The Apocalypse (40 page)

"I know!" Tisha gushed, still giggly. She was texting as she drove, but Hannah's nerves had evaporated with the revelation of Jake's. "That boy is crazy for you, Han. I know he is." She grinned widely. "So pretty sure that you and Jake have to double with me and Brent. How much fun would that be?"

The thought of sharing Jake's attention did not make Hannah feel overly ecstatic, but the excitement in Tisha's voice brightened Hannah to the idea. She supposed it'd be fun to go out as a little group, as long as she didn't have to put up with anyone else. Hannah now genuinely liked Tisha, and she figured Brent would be more interested in his date than talking guy stuff with Jake, so…a double date wouldn't be the hellacious debacle that she'd first imagined.

"Avalon Edwards."

Hannah shot Tisha an inquisitive glance, not following her statement. "What are you talking about now?"

Smirking, Tisha wiggled her phone arrogantly. "Avalon Edwards is the girl that Isaac was referring to." She scoffed, adding, "I can't believe the little nerd actually thought I couldn't track her down. That's an even bigger insult than him dissing my dance team."

The information made Hannah thoughtful. "Do we know this Avalon girl?"

Tisha laughed. "Protective, are we, Hannah?" Nevertheless, Tisha offered up information. "She's a freshman, according to my source. Fairly pretty, quite intelligent, sort of shy… She sounds like Isaac's type, but if you don't want to take someone else's word for it, I can have her address in all of five minutes, and we can hunt her down." Tisha's eyes lit up. "Actually, let's do that anyway. It'd serve Isaac right for implying that I don't have amazing social resources."

Hannah was openly laughing at Tisha's words. She wouldn't have guessed Tisha to have a hot temper, but, of course, said temper would spring from trivial things. Still, it amused Hannah. "Uh-huh… We could do that."

"Oh, and, according to my source, Avalon and Isaac are nearing a serious relationship." Tisha frowned. "God, the nerve of that kid, depriving us the right of meeting her! The gall—I swear! She's his first girlfriend, for God's sake!"

More amused, Hannah studied Tisha. "Shouldn't I be the one sprouting those lines?"

"Most definitely, but Isaac's like my own little brother," Tisha answered, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear as she parked at the mall. "I'm more and more personally offended by the little brat the more I think about it all."

Shaking her head good-naturedly, Hannah climbed out of Tisha's car, and both girls headed for the mall's entrance. It was a very pretty Ohioan day, Hannah observed. It was unseasonably warm for January in Ohio, although the wind was blisteringly cold. She and Tisha walked faster as the wind picked up, sending their hair sailing.

"Yuck!" Tisha groaned, brushing her hair back into place with her fingers. "Why
couldn't I have gotten a closer parking space?"

Hannah laughed lightly to herself, pulling open a door to the mall. Tisha was still fussing quietly to herself, straightening her clothes, as they walked, but Hannah wasn't listening to her friend; her attention was on finding food to pacify her always rumbling stomach.

"I really feel the need to get some new jeans," Tisha announced, pushing her way through the crowd with practiced flair. "I know that my count is up to like twenty-two pairs now, but you really just can't get enough."

Hannah's phone vibrated in her jacket pocket, and she pulled it out to discover the receipt of a new message. Opening her phone, she viewed it, smiling when she realized it was from Jake.

Hey
, it said. The simplicity intrigued Hannah, and she quickly typed back the same word to him.

"I'm thinking maybe some skinny jeans," Tisha went on. She was quite oblivious to Hannah's distraction, just as Hannah was oblivious that Tisha had led them into American Eagle. "Of course, then I'll need some more boots with the fur." Tisha laughed to herself. "I have dark tan ones and some really wild red ones, but the light tan boots are so pretty. I need them, Hannah—it's a need, I swear."

It's a need, I swear.
The words echoed in Hannah's mind, prompting more monologue from Tisha in her head—at least she thought it was in her head, but it was so vivid that she couldn't be sure.
It's not just me feeding a shopping addiction—I'm not addicted to shopping. Hell, I'm not even addicted to fashion. I just enjoy both things. They're hobbies, you know? Borderline obsessions, sure, but I would not call either of them addictions.

Hannah looked at Tisha, but her friend was silently studying
a
wall of jeans. The words that Hannah had been hearing in her head were so realistic that she was convinced Tisha had been saying them just now, but, from the looks of it, the pretty girl hadn't opened her mouth for the past few seconds. Bemused, Hannah opened her mouth to speak to Tisha, but vibrations from the phone in her hand distracted her again.

What are you doing?

Immediately, Hannah responded, informing Jake that she and Tisha were shopping at the mall and following up with a question that inquired about his happenings. Once she'd closed her phone and placed it back in her pocket, Hannah turned to speak to Tisha, but her friend was texting, and if the smile on her face was any indication, Tisha was texting Brent. Hannah smiled at the happiness emitting from Tisha's face. She didn't have a personal vendetta Brent, after all, and, apparently, Tisha had wanted to be with him for a long time. It was cute, actually.

"Are you hungry, Han?" Tisha asked without looking up from her phone.

"Are you serious?"

Tisha laughed. "My bad, girl." She looked up Hannah and grinned an apology for asking a question with such an obvious answer. "That was a stupid question." Tisha broke off, having received another text message, but Hannah didn't prod Tisha about her question, since she'd received one from Jake.

