CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE

"Thank you, Miss Adem," Mr Daniels said, taking the essay Hannah had rushed to print that morning from her. They had finished the entire thing the day that Rayne had come to her house and it was pretty good, even if she did say so herself. But most importantly, it revealed enough about her family to answer the assignment brief that had been set but not enough to actually say a thing about her messy background.

Hannah beamed as she slumped back down at her desk, grinning at Rayne from across the room.

"Well, I guess someone's glad that's over," Mohammad said from beside, nudging her with his arm. She only laughed in reply, changing the topic to what she had missed when she had skipped school. He was the only one of her friends in most of her classes and thankfully, had taken the liberty to copy down all the homework she'd missed out on as well as update her on all the whispers floating around school.

Hannah pursed her lips, flicking through the sheet of maths equations Mohammad had given her, mind reeling at the complicated binomial distribution questions. "I owe you one."

"Well," he continued, in a tone that indicated she would not like his next words. "I know how you can pay me back, eh?"

Hannah raised one eyebrow, whispering over Mr Daniel reading off his PowerPoint presentation regarding their next assignment. "What do you want?"

"A date."

Hannah yelped out loud, sitting up in shock until she realised all eyes were on her. She mumbled a sorry to her English teacher for interrupting the class and looked over at her friend in horror. "You what?"

Mohammad laughed under his breath, raven eyes twinkling in the dim light. "Chill, woman. I just wondered if you would do me a favour and go to the Winter Ball with me? Y'know considering you're obviously not gonna go with Gabe The Gorilla and I'm not going by myself, that's just sad."

Hannah slumped back down in her chair, having momentarily forgotten about the Winter Ball with everything else that had occurred recently. Ashlyn had been looking forward to it ever since high school had begun, dreaming of the day she would stand on the stage and be crowned School Queen, a title all the women in her family had gotten. Premrose was certainly ridiculously pretentious in terms of traditions and Hannah had always been happy for her former best friend to take the limelight in that aspect, but it was different now. Since they 'broke up' or so to speak, the social standing of the school was askew and she knew people would be pitting her against Ashlyn. She didn't want to be in a competition, especially as Ash would no doubt walk in with Gabriel on her arm and Hannah had nobody.

With a snort at the mental image of Gabriel as a Gorilla, she mulled the idea over. "Okay," she mumbled, rolling her eyes when he beamed and ruffled her hair in response. "I'll be your date to the Ball but only cuz I know I don't have a choice in attending. Guess even you're better than nothing."

They both stifled their laughter and for the rest of the lesson, paid attention to Mr Daniel's droning on about the importance of Harvard Referencing.

---

Thankfully, Hannah managed to go the whole day without a dramatic encounter with her former best friend and ex-boyfriend. Although they had a handful of classes together, she kept her head raised high and ignored the two of them. Ashlyn breathed for drama and she knew that by ignoring her, Hannah was driving her livid.

The last bell had just rung and she stood against Cameron's locker, humming to herself as her cousin pulled out a few textbooks that he needed. "I'm gonna go out today, I think, gonna see Ty. You gonna be alright by yourself for a bit?"

Hannah rolled her eyes, throwing an arm around her cousin in an affectionate action that slowly turned into something close to a headlock at his stupid words. "I'm not eight, chill. I'll be fine."

Cam laughed in reply, telling her stories about his day and waffling on about something or the other. She tuned out the minute he started gossiping, wondering why on earth he even knew half the tings about the student body that he did know. Hannah didn't even know who Alia Hassan was and Cameron seemed to know that she'd had a fight with some Becky girl at lunch. He also had a theory about one of the Chemistry teachers having an affair with a student.

"That's so gross," Hannah scrunched her face in disgust. "Like, even if the student is eighteen and it's technically not illegal, teachers are still in a position of authority and to break that is wrong. Plus, waiting for someone to turn eighteen so you can legally perv on them is suspect as hell, innit?"

