The Apocalypse (13 page)

Isaac grinned. "He
is
weird."

Jake sent Isaac his raised middle finger with a crooked smile and then returned Hannah's gaze. "No. I don't think so. That was awhile ago though."

"Hmm…" Hannah furrowed her brow in puzzlement. "Let me ask you another question," she said eagerly, smiling slightly. "Do you always have mood swings? Every time I see you, you're going back and forth between talking and brooding."

Pulling a face, Jake immediately replied, "And every time I see you, you're going back and forth between insanity and incredulity."

"Jake!" Isaac hissed.

Hannah turned to her brother and noted his widened eyes, and it began to dawn on her that she'd just been insulted. "What?" She tipped her head at Jake, confused. "What was that supposed to mean?"

Looking at Isaac, Jake was silent for a minute. "Nothing."

Frustrated, Hannah sighed and looked at Jake accusingly. "You don't like me. Why not?"

"He likes you," Isaac said quickly. "You've got to ignore him, Han. Jake's a big grouch most of the time." He smirked at Jake. "Make that almost all of the time." He leaned forward and patted Hannah's forearm encouragingly. "Don't worry. You'll get used to him really soon."

Hannah bit her lower lip. "Is that right, Jake? Because you barely talk to me, and I don't understand why."

A very faint smile appeared on Jake's face. "Eh, like Isaac said, I'm a grouch." He shrugged. "Plus…honestly?" Hannah saw Jake shoot a look at Isaac past her head, and she wondered what that was about. "It's a little weird after the accident. I don't do sympathy well."

"Then it's a good thing I don't want sympathy," Hannah stated firmly. She stood up and met Jake's eyes intensely, determined to say something that would help him relax around her. She felt positive that if he'd relax around her, she could relax more period, since it was around her brother, Jake, and his friends that Hannah felt the most comfortable. The problem was…she couldn't think of anything to say.

Jake raised his eyebrows at Hannah, who was standing before the couch. "Okay then. Want to watch
Lingo
with us?"

Confused again, Hannah crossed her arms and studied Jake. Was that an attempt at being nice to her? It sucked if it was. She sighed and shrugged, welcoming almost anything cordial as friendship with him. Sitting back down on the couch, Hannah crossed her legs, watching a game show with the guys while having no understanding of the game. She didn't ask questions about it though; she just sat with them in silence, feeling very awkward indeed.

"Hey, aren't we playing the team that has Cory Matthews?" a sophomore guard called out, sweat glistening on his dark skin.

The male basketball team had gathered after school Friday to warm up before the regular warm-ups prior to the game; it was an idea introduced by the new team captain, Kirk Godfrey, who was actually known around the school as 'Captain Kirk,' and the idea had apparently helped the team be more successful. Following the guard's question was a round of laughter.

"Heck yeah!" Ethan Sharpe called out, grinning.

Jake almost laughed, remembering the Greek boy with a short, dark afro that made him closely resemble the main character from
Boy Meets World
. Instead though, he passed the basketball in his hands to Brent, who shot the ball into the basket.

"Good shot!" Kirk called from the other side of the gym. He glanced at his watch and blew a whistle given to him by the coach, who frequently skipped the warm-ups. "That's enough, guys! Be back here by 5:40!"

Ethan jogged over to Jake, who was dribbling a basketball even though most of the other guys were already on their way out the gym doors. "You know what I heard?" Ethan asked, watching Jake launch the ball into the basket. "I heard you're taking Mercedes to Winter Formal."

Laughing, Jake passed the ball to Brent, who passed it to a senior that was putting the balls into
a
storage closet. "Really now," Jake grinned, wiping a few beads of sweat from his forehead. "Nah. I'm only going because Cedes and I are in charge of stuff like that. Formals are lame."

"
Dude
, I know," Brent agreed enthusiastically. The guys moved closer to the bleachers, where their belongings had been thrown haphazardly upon arrival. "I'd blow it off if Rachael hadn't asked me already. That girl is gorgeous."

Jake grinned. "Uh-huh…Libby didn't ask you?"

Shrugging, Brent laughed lightly, and the guys headed for the exit. "She hinted for me to ask her, but Rachael asked me first."

"So now Libby will try to beat the crap out of Rachael at Formal," Ethan surmised, clearly amused. "Chicks fighting? Sign me up for that!"

Brent made a face, which soon turned inquisitive. "You're taking Ayers, aren't you, Ethan? Maybe?"

That was news to Jake. "My Ayers?" he asked Ethan in utter shock. "
Hannah
Ayers? Are you kidding me? I know she said she'd
think
about it, but…she said yes?"

"Well, no," Ethan admitted, sounding disappointed. "But she and Hudson broke up," he went on, brightening. "So now that Hudson's definitely not taking her…she doesn't have an excuse to turn me down."

"Other than sanity and good taste, you mean," Brent smirked.

Jake scoffed. "We're talking about Ayers, man. She dated Hudson. And she's completely crazy." He grinned and looked at Ethan. "But apparently even crazier than I thought. She
hates
you!"

"No, she hates
you
, dude," Ethan corrected with a sly smile. "She dislikes me by association. Disliked, anyway. She's been pretty civil to me."

