The Apocalypse (39 page)

We watched
The Strangers
first. I'm not gonna lie…it's one of my favorite movies. I pretty much die laughing every time I watch it, and, trust me, I've seen it a fair number of times. Jake didn't find it as hilarious as I did, and I do believe he described my reaction to the movie as 'crazy.' Whatever. Toward the end of the movie, I started to realize that Jake's attention didn't seem to be on the film; what it was on, I'm still not sure. In an attempt to get a reaction from him, I suggested that we watch
Titanic
, but he didn't put up a fight like I had predicted. He just let me have my way, which kind of makes me think I was correct in assuming that the whole movie thing was out of guilt—misplaced guilt that Jake feels because I got sick from walking in the cold.

As if that's his fault. It's not. I don't know why he feels the need to take care of me so much, but it's awfully cute, and I guess I wouldn't want it any other way.

So we started watching
Titanic
, but I really couldn't pay much attention to it. And, no, I wasn't recalling pretending the playground at school was the Titanic, like I did when I was little, at least according to Jake's stories. Honestly, the closeness between Jake and me had me quite distracted. That boy smells so good; I don't know what kind of cologne he wears, but it's super soothing. Lying there with him was comforting, and all I really wanted to do was snuggle up to him.

Eventually, I did. He put his arm around me, and I cuddled into his chest, nearly having spasms because he smelled so good. Jake rubbed my back until I just couldn't keep my eyes open any longer. The best sleep I have ever had was probably there in his arms.

I'm not sure how long I was out, but when I woke up, the television screen showed the main menu of the
Titanic
DVD, and it appeared to be dusky outside; the hunger in my stomach also alerted me to the fact that it must have been evening at least. Right in front of me, Jake was sleeping deeply, looking so gorgeous that I could barely stand it. My breath literally caught in my throat when I first glimpsed his peaceful expression. He looked so content and comfortable—with me!—that I couldn't help but smile outrageously.

I snuggled up close to him and closed my eyes. Sleeping beside him was so perfect that I'd hoped to coax myself back into sleep, but apparently Jake is a light sleeper. When I'd cuddled into him, his arm tightened its hold on me, and he resumed rubbing my back lightly. Maybe he was still sleeping at that point, I'm not sure. In response to his caress, I held his waist closer; his lips pressed against my forehead, and I smiled, unable to resist stealing a glance at his face.

Jake's eyes were still closed until he felt my eyes on him. His glittering green irises really are remarkable; they totally mesmerize me. Jake continued caressing my back, and I kept on snuggling into his cuddles.

Pure bliss.

Pure, sweet bliss.

Softly, so that I barely heard him, Jake whispered, "You're beautiful."

My heart stopped beating. I decided that I was never moving from that couch. Forever and ever, I would stay there in Jake's arms—forget food or any other necessity. I was never leaving his side.

I stayed encircled in his arms for several more minutes, but Jake suddenly pulled away, informing me that we were expected to attend dinner at my house very soon. You can bet I frowned and tried to persuade him to let us stay there, but he was firm about it. So instead of spending eternity with Jake on that couch, he and I had to leave and go eat across the street, which my damned stomach approved of greatly.

But I've realized that ABBA certainly said it best: Honey, honey, how you thrill me. Honey, honey, nearly kill me.

Hannah paused and put her pen down, staring blankly at her handwriting on the page. She felt a smile tugging at her lips and then remembered the sweet pressure that Jake's lips had had against her forehead. That movie marathon would definitely be a cherished memory for her.

Of course, Hannah was confident that her fondest memories of Jake were not just in the past. He'd promised that they'd get together soon, and they had actually already made plans for the next day. Tomorrow, Jake was taking Hannah skating, and she knew that eating would be included.

Was that considered a date? Hannah wasn't sure, since she didn't fully know how to classify the changes in her relationship with Jake. She assumed that it was something that they'd have to talk about in order to concretely understand the course that their relationship was taking.

"Hannah!"

The sudden sound of Isaac's voice made Hannah's eyes snap to the digital alarm clock beside her bed. Indeed, Tisha was right on time. The girls were going on a shopping trip, just the two of them, and Hannah shockingly wasn't dreading it at all. She'd known that Tisha had always been the friend closest to her, and Hannah didn't lack understanding of why. Tisha was undoubtedly the friend of Hannah's with the most likeable personality.

"I'm coming!" Hannah yelled back to Isaac.

She stood and dragged her desk chair over to her closet. Diary in hand, Hannah stood on the chair and reached into the ceiling of her closet, lifting the ceiling tile and securing the diary in her closet. She'd found a new hiding place, at least for now, and she doubted that even Isaac would ever think to look there.

Nosy little asshole that he was.

Hannah grabbed her jacket and tugged on it, pushing her purse onto her shoulder. On her way out her bedroom door, Hannah tucked her cell phone into her jacket pocket and proceeded to bound down the stairs into the living room, where Tisha was standing and talking to Isaac.

"The dance team is very important," Tisha was saying, her blue-green eyes trained on Isaac's defiant face. "We're entertainers. We keep things exciting."

Isaac shook his head, his pale blond hair ruffling. "Nah. People go to basketball and football games for the sport. Or the socializing, drama, gossip… Not to see you run around in short shorts or skirts or whatever."

Tisha tossed her light brown hair over her shoulder. "Isaac, sweetie, ask the big boys. The big boys love the dance team. And I know they'll tell you how important we really are, whether you can see it or not."

