Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight or the Character's besides Hannah, Cameron, and Evan. . .
A/N: IMPORTANT, READ- This is a Flashback chapter, this contains some good information, but please note that this is Hannah remembering the beginning of her Junior year. . . Oh, and I'm starting to read The Short Second Life Of Bree Tanner, for free on Stephenie Meyer's website, it ends in like a month so I'd go on it if you wanna read it. . . But please Read and Review on this! Thanks. . .
Oh and there were some questions that were sent in some reviews. Here's the answer-
Honey- No, Paul and Jared are not werewolves yet. . .but soon.
Shadowcatbrat918- Only Paul will know it when he imprints on Hannah, but Hannah might notice some changes, she'll feel a connection to him and a pull to want to be near him.
Thanks again for the Reviews everyone!
Chapter Three
Flashback
It was the first week of my Junior year, and Brady's Freshmen year, and for some reason I knew it was going to be the year of change. Something was going to happen, but at that point in time, I didn't know how big of a change or how many I would have to endure before I reached some sort of happiness.
By the time I has reached the age of seventeen I had matured mentally way before any other student at my school. I seen things and had to go through things they didn't.
So when I woke up for school on that first Monday morning of September I took an extra thirty minutes conditioning my hair and adding light touches of makeup on my face. Putting on my new pink sweater mom had bought me for my birthday, with some strappy heels, not thinking anyone would notice me, or think differently of plain old Hannah James.
But I was wrong.
Dead wrong. . .
It all started when I was assigned the locker across from the boy who I had been crushing on for quite some time- try since the seventh grade. But he never noticed me, never even glanced my way, until I slammed my locker so loud that day that it rattled against the metal of the other lockers. It was then that I heard the squeak of Paul Walker's sneakers as he turned in my direction, and proceeded to saunter over to me.
I remember the look on his face, the confidence his posture and expression held- more than the normal person. It was then that I should have detected something was off- completely wrong. Paul and my kind didn't mix, it was a known fact, but me being so naïve I had looked past this.
Big mistake.
"Hey," Paul had said, his voice somewhat friendly. "That was a pretty loud bang. Good arm, you should try out for the girls' softball team this year."
Being me back then, I took it as one of the highest compliments I had ever gotten by a boy. And I did what any other girl would do, while being in the presence of one of the hottest guy's at school- I blushed. "Oh. . .um, really? I didn't mean for it hit that hard. It was an accident."
He shrugged and gave me a lazy smile. "Some of the best things in life happen by accident. Maybe that," he said point to my locker, "could be the start of a good pitching career."
I giggled stupidly, because I didn't want to admit that I wasn't any good at sports, and even if I were, I wouldn't be allowed to play.
He bumped his shoulder with mine gently before leaving his arm there against mine. "What? You think I'm joking?" He chuckled, before his face turned a bit more serious. "You seem different."
My breath had caught in my throat at his words.
Did he know what was wrong with me? Had someone told him? . . .No, it was impossible, no one else knew, but Brady, and he wouldn't have told.
So why was he staring at me weirdly, like he knew I had a secret.
My brain was in overdrive, and I had to think of something fast. Fingering my sweater, I said dumbly, "New outfit."
His silver-gray eyes took in my clothes and he shook his head. "Naw, it's something else, you seem older, I guess. But nice outfit, anyway."
The smile was back on his face, and I hadn't know that his eyes held laughter. . .still to this day I wasn't sure if he had really thought my sweater was actually nice, or he had just been making fun of me; being sarcastic.
And then the bell rang, and we started to part ways, but before he turned the corner I heard him toss back over his shoulder, "Later, Anna."
I actually paused for a whole minute making myself late for class. He had actually addressed me, it wasn't actually my name, he forgot the 'H' but it was close enough for me at that time, it didn't matter. . .But it should have.
Paul came up to me again the next day, and the day after, and the day after that, it went on for a whole week. Sweet words being spoken by him, compliments thrown in my direction, and I completely ate every word of it with a smile on my face.
School was starting to become bearable for me, and it made the rest of the day when I had to go home and go through the tough times alright. As long as I had Paul's smiling face in my mind I was alright.
Brady. . .who was so smart, smarter than I ever gave him credit for, cautiously warned me about him a few times.