Lifting weights with the guys. Getting ready to go eat. What mall?

Hannah frowned. "Um, what mall are we at?"

Tisha glanced up from her phone and directed her attention back to the jeans in front of her. "Fairfield Commons," she answered easily. Tisha grabbed
a
couple pairs of jeans from the wall and took a few steps away, admiring some sweaters.

After relaying that information to Jake, Hannah stepped along with Tisha. "How's Brent?"

Color heated up Tisha's face, but she grinned all the same. "Cute," she giggled. "But he pretty much always is. He wanted us to meet him and the guys for lunch until I told him where we were." She stopped and seemed genuinely confused. "Guys and malls just don't mix, do they?"

"Isaac hates shopping," Hannah heard herself say, not knowing where the information came from. "He refuses to go anywhere that clothing is sold."

Tisha shook her head. "Stupid boys."

You should be eating with us,
a text from Jake notified Hannah then. She smiled and kept reading.
I think we're hitting up Marion's.
Jealousy leaked into Hannah's body; Marion's was the best pizza she'd ever put in her mouth.

Yum
, Hannah texted him back.
Eat a share for me. I'm jealous.

She trailed behind Tisha in the store, watching her friend browse meticulously. Tisha's arms were weighed down with jeans and shirts, and it looked as though she was about to embark on shoe shopping at the back of the store. Not interested, Hannah moseyed over to the accessories, checking out jewelry, socks, and sunglasses. The socks were what particularly fascinated her, however; she'd always had a thing for socks, since her feet had a penchant for staying cold.

I don't want to cause a regional pizza shortage,
Jake's text cracked.

Hannah wrinkled her nose but smiled and replied,
Very clever. I trust you guys to create one anyway.

"Han?"

Hannah glanced up from her phone to look at Tisha, who had relocated to her side. "Mmhmm?"

"Wanna come try on clothes with me?" Tisha asked, offering her a winsome smile. "You can chide me for being excessive and tell me how freakishly stylish I am in anything I put on. Come with."

With a gentle shrug, Hannah followed Tisha, who dumped half of her clothes into Hannah's arms. With the limit of clothing in the fitting room, having Hannah along helped Tisha try on more clothes at one time. The sly tactic made Hannah laugh out loud; she really could see why she favored Tisha over her other friends, and it helped her to understand why Tisha had been so clingy and touchy in the start of the accident's aftermath. Since the two were so close, Tisha had just been acting out of her deep compassion, and, looking back, it touched Hannah.

She would have never guessed she'd be admitting an understanding of any of her friends' behaviors, but if she had to understand one, Hannah minded understanding Tisha's the least. As Hannah had nothing against Morgan, who didn't seem as bossy as she did in the beginning, understanding Libby would be the thing Hannah would have the greatest trouble accepting.

Even so, Hannah could attribute Libby's brash and argumentative nature to her desire to attain whatever looked appealing. Like Tisha had said, Libby didn't even consider her friends' crushes off limits if they appealed to her; Hannah figured that Libby just did whatever she could to get by, and, more often than not, that meant that arguments had to be made and fights had to be picked. Libby's traits could be used positively, Hannah figured, and she supposed that's why the girl was one of her friends, even if she did tend to grate on her nerves.

"What do you think?" Tisha asked, pulling Hannah out of her thoughts. She spun around to check out her backside in the dressing room's mirror; then she lifted a leg up. "Are skinny jeans for me?"

"You look fine to me," Hannah acknowledged. With a mixture of mirth and envy, she went on, "I bet you really can pull off any style."

Tisha grinned cheekily. "There's a reason that I won Best Dressed in our senior class superlatives, you know. I just wear it all so well."

"Yeah, yeah…"

Hannah waited patiently while Tisha continued trying on different clothes. There truthfully wasn't a single article in Tisha's selection that wasn't worn with grandeur when Tisha put it on; she had to be the most chic girl Hannah knew.

After pulling furry tan boots on over skinny jeans, Tisha fidgeted with the pink cashmere sweater, which she accented with a pink and tan plaid scarf. Hannah watched her friend scrutinize the outfit—an outfit that Hannah was already jealous of.

Tisha glanced at Hannah through the mirror. "You dig?"

"Completely."

Hannah ignored Tisha's light laughter and read her latest text from Jake.
So I hear your best friend's into mine.

There was no hesitation with Hannah's answer.
She's crazy about him. It's almost sickening.

Glad to hear it. I've never seen Brent into only one girl before.

That interested Hannah, though she couldn't say she was surprised. Still, Jake had given her the perfect opening to fish into his business.
Because your group prefers to whore around, right?

Just Brent did.

Hannah took
a
deep breath and gave up all of her audacity.
What about you?

I'm perfectly well-behaved. A one girl kind of guy.

Maybe. But don't you pick new girls every week?

Nope. I told you. I'm good.

Hannah thought back to one of the first conversations she'd had with Jake. Both he and Isaac had confirmed that he hung out with different girls every week but that it was never anything serious. She'd thought maybe he was a bit of a player, but she hadn't noticed him flirting with any girls at all, save for that disaster at Mollie's party and him dancing with Mercedes at Winter Formal. A fleeting question made Hannah ask herself if perhaps she'd become Jake's flavor of the week—but he'd gotten addicted to it and wanted to savor it longer.