Hannah's thoughts echoed. It should have been
a
memory, but to her, it was just a word without much meaning. Regardless, she gave her friends
a
small smile and a gentle nod. "Right."

"We should go shopping," Tisha proposed excitedly. Hannah gave her an odd stare, but no one seemed to notice it. "Yes! That always makes us feel better."

Morgan scoffed. "Not all of us."

Making a face, Tisha went on, "It'll be good. Hannah, wouldn't you like some girl time? You've been all cooped up and stuff. We'll even get Häagen-Dazs."

"Mmm, speaking of food…" Libby hopped off the bed and made for Hannah's closet. "Do you have anything remotely healthy that won't go straight to my hips in here?"

"In my closet?" Hannah couldn't hide the confusion from her voice.

"Naturally," Tisha responded with a toss of her light brown hair. She received an elbow from Morgan and then blushed brightly. "Oh yeah. Well, um, Han…you love junk food, and you hide a stash from Isaac in your closet."

Libby reappeared with a bag of Doritos. "No, not exactly," she argued, removing a handful of chips from the bag. She keeps a stash for late night snacks and for when Jake's over. She can eat without having to see Jake sprawled out somewhere if there's food in her closet."

"Same thing," Tisha declared.

A wave of nausea rushed over Hannah. These girls acted like they knew everything about her, and while they probably
did
…it was maddening because
Hannah
didn't even know it. Why would she not want to see Jake? Why would she resort to hiding chips in her closet? Hearing them talk about her made Hannah want to throw up.

"
Not
the same thing," Libby insisted. Hannah suddenly wasn't sure if she liked the dark beauty or not; it seemed as though this girl wanted to argue about everything. "What does Isaac have to do with Jake?"

Tisha crossed her arms and narrowed her blue-green eyes. "You just listed another reason, that's all. You added to Hannah's list of motives. Your explanation was as much of a motive as mine was."

"That makes no sense," Libby proclaimed indignantly. She reached her hand into the bag of chips and ate another handful. "God, Tish, if you're going to—"

"If you two don't stop arguing, I'm going to hit both of you," Morgan threatened.

Tisha laughed. "You sound like Hannah! She's the one who's supposed to threaten us, Morg, not you."

Although confused by Tisha's statement, Hannah was more surprised that no one challenged Morgan's authority. Her immediate thought was to praise Morgan for being her anchor in the storm, but her bafflement hit right after. Was their friendship some kind of dictatorship where Morgan ruled?

Ever argumentative, Libby tried to get the last word in. "She started it."

"I don't care who started it!" Hannah saw fury in Morgan's brown eyes. "We didn't come here to upset Hannah even more."

Concern flickered onto Tisha's face so fast that Hannah almost doubted the sincerity of it. "Oh, I'm sorry, Han," Tisha said quickly. "I guess I forgot."

"You forgot?" Libby incredulously questioned, but then she smiled the faintest of smiles. "Was that an intended pun there, Tish?" Tisha glared at Libby, and Libby seemed to be on the verge of carrying on an argument with her, but a jab from Morgan shut her up. "Right, right…"

"So how
are
you doing, Hannah, aside from the weirdness?" Tisha asked, watching Hannah's face closely. "Your mom and Jake keep saying you're okay, but—"

"They're all liars, aren't they?" Libby asked with dramatic sarcasm. Tisha shot her a dirty look, but Libby went on, "What? Okay, sorry."

Hannah disliked Libby more by the second, and Tisha was skating toward thin ice. Hadn't Isaac said that she and Tisha were very best friends? If that were true, why did Tisha's concern seem almost over the top? Morgan seemed to be the only sane one, but Hannah wasn't really sure about that either.

Tisha sighed softly and focused back on Hannah. "So?"

So…

So Hannah didn't know what to say. The only thing she wanted to say seemed cruel, and that kept Hannah from inquiring about Tisha's sincerity. Finally, Hannah decided to speak. If they were the good friends that Isaac claimed that they were, nothing she could say would cause problems. "I guess Mom and Jake are right. I'm okay. But getting adjusted is hard. Not a lot makes sense."

"I'll say." Libby grinned and flipped her hair. "You haven't even bawled me out for getting into your food stash, and you haven't ripped the bag out of my hands for a single chip." Libby shook her head. "You're right about adjusting."

Hannah felt her jaw twitch. "I guess I'm not hungry."

Bursting into laughter, Tisha shook her head. "Wow. That's got to be number one on the list of things no one would expect Hannah to say."

"Not number one," Libby predictably argued. "I mean, the number one thing would have to be something like—hey. Han?"

Bounding off the bed, Hannah jerked her bedroom door open and went into the hall. She could hear Morgan lashing out at Libby and Tisha for being 'insensitive bitches,' but Hannah kept walking. Just before she reached the bathroom, Morgan appeared by her side, but Hannah shut her out and locked the bathroom door before puking out what she thought had to be her guts.