"He's trouble, Han. Seth's sister told me all about him. He was a Freshman when she was a Senior and she said he's bad news. Goes out with all the girls he can get his hands on, even ones that are way too old for him."
I wouldn't listen though, not even for a second. "Paul's not like that, I thought he might be, at first, but he's not. He's. . .he's sweet, Bray, really sweet."
He gave me a look of disgust, before sighing and shaking his head. "He's playing you, Hannah. I just don't want you go get hurt. Along with everything you're going through, I don't think you'd be able to handle it. Maybe I can just tell him to leave you alone. Tell him about your-"
"No! No. Don't you dare, Brady. You promised me. You better not even think about it."
I never had really yelled at Brady before, and he seemed shocked by the way I acted. Even I was shocked, but I didn't admit it. He kept a bit of distance from me after that, until it all came crashing down. He was there for me when I needed him the most, and I knew none of the hurt would have ever happened if I had of just taken his advice in the first place.
It was a week later that Paul had asked me to sit with him and his friends at lunch, and I accepted happily.
I did feel something was a bit off every time I would be near his friends- Jared, Cameron, and Evan. Cameron was the most obnoxious out of the three of his friends, also cracking jokes that you wouldn't know how to take.
On the first day when I came to sit with them he gave me a once over and I heard him whisper to Jared and Evan, "Well we know she's fed well."
And on the second day it was- "Love the hair, Hannah. Is that a new color?"
It went on differently each time, and Jared would laugh his stupid head off, practically choking himself to death.
Paul would sometimes join in and try to hold his laughter in.
And Evan- God, Evan, I didn't even know what to say about him. I didn't even understand why he hung out with the three of them except for the fact that he was Cameron's younger half-brother. They didn't look a thing alike though. Cameron had deep rustic skin, dark hair and dark eyes while Evan's skin was lighter probably because he was only half Quileute, and his hair was a lighter brown, with hazel eyes. He was quiet, is what I had observed from sitting with them those past few weeks.
It was the middle of October when Paul had asked me out to the movies. I had been so excited that day, and he had been so adorable about it. Meeting me by me locker, and looking somewhat sheepish and hesitant, as if he were nervous. "Um, I wanted to know. . . I wanted to ask you if you'd like to go to the movies. . .with me, tonight."
Of course I had said yes, and before I turned to go to my next class I seen Cameron and Jared high-fiving Paul. I didn't know what it meant. Were they congratulating him on getting to go on a date. . .with me? It's what I figured then, that it would be something that innocent.
But it wasn't innocent, not at all, it was deliberate.
And I'll just skip over the date, for it's too painful to relive it in my mind, but I will say that it could have been described as magical event. And the kiss was so Paul; fast and intense.
In the weeks that followed the movie date we became the main gossip around the school. Our peers couldn't understand how Paul; hot, smooth, and intense could be with Me; plain, clumsy, and boring. It didn't add up, and I started to become suspicious. I knew from the very beginning that Paul was too good for me, too much for me to handle. And he was starting to reach his dating limit with me. A month was his usual maximum before he's switch off to another girl, but when that time came he still acted normal. Like we were this happy little high school couple in love. He did all the right things too; held my hand, carried my books, walked me from class to class, kissed my cheek when it was time to part.
We were dating five weeks when I found out the real reason why Paul Walker wanted to date me.
It was on a Thursday.
In between classes I wanted to reapply my lip-gloss. I thought I'd be alone in the bathroom, because it was on my study hall time, but I wasn't alone.
Kim Conweller was washing her hands in the sink, her head down, eyes lowered. Kim was like me in a way. She was plain, and had no social life. When I came closer to her and started looking at myself in the mirror, I could see her staring at me with wide eyes. And she just kept on staring, it pretty much starting to creep me out before I sighed. "Why are you staring at me?"
She bit her lip and seemed to be internally debating with something before she spoke. "You really don't know, do you?" Her voice was so low that I could barely even hear it.
"Know what?" I asked.
She started to fidget, pulling her sleeves over her hands. "I heard them. They don't think I know, but I do. I heard what they said, how they planned it all out. But. . . But I thought you knew, I thought Paul secretly asked you to go along with it so he could win." Her eyes held remorse. "But you don't know. You have no clue. . ."
At that point I was starting to panic.
What was she talking about?
