Dangerous Attraction
Chapter 11 of my story, enjoy.
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Now onto the story.
Disclaimer: I don't own Until Dawn or its characters.
Chapter 11
Jess could barely suppress her grin as she met with her friends that evening. She recalled her earlier phone call to her family, telling them about her getting the job. They had been thrilled, her sister overjoyed, and now she was with her friends. She could hardly wait to tell them, but felt that the correct build-up was necessary.
It was Lacie who gave Jess the opening that she needed. "Well, well, someone's cheerful." the redhead remarked.
Jess nodded. "Yeah, I sure am."
At once, that had them clamoring.
"Well, come on, then!" Melissa remarked. "Don't keep us in suspense! What is it?"
Angela smirked. "If I didn't know better, I'd say you got lucky."
Jess laughed at that. "Well...technically, yeah, but not in the way you think."
Jess knew that she was lucky in more ways than one, but they didn't need to know that, either.
Rolling her eyes, Angela replied, "Well, what is it, then? C'mon girl, spill!"
Grinning at her friends, Jess revealed, "Remember when I told you about that modeling job that I was hoping for, working with Emily Davis at her company?"
They all nodded and Jess seized her moment.
"Well, they hired me! I'm in on a permanent contract with them now. It's a stable, full-time job."
Her friends all gasped at once and crowded her, hugging and laughing.
"I knew it! Well, things are certainly looking up for you now, Jess." Lacie laughed. "This mysterious - yet no doubt amazing - new boyfriend, and now probably the most amazing job you could possibly get."
Jess laughed, too. Words couldn't describe how lucky and happy she felt right now.
Meanwhile, elsewhere in the city, Hannah Washington bit her lip as she sat inside a small coffee shop. Not the sort of place that someone would have expected a girl like her to go, but that's exactly why she went.
'I need to do this, I can't stay hiding in my room all the time after what happened to me.' she reflected. 'Beth is right. If we want to get back to our normal lives as soon as possible, we have to do things that we would usually do and not be afraid.'
She knew that she couldn't hide in the shadows for the rest of her life, even with the publicity still going strong, following their rescue from their kidnapping. But still, it was hard, and that was why she chose the coffee shop. It was better to ease herself into normality.
Fidgeting with her skirt, she sighed. 'Typical of Beth. She always tries to leap in with both feet. That may work for her, but not me. She's so confident, but I need a more gradual return...'
She looked around, biting her lip and playing with her hair. She knew that it wasn't easy. But she still couldn't help but wish it was. The coffee shop, due to its size, wasn't too crowded, but there were still enough people there to make her nervous. Her heart pounded and she felt a little dizzy, with sweat forming on her forehead.
She took a deep, calming breath and thought, 'It's okay, it's okay now. You're safe, remember. This is you back in your real life.'
She wondered just how her sister could be so tough, how Beth could pretty much jump back into society.
When they were captive, it had been Beth who had suffered the worst of the beatings, the abuse, the most depraved things that their captor could think of. Beth suffered them all, in order to protect her sister because she knew how sensitive Hannah was. Always trying to turn their kidnapper's attention away from Hannah, Beth would endure anything, any degradation, any humiliation, just to protect her sister. And yet, after enduring all of that, Beth was now able to carry on with life, acting like nothing had happened.
'I felt so useless, and I still do... Beth did all of that for me and what did I do? Nothing. I was a coward, I let my sister suffer and go through hell and I just laid there and watched it happen, all because I was too scared.' she thought miserably. 'I'm the older twin. I should be the one protecting Beth...yet somehow, she's always been the strong, brave, responsible one.'
Grimacing at the unbidden memories and realizing that things were simply getting too much to handle, Hannah picked up her purse and quickly left. She sighed sadly as she pulled out her phone to call Josh and ask for a ride home. It looked like she wasn't ready to return to normal life after all.
End of chapter, hope you enjoyed it, read and review please.
