The Apocalypse (20 page)

"Nice avoidance skills." Hannah yawned and leaned back against the couch comfortably. She snatched the television's remote from Jake and took over flicking through the channels. "I'm not telling you. It's a secret."

Incredulous over the fact that Hannah had taken his remote, Jake stared at her, not sure what to say for several moments. "Fine. Keep your secret. But I'm not getting you anything for Christmas."

Hannah's mouth dropped open, but she closed it quickly, keeping her eyes straight ahead on the screen of the television. "Fine. I wouldn't want something you got me anyway. It'd probably be as gross as you are."

"Gross? I'm gross?" Jake rolled his eyes and jerked the remote from Hannah's hand, tossing it across the room to prevent her from distracting herself with the television. She nodded back at him. "See how mean you are to me? That's why I won't get you anything. If I did though, it'd be wonderful."

"Liar." Hannah was visibly trying not to smile as she watched Jake's face eagerly. "You're incapable of wonderful."

Jake smirked. "You're trying to challenge me into buying you something, aren't you? It's not going to work. I already made up my mind that you're getting absolutely nothing from me."

"That's okay," Hannah promised, patting Jake's hand sarcastically. "I'm such a lovely girl that I'll still give you your present, even though you have gross manners."

"And just think…you get the pleasure of putting up with my gross manners for the whole day of Christmas." Jake flipped over the hand that Hannah had patted quickly, catching her hand and bringing it to his lips. He kissed her hand tenderly and gave her
a
sweet smile. "That's the closest thing to a gift you'll get from me."

"A-and like I said, it's a gross present," Hannah declared, making a face. Jake watched her carefully as she glanced at the clock. "Think my mom would have gone to sleep by now? Maybe I can sneak in and avoid any questions."

Jake reached over and parted the blinds that covered the window. "All the lights are out at your house," he informed her. Then he smiled teasingly and slipped his arm around Hannah's shoulders. "Getting scared of me or something?"

Rolling her eyes, Hannah stood up immediately and peered out the window, plainly showing that she'd check out her house herself. "Not a bit," she answered easily. "You're right though. Lights out."

"Want me to walk you home?"

Hannah laughed and looked back at Jake. "Fine, I take it back. You don't have gross manners." Jake grinned, and she stuck her tongue out at him while she picked up her dress. "But don't bother. I'm perfectly capable of crossing the street by myself."

Although Jake thought of asking Hannah if she had her house key—and he doubted that she did—he decided not to. It would be much more amusing if she had to walk back and ask to use his than if he just offered it up. So Jake stood up and walked Hannah to the door. "Be good."

Stepping outside into the frigid air, Hannah peeked over her shoulder and smiled. "Goodnight, Jake."

Quietly, Hannah slipped in through her front door, careful to close and lock it back silently. Once inside, she leaned back against the door, holding her breath, and counted to five slowly. There was no sound or movement, so Hannah assumed that she'd made it in without waking anyone. Without hesitation, Hannah moved toward the staircase and took caution in skipping the fourth step from the bottom, since she'd learned that it tended to creak under her weight.

She tiptoed through the upstairs hallway, smiling in relief that no one seemed to stir in her house. Quietly, Hannah opened her bedroom door, slipped in, and shut it behind her, flipping on her overhead light.

"It's about time you got here."

Hannah jumped and spun around, only to see Isaac lounging on her bed in Superman pajama pants and an 'Aviators' t-shirt from their high school. Seeing him lying there so nonchalantly prompted Hannah to glare at him, unable to believe that he had such a lack of respect for her privacy that he'd be in her bedroom without her permission—in her bed no less!

"You look rough," Isaac bluntly informed her, sitting up on the bed and studying Hannah critically. She fidgeted a little and draped her dress over her desk chair to hide it. "Oh my God."

Hannah glanced at Isaac quickly, only to see his face paling. "What?"

"Please tell me that you haven't been having wild sex with Jake."

"
What
?"

Blatantly relieved, Isaac slumped against the headboard of his sister's bed. "What else am I supposed to think? You show up in his clothes, looking like you've sweated all of your makeup—hey. If your makeup's not on because you've been doing exhilarating activity…" Isaac studied Hannah more, and she raised her eyebrows at him. "You've been crying, huh?"

Hannah shrugged and placed her hands on her hips. "Are you always this nosy?"

"Usually." Isaac patted the area on the bed next to him, encouraging Hannah to sit beside him for a heart-to-heart. She instead opted to sit on the end of the bed and glare at him more. "So. Was the dance that bad?"

Sighing deeply, Hannah understood that Isaac wasn't
planning
on leaving anytime soon, so she might as well talk to him. "It was okay, I guess. Everybody survived, as far as I know. It wasn't nearly as bad as you swore it would be."

Isaac seemed to almost smirk but must have changed his mind. "Then why were you crying? Or did you not cry but just stop by Jake's house to get ready for bed?" Hannah stared at him quizzically, and Isaac rolled his eyes. "I saw his headlights, okay? You were over at his house forever."

