Chapter Four- Calling All Friends
It would be easy to forget that he had gotten humiliated at Mona's party, but the fact that everyone had witnessed the kiss and maybe a few had seen Hanna punch him so hard that he fell to the floor, which was before she called him what he always knew he was, a loser. Over the weekend he had thought more and more about going away to Winthrop. Winthrop was basically a prestigious school for young intellects that were going to come out with the next big thing, only few had gotten in, he was probably the only person in Rosewood that would be getting out before he could even graduate, Winthrop was his ticket out of this social hierarchy of a town to him. Pulling into the school parking lot, Lucas braced himself for another long week of high school hell as he turned of the engine, while Alton primped himself like he was some big deal about to walk through the hallways. Making their way inside all Lucas could hear were girls whispering and laughing at him like he had suspected. Stopping by his locker to grab his books, Alton smiled at all the recognition that they were getting.
"Man, look at all this attention your getting" Alton said happily
"Its not because of what you think" Lucas sighed
"You made out with Hanna Marin. I think I've found the winner" Alton replied "Why are you happy? You got to make out with Hanna Marin" he said
"Trust me, she's not the girl we think she is. She's like them in every way" Lucas said
"Who cares? I mean all we have to do is use her for her popularity, and we'll be set for life" Alton said
"Your delusional" Lucas said "Stop daydreaming" he said
"So I take it by this newfound attitude is leaning your towards Winthrop?" Alton asked
"I have a meeting with the board on Friday night" Lucas told Alton before he slammed his locker shut before he walked off
Helping Emily get to her seat, Hanna looked on at Lucas as he came in and grabbed his seat in the class. Emily adjusted herself in her seat while she noticed Hanna's attention turn towards her rumored make out partner at this past weekends party. On top of the many rumors, Emily had also heard of what had happened between Hanna and Aria, just when she thought they were all making an effort to be friends again she couldn't believe that Aria would do that to Hanna. Taking the seat next to Emily, Hanna had begun to put on her make up to distract herself from making eye contact with Aria, who had just entered the room.
"So I take it that you are still upset with Aria?" Emily asked
"Upset is an understatement. I want to destroy her" Hanna said
"Okay, I guess things didn't get better over the weekend" Emily said
"I caught her making out with Sean, that doesn't get better over the weekend. Let's not talk about you know who because we'll have differing opinions regardless, lets talk about Maya?" Hanna asked
"And we can't talk about that either" Emily replied
"Why? I mean we both know how you really feel about her, so what's with the hold up?" Hanna asked
"We've discussed that, and I don't think English class is a place to talk about it" Emily said nervously just as two jocks walked in and began to hassle Lucas.
Knocking his books to the floor and messing with his hair, Lucas contemplated even motioning because he knew that if he moved an ounce that they would think he was trying to fight back, and that was the last thing he needed. He could hear a few snickers from everyone else in the class, and he knew that was all the jocks needed in continuing on with his assault before the teacher arrived. Unable to take anymore of the hassle, Hanna got up from her seat and walked over towards where Lucas was.
