Hannah's Story

Chapter 9 - Hannah

I thought I'd be posting this chapter awhile ago, but I just finished it.  I hope you like it.  Thanks for all the words of encouragement.  Happy (late) Thanksgiving to all of my fellow Americans. 

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HANNAH

I walked up to the Malick's door Wednesday night and rang the bell. I watched the wind blow the multi-colored leaves around in the driveway as I waited for someone to answer. Autumn is my favorite time of the year. It's not too hot, and not too cold. The only downfall of teaching was that work started just as autumn began. Barely a minute went by before the door opened, revealing Max's smiling face on the other side. For an older guy, he was pretty handsome. Even though he was in his early forties, his black hair was only sprinkled with a few gray ones, and he had hardly any wrinkles.  His blue eyes were kind and stood out on his face.  In fact, I thought that Ethan would probably grow up to look a lot like his father. 

"Hey there, Hannah Banana, come on in," he said, shutting the door as I walked into the foyer. 

The usual game night scene greeted me as I followed Max into the living room.  Callie and Hallie were sitting on the sectional with Tommy and Levi by their sides. Rhia was sitting on the oversized recliner waiting for Max to come back into the room. I noticed that Ethan and Nadia weren't here, even though I was pretty sure it was their week. I wondered why.

I heard someone walk into the room behind me, and before I could turn around, Jesse was beside me. "He didn't come home this week," he whispered to me as he sat down on the loveseat we usually occupied on game night.

"I didn't notice," I said as quietly as possible, sitting down beside him.

"Liar," Jesse said, bending and reaching for the giant game pad on the coffee table in front of us. I just stuck my tongue out at him.

"Win, Lose, or Draw?" I asked, noticing the pack of markers on the table beneath where the pad had been.

"Mmmhmm," he said softly.

"We're going to win," I said, smiling.

"I know. I warned them, but they swear they've got us figured out. They said they're wise to us," he said.

"What are you two talking about over there? How you're going to wipe the floor with all of us? " Callie asked from across the room.

"I was telling her that you claim to know our secret," Jesse said.

"We do," Levi stated.

"Our secret is we don't have one," I said under my breath.

"Tell me about it," Jesse said.

"What was that?" Hallie asked lightheartedly.

"I said we don't have one," Jesse repeated, much louder this time.

"Sure you don't," Max added.

"We're just both telepathic," Jesse and I said in unison.

Whoa. For a second, I wondered if we might be. I looked at him in awe as an enormous grin spread across his face.

"I don't think you are," Levi said.

"Me either, not really," Jesse said.

"We just have some weird connection when it comes to games," I explained.

That wasn't a lie. We really did seem to know what the other was thinking while playing any type of game. That didn't necessarily hold true for our everyday lives, but at least it served a purpose. The winning team's reward was to not have to chip in to pay for snacks during the following game night. We've been snacking free for quite a long time.  We also earned a makeshift trophy last year that Max constructed out of metal scraps and wire.