Torment

Chapter Ten

Hannah's POV

'Matt Williams; my brother and his girlfriend had introduced me to him a few days ago.

He wasn't like the others. He wasn't Josh Hagger, the handsome jock that every blonde fell for the moment they layed eyes on him. He wasn't Tommy Kruger who always wore the leather jacket and had a new girlfriend every week. Matt was different. I couldn't catergorize him though, he was like a mystery made for a movie and I loved every bit of the investigation. I have to have Matt Williams.'

"Hannah!'' Mom called from downstairs." "Be there in a minute!" I yelled back, still writing in my pink glitter diary.

‘Kate is Matt's best friend, and she doesn't strike me as an obstacle. I don't know the connection between Matt and Kate, but I know it isn't something I can't Sever.' I grinned, the eraser tip resting on my lips.

"Hannah, get down here right now!" Mom yelled again. "I'm coming!" I angrily yelled, threw the pencil down and slammed the book shut.

I shoved it under my bed and headed to mom's office downstairs.

"Have you finished the envelopes for the invitations?" She asked me, stuffed behind a desk full of wedding invitations. "Yeah mom." I rolled my eyes. "Good, because I need you and your father to go out and pick out the dresses." Mom spoke, her eyes not meeting mine once.

I pulled out my phone and searched for Matt's name.

‘Hey you.’ I sent.

No reply…

I waited.

‘So, wanna hang out tomorrow after school?’ I sent again.

No reply.

"Hannah, are you listening to me?!" Mom's voice suddenly broke my daze. "Oh, er what?" I asked, my attention now on her.

I put my phone away.

"If you know where your brother and that Andrea is, you better tell him to get home this instant, he has some wedding chores to see to. Your aunt is getting married in one week! And we're falling behind schedule! This is one of the most hectic weddings I've planned for yet and I'm going to need all the help I can get. Now go. Move on!" She demanded and I found myself in the passenger seat on the way to collect the dresses.

I checked my phone and to my surprise, Matt had not responded.

The next day at school, I made it my job to hunt Matt down and finally set the trap.

"Hey jerk!" I leaned on the lockers and slammed his close just as he grabbed a book. "Hannah-" "The one and only. So why have you been ignoring me?" I asked him, giving off my most flirtatious smile. "Oh, er, I wasn't ignoring you, I haven't been checking my texts." He explained, starting to walk off.

I quickly followed after. "How come? What's got you so out of it?" I followed him. "I'm not out of it." He smiled, he's gaze distant. He was thinking about something.

"Oh yeah? Then we are hanging out after school." I gave off a half grin. That quickly caught his attention. "Er, I can't." He responded. "How come?" I gave off a sad look, "Um, because I'm busy-" "With what?" I asked, "Er, busy with-" "Matt, if you won't hang out with me, just say so. Don't act like a jerk and lead me on like one." I lowered and walked off.

Guilt is the bate I use when setting the trap for a hard one.

Break came quickly.

"Why Matt?" Lucille asked, rinsing her hands at the sink in the bathroom. "Why not Matt?" I asked, staring at my reflection in the mirror. "Yeah, he is cute." Gabby added in, also staring into the mirror. "And not important." Lucille snorted. "He has potential, Lucille." I turned to her, "and before he reaches that potential, I will have already been there and done that." I shrugged and straightened my hair.

"Hannah, look I'm sorry I acted like a total jerk-" "And realisation finally dawns, but hey, for what it's worth, I don't think you're a jerk-" I smiled at him.

He sat himself down right opposite, I made sure I sat alone. He placed his food tray on the white clean table, "So I'm not a jerk then? Awesome!" He cheered.

I giggled.

"So, what makes you tick Matt Williams. I'm dying to know?!" I rested my chin on the palms of my hands and stared at him in awe. "You wanna know what makes me tick?" He awkwardly asked. "I mean yeah, I know you like baseball, and you know that I'm terrible at it." "Nothing that practice can't fix." He smiled, "And you'll be there to coach me, right?" I asked, "Af cause. Unless you find someone else-" "Nobody could coach me as good as you Matt." I winked. That got him.

"So, what do you wanna do after school?" He quickly asked me, desperate to break the tension. "Mmm, well, the library."  I grinned, "I'm told it's a place you love to be. That way I can explore your world." I smiled. "Why would you want to know my world?" He asked, "Because you fascinate me Matt Williams. You're an interesting guy, and I'm a curious girl, and you have caught my eye." I smiled and got up.

On que the bell chimed. Nailed it!

Later on in the day I waited outside the library. And within a few minutes Matt had arrived.

"So, why the library Matt Williams?" I asked him as he led us down an empty abandoned aisle. "Ha?" He asked. "Why do you like the library so much?" I asked him. "It kinda grew on me." He smiled, his daze distant again.

That annoyed me.

"What do you like to read?" I quickly asked. "Philosophy, among other things." He explained. "Wow, an intellectual after the essence of life and death." I joked. "Not funny." He nudged me just as we came to the end of the aisle. "What's not funny, the fact that you're an official nerd?" I joked arriving at a secluded desk filled with newspapers against the wall. "So what if I am a nerd?" He asked me, his eyes staring deep into mine.

We finally stopped walking.

"Well, then things would be very different." I neared to him. He awkwardly distanced himself until he was stopped by the desk. "Er, er how so?" He stuttered, "Then I don't think I'd  want to kiss you, like this-" I neared to him and pulled him into a kiss. He didn't revolt.

His lips were soft, the softest I've kissed. They were warm and sweet and hypnotizing. I didn't want to stop…

I pushed him against the desk and vulgarly unbuttoned his shirt, the heat seeped in. Newspapers fell to the ground when suddenly, he pulled away, "Hannah, we can't, I-I'm sorry, I, I um-" "Hey, no, it's cool. I kinda got carried away there for a second." I tried, trying to get a grip on myself.

Matt was different in more ways than one; he was decent, he was humble and, when I'm with him he reminds me of a fragile part of myself that got erased too quickly. A part of myself that I can only be in my dreams.

He quickly straightened himself out as did I.

That's when something caught my eye; a newspaper, one in particular that had my heart racing. A heart race that wasn't caused by Matt.

"Oh my God! Matt-" I gasped. "What? What is it?" He asked, "Is that Kate?" I asked, a chill running down my spine. "Oh, er no. That's just her doppelganger." He shrugged, "Her doppel-what?" I asked, puzzled. "Someone who looks just like you. Everybody has one, it's scientifically proven." He explained. "Yeah, yeah sure." I ignorantly replied and continued reading on.

"It's just so crazy, this girl who looks just like Kate, probably shares the same age too, I mean, sure their names are not the same, this girl's name is Norah and-" "Wait, what?" "And she committed suicide…" "No, her name, what did you say her name was?" He began. "Norah, her name is Norah..." I said.

And his eyes went wide. He stared out shocked and afraid.

"What? What is it, Matt?" I asked him. "I overheard Katy use that name once, but it slipped my mind. This Norah, what else does it say about her?" He managed to shake off the look. "Well it says that she attended our school and that her mom found her body dangling from the roof in her room. Damn…" I paused for a second, "and-" that's when I froze. "And what?" Matt asked. "Hannah, what is it?!" He asked, gripping into my shoulders. "Matt, Norah lived in your house. She died in your house."

And Matt gave a bone chilling expression.