Hanna Marin, Focus!
"Hanna, why are you so upset?" Mona Vanderwaal, Hanna's best friend since eighth grade, asked Hanna Marin. Hanna twirled a piece of shiny, just-been-curled blond hair around her right index finger, her left thumb nail being nibbled away by her super-white teeth. Mona and Hanna both had the same type of teeth; small yet still sharp and naturally a pale white color. Hanna secretly used white strips to improve her overall appearance. The two girls were sitting on a cold silver bench in the middle of the Rosewood County Mall. The different window displays were covered with squeaky-clean glass walls. The bright white lights and shiny light blue floors caused massive headaches for Hanna. Hanna felt herself get dizzy and took a sip of her flat bottled water.
"Hanna?" Mona asked again. Hanna snapped back to reality suddenly and faced her best friend. Recently, Hanna found it slightly hard to even look at Mona. The shocking secret that haunted her made it even worse.
Mona had shiny dark brown hair that hit her shoulders perfectly. She was trying to grow it out so that she could dye it red and become an actress. Red hair was apparently very good for business, as it made one stand out from the crowd. She and Hanna both had naturally almost-tan skin that was smooth and blemish free. They even looked kind of alike; if you didn't count the fact that Mona was about six sizes smaller.
"I'm not upset," Hanna said with a smile. Mona shrugged and picked up her dark brown chopsticks that were lying in her vegetable lo-mein. Hanna and Mona had both bought Chinese food from their favorite Chinese fast-food-in-the-mall place, ChopStix. Hanna stared down at her own vegetable fried rice and un-wrapped the cream colored plastic spoon she had taken. She dunked her spoon into the food's take-out container and scooped up a small chunk of orange rice. She placed the spoon in her mouth, waiting for the flavor of the rice to surface before sliding the spoon out from under her pale, shiny pink lips.
"Mmmm," Hanna mumbled, just loud enough for Mona to hear. Mona nodded while chewing on a tan noodle. Hanna finished chewing her clump of rice and swallowed, hard. She made a face into her metallic silver take-out cup, seeing her perfect reflection almost clearly.
"So my Aunt's coming to town this week," Mona mentioned in between bites. Hanna looked up sharply at the mention of Mona's family.
I have a right to know.
"Hanna?" Mona waved a French-manicured finger in front of Hanna's face, knocking her out of her trance. Hanna shook her head, as if the bad flashback had just fallen off of her pore-less face.
"Yeah, I heard. Aunt Makenzie?" Hanna knew all of Mona's family members names and ages. It was as if they were related in some way.
"Yeah, I told you this last night. While I was picking out the perfect outfit to impress the judges for the Miss. Rosewood Pageant!" Mona smiled and popped off of the clean bench, neatly putting her food in her spot.
"I'm so going to win!" Mona started striking random poses for an imaginary camera. Passersby stared at her as she pursed her lips and lowered her black D&G sunglasses from atop her loose waves, covering her stone-cold blue eyes. Something about Mona was intimidating and reckless, like at any moment she could change into a lion or something. Most people only saw the part of her that said , "I'm fabulous and you know it," but Hanna saw the real Mona; a girl who loved chocolate ice cream and cried during sad episodes of Hannah Montana. Mona could seem way tougher than she actually was, in a way that confused the average Rosewood resident.
"Mona, you should sit down," Hanna said through clenched teeth, smiling at the pedestrians as if to say, "We all know she's crazy, so get over it!" Hanna stopped smiling and grabbed Mona's arm, pulling her back towards her seat.
"Hey, what was that for?" Mona asked, picking up her food and sitting down.
"You can't just start dancing in the middle of the mall! We're going to get kicked out. Permanently," Hanna whispered in close. Mona took off her sunglasses and placed them in her large brown Louis Vuitton pocket book. Hanna stood up and dumped her half-full Chinese food container into the nearest garbage can. She looked down into the almost-empty can, trying to get her mind off of her putrid thoughts. When she looked up, she saw a flash of shiny blond hair trying on a pair of sunglasses in a discount accessories store. When she blinked, the figure was gone. Hanna shuddered and turned back around for the bench. Suddenly, her Blackberry dinged in her jeans pocket, and she pulled it out to see who had texted her. A mass of jumbled numbers lay under the New Message icon. She clicked on the icon and read her message quietly to herself. When she finished, she held her phone out at arm's length to interpret the words.
Oh Hanna, so naïve about saying the wrong thing. I'll be here to help. I'm always around when you need me. Or when you don't.
Love, A.
"Hanna? Are you coming? I need to get home to help set up the Dining Room," Mona called. Hanna clicked out of the message and shoved her phone back into her light-wash denim jeans pocket.
"Ready," Hanna said, and she picked up her Coach wristlet silently and thoughtless, as if someone could read her mind.