"You were…staring out the window?" Totally astonished, Hannah's mouth gaped open as she tried to understand why Isaac would be peeping around, waiting for her to return. "It's pretty late, Isaac. Why wouldn't you go to bed like a normal person or read like you usually do?"

The subtle hint at abnormality didn't seem to faze Isaac, but something did hit a nerve. "Forgive me if I don't rest very well when my sister's out at night," he frowned, crossing his arms. "The last time she was out, she ended up in the hospital, and I wasn't sure if I'd ever get to see her again."

Hannah winced. "I'm sorry," she replied softly, guiltily. "Thanks for caring." She nibbled on her lower lip tentatively and glanced at her younger brother. "Really. That means a lot to me."

"Mm." Isaac smoothed the blankets on Hannah's bed, seemingly recovering from his little emotional outpour. "So what happened to make you cry?"

The scene raged through Hannah's mind—lights flashing by her, a loud screeching, spinning in the light, sudden darkness and stillness… It became more detailed every time the images spun through her mind, whether they were real memories or not. The thoughts made Hannah's stomach quiver, and she didn't want to tell Isaac about it. Jake was the only one she trusted with that information. Even though she knew that Isaac cared about her as much as Jake did, Hannah couldn't confide in him. Isaac was more prone to worry and panic, but laidback Jake had simply helped Hannah brush the nightmarish commotion off. If she told Isaac about her fears, he might tell their mom, and then she'd have more people's panic to deal with, and she couldn't
stand
that. Hannah didn't want the pity that would come with it.

"Han?"

Hannah jumped to attention and gave Isaac
a
weary smile. "I started feeling sick at Formal," she explained, careful to keep most of the story truthful, just in case there were rumors and whispers that could get back to Isaac. "Ethan told Jake to take me home, but I didn't want to worry Mom, so we went to Jake's house."

"And had wild sex? Because you still haven't explained why you're wearing no makeup." Isaac shook his head. "Or why you're in his clothes."

"Speaking of clothes…" Hannah made a face and motioned to her outfit of sweatpants and a restaurant t-shirt and to Isaac's odd pajamas. "Do you and Jake really lack the brain capacity to match clothes?"

Isaac half laughed. "It's more comfortable that way. But stop avoiding the question before I'm convinced you're covering up a dirty sex life."

"Will you stop saying that?" Hannah made a face. "For such a genius kid, you're not…something." Her lost train of thought made Isaac grin. "Whatever. Did it ever occur to you that feeling sick may involve, I don't know, cold sweats and vomit? Or having hot flashes and rinsing your face?"

"So which was it?"

"Both."

Isaac rolled his eyes. "Sucks to be you," he commented lightly, stretching his arms above his head. He glanced at the clock beside Hannah's bed. "Want to watch a movie with me? Maybe we'll get lucky and Rudolph or Frosty will be on."

"Uh, I'll pass." Hannah slapped at Isaac's leg. "Move. I'm going to bed."

"What? It's Christmas break!" Isaac's expression was incredulous. "Why are you going to bed so early when you can sleep all day tomorrow?"

"Move!"

Although he took his time about doing it, Isaac stood up and stretched some more. "Oh, while you were gone, Grandma called." Hannah looked at Isaac blankly. "She was freaking out about travel plans and delays and stuff, but I think the gist of what she was saying was that she'll be here with Kevin and everybody on Christmas Eve. I guess they think less people will drive that day, even though that's statistically incorrect because, according to last year's records, the—"

"Go do something. Please?" Hannah yawned, pointing toward her door. Isaac grinned suddenly and shook his head at something only he understood, though he moved toward the door as she asked. "Thank you!"

. . .

Over the course of the next few days, Hannah lounged around at home, trying to help her mom out when she could with Christmas preparations. Though Patricia promised that things always got chaotic in the days before Christmas, Hannah personally believed that her condition had made her mom delay some traditions. For example, the Christmas tree wasn't decorated until three days before Christmas, and Hannah overheard Patricia complaining to Diane about having a difficult time finding a large enough turkey for Christmas dinner. If Hannah had to guess, she'd say that her accident had gotten Patricia's mind off the holidays, but miraculously, it was beginning to look like Christmas in the Ayers's house, and it sounded like it too, with Christmas carols playing rather constantly and Josh Groban's voice sending shivers down Hannah's spine.

"
Hallelujah
!"

The sudden burst of praise caught Hannah off guard as she tried to sneak into the kitchen to steal yet another handful of Christmas cookies, even though she knew they were supposed to be saved for when company arrived the next day. The noise from the living room caught her interest, however, so Hannah told her rumbling stomach to suck it up and went to investigate the apparent good news.

"Oh, hush, Isaac, it's not that great," Patricia was saying when Hannah walked in the door, although there was a smile on her face. "In fact, it's—"

"Hannah, guess what!" Isaac was positively beaming. "Diane's brother's not flying in from Texas! Do you know what that means?" Hannah shook her head, confused. "That means his bratty kids aren't going to be here! I hate them!"