A/N – Hey! Me again, with chapter two!
Disclaimer – I own PLL like I own the whole of England.
I'm not surprised, not everything lasts
I've broken my heart so many times, I stopped keeping track
Talk myself in, I talk myself out
I get all worked up, then I let myself down
I tried so very hard not to lose it
I came up with a million excuses
I thought, I thought of every possibility
And I know someday that it'll all turn out
You'll make me work, so we can work to work it out
And I promise you, kid, that I give so much more than I get
I just haven't met you yet
I might have to wait, I'll never give up
I guess it's half timing, and the other half's luck
Wherever you are, whenever it's right
You'll come out of nowhere and into my life
And I know that we can be so amazing
And, baby, your love is gonna change me
And now I can see every possibility
And somehow I know that it'll all turn out
You'll make me work, so we can work to work it out
And I promise you, kid, I give so much more than I get
I just haven't met you yet
They say all's fair
In love and war
But I won't need to fight it
We'll get it right and we'll be united...
'Haven't Met You Yet' – Michael Bublé
The next morning felt strange. Hanna woke up with the distinct feeling that something was different, but she had no idea what it was.
She looked at the clock. 8:24. Spencer would be up by now, making sure that Toby's anniversary present was absolutely perfect, ad that he knew nothing about the surprise dinner she was going to make them both. Emily would be getting dressed into her swimming costume, grabbing her towel, goggles and hat and driving off to the pool for her early-morning swim session. Aria would probably be in bed right now, sleeping off a few more hours of illness. Hanna hoped she would get well again soon, if she wasn't already. She had no idea what Caleb was doing. Which reminded her, he was meant to be coming over at nine.
She jumped out of bed immediately, got undressed and went straight into the shower. She spent the next twenty minutes singing in the shower and rubbing herself over with strawberry-scented shower gel. After the shower, she got dressed into a pink sundress, and then came the usual procedure with makeup. A touch of mascara, eyeliner and lipgloss, and she was ready at the dot of ten.
Except that Caleb didn't arrive at 10. Or half past. By ten to eleven, Hanna was just about ready to scream. What had happened? Had he forgotten? Had something happened to him? Had he decided that they were over, and hadn't bothered to inform her?
Nevertheless, Hanna picked up her cell phone, and tapped out Caleb's number.
"Hello?" Caleb's familiar voice answered on the third ring, and Hanna smiled.
"Oh thank God! I thought something must have happened to you!" Hanna said, relieved.
But Caleb only sounded confused. "Excuse me?"
"Where are you? You were supposed to be here an hour ago!" She teased. "Did you forget?"
Caleb just sounded even more confused. "Who is this?"
Hanna felt dumbfounded for a second, and then she worked it out. "Oh, hahaha. Very funny." She said sarcastically. Caleb, seriously, where are you?"
"I'm in town, buying lunch."
"Oh, great, I'll come meet you. But I have to be back by noon-ish for my interview that you were supposed to be helping me out with."
Caleb sounded annoyed now. "Excuse me, but who is this?"
Hanna was exasperated by now. "This is Hanna. Your girlfriend. And you were supposed to come over this morning."
"I don't know any Hannas, I don't have a girlfriend, and I don't have any plans today. Maybe you got the wrong number." He sounded sympathetic, but Hanna wasn't in the mood for kindness right now, not when everything was so wrong.
"Caleb, come on, I know that's you."
"Yes, but I don't know you."
Then a thought struck Hanna. "Caleb, if I say the words 'tent', 'camping out', and 'owls', what do you think of?"
"Doesn't make me think of much. Maybe a camping trip in like, second grade. Why?"
Pain hit Hanna like a gong. Somehow, although she had no idea why, Caleb didn't remember their first time. "Never mind. Does November 5th mean anything to you?"
His response was short. "No, not especially."
This was cold, Hanna thought. He was breaking her heart with every word, and he didn't even know it.
"Something's wrong. The Caleb I know would never say that."
"Well, maybe I'm not the Caleb you know. I hope you find the right Caleb." He rang off with a kind tone, which just made Hanna more upset.
Surely her friends would know what was happening. Starting with Spencer, who would know, if anyone, what was going on, she scrolled down her friends list until she found Spencer's name, and she dialled the number, pressing her phone to her ear.
Spencer picked up straight away. "Hello?" she asked into the phone.