Cameron laughed as they walked down the steps together, calling out a few goodbyes at people milling past them. "Yeah, it's really creepy but forget that, you've been hanging out with Mohammad too much, you're picking up his slang."

She stopped where she was, pulling the blazer of his uniform as she remembered Mohammad's request earlier. "Hey, speaking of Mohammad, he asked me to the winter ball!"

Cam's eyebrows jumped up so high that it was almost comical and she burst into laughter, eyes bright as they crossed the road. "I mean, he's got a point," Cam said, once his cousin had explained what had transpired in their English class. "After everything that's happened, you have a good chance of being voted for as well. And you know Ash will do something bat-shit crazy to you if that happens, she can't bear to not have the limelight on her twenty-four seven. So if she does, it's better to not be alone. She might just murder you or something."

Hannah groaned, wondering if she could plan to coincidentally come down with a severe stomach ache on the day so she wouldn't have to attend. But it was futile, she had to go. She was expected to. "I'm perfectly capable of looking after myself."

Her cousin only nodded, an anxiousness shining from behind the indifference he always painted on. "I know, it's not you I don't trust. It's that bastard, Gabriel."

Hannah sighed, she knew her cousin was only looking out for her but there was a part of her that wished he didn't. He had spent so many years caring for her when there was nobody else that he'd forgotten he was barely a few months older than her. And in that moment, Hannah needed someone who treated her like an equal.

"You know what," she mumbled, a plan forming in her mind as they reached the train station. "I'll worry about that all later, you going to see Ty now or home first?"

When he shrugged, her dark eyes lit up and she pulled her blazer tighter around her shoulders. "You should go now, go see that sexy boyfriend of yours."

Her cousin's eyebrows raised as he ran a hand through his hair, tugging the raven locks it until they sat in a perfect mess. "You're up to something," he stated, not even bothering to make it sound like a question. He knew her too well and he knew there was a plan brewing in her mind. "Alright then, see ya later."

With a quick hug, Hannah pushed him towards the train station and continued walking down the road, fingers tapping at her phone until she found what she was looking for. She bit her lip as she stared at the name in deep thought, uncertainty pushing through her thoughts but her curiosity won.

To: Rayne Parker – From: Hannah Adem

this is probably a really random message so sorry! but i was wondering if u were still up to give me a hand with what we talked about the other day?? x

She sent the message quickly, as though waiting a few seconds would remind her that she was being far too forceful, pushing her problems onto him. Whilst Rayne had offered to help her find her father, he still wasn't really a friend. He was just a guy in her school that had the uncanny ability to look behind all the towering walls built around her, the ones she had spent years perfecting.

To: Hannah Adem – From: Rayne Parker

hey, today you mean? i'm stuck babysitting im afraid sorry :(

She couldn't help the slight sinking of her heart as she read the message, chastising herself at the same time for caring so much. But before she could dwell on it, he had sent another one.

To: Hannah Adem – From: Rayne Parker

Although if you're okay with it, you're welcome to come over again and we can start??

The smile that slowly crept over her expression was bright, lighting up her entire face like the rising of dawn. She typed up a quick reply letting him know she was on her way and almost skipped as she crossed the road.

Her entire life had been very carefully controlled, her feelings always locked away behind her façade of indifference. But since school had started this year, every lie she had built up seemed to be crashing down in front of her. And for the first time, she decided that she just didn't care.

It didn't matter that her mother was a monster, not even being able to lay her eyes on the child she had given birth to never mind give her an ounce of kindness. It didn't matter that everyone who she had thought were her friends had flocked away as soon as the truth about her came to light. It didn't matter that other than Cameron and Mohammad, none of her old friends really spoke to her anymore.

She had made some new friends slowly and even better, she was so close to digging up the truth about her past. Throughout her entire childhood, Hannah had always dreamt of an unknown father who would whisk her away from the empty life she led. Whilst she knew it wasn't anything other than a childish little dream, it was nice to know that the giant question mark of her past was slowly coming to light.

