The Apocalypse (27 page)

Hannah's brow furrowed, and she began to frown. This was
a
prime example of a past circumstance that should be left in the past. But she still kept reading and came across an entry dated three weeks after that.

Stratton is still giving
me a
hard time. Pretty much the only thing he teaches on is the reproductive system, and that's only because he knows I hate it. Yeah, yeah, it's a natural part of life and all of that, and I wouldn't mind it if Stratton didn't let the guys ask as many perverted, stupid questions as they want. Day after day, the guys make stupid jokes and ask dumb questions. It's so degrading! And it makes me hate football players. Since Stratton's got me doing some kind of anything in the field house every day for 'detention,' it gives all of the football guys from class—which means about half the class—the opportunity to talk about the reproductive system in front of me. Maybe if I didn't yell and show my annoyance they'd have stopped by now, but…my temper really does get the better of me.

Now, there are a few nice guys in class and in the field house. Jake's not nice to me or anything, but he doesn't make stupid remarks or ask idiotic questions; he does laugh at some of his buddies, but he's extremely tame in comparison. Ethan isn't mean to me, but he is perverted. At least Scott, Philip, Corey, and A.J. are polite and very nice to me. They're the only ones. And Stratton encourages the guys! He'll chuckle at their perverted comments and make up crazy answers to their sexual questions, and he's always got what I call a sexist smirk on his face. I wish I could transfer out of his class, but it's a required one, and there are too many scheduling conflicts to change teachers. At least the class only lasts for first semester. I'm counting down the days.

As far as Hannah was concerned, there was nothing to even think about her clearly heinous Health class. She truly didn't even find it that interesting. Whatever mental stress had happened then was free from her mind now, so reading about it was like reading about someone else entirely going through it. That was sort of sad in
a
way, but Hannah dismissed that thought and read the next entry, from almost a month later.

Everyone was shocked when Jake quit the football team. They kept asking him why, but, as far as I know, Jake never told them. I'm glad of that, since it'd put attention on me. Hopefully, they'll just start to believe what I heard him tell some guys—that basketball was more important to him and he wanted to focus on that. He did tell Diane that he didn't like Stratton, but if he'd told her the whole story, she would have told my mom, and then the school board would know about Stratton.

It all started when Stratton yelled at me for not turning in a homework assignment. I did turn it in, and, since I didn't feel like taking his crap that day, I was determined to prove it. So after I'd sat through ten miserable minutes of watching him coach for detention, I snuck away and went to his classroom to look through the papers on his desk. Sure enough, I found the missing assignment. Unfortunately, I guess Stratton noticed I'd left, and I'll admit that was a mistake on my part. But anyway, he showed up in his classroom and caught me by surprise. He screamed at me for leaving and then for 'trespassing through his personal belongings' and even tried to accuse me of stealing stuff from his desk. I screamed back at him, and, out of frustration, I was nearing tears. Of course, since I was weakening, Stratton pounced on that and yelled at me more.

Then Jake showed up. I have never been so grateful to see him in my entire life. I could tell by his scowl that he was pissed beyond belief—I've seen that scowl many times, after all. Surprisingly, he took my side and stood up for me against his coach. He yelled and cussed about how unfairly I was treated and how Stratton could and should be fired for the way he's acted all year. I don't think either of us was surprised when Stratton told Jake that he could either quit the team or be kicked off. Personally, I think Stratton only offered Jake the choice because if he kicked him off, Jake would have probably told everybody who would have listened about what happened.

Actually, Jake wanted to tell people anyway, but I refused. I know it's stupid of me, but I just don't want to deal with all the drama of reporting Stratton to the principal. Besides, when Jake quit, Stratton told me I didn't have to serve any more detention, and that's all that really matters to me right now. Now I can get back to giving piano lessons after school. Of course, I don't get to see Jake practicing every day now, but I do have the memory of him defending my honor, if you want to call it that.

By the end of the entry, Hannah was positively beaming. That was the Jake that she knew and admired so much! He'd come through for her and acted as her hero, and now, when she was unable to remember anything, he was doing the same thing.

Clearly, Jake was doing it in an understated way, but he'd been there for Hannah. The way she saw it, he'd done everything she could have ever asked him to do. He'd stopped by to see her in the hospital, he'd been her chauffer to school and back, he'd showed her around school, he'd walked and talked with her, he'd been there when she was breaking down, he'd offered to let her call him whenever she wanted to… Jake was unbelievable.

Turning the page, Hannah saw that only one lone paragraph remained in her diary, and she eagerly read it.

Jake and I don't talk about what happened, but sometimes…when football or Stratton is mentioned, I'll look over at him, and he'll be looking at me, and I know that our secret is still something he thinks about. I love those looks. They remind me of how Jake really did a good thing for me. They remind me of how much I love him. You know, I don't really like to admit this, but the truth needs to come out. I really am in love with that boy.

Jake backed his black Ford Ranger out of his driveway and couldn't help but notice that Hannah's Jeep was not in the driveway across the street. He was initially surprised but then recalled that she'd gone to visit Greg that day. Well, that was grand because he had his own visits to make, and if Hannah was with Greg, that ensured that Jake wouldn't be running into her, since he had absolutely no intentions of getting anywhere near Greg's house.

