The Things That Make Us

Chapter 17

Hannah

I get out of the pool, moping, a few minutes later and go into the pool house to get dressed. It's already 8PM and I haven't eaten since some fruit at lunch, so I head into the house on a mission, my stomach growling.

  I can hear voices talking as soon as I'm inside.

  "...doesn't know what she wants, but I'll make sure she knows she's welcome here. That's all I can do."

    "She's a good kid. It's good she thought to call you when her mother abandoned her. Can you imagine if she hadn't?"

  I am staying close to the door so they don't know I'm listening, but I kick off my flip flops and loudly walk towards the kitchen so they hear me coming, a minute later. I don't want this to be awkward.

  "Hey, Han. Heard you got caught in the rain." Erin smiles when she sees me.

  Matt is here too. That's who she was talking to. He's gone a lot as he works for a recording studio and works long hours. I haven't even really seen him much this summer.

  It's crazy how comfortable I feel in his house, with his wife and his son, but I haven't spent hardly any time around him.

  "Yeah," I say plainly, walking over to the fridge

   "I made a stir fry earlier. There's leftovers," Erin tells me, reading my mind.

  "Thanks, that's amazing." I smile at her before opening the door and pulling out the container.

  Matt clears out of the kitchen a few minutes later and Erin says she's going to see if Seb started packing yet. I'm alone in the kitchen while I reheat the stir fry and eat, trying to not allow my mind to wander back to Cannon. It's not that unusual that he would leave somewhat suddenly. It's happened a few times and I know it usually has to do with his parents. I'm not in control of him and he has other obligation that have nothing to do with me.

  But still, I'm frustrated.

  He said he'd call me later, but it's after 11PM and he hasn't called. I sent a text to see if things were okay, but he didn't reply. I'm in the pool house in pjs, under the blankets in my bed, staring at my phone. I want him to call and tell me he's okay. I want him to tell me what's going on, even though I know he won't. He keeps that stuff to himself. He doesn't trust me or maybe he just doesn't trust anyone.

  I fall asleep waiting, my phone in my hand, because he doesn't text or call me.

*

  In the morning, there's a text on my phone from Cannon.

  I'll call you in a bit.

  I feel slightly better, though not fully. I really hate waiting, so I decide to toss on a bathing suit and go for a swim to pass some time.

  The air is sticky and hot when I step out of the pool house and the water feels amazing on my body when I hop into the pool. It's early and I can already tell it's going to be a very hot day. It's nearly the middle of August so I'm not surprised, since we're in Florida, but I haven't experienced weather like this since I was a kid.

 Maybe Cannon will take me for ice cream this afternoon, I think, as I swim laps in the pool.

  After two hours of trying to keep my brain occupied and not come up with a ton of crazy scenarios about what could have happened, I finally go back into the pool house to shower. I'm just about to step in when my phone starts ringing.