Since the fight that went down a few days ago, Gavin has been contemplating his idea about meeting up with Emily. At this rate, doing so might not be the greatest idea. She and Hannah are drifting further apart and he wasn't about to complicate things even more by doing this. At the same time though, he never got a chance to properly introduce himself to Emily. After spending the next half hour pacing back and forth in his room, he decided to take this risk. What's the worst thing that could happen?, he thought to himself.
The first week of the holiday break was coming to an end and most of the people in New York were either getting their shopping done or just hanging out in coffee shops. Hannah was up in her room with the lights out, wishing that Gavin was there to save her out of depression and heartache. She couldn't stand not having contact with him. She tossed and turned in her bed and cried out in desperation. After spending an hour feeling hopeless, she bolted out of bed and snuck downstairs to grab the phone by the kitchen counter. It took her a few minutes to figure out what Gavin's number is, but once she remembered, she talked herself out of it and decided to call Emily instead.
After three rings the phone picked up on the other end. "Hello?," Emily said in a groggy voice.
"Hi... It's me, Hannah." Immediately she was regretting her decision to call, but she was trying to remain hopeful for whatever reason.
Emily rolled over to see what time it is on her bedside table. The clock said 1:30 am. "What do you want, Hannah?" she asked impatiently.
"Umm.... I'm sorry to wake you up, but I just want someone to talk to. I haven't felt all that great since leaving school last Friday evening." Hannah was being sheepish in her response.
Emily rubbed her eyes and faced the ceiling of her room. Why would she want to talk to Hannah this late in the night? She rolled her eyes, took in a deep breath and said, "Why don't you talk to that boyfriend of yours? I'm sure he'd be able to help you more than I could anyways."
If Hannah wasn't feeling so down she would have snapped at her for that remark, but she just rolled her eyes and hung up the phone.
Time seemed to pass slowly, and Hannah was staring intensely at the phone, debating on whether or not she should try calling Gavin. She desperately wanted to hear from him, but at the same time, what if he doesn't pick up? Before she had the chance to dial, the screen lit up and she pressed the talk button before it started to ring.
"Hello?" she said nervously.
"Hey, how are you doing?" Hannah had recognized Gavin's voice immediately, but she didn't recognize the number that was on the screen. He must be using someone else's phone.
"Gavin?" she asked shyly. "Whose phone are you using?"
"I have to use my sister's phone for a while because I accidentally dropped mine. I just wanted to see how you're doing," he said in a calm voice. "I haven't heard from you in a while."
Hannah cleared her throat then slowly responded, "I'm doing fine. Gran has my phone and doesn't plan on giving it back until Christmas break is over. You remember the fight I got into, right? I had to stay after and go to counseling for some stupid reason."
"Oh, okay," he said. The two of them sat in silence over the phone for a long moment. Suddenly, Hannah felt a sob creeping up inside her throat. She tried to push it down, but the tears were already forming. The phone dropped to the floor and she cried out once more.
"What's wrong, Hannah?" Gavin asked, suddenly feeling concerned. The phone was accidentally put on speaker when it hit the floor, and Hannah picked it up to turn it off so that Gran wouldn't hear.
"Why are you crying?" Gavin's voice had a worrisome tone as he heard his girlfriend break down on the other end.
Hannah didn't respond right away. She just felt so empty and alone. Eventually she pulled herself together, but she was starting to feel ashamed, so she said, "I'm sorry. I should go now and try to sleep. Thank you for calling me tonight, though."
"Anytime, love," Gavin said. His voice was calm despite the weariness he felt in his head. "Please try to take care of yourself, for me."
"I'll try. I love you," she said as she tried to catch her breath.
Morning approached faster than Hannah wanted. She had awoken twice in the night, so she felt drained and uneasy as the sun flooded in from her bedroom window. Gran was out making her usual early morning run to the grocery store, so she was left to make her own breakfast. Once Hannah had made it downstairs, she heard the doorbell ring. She looked out the peephole in the door before opening it. It was Gavin.
"Hey! What are you doing here?" Hannah asked in surprise as she let her boyfriend in.
"I've missed you," he said with a long look on his face. "That phone call we had last night just didn't do much of anything for me."
"Unfortunately I can say the same thing," she responded apologetically.
Gavin stood out in open area, feeling slightly uncomfortable. He looked down on the floor for a few minutes and then looked back up at Hannah.
"Come with me," he said. "I've been meaning to do something for a while and I think now would be a great time."
Hannah hesitated to take his offer, so she asked, "And what would that be? Gran is going to be home soon and I don't think she would be happy to know that her granddaughter is missing."
"I'm not kidnapping you," Gavin said with a laugh. "I just want to get you out of the house. You've been cooped up in here for way too long."
