black & gold

Chapter 15

"Grace?" Hannah asks when a blur of blonde hair rushes past her and towards the parking
lot. When she hears a broken sob escape the girls lips, she knows it's her. She quickly
runs after her girlfriend and follows her out into the parking lot.
"Grace, hey," Hannah says softly when she catches up with the taller girl.
"Don't talk to me," Grace warns, her voice wavering.
Hannah grabs Grace's arm and widens her eyes when the blonde rips it from her grasp,
"What's going on?"
"Was this all a joke to you, Hannah?" Grace asks, spinning around to face her girlfriend.
Hannah's face falls instantly when she sees the tears streaking down Grace's fast, "Whoa,
what?"
"Stacey..." The name escapes Grace's lips and it's immediately followed by a broken
sob, "Stacey told me, Hannah. About how the only reason you even spoke to me in the
first place was so you could use it to help your team win."
"Jesus," Hannah shakes her head and runs a hand through her hair, "And you believed
her?"
"Was she lying?" Grace asks, folding her arms in front of her chest.
Hannah opens her mouth but the words don't come. Because Stacey wasn't lying. She
had no idea how Stacey knew about it, but it was the truth. And she hated herself for it.
"No," Hannah responds and stares at the ground, "But Grace, you have to understand-"
"Fuck you, Hannah," Grace scoffs and turns on her heel.
"Grace, it was stupid! It was Tyler's idea and I didn't even want to go through with it but
once I got to know you-"
"It was Tyler's idea?" Grace questions and laughs bitterly, "So were you two just
laughing at me the entire time? Did you mean anything you said to me?"
"I meant every fucking word, Grace, don't question that," Hannah says and grabs Grace's
wrist, fingers tightening around it, "I love you so much I can't even form words to
express it. That whole "talk to her to fuck with her head" shit meant nothing once I
realized how absolutely perfect you were."
Grace pulls her wrist from Hannah's grasp and shakes her head, "I can't do this right
now."
"Grace, please," Hannah begs and steps towards the taller girl, "I'm sorry. I should've told you about all of this."
"Stop," Grace warns and shakes her head, taking a step back from the brunette, "Please
just stop."
Before Hannah can say anything further, Grace's feet are carrying her away again. If she
wasn't the fastest girl in the district, maybe Hannah would have bothered trying to chase
after her.
-
"Where the fuck is Stacey? "Hannah asks, stomping back into the field area and standing
next to Tyler.
Tyler raises an eyebrow, "What are you gonna do to her?"
"Do you fucking know what she did?" Hannah asks, looking at the boy standing across
from her. When Tyler shakes his head in response, she continues, "She told Grace that
I... that I was only with her to fuck with her head and help out the team."
Tyler's face turns a harsh shade of white and he brings a hand to his mouth, "Oh my
God... Hannah, I'm so sorry, I had no idea she'd go and tell Grace-"
"Did you tell her?" Hannah questions, grabbing the front of Tyler's button-up and
slamming him against a wall.
Tyler shakes his head, "I didn't mean to, Hannah. She saw you two kissing and she was
upset about it and crying and I was just trying to make her feel better."
"Fuck you, Ty," Hannah groans and lets go of the boy, running a hand through her hair,
"Where's Stacey?"
"Don't be too mad at her, Han-"
"Where is she?" Hannah repeats, eyes cold and harsh.
Tyler swallows and nods towards the bathrooms, "Over there."
Hannah glances up and heads towards the bathrooms, quickly falling into a slow jog
towards the girl walking towards them, "Stacey!"
When Stacey turns around, dark brown hair framing her face, her eyes widen at the rage
written across Hannah's features.
"Hannah, what's-"
"WHY THE FUCK WOULD YOU DO THAT?" Hannah screams, face inches away
from Stacey's. "I don't know what you're talking ab-"
"Fuck that, Stacey," Hannah seethes and shakes her head, "You know exactly what I'm
talking about."
Stacey hangs her head and stares at the ground, clasping her hands together in front of her
body, "I just... I mean it's true, right? You're only with Grace to fuck with her head?"
"No," Hannah shakes her head and runs a hand through her hair, "God, no... you have...
you have absolutely no idea what you're talking about, Stacey. No fucking idea. Maybe I
did start talking to Grace to see if I could help out the team, but when that girl opened her
mouth, Stacey... when I realized what a beautiful, amazing, delicate person she was...
that's when none of that mattered anymore. I never did anything with Grace to use it
against the fucking team. How dare you say that to her."
Stacey opens her mouth but she can't find any words to say back to the harsh eyes in
front of her. After a moment of silence, she mutters a faint, "I'm sorry."
"Why did you do it, Stace?" Hannah asks, sighing heavily in something akin to
disappointment, "I mean... you're one of my closest friends. I honestly thought you'd be
better to the girl I'm dating than you were to Grace."
"She's the enemy, Hannah," Stacey mumbles softly, still staring at the ground.
"No, fuck that," Hannah shakes her head, "Give me a real answer because I know for a
fact that you wouldn't be that cruel to someone that's just the competition. I watched you
shake Diana Mercado's hand last year with a fucking smile when she beat you in the
100m at states. So don't give me that she's the enemy shit. Not now. Not after what you
just did to me."
"I love you," Stacey says as if it's the most effortless thing in the world. When Hannah's
face softens at the words, Stacey shrugs and laughs bitterly to herself, "Is that what you
want to hear, Hannah? I love you. That's why I was so mean to Grace, alright? It's
because I love you. Because when I saw you with her and I saw that you were actually
happy being someone's girlfriend and you weren't mine... that sucked, okay?"
"You..." Hannah's voice cracks, "You love me?"
"I thought you knew," Stacey says and looks away from the brunette, focusing anywhere
but her eyes, "Everyone knows, Hannah."
"You love me," Hannah repeats and this time it's not a question, more of a statement. A
chance for Hannah to let the words sink in.
"I love you," Stacey echoes back.
It should disgust her. It should terrify her that one of her closest friends, someone she
sees in a completely platonic way, has feelings of love for her. But it doesn't. It feels good. It feels good to have someone, even Stacey Roberts, confess their love. And
although the words sound a thousand times sweeter from Grace's lips, they still have a
similar effect coming from Stacey's. Love. It's an interesting contrast to the "Fuck you,
Hannah" that was thrown at her just minutes ago from Grace.
So Hannah doesn't think anymore. She takes those feelings of love that Stacey has for her
and pours herself out, grabbing the back of Stacey's head and crashing her lips against
hers, tasting a mixture of sweat and vanilla lip balm.
She doesn't think when she grabs Stacey's hand and pulls her to her red Hyundai parked
in the high school parking lot and locks the door behind them, sliding her hand up
Stacey's shirt.
She doesn't think when Stacey lets out a moan of pleasure, arching her back off the seat
and letting her head fall back against the door.
Hannah really doesn't think at all.