You Can Take It Off (When You're Ready) [Twenty One Pilots]

Chapter Six: Hopeless Case

"What the hell?"

Lena laughed.  She laughed like she hadn't in years, and honestly, she had never heard anything as ridiculous as Hannah's great revelation.

The girl half expected her cousin to laugh along before actually revealing the real big secret, but Hannah looked dead serious, and Lena's stomach dropped. "Wait, are you being serious right now?"

Hannah didn't answer, visibly butthurt at Lena's original reaction. But Lena suddenly felt really tired. She had, now that she thought of it, put so much hope in that revelation that was supposed to change everything. She had trusted Hannah with her guts, and had wished it all would actually have a positive impact on her life. Instead, she was sitting in a couch that, as good as it looked, wasn't that comfortable, and she was dumbfounded by the time she had lost believing a girl who claimed to be her cousin but who ended up feeling like an imposter she didn't know, making up all kind of farfetched stories to make her stay.

She sighed, getting up quickly. She had nothing to do here anymore. And she certainly didn't want anything to do with that girl who had just stood there for a few minutes, consciously lying to her without so much as as a hint of guilt visible on her face.

"You're going?" Hannah asked, confused. "After what I just told you?"

"I'm going especially after what you just told me" Lena cut her off, pissed to the bone. She picked up her bag  and headed towards the door without looking back, shutting her ears for the pitiful excuses Hannah was currently making. But once she set a foot outside, Lena turned around. "Seriously, Hannah, how do you expect me to believe such nonsense?" She probably looked hurt, and she was. Hannah was the last link to her real family, and she expected so much more from her. She couldn't believe she had not changed so much since last year.

"Lena, wait..." Hannah pleaded. "Okay, I'll have to admit it: I'm not 100% sure that what I just told you is the truth. But I can feel it, and if it's not the truth, it's close to it and you need to believe me." She was now heading towards Lena, and when she reached the door and looked into her eyes, Lena felt something tingle in her stomach. As if on cue, her cousin continued. "Don't you feel it, Lena?"

The girl closed her eyes. Was she just being manipulated? And if so, what did Hannah want from her? What was in there for her to get? Was it just the sheer and devilish happiness of seeing someone suffer? Would Hannah really be capable of that? Lena didn't know anything anymore. 

"We just need some more proof," Hannah continued, placing her hand on Lena's shoulder, "and I know where to get it." 

This all sounded so manipulative. The tone of Hannah's voice, the softness of her touch. She was trying to hypnotise her in some way, and Lena knew she was weak, because she could feel herself giving in already. 

"Please, just promise me you will at least think about it," Hannah added finally, smiling gently. "I'll do anything for us to find out the truth, and if it's not what I thought, then I'll make myself so tiny you won't even see me anymore. I promise."

And she was so inclusive in her words, making Lena think that this was all about her, that the girl sighed. She said she would do anything, right? Lena just so happened to know what to ask, then.

"Fine. I'll think about it," she conceded after a short while, "if you get me that job at the diner."

Hannah's brows raised in surprise, but she quickly put on that calm expression on her face again and smile. She held out her hand. "Done deal, cousin!"

Lena shook her hand, but instead of feeling excited like Hannah clearly was, there was a bitter taste in her mouth. It all felt like she was shaking hands with the devil. She hoped she wasn't making a mistake. But her number one priority was paying off that apartment as quickly as possible, and a job was the only way to do so. She would think about the consequences later.