"Hey, guys, leave him alone" Hanna told them
"Oh, we forgot, this is your new boyfriend now" One jock laughed
"What Sean not satisfying you so you had to downgrade?" The other asked Hanna before she turned to look at Aria who was squirming in her seat to see the look Hanna gave her
"Who I'm dating is none of your business, but just know it will never be either of you. If I remember correctly, weren't you two the ones that got caught without your pants and only a sock, on your…" Hanna teased before one cut her off in midsentence before she could continue
"That was a joke. I'm not some fag" The jock said and with harshness he had in his voice when he said that word, Emily cringed in fear
"First of all, stop acting your shoe size, and dial it down with the language. I never insinuated that you were gay or any other derogatory language, where you took that was all on you. So just shut up before you lose any possibility of being found attractive, that is before you open your mouth, and sit down" Hanna lectured the two getting a few praises for how she handled them swiftly and quickly with her knowledge as the two jocks took their seats. Looking over at Emily, who smiled in thankfulness that Hanna was sticking up for whatever gender preferences she had. It definitely warmed Emily's heart to know that the Queen Bee was on her side, but most of all a friend to her. Bending down to pick up his books, Hanna placed his books on Lucas's desk
"I didn't need your help" Lucas said as he began to gather his stuff just as she placed it on his desk
"Okay. I was just trying to help you out since it was clear they weren't going to let up" Hanna reasoned
"Yeah, well at least they make it clear that they despise me, but your just like them so don't let this moment get to your head too much because you don't differ too much" Lucas said just as he got his backpack and moved to the back of the class leaving Hanna speechless. She knew that she had hurt him badly after the party, and more than anything she wanted him to know that she took her anger out on him, which wasn't fair to him. Preparing to walk back to her seat, Hanna quickly felt a vibration come from her cell phone, pulling her cell phone out of her pockets she opened up the phone not surprised to see that it was A that sent her a text
"Now you know Aria is not as good as you think, but its interesting to know that her grades will never be on the brink, nor will she have to worry about graduating either because I know for a fact that she's kissing the teacher" Hanna read to herself before she quickly looked up in shock over at Aria. In her mind she knew this was going to be the scandal of the year for Rosewood, and would be the perfect revenge for little miss loose lips
All day long she sat on the secret of Aria and Mr. Fitz hooking up, and all day long she racked her head thinking how she could pay Aria back, she was thinking big, big humiliation but then there was a part of her that just wanted to blackmail the hell out Aria and make her suffer. Regardless of what she wanted to do, she had to figure out what was the best way to handle the Aria problem. Sitting at the kitchen counter while picking away at one of her mothers salad's, she looked across the street to see if Lucas had made it home yet. A bit peeved that he was still upset about what she said to him, she needed something to help her cope with the fact that she was going to have to go out of her way to make things up with him. Coming in from a long day of work, Hanna's mom was more than happy to start in on the bowl of salad that Hanna had out as she put her stuff down in the kitchen before grabbing a fork to join her daughter.
"How was work?" Hanna asked her mother
"Long and tedious would be a nicer way of putting it" Hanna's mother replied "But I have to put that aside for the greater good, and school?" she asked
"Long and tedious as well" Hanna smiled "So did grandma wire you the money?" she asked
"She could only give me a little bit of it, but since I've picked up another job so it will give us a tad bit of breathing room" Hanna's mother said
"I don't know why you won't ask dad for the money, we're his family too" Hanna said
"Because I pride myself on being independent" Hanna's mother replied
"Yeah, but dad should have to suffer as much as we are. He's out living it up with his new life, while we have struggle through this old one" Hanna complained
"Okay, your being a little melodramatic. We'll be fine, I promise you that. So I trust you won't breath a word of this to him this weekend" Hanna's mother said
"Maybe I shouldn't go. I don't want to leave you alone" Hanna said concerned about her mother
"Hanna, I'll be fine. I want you have a relationship with your father, that's very important to me" Hanna's mother told her
"Yeah, but I don't want you staying in eating up all the ice cream, watching I love Lucy marathons" Hanna said
"I work hard, so I deserve a day to relax" Hanna's mother laughed
"Fine, but I'm going to hate every moment of it" Hanna smiled just as she noticed Lucas's car pull up in his driveway. She wanted to rush over an attempt conversation with him, but she knew that he probably didn't even want to see her at this point, and with the stuff she said to him, she didn't blame him one bit.
Walking down the hallway, her eyes had locked in on her target of assassination and all she could think to do was destroy, but her meeting with the girls took more precedence as they had a loose canon called A on the loose. She wanted to help figure out what exactly this A was all about, but she knew that A wanted to pit them all against each other by exposing secrets left and right. The thing that worried her the most was what secrets were being exposed about her that made her a little wary to go through with her plan she had formed over and over in her head. Once Hanna had gotten closer to Aria and the girls, Hanna quickly pulled Aria into a open classroom that was vacated. Closing the door behind her, Hanna quickly set her purse down on the table before she went over to pull the shade down on the door so Spencer and Emily wouldn't see what was about to happen and wouldn't come in because she had locked the door. Nervous as to what Hanna would do, Aria began to move towards the back of the class so that she could at least access where she would run if Hanna had begun to attack her.