Hannah had ignored the knocking and pounding on the bathroom door and instead opted to take a long hot shower (careful not to wet her hair or stitches), followed by a long hot bath, followed by a lengthy application of body lotion. She'd wasted at least an hour and a half with her beautifying pampering, and if her 'friends' hadn't left by now, she'd throw a temper tantrum until they did.

Emerging quietly from the bathroom, wrapped in a fluffy pink bath towel, Hannah poked her head into the hallway. It was with pleasure that she noted the absence of girly voices and continued to her bedroom to dress. Just as Hannah was situating her green t-shirt, a knock sounded at her door.

It took a lot for Hannah to refrain from groaning. "Yes?"

The door opened a crack, and Isaac stuck his head in. "Hey. Mom asked me to come get you. Uh, dinner's ready."

"Oh, okay, thanks." Without a reason to hesitate, Hannah made for the door, flicked out her bedroom light, and followed Isaac to the stairway. "Whatever she cooked smells fantastic."

Isaac beamed. "Spaghetti and meatballs with garlic breadsticks."

Hannah's stomach rumbled audibly, and it was only then that she realized her hunger. "Sounds good," she replied as the twosome approached the kitchen. Voices startled Hannah, but she realized that they belonged to Diane and Jake. Apparently the Allens dined at the Ayers home regularly.

"Hi, Hannah." Diane smiled brightly from her place beside the stove. She and Patricia appeared to be putting food onto plates. "I heard you slept all day like a lazy bum."

With a wry smile, Hannah sat down at the table next to Jake, and Isaac took the seat on her other side. "Pretty much. The car ride was exhausting."

Diane laughed and shared a significant glance with Patricia. Isaac and Jake seemed to share one too, but Hannah was in the dark as to what it was about. Her stomach flopped sickeningly, giving Hannah the idea that nausea was going to be her friend when she didn't understand things. Well, that'd be okay, since Hannah felt like she was lacking in the friends department anyway.

"I see your sarcasm is back already," Jake commented from Hannah's right. She turned and saw a smirk on his face; did that mean he was kidding? "I'd rather hoped we'd seen the end of that."

"I think you're more of the sarcastic counterpart than she is," Isaac stated. Right after his mom set a plate of spaghetti in front of him, he tore into it as though he had been starving to death. "She's just cruel."

Hannah's face lit up, but if anyone noticed, no one mentioned it. It really made Hannah's day that she wasn't being talked about in the past tense.
Finally
someone wasn't acting as though Hannah Ayers was gone or like Hannah Ayers should automatically know things and be just fine and dandy. Isaac had just lightly made a statement.

"Maybe." Jake shrugged and drank from a bottle of Coke.

No one spoke until everyone had sat down at the table with their food. Hannah glanced around the table, her brow furrowed. Frowning, she took a bite of her spaghetti, but after she'd swallowed that bite, she sighed. "Where's Dad?"

Isaac flinched and took a deliberate bite of his dinner. A look swept between Diane and Patricia, but Hannah finally got an answer. "Working, honey," Patricia answered brightly. "He works late."

"Oh." Hannah blinked and continued eating.

"Are you going to school tomorrow?" Isaac asked suddenly, facing his older sister. "Please say yes. I don't want to have to ride the bus again. It gets here freaking
early
."

"I told you that you could ride with me," Jake reminded him.

Isaac scoffed. "You leave about as early as the bus does. I'd rather ride with Hannah and be late, thanks."

Ride?
Hannah felt something tighten in her stomach. She couldn't drive! Was Isaac insane? She didn't even want to get in a car at all! Not ever again! And even if she did, she had no idea how to get to their school or anywhere else.

Shrugging, Jake went on eating. "Suit yourself, dude."

"I will," Isaac replied challengingly. He turned his eyes back to Hannah. "So are you going back tomorrow?"

Patricia answered for her daughter quickly. "I don't think that's a good idea."

"I think it might be," Diane commented, much to Hannah's surprise. "It's up to you guys, of course, but I mean…it won't be good for her to stay here too long. The sooner Hannah gets back into the swing of things, the better."

"And the sooner people will stop asking
me
about her," Jake scoffed. He shot Hannah a look that she thought was rather dirty. "I don't know why people think
I'm
your keeper all of a sudden, but it's frustrating."

Isaac smiled. "Nobody asks me anything after I used big medical terms."

"Hannah, honey, do you
want
to go back to school?" Patricia asked, ignoring Jake and Isaac. Worry was etched into her forehead. "If you want to…I just—I guess it'd be okay. If you want to."

Chewing thoughtfully, Hannah bought herself some time to mull it over in her head. The pros of going included getting out of the house, being normal, and maybe seeing something or someone that would affect her memory. The cons were being confused, getting lost, being annoyed by 'friends,' and not recognizing anyone. But the cons were bound to happen at some point. At least if she returned to school now, she'd also have the benefit of the pros.