The Boy From Everywhere

Ch. 23: The Reveal

I became visibly happier, I guess.

My classmates said they could see it in me, in my rosy cheeks, in my more frequent smiles, and in the way I moved with much more fervor and motivation than they ever saw me move. They asked me numerous questions, too. Whether I got a boyfriend, whether my birthday was near, or whether I got a really good grade.

Not that I could just tell them what the cause of my happiness was, though. I guess it was complicated having to explain it to them, but if I could, I would only speak a name.

Eli.

Nothing other than him would definitely be the cause of my happiness right now. Gosh, I wonder if he'd notice it when I see him later, too! Will it actually be a good thing, though? I hope so. I hope he sees. I hope he smiles back at me, just like he did last night while we were watching the fireworks.

I hope he tells me that he likes me, again.

The thought of that summoned a heat rising to my cheeks, and almost unconsciously, I giggled to myself before shaking my head and walking with a skip in my steps like an excited child. What a crazy though, but what if, right?

I still had a huge smile on my face, greeting everyone I knew goodbye on my way. I guess, it was strange, so maybe I should have gone back on guard on my way out. Maybe that would have been gentler on my heart who must have been anticipating so many positive things on my way to the café Eli worked at. Not... this, though.

I froze in my steps as I quickly met my aunt's cold eyes, staring back at me from just right outside the school gate. One of her brows was raised, probably at my sudden change in demeanor, and her lips were pursed unhappily. She spoke my name, called me, and even that felt like an icicle, pointed at my heart and threatening to stab through it destroy all signs of spring that had been trying to grow inside it.

I don't know why she came here. It was odd, she never visited me in school, not even when she had to. I always thought it was because she was ashamed of me. It surprised me even more when she suddenly asked me to join her on her way to the café, though.

"W... what?" I mumbled, before quickly taking it back as it hit me who I was talking to.

She narrowed her eyes a bit, her gaze becoming sharper just a little so only I would see, then she repeated her words. I have to follow her to the café she frequented. Now. She was firm, and it made me uncomfortable.

What's going on...?

No further questions asked, I followed her, my heart thumping in my chest as I wondered what she could be so uptight for. Unless, of course, I might have made a mistake before coming to school today.

Though the walk to the café was only brief, made even shorter by the fact that we rushed here, it all felt like such a long daze to me. I couldn't think. I couldn't come up with any possible reasons why my aunt would suddenly be acting like this. No, unless she did something that I wasn't aware of.

Checked my room while I was gone? Asked around about me? Put a tracker on my phone?

All those thoughts, whether rational or irrational, ran around my head in circles. As they did, it seemed even the world spun fast, until my aunt yanked by my arm before pushing me to the door of the café. I stopped just in time to avoid crashing into the glass door. My eyes were wide, and my heart thumping in my chest. Not a single thing I was doing was helping me out of this situation, and it clawed at me, threatening to pull me down to a hell I might never really get out of as soon as I stepped into this café.

She told me to go in, voice sharp and commanding. She knows. I just knew at that moment that she knew about Eli. But how? And... how exactly do I come out of this alive?

I looked at my hand, hovering over the door handle, and then gulped. Right past the door, I could see inside, and my eyes searched almost automatically, hoping against hope that he wasn't here. I found him at the back, serving someone's order with his usual smile. Warm, comforting, alive.

My safe space, as he had been ever since I first met him. But now, it all just seemed so dangerous going there. What if I make a mistake? I could just avoid him, right? But what if he noticed?

I stumbled forward when my aunt nudged my back, pushing me further inside. I didn't want to. I really didn't want to. My heart thumped harder, threatening to jump out of my chest and kill me if I didn't save myself from this situation. My feet froze, not wanting to move further, and yet also knowing that going back would be just as dangerous. And my eyes threatened me, pooling with tears already as my eyes stayed glued to the floor.

What now? What... what do I do now that-?

I made the desperate mistake of looking up, and at that moment, I met Eli's eyes, immediately widening at the sight of my pathetic self, trapped like a bird in a cage. I gasped as he opened his mouth, ready to call my name.

Funny, isn't it? All day, that was all I had been hoping for, to hear his soft voice mention me as he gave me his usual warm smile. But today, was different. Today... How could he have known that him mentioning my name out loud would be feeding me to the wolves?

"... Hannah? What's-"

My aunt cut him off as she walked past me and slapped the tray out of his hands.

"No! Don't touch him!" I yelled out, running to stop her just as she began harshly scolding him for things he didn't do, things he would never do. "He didn't do those things! Stop it!"

But she slapped me in return, turning her yelling voice to me and pointing her finger as I sat on the ground, holding my cheek. I'm a disgrace, she said, a disappointment. After everything she did, everything she tried to do to help me out of this place... her place... how could I betray her like that?... What else had I done behind her back?

Why didn't I just burn inside that house instead of my mother?

She realized too late that many people were watching. By the time she did, she froze for a second, before she looked around, at the people wondering what exactly was going on? Who was she? Why had she done those things? What had I done to deserve all the things she had done? Their eyes were targeted not just at her, but also at me.

But the only one I saw were the one's behind my aunt. Eli's. Wide, frozen, and looking at me like he had seen a ghost. He was shaking, and I remembered the night I scared him as the thunder struck. I needed to help him. I would have, but when I tried to, my aunt realized the best way out of this situation was to grab me and run. That she did, and all I could do was yell and shriek as I tried to fight against her so I could get to Eli and help him.

I never could. It had always been too late to do anything, anyway?

~•~

It was the blanket.

I had placed it in the laundry basket after coming home, and I forgot to wash it or even keep it so my aunt wouldn't notice and become suspicious. I think she always had her suspicions about Eli, too. After all, I'm sure she must have remembered him from the café. Why him, though? Why not anyone else? Why not anywhere else? Was it really all too obvious?

I stared at the empty laundry basket on the other side of the room while I sat in bed, curled up with my face buried in my knees. How could I have gotten this careless? Why... Why do I have to think about being careless, even? I just... I just want my old life back. Can't I have at least...

Sobs suddenly came from the other side of the wall, snapping me back into an alert state as I stared at it, my eyes tracing over the patterns of the wallpaper as if that was the answer to the riddle that was this: who was crying? Or rather, why was she crying?

Who even... who the hell gave her the right? Who the hell made it okay for her to cry while I couldn't? What the hell is wrong with her?!

I screamed as I picked up the laundry basket and threw it at the wall. A loud thud resounded, followed by me punching at the wall, imagining it to be the woman that ruined my life. When I stopped, so did the crying. I half-expected to hear footsteps next, steady and menacing as it got closer to my bedroom door.

But nothing followed.

... What the hell was wrong with her?