Greyscale [✓]

Chapter 19

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Although it was pretty unconventional for her - after all Hannah didn't hang out with guys she barely knew in their bedrooms at 9pm - she had to admit that she'd enjoyed herself. It felt nice to do normal things and talk freely without having to focus on exactly what she said and the way she spoke. She liked that about Rayne, the fact that he couldn't care less about her money or reputation.

They were sitting on the floor of his room, Hailey asleep on his bed. He had told Hannah that despite the girls having their own room, the youngest sibling found it difficult to sleep and often wound up in his room.

"You're pretty close, aren't you?"

Rayne nodded, looking over at the way his sister was curled up with a smile. "Yeah, always have been really. She was pretty ill when she was little and I spent a lot of time with her. We're all close really."

"Meningitis," Hannah remarked, grinning when he looked surprised. "Skylar said so."

Rayne laughed, as he flicked through the papers beside him. "She's got a big mouth, that kid." He filed them in order and stapled them together before continuing. "She likes you though, they both do. They're quite picky with who they like to be honest."

Hannah was packing her stuff into her bag and stifled a yawn. It had gotten late and she'd had a long day. "Must be nice," she remarked. "Having siblings I mean. There must always be someone around, you know."

Rayne raised his head to look at her directly, something he hadn't really been doing. Although he knew that they got on, it was hard for him to look at her too long. Despite her public argument with Gabriel and Ashlyn, she was still one of The Elite. She reminded him off the sun; bright and beautiful but not something you can watch for too long without hurting yourself. "You don't have any brothers or sisters?"

"Nope, only child. Although I have Cameron and he's annoying enough to be a brother, I guess." Rayne was about to comment but he stopped when he saw the way her eyes dimmed as she continued, almost whispering. "Although, I guess my dad might have other kids. I don't know."

She sat up in shock, clamping a hand around her mouth when she realised what she'd said. Her heartbeat pounded in her ears and she felt a little nauseous. Why did she always say something about her dad in front of Rayne? She never talked about the good-for-nothing man with anyone, not even Cam but yet, her mouth just opened by itself when she was around Rayne.

He didn't say anything though and she could tell by his eyes that he was remembering what she had said in the library. He had told her that his dad was dead and she had replied that hers may as well be.

"I should probably go," she muttered, standing up and stretching her limbs. "It's late."

He nodded and got up, handing her a copy of the essay they had managed to almost complete. "Alright."

He walked down the stairs with her, looking worried when he peered out. "I don't want to sound patronising because I know you can take care of yourself but to be honest, it's really not safe around here at this time."

She raised her eyebrow, remembering the way she punched Gabriel in the face at school.

"I'll be fine."

"Probably. But my neighbours are drug dealers, the old guy who lives at number twenty killed someone years ago and the girls opposite are sex workers which is fine but they have some dodgy clients." Hannah's eyebrows raised high and he snorted at her expression. "Welcome to my world, princess."

She rolled her eyes and pulled out her iPhone from her bag. "Alright, I'll call Cam to pick me up then, it's a long journey anyway," she mumbled as she held her mobile to her ear.

He perched on the edge of the sofa while she talked to her cousin, watching her expression. Hannah had surprised him a lot since he'd first found out they were working together in Mr Daniel's class.

She wasn't the stubborn, spoilt brat that he'd thought. She had family problems, shitty friends, a cheating ex-boyfriend and a lot more guts that he would have guessed. Despite the expensive clothes, fancy hair and pretty face, there was a lot going on in her life and he knew that he'd only just scratched the surface.

He had surprised himself but he'd realised that he actually wanted to know more about her. He - Rayne Parker, resident nobody slash loser - wanted to actually get to know Hannah Adem, one of the most beautiful, most popular and richest girl he'd ever come across.

"Why are you with Tyler? Alright, whatever, just come yeh. Cheers Cam."

He looked at her as she scowled at her phone and hung up, throwing it back into her little bag.

"Tyler Lee?" he asked.

Hannah looked surprised as she too, sat down. "I guess, I dunno his surname. How do you know?"

Rayne thought back to the few times he'd seen Tyler recently, he'd been hanging around with Cam more than once. "I know him a little, I've seen him with Cameron. They're... pretty close."

Hannah looked down at her lap. She felt a little sick. Why was it that even Rayne knew more about Tyler more than her? Why did Cam never introduce them before if he'd been spending so much time with him?

Perhaps Rayne sensed her sadness because he changed the topic. "Thanks for coming over. It's been quite nice, I guess."

She beamed at him, her skin glowing and he tried not to gape at the way her smile transformed her entire face. "Thank you for not kicking me out in the first five seconds. I've really enjoyed myself, especially considering we were writing that stupid essay."

Rayne grinned, his eyes closing slightly in exhaustion. "You seem to have a personal vendetta against this project, you know."

She shrugged, surprising herself with how much she was willing to share. "I just don't like the topic. I don't like talking about families."

He studied her; the way her lips were tight as she controlled her expression carefully, the way her upturned eyes became guarded every so often and the way her smile was usually false.

"Not that I'm a therapist or anything," he began slowly, hoping he wouldn't offend her. "But I feel like you hide a lot or maybe it's more like you control how much people see of you. That's probably not very healthy, y'know."

She smiled sadly, not very surprised he had noticed. He had seen her talk about different things and she knew he could see the way she stifled herself when she talked about her passions or the way she would clam up when they discussed families.

"When did your dad die?"

His expression fell as he looked over at the wall, hardened eyes landing on a family portrait she hadn't paid attention to before. Rayne was younger and sticking his tongue out at the camera, his sisters toddlers and his parents gazing at each other adoringly. "A few years ago."

"Do you miss him?"

He nodded earnestly. "All the time."

"I wish I could miss mine but truth is, I don't know him. I don't know his name or why he never stuck around or even where he's from. Crazy, right? Half of my ethnicity is completely unknown. I'm so much lighter than Cameron or the rest of my family. There's just a giant question mark; I could be half Jamaican or Chinese or Turkish or-,"

"You hardly look any of those!" He replied with a wry grin as they heard Cameron's car pull up. "Have you ever looked for him?"

Hannah stood up, shaking her head 'no' as an answer. She opened the door and stepped out, ready to leave when he stopped her. "Do you want to look for him?"

She spun around, the ends of her long hair flicking him in the face. He was pretty close, she could see every swirl of green in his eyes. She could see the angles of his jaw and the way his nose was very lightly peppered with freckles.

"Yeah," she answered, almost breathlessly, surprising herself with her answer. "Yeah I think I do," she repeated before she walked to the car, turning only to lightly wave at him before they drove home.

Rayne shut his front door and smiled, unable to control the way it spread across his cheeks.