I stepped closer to her. And now that I think back on it I probably freaked her out with the intensity and the weirdness of my actions. "Kim," I spoke quickly, "What do you mean? What did you hear? What's Paul going to win?"
She shivered, and I knew it wasn't because she was cold. She was scared.
I had to reassure her, I knew that. "Kim, listen to me, I won't tell that you told me. I won't tell anyone, not Paul, not Jared, or Cameron. . .no one."
Finally she nodded. "Okay, okay, I'll tell you. . . I um, work at the Corner Seat, the small diner on Moonly Street. It was right before school started up again and Paul, Jared, and Cameron came in. . . I was their waitress, and before I took their orders I heard them talking about some sort of bet." Kim kept her eyes down now, staring at her worn sneakers. "And they said your name, I only knew it was specifically you because they said, 'We choose, Hannah James.' I had no clue what was going on, but I think Jared said that if Paul got you to go out with him that he'd get Cameron's old motorcycle that he was selling, for free. . . I'm real sorry, Hannah, I should have told you sooner, but when I seen you guys going out for so long I thought that he had told you and you were okay with it."
It felt like the wind had been knocked out of me, that's how painful it was to visualize Paul planning the bet in his mind. Planning how he was going to hurt me, how he would make a fool out of me and joke about it later. I don't even think I heard Kim as she kept murmuring apologies before she left to her next class.
All I could think about was how I would move on from this, how I would retaliate.
I didn't see Paul until after lunch period was over. I had spent it in the library, it was the first of many times that I would have to sit there without being ridiculed.
When I seen Paul in passing on my way to my Art class I could tell just by the way that his face was set that he knew I aware that something was going on.
"Hey, Hannah. What's up? I didn't see you at lunch." His voice was cool, and calm, but his nervous eyes gave him away.
I felt the anger, hurt, and betrayal all rise up in me as I stared at him with different unclouded eyes. "Did you get your motorcycle?" I asked, and was surprised how steady I sounded for once.
If he was at all shocked by my question, he didn't show it, and I knew it was because Jared and Cameron sauntered toward us at that moment. Paul looked at them as they grinned and came to stand beside him, I knew they heard my previous question. He then turned his gaze on me, his eyes hard, his lips turned up on to a cruel smirk. "Yeah, I did. Why, you wanna go for a ride?"
At that moment, it all seemed too real, and I couldn't even possess my mouth to open, no words would have been able to come out.
My expression, must have been priceless because Jared and Cameron started to burst out laughing. Jared made everything more dramatic by slapping his knee, and Cameron started pointing at me, while shaking his head. "God, Hannah Banana, what did you expect? Did you really think Paul was going to fall in love with you and you'd live happily ever after, while running into the sunset?"
I couldn't meet anyone's eyes, not even Paul's before I turned around and bolted straight for the exit doors without looking back.
When I got home I cried for hours. Mom didn't notice a thing was out of place, to her everything was always chaotic, it was normal to her.
Brady on the other hand knew right away, I guess after I left the three of them spread the news through the halls. Other people were on the prank too. He came home with pizza and carton of Chunky Monkey ice cream and we watched a marathon of action movies while I cried. He didn't even say, I told you so.
And it helped. . . for awhile, but when I was alone my thoughts caught up to me, and I cried for days.
School turned into a nightmare.
People left and right made snide comments and threw me looks.
The worst part of the day though was Math class, it was the class that Paul was in, and he just so happened to sit in the seat right behind me.
He would poke me in the back with the tip of his pencil and whisper little things that would ruin my whole week.
The first week it was, "Hey, Hannah, I'd stop taking those diet pills, your hair's looks like it starting to fall out."
And then there was- "Hannah, God stop purging your starting to look bulimic," and he'd yell it just loud enough for the people in ear shot to hear.
I endured silently, when all I really wanted to do was scream- "Shut up, I have cancer, you moron. What you didn't know that? I wonder why."
Yeah, secrets out, I had been diagnosed with leukemia when I was sixteen and a half.
No one knew, but Brady, and I went through chemo without intensely.
Now I'm in reemission, but it still hasn't helped mend my broken heart.
A/NN: So there was the flashback chapter. . .Hope you all liked it, I'll try to update soon, Please Review. Thanks- Anyaa. . .