"I know what this is about" Aria said calmly trying to approach the drama between them
"You really don't so just shut up and let me talk" Hanna said "You have no idea how much I want to punch your face in for what you did, and I've even ran the thought of humiliating you with the piece of information I have on you. That night A text me about Sean and you" she told her
"So A was there?" Aria concluded
"Or you're a big whore that finally got exposed, I'm having a hard time believing which one is true, but that's besides the point" Hanna said
"Wait, what information do you have on me? Is this from A?" Aria asked
"Cut the crap, just expose your secret because I know" Hanna said becoming annoyed with Aria's need to play dumb
"Look are you bluffing me so that you can get information on me so you can humiliate me as you said?" Aria asked
"If I did want to humiliate you, I would have done so with a little text message I received from A. I know your screwing Mr. Fitz" Hanna revealed to Aria who looked like she was about to pee in her pants
"You know" Aria said softly "What are you going to do with this information?" she asked
"Like I said, I have contemplated time and time to use this against you, but since I'm pretty sure that A is spilling some of my secrets as well, I won't. That is until we figure out who A is, after that, all bets are off" Hanna threatened her before she grabbed her bag
"Thank you" Aria said
"Don't thank me because you mean nothing to me, and like you've all ready chosen, this friendship means nothing to me" Hanna told her before she opened the door to find Emily and Spencer standing there anxiously. Giving a final look back at Aria, Hanna quickly walked off to leave the girls to wonder what A was up to but most of all what was Hanna going to do
Today was big, at least he thought, but it just felt like every other day for him, where he woke up went to school, hoped he wouldn't get the crap beaten out of him, and then he would have to suffer through hanging out with Alton, who's only goal was to climb the social ladder in every aspect of his life. Alton had come up with the great idea to have a celebration dinner in honor of his acceptance into Winthrop that was going to happen in less than five hours. Lucas wanted more than anything to enjoy his cold cheese fries and to ignore the occasional looks from the popular kids that hung out at the very diner Alton had decided to take them to, but all he could think about was the commitment he was about to make to Winthrop, and how everything was going to change. Getting up to have his cheese fries reheated so he could at least have a meal on his stomach before go ahead of the board, Lucas waited at the counter just as Mona and some of her friends came up.
It had been two hours since her mother had dropped her off at the train station, Hanna waited patiently for her father to come but the more and more she sat, all she could think about was stupid she felt to think that her dad even gave a damn about her anymore. Trying to call her mom would have been hopeless seeing as she didn't turn her cell phone on at work until break, and with her new job she didn't know when her break would be this late at night. She thought about calling her dad to berate him on how crappy he was as a father, and how she wished he were dead. So much ran through her head, but the one thing she wanted most was to just get home. Sending a quick text to Mona, Hanna had hoped that she'd come through for her like she always did.
Still waiting for his cheese fries, Lucas had become annoyed that the wait for reheating fries has turned to more than two minutes. Usually he wouldn't mind the ten minute wait but having to listen to Mona and her groupies talk about the most trivial things known to man had reached his annoyance level in ways that he couldn't even imagine. He wanted so bad to just choke the living crap out of her or throw the nearest shake on top of her head, but reality always brought him back to realize that any jock in the place would pounce on him and would be happy to beat the living crap out of him.
"Oh, my God. I can't believe she's texting me now" Mona told her friends
"Is it Hanna again?" The girl asked
"Yes. Like I would talk to her after she's ditched me for her loser friends" Mona said
"Aren't you her best friend?" The girl asked
"Yes, but I'm not going to kiss her ass" Mona replied
"What is she saying? Is she trying to hang out?" The girl asked
"No, she wants me to burn my gas to come pick her up at the train station" Mona laughed "She should call one of her little buddies to come get her, oh, wait, they don't have a car" she joked causing her friends to get a kick out of her jokes on Hanna
"That's so mean" The girls laughed
"Its called payback" Mona said before she couldn't help to break out in a fit of laughter with her friends. Lucas tried his best to ignore the fact that he just heard Hanna was stranded at the train station that happened to be about four hours away, but the more he listened to Mona talk about Hanna, the more he felt outraged. Quickly walking over to Alton, Lucas grabbed the car keys and quickly walked out to the parking lot with Alton right behind him.
