Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters in this story, except for the ones I make-up. They all belong to Disney (if they decide to keep it), and any other company that owns 'In a Heartbeat.'
Note: Flashbacks are written in
Initial Attraction
Etched - Hank - Chapter 8
Darkness filled Kingsport as the sun had set. After hours of answering calls and helping people, Hank had never been happy to see his bed as he was now. He changed into his sleeping clothes and watched TV for a while. A couple of hours later the clock showed that it was already ten o'clock, and Hank's body told him that it was time to sleep. A mere five hours had passed when his phone rang. Hank lazily got out of his bed and kicked himself for putting it across the room.
"Who would be calling me at this hour?" Hank mumbled sleepily. "It couldn't be Tyler."
Hank finally got to the phone and turned on the speakerphone button.
"Why the heck are you calling me at…three o'clock in the morning?" Hank said with an annoyed tone.
"It's nice to talk to you to," a female tone said on the other line.
"Hannah?" Hank said now fully awake. "I thought you were at that camping trip."
"My mom had a little accident so our plans basically changed."
"And Tyler?"
"He's still up there. I don't know if he's staying for the whole week though."
"OK. Let's take a rewind. Why are you calling me at this time?"
"I'm so sorry if I woke up."
"If?"
"All right. I'm sorry for waking you up. Is that better?"
"For now. So what is it that you called me for?"
"Are you on duty tomorrow?"
"Not until the evening. Why?"
"You know that community service thing we had to do?"
"Yea," he replied as he got the hint of where this was heading.
"Well I cancelled on you a few days ago, but now that my schedule's free we can do it tomorrow. It's up to you."
"Well…sure…I'd love to."
"Great! I have all the stuff we need. Are you sure you can handle all those kids?"
"I'm not making any promises."
"What harm could they be?"
"They could give you black eyes," said Hank as he remembered Jamie's case.
"What?"
"Never mind. What time are we meeting?"
"Around 10. I already talked to some school officials and they told me that there's a small class held every Sunday in Kingsport Elementary."
"Do they even know that we're coming?"
"I already met with the teacher and I left her a message that we might do it either today or next week. I'll just have to make sure to call Mrs. Pallette later."
"I'm so lucky you're my partner. I would probably be scrambling if I did it alone or with someone else."
"Thank you. Well, you better get some more sleep. Good night."
"Good night," Hank said with a smile on his face before putting the phone down.
Hank went back to bed and set his alarm clock to wake him up on time.
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Hank woke up at the sound of his clock. It was only eight o'clock, so he decided to jog for a while. After several minutes, he returned home and ate his breakfast before taking a shower. By the time he finished, it was already a quarter to ten. Without wasting any second, he drove off to his old school. He arrived there ten minutes later with Hannah already waiting for him.
"I'm sorry I'm late," Hank apologized.
"You still have five minutes to spare," she told him.
"Do you have the stuff?"
"They're all right here," she said as she lifted her book bag.
"Who's the woman in-charge of the class again?"
"Mrs. Pallette. Why? Do you know her?"
"She was my old third grade teacher."
"You still remember her?"
"Of course," he said with a smile and enthusiasm. "Come on. I still memorized the way to her room. It's 357 steps away from here."
"Geek," she said playfully before following his lead.
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When they got to the classroom, Hank automatically recognized his old teacher.
"Hey Mrs. Pallette!" he greeted.
The teacher turned around and looked at Hank carefully before a smile crept to her face.
"Hank Beecham!" she said before she went over to hug him. "You've grown so much."
"Well, it has been eight years."
"Go ahead," she told him. "The class is all yours. Take your time to write your names on the board to help them remember."
Mrs. Pallette moved aside and watched the two teens do their thing.
"OK guys, I'm Hannah Blair," she introduced herself as she wrote her name on the board.
"And I'm Hank Beecham," he said following Hannah's lead and wrote on the board.
"Today, we're going to talk about what you want to be when you grow up," said Hannah.
Hank couldn't help but give a yawn. When Hannah glanced towards him, he replaced it with a smile. After thirty minutes, Hank and Hannah sent the kids to do some hands-on activities.
"Hank. You check over the kids on the left side and I'll check over the right."
"Aye, Captain."
Hank looked down at the drawings that the kids made. They were assigned to draw what they wanted to do in the future. Someone wanted to be a fireman. One wanted to be a doctor. One drew Superman, which made Hank laugh a little. A girl wanted to be a movie star, while another wanted to be nurse. When Hank got to a little brunette boy, he had a half-amused yet half-disappointed look on his face. It wasn't what the boy drew that caused this expression. It was what he wrote on the table. On the table was a circle, and in it were the initials
"You know you're not supposed to write on the table," Hank told the little boy.
"I don't know what you're talking about, Mister!" he said in a childish sort of way.
"Then how come I see Hannah's and my initials on your table," Hank told him although he had toyed with the idea not too long ago. "Inside a circle of all things."
"I swear I didn't do it," the little boy cried. "I cross my heart."
Hank couldn't help but find himself be entertained by the little boy.
"Tell me," he began to say. "What's your name?"
"Tobias Jacobs," the boy replied. "But everyone calls me Toby."
"Toby? Are you telling me the truth?"
"I am. And besides, only girls write these stuff, and you must be wrong because I'm not a girl."
The words that the boy spoke were all too familiar for Hank. In fact, the whole scene was all too familiar. For a minute or two, Hank spaced out…
"I believe in curses," Hank said.
"Hank, only girls believe in that stuff," Toby said.
"Well, I'm not a girl, so you must be wrong," Hank told his friend.
Toby became silent.
"So, do you believe in those stuff about who you'll marry?" Toby asked Hank.
"Do you want to know a secret?" Hank asked Toby.
"Of course," he said loud enough for the whole class to hear.
"You better promise not to tell anyone," Hank told him.
"I promise," he said
"I'm going to be married to a girl with the same first and last name as I do," Hank told Toby.
"You're marrying yourself?" Toby asked in shock, and once again with the whole class hearing them.
The room was filled with laughter.
"No, I'm not marrying myself," Hank whispered to Toby. "It's more like the first letter of her first name and the first letter of her last name is the same as I am."
"Cool," Toby said.
"But she has to be different," Hank added.
"How?" Toby asked.
"I don't know," Hank said as he drew a circle, with two H's and B's in them.
Hank was brought back to reality by the incessant voice of an eight-year-old.
"Mister! I swear I didn't do it."
"I know you didn't," Hank said as he glanced at Hannah, who gave him a smile.
"Then who did?"
"I did."
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That's all for now! I hope you liked it! I'll have the next chapter out as soon as possible. I'm sorry for the short delay
