Come Home

Chapter 1 - Hannah

My best friend's name was Cole Tennent. He was smart, funny, had light brown hair that waved around his ears and deep blue eyes like the ocean.

Cole Tennent's best friend was Alyssa Alksone. Pronounced Al-ex-sun. She had blonde hair, blue eyes, and was the bitchiest person on the planet.

Alice London was a kind good hearted girl who could fit in anywhere, but everyone knew the only reason she stayed in our pathetic click was me.

My name was Hannah Williams. I'm quiet, awkward girl with plain brown hair and dull blue eyes. I'm not much, but apparently I'm good enough for Alice, so my parents must have done something right.

Friday, April 18, 2014. I was walking out of Mr. Connors english class to my locker so I could grab my lunch. Mr. Connors stopped me at the door.

"Hannah, I just want compliment on your excellent poem."

"Oh, thanks." I blushed and looked at the floor. We were writing poems in class and I thought mine was mediocre at best, so my guess was this wasn't about that.

"Who ever this "Alternate reality boy" is, he sounds like an idiot."

I didn't know what to say. "Ok." I was still looking at the floor.

"Hey." I looked up."If you ever need to talk, I'm here, ok?"

I gave him a small nod. "Ok."

"See you Monday Hannah."

"See you!" I said, hurrying off. I didn't want to be late for lunch.

*****

Only Cole was seated when I finally arrived at our lunch table. Huh. I guess the conversation with Mr. Connors didn't last as long as I thought. It felt like an eternity.

"Hey," I said, sitting down across from him.

"Hi."

"How was the rest of your day yesterday?"

He groaned. "I hate Peter."

I laughed. Cole breakdances. I thought he was pretty good, but he didn't try. If he just applied himself he could go places, but he doesn't care. Peter was his dance instructor, and I think he saw Cole the same way I did, so he would push him. Cole did not like that. "What did he do this time?"

"He was picking over every little thing I did wrong, even though other kids would do the exact same thing and he wouldn't care. I swear he hates me!"

I was about to disagree when I heard a high voice carry through the cafeteria.

"Hey Cole!"

And there she was. Her piercing blue eyes found us through the clamor, and her strawberry blond hair was falling over her shoulder in waves, bouncing with the rhythm of her step. Alyssa Alksone.

I sighed. I was hoping she was sick. Or dead.

"Alyssa!" Cole said, straightening his posture. I tried to keep my expression unreadable, but inside my head I was mentally calculating how fast I could finish my lunch and leave. But it didn't matter, because Alice was coming and it's not like I could leave her alone with Alyssa. I think that would fall under the category of cruel and unusual punishment. When she reached our table she turned to me. Now facing me she let her picturesque smile morph into a smirk. "Oh, sorry Hannah, didn't see you there."

Yeah right. "Hi."

She turned to face Cole, actor smile back in place. "So, how was your day yesterday?" she asked sweetly. They then started talking about who knows what; I used to try and follow the conversation but stopped when I realized they had no intention of including me. Alice joined me 10 minutes later and we shared a knowing glance before turning our attention to our meals. If Alyssa was around, we couldn't really have a conversation.