Goldilocks (10 page)

Chapter 11:

One week into school, and today was the day the competitive rivalry that had developed between Lindsey and Hannah would be settled. The girl was fast, Hannah could admit that, but after five days straight of three hour long runs on the cross country course at school, Hannah had proven that she was much faster than the redhead that had given her nothing but grief at every practice. Lindsey had even resorted to calling Hannah a cheater when she’d beaten her own 5K time by two minutes on Friday, accusing her of taking the short cuts in the course to get ahead of everyone else.

Coach Carter hadn’t witnessed the nasty squabble that had taken place in the locker room after pra
ctice, but he
had
informed all of the girls that he would be looking over their times before making his final cuts on Monday.

Hannah had been too nervous to even eat this morning, her eyes glued to the watch on her wrist throughout her first two classes. She barely noticed when Jake took the seat beside her in government class, her eyes now on the clock over the door. Coach Carter had promised that team picks would be hand delivered by noon, and it was already 11:45 am. The knot in Hannah’s stomach twisted a little tighter as she watched the second hand tick through another minute, anger bubbling in her chest as she thought of Lindsey’s accusations on Friday.

**********

Jake
had expected a wide eyed stare, or maybe even a hello, but Hannah paid him no mind, her eyes glued to the front of the room, her hands clenched tightly on top of the table they shared. For once his father had listened to him and put him on patrol, letting him skip four days of school, but Jake knew that it was only because of the questions that had gone unanswered. Rone had insisted that it was impossible for Jake to have heard Hannah’s thought on that first day of school. He’d also shrugged off Jake’s feelings when he was around Hannah as natural boy-girl attraction, but Jake wasn’t stupid. He’d caught the look of surprise on his mother’s face when he’d shoved that same feeling through his father’s head, sharing with him the unbelievable ache that seemed to start from every nerve ending he had. Rone had shoved it back and thrown up a block, but not before Jake had caught his mother’s whisper of disbelief:
Impossible…!

They were keeping secrets from him, and there was nothing he could do about it, so he patrolled, staying as far away from the school and the cabin as possible. He’d been able to clear his head, and push her scent out of his mind, but he’d thought a
bout her almost every minute, sifting through all the memories he’d collected in just a few short weeks. There was nothing there that made her any different from any other human, but at least he’d been prepared for the ache that assaulted him the second he’d walked into class. Her long blonde hair was braided back into what looked like a lazy fish tail, a thick headband holding her bangs, and the many loose tendrils -that had already escaped- off her face.

Jake could sense her nervousness from where he sat beside her, her breath holding and then exhaling in soft sighs ever so often, her eyes on the clock. Jake followed her gaze as it slid to the door and then back to the front, her features twitching with annoyance as her fingers clenched more tightly together.

He wanted to ask her what was wrong, but something about being around her made it hard to even speak.
If someone had hurt her…
The thought set a low growl in his throat that he forced away immediately, his eyes searching Hannah’s face when she finally looked up at him. There was worry in those deep green pools of hers, her bottom lip trembling ever so slightly as the clock up front chimed twelve noon. She swallowed hard and the pencil Jake had been holding between his fingers snapped from the pressure of his controlled grip.
She was going to cry…
He could see her eyes brightening, filling, shining just before she fixed her gaze on the table.

“What’s…?”

“I didn’t make it,” Hannah whispered in disbelief, not caring if Jake was listening to her or not.

“Didn’t make…?” Jake asked softly, his fist
s curling and disappearing under the table to keep himself from wiping away the single tear that slipped down her cheek.

“My father used to call me Hannah Bear,” she shook her head, forcing her thoughts on anything but cross country. “When I was little mostly. I mean…I wasn’t teasing you when I asked why they called you ‘Bear’. I just wanted to…”

“Jake,” Jake murmured interrupting her, a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth when her eyes jerked up in surprise. “I’m sure you’ve already heard by now, but my name is Jake Bear, and I’m sorry for the Goldilocks thing…I was just…”

“Don’t apologize,” Hanna shrugged, sighing heavily. “At least you bothered to notice something about me. Besides Charlie and Beth…” she shook her head, embarrassed to admit that even they weren’t exactly friends.

Jake suddenly hated himself for missing the last four days of school. He should have known that none of the girls here would befriend Hanna. Like him she was too different, and he’d only made her feel worse. He’d made a promise to himself to stay away from her. She was human, and human attachments would only lead to a further break down of the council, but the ache in him right now told him otherwise. She needed him.

“Do you want to get out of here?” he murmured so softly he was afraid she hadn’t hear
d him until she looked up at him, confusion in her features.

He started to repeat himself when a knock sounded on the classroom door, and it swung open with a creak. All eyes turned towards the person standing in the doorway, and Jake curse
d under his breath as Lindsey’s eyes landed on the two of them, a smirk on her face.

“Sorry for the interruption Mr. Goodall,” she chimed, holding up a notecard in her hand. “I was sent to give this to Hannah Adler,” she explained, already crossing the room to their table.

Jake tensed when Hannah did, watching her face as the girl leaned down and whispered in her ear before handing her the card.

“Congrats on making the team, but don’t think you’
ll beat me again.”

Lindsey’s words were soft enough for only Hannah to hear, but to Jake she might as well have been talking in a normal tone. He bristled as the redhead sashayed her way back through the door, glaring at her when she tossed a
nother smirk over her shoulder before closing it behind her.

“What was that about?” he whispered when Mr. Goodall resumed the lesson, his head nodding to the 4x6 notecard clutched in Hannah’s fingertips.

Hannah blinked twice as she read the carefully typed sentence from Coach Carter, swiping away the remaining tears that had been threatening to fall. A quick glance at the clock showed that it was ten minutes after twelve, and knowing Lindsey she’d probably delayed giving the good news to Hannah out of spite.