Blasting his radio to an old Lynyrd Skynyrd song, Jake drove down the street, trying to plan out what he was going to say to Hannah's friends. The idea was to follow Shirley's advice and talk to Tisha, Libby, and Morgan about who she'd always been; once Jake knew, he'd know how to guide her and maybe even find something to trigger her memory, and he really was the best candidate for the job, since he spent the most time with Hannah.

He came up with no kind of speech and decided to wing it when he parked in the driveway of Morgan Owens. Even if she wasn't the best friend, Jake figured he'd start with the friend of Hannah's that was the most intelligent, especially since Morgan was the one that Jake could tolerate most easily. Maybe he could get enough information from the brainy one to let him skip going to see the others altogether.

One could only hope.

Jake had called ahead, so he wasn't surprised when Morgan didn't
look
surprised when she opened the door; he was, however, vaguely surprised that she looked so grumpy. Morgan stepped back to let him in, but Jake hesitated because of her coldness. "Well, come on in," she pressed, sounding rather agitated.

Frowning a little, Jake did as he was told and followed Morgan to the kitchen. Her house appeared empty, and for that, Jake was relieved. "Look, if you had something else to do, you could have just told me."

"No, I didn't." Morgan sat down and nodded at a nearby chair, so Jake took the hint and sat down as well. Her eyes went up to the clock on the wall. "The other girls should be here in a few minutes." Morgan must have seen that Jake was shocked because she shrugged and explained, "When you called, I figured it had something to do with Hannah. It's not like you talk to me regularly. So I called Tish and Lib, since they're as much Hannah's friends as I am."

Jake blinked slowly. He had no trouble understanding Morgan's words, but he did have some trouble understanding her tone. He'd always thought that Libby was the hateful one, but Morgan sounded like she'd rather be doing anything but talking to him. As far as he knew, Jake had never done anything to offend the girl, so he felt confused. "Uh-huh…" he murmured slowly, studying Morgan's face closely. "If you didn't have something else to do, what's with the attitude?"

"I just don't like you. But go ahead. You had something to say, so go ahead and say it. Unless you'd rather wait for the girls."

A thousand insults flew into Jake's mind, but he held them back. He'd never thought that Morgan could be so hateful, but now that he did, he couldn't help asking, "Why don't you like me? Because of Hannah or what?"

"Don't you call her Ayers?" Morgan crossed her arms and stared Jake down through brown eyes. He shrugged in response. "You do, and you always have. I never really liked you that much, but now I have a reason not to. You're playing around with Hannah, and since she's my friend, I don't—"

"I'm not playing around with her," Jake interrupted firmly, immediately put on edge. "I never even thought about doing that, so you're going to need a better reason for not liking me."

Morgan sighed and shook her head full of straight blonde hair. "It's very hard for me to believe that when you're suddenly being nice to her."

"I haven't been that nice to her," Jake replied, feeling uncomfortable. He squirmed a little in the wooden chair and sized Morgan up. Yeah, he figured she could probably hold her own in a screaming match, but he didn't want to go there. "And if it wasn't for our families being good friends, I wouldn't have changed at all."

"Okay. Use that excuse, but—"

"It's not an excuse," Jake scowled. He was starting to believe that he'd gotten himself into something that wasn't worth it. "That's actually why I'm here. Hannah's grandma asked me to help Hannah get her memory back. I guess that means I have to learn about her and teach her…whatever."

His words sounded weak even to himself. With Morgan being an intelligent girl, Jake expected her to laugh at him and start mocking him. That's why he was mildly stunned when Morgan offered him a slight smile. What was that about? Although it did make sense for crazy, psycho Hannah to have crazy, psycho friends, Jake hadn't previously believed that Morgan could be borderline bipolar. But hey, you learned new things every day, right?

Morgan's eyes drilled into Jake's intensely, that almost smile still plastered on her face. "You have completely lost your mind, Jake Allen."

Before he could reply, Morgan stood and departed from the kitchen. Jake's scowl deepened as Morgan's words echoed in his mind. Now, he'd never been to an insane asylum (though he had called one once and inquired about having Hannah admitted), but Jake imagined that the residents would look something like Morgan had just then—a little bit sneaky and suspicious, yet slightly intimidating and very crazed.

"I thought you were kidding, Morgan."

"I did too. He's really here?"

"What's he doing here? That's so random."

The sound of Libby's and Tisha's voices snapped Jake out of his pissy thoughts. He looked toward the doorway and saw the three girls approaching the kitchen. Morgan still appeared psychotic, while Tisha seemed curious. Libby, on the other hand, had brightness in her eyes and a flirty curve in her smile.

"Hey there, Jake," Libby greeted, plopping onto his lap. Her arms slid around his neck, and she smiled brightly at him. "How's it going?"

Tisha sat down beside Jake and offered him a smile, though hers wasn't as bright as Libby's. "Yeah, how are you? It seems like I haven't seen you in ages."

"And that's definitely depressing to my eyes," Libby cooed, softly stroking her fingertips against Jake's cheek.

"Libby? Get yourself off him." Morgan was scowling when Jake looked at her. "I doubt he came over here just so you could rub all over him."

"I didn't hear any complaints," Libby muttered under her breath, though did as she was told, albeit reluctantly. Before she removed herself from Jake completely, Libby adjusted the collar of his shirt, letting her hands linger a few moments
longer
than necessary.