Interim(116)

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Hannah froze at the end of the table. She was the last to arrive for lunch—spending a good ten minutes in the bathroom debating the conversation she had with Jeremy several weeks ago. Yes, she had promised him she would start eating lunch with him again, but it took her nearly a month to actually do it. He didn’t press her. He waited, like good friends do.

She couldn’t deny the warm flattery that spread through her heart when he verbally defined their relationship a friendship. She wanted to be his friend, but she was never quite sure where they stood. She thought “acquaintances” would be as good as it got.

Regan didn’t exactly destroy that link between them, but she certainly complicated it. Hannah still harbored romantic feelings for her, and that turned what was already an awkward dynamic into an even trickier one. She didn’t want to be witness to flirtations and blatant sexual tension—all the shit that comprises a teenage romance.

Still, she couldn’t deny the loneliness. She missed Jeremy. She missed her . . . friend. The guy she could be open with whenever she wanted. The guy who left her alone when she needed. She didn’t realize his importance in her life until she felt him taken away. It was easy to be bitter. It was easy to be hateful toward Regan. But it was hard to eat alone.

She hovered over the table, staring at a bizarre scene.

“You sitting down?” Regan asked. “We’ve been wondering where you’ve been.”

“What. The. Fuck,” Hannah replied.

Regan glanced at Casey. Casey hung her head.

“What the f*ck are you doing at this table?” Hannah clearly directed the question to Regan’s BFF.

“I . . . I know you don’t like me,” Casey whispered.

“Is this turning into the rejected popular girls’ lunch table? I mean, what the f*ck?”

“You said that already,” Regan pointed out. “Three times.”

Hannah bent over and shoved her face in Regan’s. “What the f*cking f*ck is going on here?” she hissed.

“I asked Casey to eat with us,” Regan replied calmly.

“Why? Do you get to make the decisions for this table?” Hannah asked.

“Hannah, come on,” Jeremy said softly.

She whipped her head in his direction.

“I know she’s your girlfriend and all, and you think the sun shines out of her ass, but this is bullshit. This is MY table. This is YOUR table. This isn’t THEIR table. For Christ’s sake, haven’t they done enough? Haven’t they taken enough? They own the entire goddamn school! Can they not give us one lousy f*cking table?!”

Curious students nearby turned their heads.

“We’re not trying to take your table,” Regan replied. “I asked Casey to sit here today because she’s going through what I went through.”

“And I should care about that why?” Hannah asked.

“I’m not asking you to care,” Regan replied. “I’m asking you to be nice.”

Hannah’s mouth dropped open.

“Are you f*cking kidding me?” She pointed at Casey. “That bitch made my life a living hell for THREE years. Do you hear me? Three years!”

The tears were inevitable, and they couldn’t come at a worse time. The cafeteria was filled with monsters ready to taunt and tease—ready to humiliate Hannah for showing emotion.

“I know I did!” Casey cried. “I know it! I was horrible to you, and I have no justification for it, okay? You understand that? I’m so sorry for what I did to you, Hannah. You don’t even know how much.”

“You’re only sorry because you’re an outcast now. If you were still popular, you’d still be a bitch to me. You know what I see here? Zero contrition. A fake ass bitch.” Hannah turned to Regan. “I was willing to let you slide because you were just so f*cking pathetic. But I will not sit at this f*cking table with that girl! I won’t! Not after everything she’s done! She can apologize until she’s as blue in the face as my f*cking hair, and I will never believe her! Because she’s a liar!”

Murmurs rippled through the lunchroom. Jeremy saw a few teachers approaching.

“Hannah,” he said gently.

She whirled around and jabbed her finger in his chest. “You! How could you do this to me? You said we were friends! You said we came first—that we were friends first!” She cried unabashedly.