Hannah (The Girls of Mulberry Manor)

Chapter 7

After reporting my locker to the office, I make my way to Lit class. Chase tells me he needs to stay in the office and take care of something. There isn't much time left in the period, so I just sit and wait for the bell to ring. I don't understand why someone would write that on my locker. I've never even had a boyfriend. Slut is such a nasty, derogatory word. I hate it. Why do men and even other women think it's necessary or acceptable to slut-shame girls for practices that society finds normal for men? People are assholes.

Myles is standing outside the Lit classroom waiting for me when the bell rings.

"Hey, are you okay?" he asks me. "Chase told me about your locker."

"Wow. Good news travels fast here, huh," I say to him, embarrassed.

"Sorry. It's a small school," he says, as he wraps me up in a warm hug.

I could stay like this forever. His hug makes me want to curl up into his arms and fall sleep. "I'm okay," I tell him. "I just don't understand why someone would do it. I hardly know anyone in this school. Why would they think that about me?"

He puts one arm over my shoulder as we start walking toward the chemistry room.

"Who knows," he says. "Maybe someone is jealous of you. Maybe they got the wrong locker. Just try not to think about it too much."

We reach the chemistry room and I turn to go into class. Myles grabs my hand and keeps walking down the hall pulling me behind him.

"Myles, what are you doing?" I ask him. "I have to go to class."

He looks back at me and smiles. "Nope, you have the rest of the day off. Chase made a phone call and Nan called the office and got you out for the rest of the day."

"Wait, what?" I ask him.

"He told her about your locker, and she agreed that you needed to get out of here and destress," he says, with a huge grin on his face. "You won't be able to concentrate on anything if you're worrying about your locker. So, let's get out of here."

"Nan said that?" I ask him, doubtfully.

"I wouldn't lie to you about something like that," he says. "I'll take you to Mulberry Manor first, so you can ask her yourself if you don't believe me."

"I believe you," I say laughing.

We make our way to the parking lot, where Vin and Chase are waiting for us.

"You're all skipping?" I ask them. "Won't you get in trouble?"

"Nah," Vin says. "We'll be fine."

"Where do you want to go?" Chase asks me.

"I don't know. Can we go somewhere quiet and just hang out?" I ask them.

"Absolutely," Myles says.

We get into the car and Myles starts driving.

"Vin, can we hang at your house?" Myles asks him.

"Yeah, man. My dad's still at work, but he won't mind," he says.

Vin's house has pale green siding with white trim and stone veneer wrapping around the bottom half. It's not a big house but it's obvious that Vin's family takes pride in what they have. The lawn is neatly mowed and landscaped and there are white window boxes with flowers blooming in them.

We walk in the front door and through the living room to a small, clean kitchen. Vin opens the fridge and pulls out sodas for everyone. He then leads us out a set of French doors to a pretty brick patio. The backyard has a wooden privacy fence around the perimeter. There's a glass top table with a few comfortable-looking chairs around it and a hammock out in the yard. Just off the patio is a large hot tub. It's big enough to fit six people, at least.

"You guys want to sit in the hot tub?" Vin asks.

"Hell yeah," Chase says, and starts taking off his shirt.

"You guys can," I say. "I don't have anything to wear."

Vin opens the door and points over his shoulder into the house. "I'm sure I have something you can wear," he tells me. "Come on."

He leads me down a hall into a bedroom. The room smells like him, a combination of sandalwood and musk. It's much cleaner than I thought Vin's bedroom would be. His bed is neatly made with a blue and black comforter. There are a couple of matching throw pillows at the head of the bed. As he walks to his closet to open the door, I take a seat on his bed and hold one of the throw pillows in my lap. While he's looking the other direction, I bring the pillow to my face and inhale deeply. I love the way he smells.

I can hear him opening and closing drawers. After a few seconds he comes back out carrying some clothes. He holds them out to me. "They'll probably be way too big for you," he says. "Or you could always just wear your underwear."

"Ha-ha. Very funny," I say to him as I take the clothes from him. My hand brushes his and it sends electricity through my whole body. I clutch the clothes to my body and stand there, not really knowing what to do next.

Vin seems like the contact affected him too. He stands there staring at me for a few seconds. Or maybe it was minutes. Time seems to stand still.

"Earlier, you said that your dad won't mind us all being here, but what about your mom?" I ask him.

"Oh, uh, my mom died when I was little. Cancer," he says to me, quietly.

I step closer to him and take his hand. "I'm so sorry Vin, I had no idea," I tell him.

He clears his throat and blushes. "It's okay. It was a long time ago. I'll go so you can get changed. See you outside." He closes the door behind him when he leaves.

I sit on his bed and hug his clothes to my chest. Poor Vin. I haven't told any of the guys about my mom. I don't want anyone's pity, but maybe Vin would understand some of the things I've gone though over the years, since he's also lost his mom. Or maybe I'm just being an idiot thinking that he would even care. I'm not sure if I'm ready to open up about my personal life just yet.