Hannah felt nervous. She wasn't sure if she wanted to do this. However, the way her boyfriend was looking at her made her laugh and she finally caved in.
Moments later the two of them were outside of their favorite restaurant where they had their first date. Hannah hadn't expected her boyfriend to lead her here, but just standing outside the entrance was enough to have her get caught up in the moment. Suddenly a smile formed across her face and she dove in to kiss Gavin on the lips. This had reassured Gavin that he wasn't making a mistake with this plan he had in mind. The two of them walked inside and were heading towards their usual table.
The atmosphere inside was casual except for the nerves that Hannah had inside her stomach. Most the servers were around their age or in their early twenties. They were all wearing jeans and work shirts. One the servers was sitting at a booth in the far right end looking at her phone. Most likely she was on her break.
Hannah stood a foot away from the table, refusing to sit down. She didn't bother to hide her sudden irritation when she saw who was sitting in their spot."What the hell? Why is she here?" she asked her boyfriend in a disapproving tone. "I thought this outing was just for the two of us."
Gavin was quick to respond, "Please don't leave, Hannah. I just want the three of us to have a good time."
She rolled her eyes and grudgingly came to the table. Emily was acting like everything was okay and offered an insincere smile to Hannah. Does she know something that I don't?, she asked herself.
An uncomfortable silence lingered in the air as the three of them ate their lunch, but that was broken once Emily asked a question to Gavin, "So how long have you and Hannah been together?"
He smiled and said, "It'll be five months on January fifteenth."
"Did you really have to ask that?" Hannah asked her out of annoyance.
Gavin gave her a stern look. "Don't be rude," he said sharply. "She was just being considerate."
Hannah slumped back into her seat and sulked while her boyfriend played catch-up with her ex-best friend. I'm so over this, she thought to herself. She excused herself to use the restroom and five minutes later, Emily decided to do the same.
Hannah was in the middle of drying her hands when Emily waltzed in. She first looked into the mirror to check her appearance and fix her hair. She then turned to face Hannah and gave her an insincere smile. Hannah was starting to get irritated with her, so she gathered up her courage and asked her, "So why are you here, Emily? Did David have other plans today or something, or were you just looking for an opportunity like this to rise so that you could embarrass me again?"
"Why would I embarrass you?" she said in the most falsely innocent tone. "You embarrass yourself. Stop holding your breath out on me."
This made Hannah glare at her. "What are you talking about?" she asked.
"Why did you call me so late last night?" Emily asked, immediately switching her attitude from pristine to serious.
Hannah struggled to find a response. She stammered a little as she tried to answered her question, "I-I was lonely. I wanted someone to talk to."
"Well I was dead asleep when you called," Emily said. "Ever heard of being considerate to others?"
"Don't lecture me on that." Hannah said, suddenly feeling drained and annoyed. "My consideration for you flew out the window when you humiliated me in front of the entire school a couple months back."
Emily was armed with defenses and wasn't about to let Hannah get away with this pathetic act she was displaying. "Are you seriously still hung up on that?" she asked with annoyance. "Why don't you stop living inside your head and just move on already?"
"Are we really going to do this again?" Hannah was now losing her temper, so the words came out harshly.
Emily smirked and was about to slap her in the face, but Hannah caught her arm midway in the air and shoved it back by her side. "We're done here," she said, glaring at her harshly. "And you better stay away from me for good."
When Emily heard her say these words, she froze. She felt emotionless on the inside. Hannah didn't stick around long enough to see what would happen next, but once she was out of sight, Emily locked herself in the handicap stall and broke down into hysterical sobs.
Once Hannah got back to the table, she told Gavin that she was ready to leave. He put the pen back inside the check book, took his copy of the receipt, and then followed Hannah out to the car.
"Is everything okay?" he asked.
She didn't answer right away, but the way she looked at him as she fell into his arms said it all. She was exhausted and didn't want anything to do with Emily anymore. Lesson learned, he thought to himself, now feeling a little guilty. He held his girlfriend in his arms and stroked her face gently as she cried and shook uncontrollably.
"I'm sorry, Hannah," he said in a calm voice. "I shouldn't have done this. I should have just stayed out of it."
Hannah was still crying in his arms. They sat by the curb of the parking lot for about an hour before heading home and neither one of them said a word to each other on the way back. When Gavin came to open up the passenger side of the car, he took his girlfriend's hands into his own, leaned in to kiss her, then said, "I don't know what's going on inside your head right now, but I think it's best that I take a few steps back. You just lost your best friend today and I feel responsible for that. I'm sorry, Hannah. I hope that in time that you'll forgive me."
He kissed her one last time and then got back in the car to head home. Hannah just stood there on the front door steps with tears in her eyes. "I forgive you," she said as she watched him drive away.
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