Hannah's Story

Chapter 8 - The Guys

I know it's been almost a month, but I've been busy.  I guess not many people are reading this, since no one (at all) asked me to update.  I hope those that are reading are enjoying it.  I promise it will get better as the story progesses.  

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JESSE

I couldn't believe I was sitting in the yearbook room helping Rachel Pembrooke fix her camera.  I had felt really awkward walking in there with Hannah, but now I didn't feel so out of place. 

"So, how did you fix it?" she asked, leaning over me and looking at the camera.  I had to concentrate on what I was saying.  Her close proximity had my brain bouncing around inside my skull.

I showed her a few of the settings that were not adjusted correctly, then handed her the camera.  Our fingertips met for a minute, and my body was on overdrive.

"Thanks so much, Jesse," she said, looking at me with those chocolate eyes and that gorgeous smile.

"Anytime," I said.  I was afraid to say much else.  I didn't want it coming out all garbled.

She was still looking at me.  She was sitting in the chair next to mine, and the table was in front of us.  She turned toward me to speak. 

"Can I ask you something?" she questioned, clasping her hands together and placing them in her lap.

"Sure," I said.  Ah, what a man of many words. 

"A group of us are going bowling tonight, and I was wondering if you'd like to come," she said.

What?  Rachel was asking me to go somewhere?  With her?  Sure, it wasn't just us, but still.

"Yeah," I said, trying to control my over enthusiasm from spilling into my voice, "I'd love to."

"Great," she said.  "Pick me up at seven?"

"Yeah," I said.

She went on to give me her address and phone number.  I had common sense enough to pretend I wasn't already privy to that information.  I didn't want her thinking I was a stalker.

The bell signaling the end of lunch rang shortly after that.  We all parted for our scheduled classes.  I don't even remember what happened for the rest of the day because I was on cloud nine.  I had a group date with Rachel. 

When the dismissal bell rang, I ran to Mrs. Thomas's classroom.  I knew Hannah would still be there.  She always seemed to stay so late.

When I walked in, she lifted her head to look at me. 

"Hey there, Loverboy, how did everything go?" she asked.

"She asked me to go bowling with her and her friends," I said, sounding more like kid on Christmas about to open gifts than the high school senior that I was.

Hannah smiled. 

"What?" I asked. 

"You're so excited.  It's cute," she said.