Allo. I don't have much to tell you other than to R&R to get chapter 11...

Press Play Ch 10

I instinctively stepped away from Hannah, whose face was now dripping and blotchy. This was the girl that had been Homecoming Queen four years straight.

"Demi—" Hannah reached out to touch my arm, but I moved away further.

"Don't touch me," I growled, turning away from the girl.

"It was a mistake, okay?" She called after me.

I stopped for a moment without turning around.

"I never meant to hurt anyone!"

I whipped around to face Hannah. "Then tell Nate. Tell him all this time and effort is for nothing, 'cause it's not even his fucking baby." I stared at her, unblinking, as if challenging her.

Hannah squeezed her eyelids shut, the never-ending tears still finding a way out. "I can't."

I licked my chapped lips. Of course Hannah couldn't ruin her precious relationship. "Why not?"

Hannah sighed, letting out a big breath of air. "My mom kicked me out. When I told Nate about it, he figured it was his baby even though we hadn't really done…it. He and his mom were both really generous. If he finds out the baby is not his," Hannah paused, looking down, "I don't know where I'm going to end up."

I took a step towards her, feeling a little pity for her. "Well, he will find out eventually."

Hannah nodded to the ground. "I know, but I am almost eighteen and if the news could just hold off 'til May, then I will be able to live on my own if…when he kicks me out."

"This isn't fair to him."

Hannah threw up her hands. "I know, I know! Trust me, I feel horrible. I have no other options. I haven't even spoken to my mom since I told her, Liam is a foster kid and the rest of my extended family lives off across the country, but I wanted to finish my school year here."

I got where she was coming from, the whole "no other options" thing, but I held my ground. "You need to tell him soon. Or else I will. I've been in his shoes and I wish someone would've told me sooner. I'm not going to just stand by and watch him get really hurt."

"But what am I going to do?" Hannah practically yelled at me, her eyes wide and quickly filling with tears again.

I took a deep breath and let it out. "Listen, if you tell him within the next week, I will let you stay at my house. We have an empty bedroom, so I'm sure Gia wouldn't mind."

Hannah looked hesitant. "Alright. I just need a few days to prepare, but I will do it when Nate comes back from Mexico on Thursday."

I gave Hannah my address and phone number, so she could reach me anytime. Then we went our separate ways. I thought of Mrs. Cyrus, Hannah's mom. She seemed so cool when I had gotten to know her back when Hannah and I were friends. Sure, she kinda had a stick up her ass sometimes, but she was a huge democrat, very open to new ideas.

Now that I thought about it, I'm sure she had pushed the idea of abortion when she found out. She wasn't very religious in that aspect.

I turned the radio to the local rock station and hummed along to a recent Kings of Lion song. I started lowly singing the melody before I all-out busted out the chorus. I heard a car horn honk and I realized my window had been open the whole time. I turned off my voice and the radio, rolling up the windows, embarrassed.

Instead of going home, I took a right on Oak St. and headed down the highway. I pulled into the vacated parking lot and stepped outside, locking the car doors. I just walked right onto the freshly mowed grass, passing many stones before I got to the right one.

I crouched down, putting my hand on the top of the cold rock. "Hi mom," I whispered, tracing her name with the pad of my thumb. JESSICA LOUISE CROSS, it said in bold calligraphy. BORN AUGUST 5TH, 1963; DIED AUGUST 13TH, 2009. I sat down on the dewy grass, criss-crossing my legs. "I missed you."

I plucked a few strands of bright green grass from out of the ground underneath me. I pushed them aside as I began telling her the whole Hannah ordeal, then moving on to dad and ending with therapy/Taylor. I sighed. "I wish you were here, Mom. You always knew what to do."

I sat there for a few silent moments before I heard crunching leaves to my left. Imagine my surprised when I turned to see my dad standing there, wearing a brown suit and holding a bouquet of lilacs.

He stopped suddenly, seeing me. "They were her favorite." He gestured towards the beautiful purple flowers that he held in his hand.

"What are you doing here?" I asked, although the answer was obvious. I stood up and crossed my arms, putting on my emotionless expression that I had perfected throughout my life.

My father didn't answer, instead just walking forward, slowly bending down to place the flowers at the foot of the headstone. He came back up, now too close for my liking, for I could smell the heavily drenched Drakk Noir on him. "How have you been?"

I cautiously took a step back, realizing he had heard everything that I had told my mom. I didn't let it show on my face. "Fine."

He nodded, accepting the fact that I wouldn't tell him my problems to his face. "How's Gia?" He said quieter this time, averting his gaze towards the wet grass.

"Much better without you," I snarkily replied.

If I had hurt him with that statement, he didn't let it show through on his facial expressions. "That's good." He looked up again, his sad green eyes peering through my dark ones, almost piercing.

I held the gaze for awhile before I finally tore apart, saying, "Well, I gotta go. The baby awaits."

He nodded. "It was good seeing you. And tell Gia I said hi and I hope we can talk soon about, you know, the baby."

Bullshit, I thought. Instead I just nodded, slowly backing away before getting into a trot towards my truck. I opened my door and got in, glancing back at my dad just enough to see him slowly getting down to a squat, facing the headstone. I saw his mouth start moving as he stared up at the clear blue sky. I jotted down a mental note to pass on his message as I revved up the engine and turned the wheel, heading back home.

Yes, this was sort of a boring episode. Sorry. R&R plz