The Things That Make Us

Chapter 3

Hannah

I have a ten dollar bill in my pocket of my jeans. Seriously, the me of a few weeks ago must have known something bad was going to happen and shoved it there for a time when I'd need it most.

  I get on the bus to Raleigh only half an hour after I end the call  with my aunt. My heart is still pounding; none of this feels real. I feel like I'm watching a movie in slow motion, as if there's no way this is really happening to me. It takes almost an hour to get there, and then I have to walk for fifteen minutes to get to the airport. I only have a backpack on my back and my phone and wallet shoved into my pocket.

  Everything goes smoothly, surprisingly.

  The boarding, the flight, and the landing - all okay.  

  What's not okay is when I get off the plane and have an overwhelming feeling wash over me. I can't pinpoint what it is, but just being in Florida is making me feel different. Maybe this was all a bad idea. Maybe I should have stayed in Chapel Hill and tried to do it on my own.

    "Hannah!"

      I hear her voice and I remember not only from the phone call but from my childhood.

      Erin - my dad's older sister - is standing across the busy airport, waving her arms around in the air. She's smiling but it seems a bit apprehensive, even from way over here. She's near the luggage belt, because obviously she thinks I brought things. My things.

  I walk over and my feet feel like lead. It seems like it takes forever to get to her, but she's wrapped around me a minute later.

    "Hannah, honey, oh my gosh, look at you!" she shouts when she pulls away.

  I'm not unaware that I'm a "pretty" girl. My mom was a pretty girl, too, but with age and alcohol it has faded. I've been called cute or pretty or gorgeous my whole life. I have her strawberry blond hair and her blue-green eyes. I don't think I got a thing from my dad, actually. I'm thin, but I mean, that's mostly due to the fact that I haven't eaten well in years.

  Erin is good looking, too, but in a different way. She's simple. Her hair is cut to her shoulders and straight and brown. Her eyes are hazel and nothing special. She wears glasses, but they suit her. I know she's a little older than my mom, but she doesn't seem it.

    "Hi, Aunt Erin," I say and it feels so awkward coming out.

    "Aunt! Oh my gosh." She hugs me again. "I'm... in disbelief that you're here."

    "Me too," I agree.

     She looks behind her at the luggage claim. "Let's get your stuff."

      I shake my head, embarrassed a bit. "This is all I have."

    "Oh! Right, of course. Well, let's get going then. How was the flight?" she goes on, already walking towards the exit.

  I follow. "It was good. Um, my first time."

    "You've never flown! Oh, I guess you wouldn't have. Wow. I didn't know, I'm sorry."

    "No, it was okay." I pause and look at her again before going on. "Thank you. I mean... I wasn't expecting this when I messaged you."

  Erin stops walking and turns back to look right at me. "Hannah, you have no idea how long I've been waiting for you to get in touch."

  And that's that. I follow her outside and down the path to the parking lot. It's after 9P.M. so it's  already getting dark, so I stay close. We get into a large SUV with black leather seats and a huge screen on the dash. I don't know anything about her or her family, but I can tell they have money.