“Nothing,” Hannah shrugged as nonchalantly as she could, sliding the card across the table. “I made the team,” she whispered, a smile on her lips as she met his concerned stare.

“Congratulations,” Jake murmured just as the bell rung, watching as she hurried to stuff her unopened book and notepad back into her backpack.

“Thanks,” Hannah smiled again as she slung the bag over her shoulder and joined the crowd of students heading out.

It was his turn to watch her bolt from the classroom, her golden braid leaving a scent trail of oranges and vanilla as she went. So much for getting out there.
If Lindsey hadn’t interrupted…

Jake discarded the thought before it got the best of him. At least the air had been cleared between the two of them. Maybe he’d see her at lunch.

**********

Hannah danced
around the kitchen to the upbeat country song blaring from the battery operated radio she’d found at the one stop shop over the weekend. Her father had taken to catching rides with some of the workers now that she’d learned how to drive ‘Big Red’. It kept him from having to come pick her up after late practices, and it also allowed her some freedom to explore when he was away. After school today she’d stopped at the local grocer in Lake City and picked up a 12oz T-bone steak along with all the fixings for the baked potatoes she had cooking in the oven. A garden salad would complete the meal and she’d already tossed it and had it ready and waiting on the kitchen table. She’d even splurged on a few candles and a bouquet of lilies –her mother’s favorite- she used to decorate the living room windows with.

Paul Adler walked in just as his daughter was spinning away from the oven with a pan full of biscuits, a smile spreading across his face as she bopped in time to the music playing, oblivious to his entrance. He’d worried about her the entire first week of school, her mood sullen and irritated more often than not over the last seven days. He’d almost considered asking Maggie to come out for a visit, but had planned on trying to talk to Hannah once again tonight. Whatever it was that was bothering her had seemed to work itself out since her pitiful goodbye to him this morning, and he sighed in relief as he watched the girl he’d come to enjoy being around over the last three weeks.

“What’s all this?” Paul threw his hands up and laughed when Hannah spotted him, her hand on her chest as she jumped in shock.

“Don’t scare me like that!” She whined, flicking the dish towel in his direction as he came to inspect the table.

“Please tell me that’s steak that I’m smelling,” Paul groaned, his hand on his nearly empty belly.

He’d had way too many vegetarian meals to count lately, and even though Hannah was a great cook, being on a vegetable only diet had him missing
his meat and potatoes.

“Sit down,” Hannah smirked, shaking her head as she uncovered the medium well steak she’d cooked just for him.

“What’s the occasion!?” Paul exclaimed, grabbing his fork and knife before she’d even had a chance to finish filling his plate with a stuffed potato and salad.

“I made the team!!!!” Hannah shouted, jumping up and down like a little kid.

She hadn’t planned on just blurting it out, but she couldn’t hold it in any longer. Paul grinned as she did a silly little jig he remembered her making up when she was little, her fist pumping in the air as she pretended to jog around the table. He loved the look on her face right now, and he wished that he could keep it like that always. She was no longer the sulky preteen she’d been after her mother’s brutal death, nor the anxious young girl with no friends except her aunt. Paul finally saw his seventeen year old daughter happy about something for a change, and he liked it. He wanted to take a picture and frame it and keep it next to his heart always.

“I’m so proud of you!” he beamed, jumping up from his chair to grab her in a bear hug as she came back around to his side of the table.

There wasn’t any awkwardness between them anymore. She wrapped her arms around him, like she’d always done as a little girl, accepting the three kisses he planted on her forehead before doing his own little jig.

“Dad!” Hannah shook her head, l
aughing as her father pretended to grab his back, sinking down into his chair once again.

“So Hinsdale isn’t so bad then?” Paul asked with a smile, cutting into his perfectly cooked steak
the second Hannah took her seat across from him.

“Nope,” Hannah grinned, pretending to wrinkle her nose when he took a bite of the meat and sighed happily. “I think I’m really starting to like it here.”

“And what about friends? Have you met anyone yet?”

“Well there’s Charlie,” Hannah shrugged, deciding not to mention that he was three years younger than her and
only a freshman. “And oh Lindsey and Beth. We run cross country together,” she added, her eyes on her potato when her father smiled wide at that bit of news.

It wasn’t exactly a lie, but it wasn’t exactly the truth either. Beth would have probably made a great friend if she wasn’t Lindsey’s little minion. She talked to Hannah as much as possible, and they all still ate
lunch together, but they’d never be real friends. Lindsey would make sure of that.

“So what about…?” Paul’s
question stopped short, his satellite phone suddenly ringing.

Sliding it out of his shirt pocket, he glanced apologetically from the screen to Hannah, shaking his head as he answered.

Hannah watched his face as he spoke briefly with the person on the other line before disconnecting, knowing already that he would be apologizing about having to leave.

“I’m sorry,” Paul muttered with a shake of his head. “There’s be
en another collapse at the mine.”

“Go,” Hannah forced a smile
, knowing that she couldn’t be mad at him about work.

They ate dinner together almost every night, and talked every single day in person and not just on the phone like it was before. She had her dad back. That was enough.

“An hour or two at the most,” Paul promised, grabbing for the keys he’d just set down on the kitchen counter.

“Be careful,” Hannah murmured, following behind him as he hurried to the door.

She waved as he pulled ‘Big Red’ out of their driveway once again, her hand shielding her eyes from the setting sunlight. It would be a few more hours before dusk started to fall, and she had too much energy to go back and sit in the cabin alone. A good run would pass the time more quickly and hopefully keep her mind off of what the cross country season would bring now that Lindsey was her official teammate. She couldn’t wait to beat her again.