"Okay, you mind telling me what your doing?" Alton asked
"I have to go somewhere. Your gonna have to find another ride home" Lucas said stopping at the car door
"Uh, I thought you were going to take me home?" Alton asked
"Alton, I have to leave. I really have to leave" Lucas told his friend
"But where? You have the meeting at eight with the board, so where do you have to go?" Alton asked
"Somewhere, I have to go somewhere" Lucas said before he opened the car door and got in. Taking a deep breath, realizing that what he was doing he couldn't take back, Lucas started the car up and quickly pulled out of the parking lot.
Laying across the bench, clutching on tight to her thin layered sweater, Hanna did her best to try to get comfortable because there was no signs that she was going to get picked up anytime tonight until her mom got in, and even then that would have been a hit or miss with the timing. She had given up hope that Mona was going to come because she wasn't even answering her text messages. Now all Hanna could do was make the most of this situation and try to get ahold of her mother in the day. Hearing footsteps come her way, Hanna feared what pervert could be walking through the station, so all she could do was close her eyes and hope they would pass without messing with her.
"Hanna" Lucas said walking over towards her "Hanna" he said again before she quickly turned to see that it was him. Quickly getting up from her seat, Hanna hugged Lucas as tight as she could
"I'm sorry" Hanna cried
"C'mon lets get you home" Lucas said before he let her go to grab her luggage
By the time they had made it back to Rosewood it was one in the morning, looking over at the blonde, who was asleep. He knew all that he had risked tonight by going to pick her up at the train station, but he couldn't just let her be the joke of the diner by Mona and her friends. Hanna had begun to stir awake noticing that they were finally at home, looking over at Lucas, who seemed to be dead tired after driving nearly eight hour all together just to come get her. For a moment the two just sat in silence, unsure as to what they should say to the other before Hanna finally broke the silence.
"Thank you for coming to get me" Hanna said
"Don't know why, but I did" Lucas sighed as he massaged his forehead in frustration
"How did you even know?" Hanna asked
"Your friends, or you so called friend Mona, was joking about how pathtic you were to think she'd come get you after you ditched her for your other set of friends. Maybe you should cut back on the friends because apparently the ones you think are you friends don't really care about you" Lucas told her
"Maybe I should" Hanna sighed "So you came and got me, after what I said to you" she said
"Because Hanna, people are suppose to do nice things for others. That's an unspoken law or something, do nice things for people and they will in turn be nice to you" Lucas said
"If I haven't said it all ready, I'm sorry for what I said. I was upset about Aria and Sean, so I just took it out on you because you were there" Hanna said
"Yeah, well I'll keep my distance when your upset because its clear you lash out" Lucas said trying not to smile as he looked at her but found it hard not to
"So if your knowledgeable on how to handle me in future settings, does that mean your not mad at me anymore?" Hanna asked
"No, I'm not mad at you anymore, I think you being abandoned at a train station is suffice enough" Lucas said as he got out the car
"How about we keep that fact between us" Hanna said as she got out closing the door behind her as she walked over towards him
"I'm not going to breath a word of this to anyone, I know you have this whole popularity thing to protect, so there's nothing to worry about" Lucas said "Goodnight Hanna" he said before he turned to walk toward his house
"My mom isn't home. She probably won't be home until the morning, and she doesn't quite know I'm back. I guess what I'm trying to say is that I don't want to be alone tonight because I get scared easily…" Hanna rambled before Lucas cut her off
"We're taking the game off of beginner mode because I don't want you to have false hope that you can beat me. No one beats me at Wii" Lucas told her
"That's what you think" Hanna smiled before she passed him on her way over to his house with Lucas following behind her as they enjoyed their banter of trash talking