Although she knew that the mysterious Chris Davis hadn't wanted a thing to do with her, all she cared about was seeing who he was. She wanted to know what kind of life he had, what characteristics she had inherited from him, how much she resembled the man she didn't know a thing about.

Wiping the somewhat maniacal smile off her face, Hannah turned on her calm mask and knocked on the door confidently. A pitter-patter of feet could be heard from the other side and it swung open, revealing the two little girls.

"Hiya," she chirped, pushing a strand of midnight hair back that had fallen across her face. "Is Rayne around?"

The older one – Skylar – nodded, blonde pigtails bouncing against her shoulders. "Yeah, I remember you! You were wearing a pretty dress last time, weren't you? And mummy had made a pie."

Hannah laughed as she confirmed it, the cuteness of the two curious faces filling her up with pure joy. Her school uniform wasn't exactly beautiful but at least it was more appropriate than the short dress she was wearing last time. Whilst she didn't really spend any time with any kids, other than Kalila's siblings when she babysat, the innocence amazed her. It genuinely warmed her heart to know that not everything in the world was tainted.

"I'll go get him, c'mon in," Sky announced, skipping across the living room and up the stairs. The younger of the two only stared up at Hannah with inquisitive jade eyes, a shy smile peeking out.

Hannah wanted to say something but she remembered Hailey was deaf and instead smiled back in return. The little girl grabbed hold of her hand, warm fingers pulling her along into the hallway. Hannah's eyes scanned the photographs she had seen last time, the family portraits bright against the walls. Whilst the girls had a heard of blonde locks just like their mother, Rayne's maple-syrup hair was a mixture of both of his parents. It sat in a mess on top of his head in the picture, wide eyes and a toothless smile beaming back at her.

He'd been a cute kid.

"Hey, you."

Hannah spun around, the loose waves of her hair whipping her in the face in the process. She was a little embarrassed to be caught staring at his childhood pictures but smiled instead, guard automatically rising back up. Rayne stood in front of her, hair slightly damp and unlike her, he'd changed out of his school uniform.

"Hiya, Rayne."

His scrutiny made her want to squirm but she stood still, head raised like she had been doing her entire life. Eventually he smiled, noticing that her fingers were still wrapped around his little sisters. With hands gracefully moving in the air as he signed something to Hailey, he beckoned them both to follow him.

"I'm just gonna give these two monsters some lunch, okay, then I'll grab my laptop. Is that alright?"

He pulled the fridge open, peering in and pulling out some containers that had clearly been lovingly wrapped and labelled by his mother. Both the girls had followed them into the kitchen, arms flailing in the air as they had what appeared to be a very animated discussion.

"Of course, that's no problem at all," she answered, settling down on one of the faded breakfast bar stools, spinning slightly. "My fault for coming straight after school."

They all spoke for a while, Hannah finding that surprisingly, she felt comfortable. She was able to sit and talk and laugh without analysing every movement made for the first time in a long time. She didn't know what it was about Rayne but something about him always calmed her, as though he excluded kindness from his pores. The way he treated his sisters helped, fussing after them like a mother hen and braiding Hailey's hair back up when it had gotten lose. He was pretty strict, commanding them to go do their homework as soon as they'd eaten but there was so much love shining out of his eyes as he did so.

All the men in her life were always so angry, so tough, full of a fire that always threatened to expand. She knew that they all absolutely loved her and yet, she also knew that they had the ability to set her world alight. Rayne could be angry too, she knew that. It was a normal human emotion, after all.

But the more time she spent with him, the more she was convinced that he was like a fire someone would place their hands against to heat up, one that warmed her to her bones.

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A/N: this was a pretty boring chapter tbh sorry but I needed a filler chapter. Today I realised that I initially started writing this in 2014 which is absolutely appalling considering its still not finished, two bloody years later! I doubt I have any readers on this thanks to that little fact haha but regardless, I am definitely going to try to get the whole story completed within the next month or so. If you've stuck with Hannah this whole time, thank you so much <3