Love Beyond Words

Chapter 5

The rest of the school day passed without incident. I hid out under a flight of stairs in the main building on campus during lunch, and thankfully nobody stumbled upon me. At the end of the day, I had what I thought might have been a close call. I was leaving sixth period when I spotted Annie down the hall. We made eye contact, and normally that meant I was doomed to having her come up and try to humiliate me. For a moment I was sure she was going to do just that. Mike was with her, though, and before she could make her move he said something to here. I couldn't tell you what it was as I was too far away to hear over the other students milling around the hall, but an annoyed look flashed on Annie's face and the next thing I knew, the both of them were gone.

I wasn't quite sure what to make of that, but I wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth. Had Mike just intervened on my behalf?

It made a certain amount of sense. I mean, he needed me for the project, and having his girlfriend harass the person he was stuck with might have been a recipe for disaster. I could see him trying to smooth things over and make sure things ran smoothly.

Or maybe I was just being silly. It was entirely possible that they had somewhere they needed to be or something like that. He was on the baseball team in the spring and she was a cheerleader, so they had a lot of responsibilities and activities.

In the end, I was glad I'd been spared the humiliation. Still, the idea that Mike had saved me, even if it was for a self-serving reason, made me feel a little better about spending the weekend with him. Maybe he wasn't quite the jerk I'd thought he was.

At least, not a complete jerk.

I arrived home to find that dad hadn't returned yet. I decided that that meant it was my turn to repay the favor for the pancakes from earlier. I wasn't the world's best chef by any stretch of the imagination, but I could follow a recipe and had learned enough from my father that I wasn't a disaster.

I ended up making a fairly decent chicken stir-fry. By the time my father returned home, dinner was already served and waiting on the table for him.

"Wow, this looks great sweetheart," my dad said as he took his seat, "Did you make this?"

"Yea," I said.

"Well thank you. You didn't have to go to the trouble," he said, giving me a smile.

"It's not t....t... trouble," I assured him, "Besides, y...you d...did it for me this morning, so I w...wanted to r...r...repay you."

"You didn't have to," dad replied, "Though, I'm not complaining."

We settled in and began to eat. It wasn't long before the subject turned to the elephant in the room.

"So how did your day go?" dad asked.

"Okay," I said, "I'm doing a pr....project with a classmate. He's coming over tomorrow."

"Oh, you're having a boy over?" Dad said with a mischievous grin, "Should I leave you two lovebirds alone?"

I blushed bright red and glared at my father.

"Daaaaad!" I cried out in protest, "It... it.... it's not l...like that! We're just working on a pr...project."

"Alright, alright, just teasing," he said, smiling broadly, "Is he a friend from school?"

I shook my head.

"Well, n...not ex...exactly," I admitted, "He's my project partner. His name's M....M...Mike. We have a p...presentation we have to give, and he and I are w...working on it."

Dad frowned.

"Is that the same Mike that was bullying you?"

I shrugged.

"We're just working on a pr...pr...project dad," I reminded him, "Be... besides, he mo...mostly picked on Me.... Melvin, no... not me."

"Still, that doesn't exactly fill me with confidence," dad replied, "What are the two of you doing the project on?"

"The leg...leg..lig..., um, the... the th... th... thing that m... makes laws," I said, getting frustrated. My nerves were frazzled and my stutter was flaring up something fierce.

Dad knew me well enough to realize what was happening, and he smiled reassuringly at me.

"Well, if it's for school, I suppose that's alright," he said, "As long as he's a gentleman."

"I th...think he'll be okay," I said.

"Alright," dad said, "Can you two be done by dinner tomorrow night? There's a new sushi restaurant that opened up a few blocks away and I've heard they've got a great happy hour."

"Sushi sounds...sounds good," I said.

"I'm glad you like the idea," Dad said, "It's a date."

I giggled.

"It's a d...d...date," I said.

Dinner passed with light conversation after that. After dinner I did the dishes then went out to the living room to unwind with some video games. I hadn't played much since Melvin and I had our falling out. He was the one who first got me into them, and playing them made me think of him and how I messed up our relationship.

I tried to push that out of my mind and just focus on the game.

I decided to play something light-hearted and cartoony, and eventually settled on Super Mario.

I got completely wrapped up in the game, and before I knew it, hours had passed.

"Sweetheart, you're going to ruin your eyes," my father said from the couch, causing me to jump, "It's getting late, you should probably get to bed soon."

"M... my eyes are al... already ruined," I reminded him, pointing to my glasses.

"Fair point," Dad replied, smiling.

I continued playing for a few more minutes before finally admitting defeat.

"You're right, I should g...go to bed," I said.

"Good girl," he said.

I walked over to him and gave him a hug.

"G...goodnight Dad," I said.

"Goodnight Hannah," he said, wrapping his arms around me.

Being in his embrace made me feel so safe and loved. I wished I could bottle that feeling and keep it with me always. It was like a shield against all the horrible things in the world.

After a moment, I released him and headed off to bed.

Once there, I stripped down and took a quick shower. The hot water did wonders for the tension that had built up inside me. I let the hot water cascade down my body and wash away my stress, at least temporarily.

Eventually, I got out and dried myself off, putting my pajamas on. They were a simple T-shirt and sweatpants, but they were comfortable and that was what mattered.

I was exhausted, and the moment my head hit the pillow I was asleep.

I dreamed of Mike, but a little bit older. I somehow knew we were in college in my dream. He was towering over me, his expression cold.

"I don't know how the f**k you got into college, but it's clear that you're too stupid for it. Why don't you just drop out already?" he asked.

I felt a lump forming in my throat and tears in my eyes.

"N...no..." I managed to get out.

"No? No!?" Mike said, his voice growing louder, "What the f**k are you doing here? Do you think you're smart enough for this? Is that it?"

I didn't know what to say, and I didn't get the chance to figure it out before his fist slammed into my jaw. I collapsed to the ground, and his foot slammed into my stomach. I couldn't breathe, and all I could do was cry.

Suddenly, Mike's face morphed, and the man looking down at me was Melvin.

"Why are you such an i***t Hannah?" he asked, his face a mask of rage, "Did you really think you were going to college? What the f**k were you thinking? You're not good enough to be here!"

Then the scene shifted again, and the man above me was my father.

"How did you mess this up so badly?" he asked, "I can't believe how stupid you are. Did you really think you could succeed in life? Look at yourself! You can't even speak right!"

I cried, wishing I could hide, but I was completely exposed.

"D.. D.. Dad..." I stuttered out, "I...I'm s...sorry."

"Sorry doesn't cut it," Dad said, "It's too late for that now. You're a failure, Hannah, a complete and utter failure."

With that, he brought his foot up and brought it crashing down on my chest, and the force of the impact sent me crashing through the floor, falling into a pit. I kept falling, the darkness engulfing me, until suddenly, I hit the bottom.