Hannah's Story

Chapter 21 - Hannah

Another long overdue update.  I hope you like it. 

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It was amazing how fast time flew when I was busy.  It was already February, and I was subbing almost every day.  Some days I worked in the Middle School, while the rest of my days were spent at the High School where I had student taught.  It was rare that I found a day without work.  I also waitressed a few nights a week at a nearby diner, just to make sure I had some money coming in.  I was aiming to rent an apartment by June, but I needed to save up enough for a few months worth of rent before I'd feel confident that I could make it financially.  I was also preparing my applications and sending them in to every school district within a fifty mile radius. 

One Thursday, I found myself with an empty schedule.  No sub jobs had been posted for the day, and it was my day off from the diner.  I decided to run a few errands and mail a few more applications.  Although almost all of it was done online now, a few school districts still accepted paper applications.  I wanted to cover all of my bases. 

I had run all of my errands and had just finished at the post office when my phone began to ring.  It was Rhia.  Why would Rhia be calling me? I wondered. 

"Hello," I said after swiping my finger across the screen to answer the call.

"Hannah?" Rhia said, sounding frantic.

"Yeah.  What's wrong, Rhia?" I asked.

"Are you at the high school today?" she asked.

"No.  I didn't work anywhere today," I answered. 

"Oh," she said, sounding disappointed.

"What did you need?" I asked. 

"I don't want to put you out.  It's just that the school called.  Jesse was in a fight, and he's been suspended.  They wanted me to pick him up right away.  Normally, he'd have his car and could drive himself home, but of course it's getting new brakes today," she said. "I can't leave work today, and I don't want to send Max over there if I don't have to."

My heart sank into my stomach.  Who did Jesse fight?  Was he okay?  I had the overwhelming urge to flatten whoever hit him.

"Is he okay?" I asked.

"He is for now," she said.  "When Max finds out, he might not be."

I couldn't help but let out a quiet chuckle.  She was right about that.  Max was going to be very mad. 

"I can get him.  No big deal.  I'm sure they'll release him to me.  He's eighteen, after all," I said.

"Yeah," Rhia replied.  "I'll call just in case and let them know you're coming to pick him up. Thank you so much."

I managed to get to the school ten minutes after my conversation with Rhia.  I was dying to text Jesse, but I wasn't sure if they'd confiscated his phone or not.  I parked in the visitors' lot and made my way into the main office.

When I walked in, I spotted Josephine, the head secretary.  I had gone to school with her.  She graduated a year ahead of me. When Maggie, the secretary from my high school days, had retired, she had taken over.

She had coal black hair now, obviously dyed, and wore the smokey eye look like that mom on the commercial.  She was a little on the plump side, but preferred to wear skin tight clothes in a variety of unusual patterns.  I had no qualms with her fashion sense, but would have never made the same choices for myself. 

I heard her smacking her chewing gum between her lips the moment I opened the glass door that separated the vestibule from the office. 

"Didn't think you were working today, Hannah," she said as her eyes gave me a once over. "At least that's what your boyfriend led me to believe this morning when we were chatting over coffee."