Hannah watched as Isaac smirked and shook his head. "I don't need to watch pretty girls prance around. I have
a
girlfriend. Well, practically. She's enough."

Interest shown in Tisha's eyes. "What? Since when? Who is she?"

"That's what I'd like to know!" Hannah announced, crossing her arms and staring at Isaac coolly. She hadn't heard anything about him having a girlfriend. "Stop holding out on us. What girl?"

The usual fairness of Isaac's cheeks was replaced with blushing. "You never answer any of my questions, Han," he declared. "I'm not going to answer any of yours."

Tisha's eyes narrowed. "Whatever. You're forgetting who we are," she warned. "We have connections. Give me an hour—I'll have the girl tracked down. So I don't really care if you answer any questions or not."

"If your connections are so good, you should already have all the information you would ever want, shouldn't you?"

"No." Tisha tossed her hair again, cocky this time. "I don't concern myself with the freshman affairs—not unless I need to." She smirked. "Now I'm going to need to."

Hannah laughed, grateful that Tisha knew how to get such information. She was increasingly curious about her brother's romantic exploits but not curious enough to trade Jake information with Isaac for the details of his love life. "Are you ready, Tish?" she asked. "I'm feeling the need for the food court right about now."

Tisha laughed and moved toward the door. "But of course you are, my friend. And of course I'm ready to hit up the mall right now."

The girls moved for the door, leaving a smirking Isaac behind them. Hannah was amused at the look on his face; it was about time he'd gotten a taste of his own nosy medicine. Had she known Tisha—who was already texting on her cell phone, presumably about Isaac—could provide revenge against her brother, Hannah would have dished plenty of details about Isaac's interrogations previously.

Once in Tisha's car, Hannah buckled her seat belt and watched Tisha back out of the driveway; Tisha paused momentarily, responding to a text message she'd just received. A glance at Jake's house revealed that his truck wasn't in his driveway, and Hannah wondered where he was. She figured he was probably hanging out with the guys, so she tucked her curiosity away. If Jake wanted to tell her what he'd been up to later, then he would. Until then, she'd pretend that she wasn't interested.

"I'm so not ready to go back to school on Monday," Tisha complained, wrinkling her nose up; her cell phone rested on her thigh, ready and waiting. She drove cautiously, much to Hannah's approval. "I wish Christmas break could last a few more weeks."

"Me too," Hannah agreed. The thought of waking early and not having the option of spending as much time with Jake was disheartening. "But we're that much closer to graduating."

Tisha smiled at that. "This is true. Then it's summer time." Her smile widened suddenly, prompting Hannah's curiosity to return. "Okay, so I have some big news. This is epic, really, Hannah." She paused thoughtfully, and the momentary expression of sadness made Hannah wonder what Tisha was thinking. "I suppose I'll have to recap a little bit for it to all make sense."

Ah. Hannah understood. The epic news was related to something pre-accident. Therefore, the epic status would be lost amidst Hannah's ignorance, which disappointed Tisha; that explained the look of sorrow on Hannah's friend's pretty face. Well, the only way for Hannah to relieve that sadness was to fully understand the situation.

"I've had a crush on Brent forever," Tisha started, her eyes bright. Hannah listened intently. "I mean, we're talking since the end of sophomore year. Before break started, I found out that Libby kissed him, which—you'd better believe—pissed the hell out of me. We've kind of had a little spat over him since, just because Libby can't leave a guy alone, even when one of us wants him." Tisha stopped her bashing and positively beamed. "But now Brent and I are talking all the time, ever since Mollie's party. I'm so psyched, Han, you have no idea!"

Hannah smiled happily for her friend, though she wished she could feel as happy as Tisha looked; the epic situation was merely good news from Hannah's point of view. "That's awesome, Tisha!"

Tisha's grin only widened. "I know!" She sighed happily, blissfully ignorant of the minivan that almost side-swiped her car. "Brent's so cute." Tisha stopped and sent a sappy grin in Hannah's direction before returning her attention to the road. "Speaking of cute…how are you and Jake?"

Surprised, Hannah decided that her feelings for Jake must have been totally obvious—unless, of course, Tisha was referring to the stint of heartbreak Hannah had felt over the girls being all over Jake on New Year's. "Oh…things are good," Hannah replied pensively. "I'm not mad at him."

Tisha made
a
noise that resembled a laugh. "Hannah, I'm talking about yesterday!" she giggled. "How was your big day with Jake?"

Hannah's shoulders froze. "What?"

Rolling her eyes, Tisha continued giggling happily, so tranquil that she didn't seem to pay any attention to her phone's beeping alert of a new text message. "I take it that Jake didn't
tell
you." Tisha sighed and shook her head gently. "He's as precious as a doll, but sometimes…sometimes, Hannah, I think Jake has the thoughtfulness of a rubber band."

"I'm confused," Hannah admitted bluntly, toying with a strand of her hair involuntarily. "What are you talking about?"

"Jake called me yesterday—he was freaking out." Tisha's light explanation showed her amusement of the situation. She spoke as she read her latest text message, much to the displeasure of Hannah's nerves; being in a car still made her nervous. "He was all worried about making you happy, pretty much. He was freaking over how your favorite movies were already rented, and he didn't know what movies to watch."

Hannah blinked. Jake was
worried
about spending time with her? It sounded like he'd been
nervous
, which made a slow smile blossom on Hannah's face. "That's adorable," she declared. "Positively adorable."