"Spencer, it's me, Hanna."
"Hanna? But...never mind. How are you?"
"I don't know. Something-" Hanna stopped herself. She didn't want o spoil Spencer's day with her complaining. "How's your day been so far?"
"Um, good..."
"Has he come over yet? I bet he's there now, isn't he? Tell that boy to put a shirt on. Actually, on second thoughts, don't. Bodies like that were not made to be hidden under shirts."
Spencer sounded both outraged and confused at the same time. "What are you suggesting?"
"Just don't start getting hot and heavy already, okay? You'll give the game away. You've got plenty of time for that later, after dinner."
"What are you talking about, Hanna? Actually, no, who are you talking about?"
"Oh, Spencer, seriously. Don't pretend to have forgotten; that boy is head-over-heels in love with you. He'd do anything for you, so stop pretending he doesn't exist," Hanna told her, although she had a horrible feeling that Spencer wasn't kidding.
"Hanna, the only thing looking my way right now is a truck-load of extra-credit work. I'm not really looking for a boyfriend right now."
"But you have one already, and you love him. Don't you remember? The scrabble board, and the truck, and your reunion after the masquerade party. The way he kissed you... you don't remember that?"
Spencer sounded seriously weirded out. "Hanna, have you been taking drugs since Ali went missing? Because you can talk to me, you know. My mom knows a doctor in Philly who could help. Because I don't have a boyfriend, and never have. That guy you were talking about sounds like an angel, but he's not mine."
Not you too, Hanna thought. Please, no.
"I'm sorry, Spence," she said aloud. "I must be...hung-over. I did have a bit too much to drink last night."
"It's fine," Spencer said indifferently. "Call me if you ever meet that guy, though," she added, only half serious.
"Oh Spence," Hanna laughed. "You are the smartest person I know, but when comes to this, you are so stupid."
"Hey!" Spencer replied. "I'm not! And what do you mean, 'so stupid'? You're making this sound like you actually know this guy."
Hanna smirked, thinking of the way Spencer's face would change into a dreamy distant smile whenever she spoke of Toby. "I do."
"You do? Who is it? What do they-" but Hanna didn't hear any more than that, because she'd hung up with a click of the red button on her cell.
She'd figured it out. At least, she thought she had. She was no Spencer, but by the way Spencer said 'since Ali went missing', she figured that this was no more than a year after Ali went missing. But time travel was impossible, right? There must be a proper explanation for this madness somewhere, but since both Spencer and Caleb were acting like this was totally okay, Hanna decided to just act as though everything was completely normal. Hopefully she'd get some answers that way.
Just then, there was a knock on Hanna's door, interrupting her thoughts. Her first thought was that it was 'A', come to kill her for being the only sane one in this insane world, and she reached out for her lamp, ready to attack if necessary. But then, 'A' wouldn't knock, would they? So she let out a half-hearted "Come in," and braced herself. But luckily it was just her mom, so she withdrew her hand, and pretended nothing had happened. "Hey Mom. How's Ted?"
"Who?"
Of course, Hanna thought, wincing at her mistake. That hadn't happened yet."
No one. Look, Mom, I had a bit of a rough night, so I can't really think right now."
"Aww, Honey. Are you okay now?"
"I'm fine, Mom." No, I'm not fine. Everyone's acting strange, and my boyfriend's never even heard of me, Hanna wanted to say, but she couldn't. "You go to work. I'll be fine on my own."
"Alright, if you're sure. Call Mona if you want. Tell her to come over."
Mona? Mona was a lying, pretentious, back-stabbing bitch, and was exactly the same as she had ever been, regardless of her leaving Radley, but Hanna couldn't exactly tell her mom that. "Sure. Maybe." Then a thought occurred to her. "What's the date?"
Ashley looked confused. "It's August 29th 2010, Hanna."
"Okay, thanks. I'll be fine. You go to work, or you'll be late."
Ashley picked up her bag, and, hugging Hanna first, heading out the door. "Have fun!" She called back, although why, Hanna wasn't sure. As far as she knew, she hadn't done much before school started in their junior year.
On a spur of the moment, Hanna had a brainwave, and pulled out her phone to call a taxi for half an hour's time. It would take a long time to get to where she was going, but she was hoping it would be worth it.
Where is Hanna going? Find out next chapter ;)