"For obvious reasons." Brent stopped walking, since the guys had reached his car. He opened his passenger side door and slung his stuff into the seat. "Ethan, if she hadn't had the accident, you would be the last person she'd ever go anywhere with. You realize that, right? And when she gets her memory back—"

"I'm the
second
last person she'd ever go with," Ethan interrupted proudly as he gestured to Jake, who smirked in recognition. "See?"

Actually, you're the
third
last person
, Jake thought to himself, somewhat amused. But that was his own secret that he shared only with the Hannah Ayers who could remember it. For now, it was solely his.

"That doesn't mean she won't be pissed off in a major way," Brent commented. He shut his passenger side door and started walking to the driver's side. "When she gets back to normal and realizes that you let her go to the dance with you, knowing that she hates you, you're going to die at her hands."

"Then at least Jake will go out with me," Ethan said lightly. "He's letting her think she likes him too."

Jake was more than ready to jump to his defense. "Hey now, Ethan, my case is completely different. Being semi-nice to her is one thing. Lying to her is something else. I haven't
lied
to her."

"Yet." Brent dodged the fist from Jake that came at his upper arm by getting into his car. "I'll see you guys at the game."

Jake and Ethan watched Brent's car pull out of the parking space and cruise across the parking lot for a moment, and then Ethan said. "You know, you're lying to her too, Jake. You know you are. But I don't care. If you were insulting her, she probably wouldn't go to the dance with me."

Rolling his eyes, Jake resumed walking toward his truck. "Screw you," he muttered lightly, prompting Ethan's smile.

Ethan slapped at Jake's shoulder lightly. "See you later, man. I'm parked over there." Jake glanced over and sent
a
nod at Ethan, who made a sharp right while Jake continued walking straight.

Was
he lying to Hannah? Jake wouldn't have thought so. But now that Ethan mentioned it… Jake recalled what he told Tisha and Libby about Hannah; he was only being nice to her because his mom and Isaac would kill him if he wasn't. It would hurt Patricia's feelings too, and since she was like a second mother, being rude to Hannah was not an option. Then again, he had slipped up and insulted her the previous night, and he'd been avoiding her as much as possible, but Jake assured himself that since he wasn't insulting Hannah like he normally would, he was being nice to her. That was the absolute best he could do.

Jake approached his truck and started to unlock it, but he was taken aback when he saw that someone was already sitting in the passenger seat. As he went closer, he recognized Isaac and rolled his eyes as Isaac unlocked the driver's side door. Jake got in and sighed. "How'd you get in?"

Isaac grinned. "I'm a genius kid. Don't ask genius kids questions because you'll get no answers. You will drive me home, right?"

"No," Jake answered sarcastically, starting the engine of his truck. "I figure I'll drive to anywhere but
my
home to avoid taking
you
home." Isaac looked at him oddly, so Jake spoke again as he backed out of his parking space, "Yes, I'll take you home. Why aren't you riding with your friend what's-his-name?"

"Seth." Isaac pulled on his seat belt and shrugged. "I wanted to talk to you."

Sure that this couldn't be good, Jake nodded slowly, thoughtfully. "Okay." Jake could hear his own uncertainty. "I have
a
feeling that this is about your dear, darling sister. Am I right?"

"Of course." Isaac gave
a
little half laugh and then quickly frowned. "I think you're the only person who hasn't noticed that Hannah's got a crush on you." Jake snapped his head in Isaac's direction, and Isaac quickly yelped, "You're driving! Watch the road!"

"Watch your mouth!"

"You're going to wreck us!"

"You're going to send me into cardiac arrest!"

"
I'm
already half there! Watch where you're driving!"

Jake sighed and passed the road where he usually turned off to get to their houses. Instead, he'd take the scenic route to waste at least fifteen minutes and at least a few dollars' worth of gas; he could practically hear his wallet protesting. But the longer route would allow Isaac time to talk without them being overheard or interrupted.

"Maybe
crush
is a bit of
a
strong word," Isaac was saying, "even though the term
crush
is pretty weak and petty to begin with." Seeming thoughtful, he tipped his head and studied Jake. "You're not so stupid that you haven't noticed the way she acts around you, are you?"

Pausing, Jake considered this. "I've noticed that she acts like an imbecile," he cracked, "but I've always been aware of that."

"Jake."

"My bad."

Sighing, Jake stopped when he came upon a red light and studied Isaac for a moment. He had always known that the intellectual younger boy was smart; in fact, Isaac reminded him of a psychiatrist version of Albert Einstein half the time, but at the moment… An implication of Hannah having positive feelings for him would have been enough to make Jake think that Isaac was insane. Actually saying flat-out that Hannah had positive feelings for him made Jake
know
that Isaac was beyond being in need of psychiatric treatment.

Still, Jake had to ask. "Okay. How does she act around me?"

"Different," Isaac answered immediately. "A lot different."

"What makes you think that?" Jake asked dryly, smirking. "The lack of insults, the fact that she doesn't glare at me, or her—"

"Not different than she normally acts around you, Jake," Isaac interrupted impatiently. "Even though she does. I mean different than she acts around everybody else. It's like Hannah…I don't know. Her face lights up when Mom or I mention you, and when you're around, she's not so tense."