The Melody of a Protagonist

Chapter 4- Lost and Found

                                                       Chapter 4.

Hanna placed her hand on the silver handle and entered the unexpectedly small room. A somewhat obese red-faced man sat at the desk, shuffling through some papers. His hair was patchy and balding, his stained and off-yellow shirt was slightly askew and a tuft of chest hair protruded out from where the top button of his shirt would usually be. Hanna couldn’t help but gape a little in surprise; this man was near the complete opposite to the one who’d collected her from the library.

“Hanna Samson” the man mumbled, reading off a sheet of paper. Hanna recognized the document as the same article she’d seen earlier in the library. “I’m Mr. Davis, filling in for Mr. Lapel,” he continued, ruffling through some more sheets of paper. Hanna wanted very much to know what was written on documents; noticing her named had been printed several times over but withheld the temptation to crane her neck where she’d be so obviously noticed. “So, do you want to tell me about your situation?” grunted Mr. Davis, making grinding-like noises as he spoke.

Hanna hesitated. She was usually a very obedient student; but there was something about being asked to explain a very painful situation to someone who had all the information on his desk that annoyed really her.

“Not really” she replied. She felt rude, but she couldn’t bring herself to talk about what had happened to her.

Mr. Davis threw his hands up in the air in defeat, letting out an exasperated sigh. Hanna creased her brow in astonishment at how unprofessionally he was acting.

Mr. Davis read over the papers noisily, making chewing noises now. “So your mother’s dead... died in a car accident... fathers in a mental institution with... severe depression? Now ... you’ve come to live with your aunt and step uncle... I see” he snorted, nodded his head in arrogance all-knowingly. He then turned his head at Hanna, giving her a look of distrust and suspicion. “You’re not going to try something stupid now, are you?” he spoke in a patronizing tone, raising a thick, bushy eyebrow.

“No.” said Hanna, in a small voice of disbelief. She gripped her fingers around her chair, trying to work out if this was some sort of sick joke; who did this guy think he was?

“...Like your father did, I mean” Mr. Davis snorted, shaking his head, superiorly. That was it; Hanna grabbed her bag and stormed out of the room.

She hurried past the front office; she could hear the voices of Mr. Davis and Mona calling her back. Hanna broke into a run once she was outside, tears streaming down her cheeks now. She didn’t care who saw her anymore. Hanna wailed in anguish; she was hurting and didn’t even have anywhere to run to. She was lost in a strange school, away from anything she’d even know and everyone she loved.

Hanna stopped running when she found a deserted looking classroom away from the main buildings of the school. She quickly hurried behind the dilapidated structure to hide herself from view. Just as she was about to sit down Hanna was startled by the site of an unusual looking girl with reddish-brown hair streaked with purple and blue highlights.

“Shit” responded the girl, putting out her cigarette; she looked just as stunned. “Oh” she continued, eyeing Hanna. “You must be a new kid”. The girl pulled another cigarette out of her pocket and lit it casually, reclining comfortably against the building.

Hanna studied the girl without responding. She wasn’t very tall, only slightly taller than herself. She looked young, but too old to be a student at the school. The girl was wearing a conservative looking fitted grey dress that although looked nice, didn’t seem to fit her flamboyant hair, dark eye-make up and collection of gypsy-looking bangles. The girl was gazing at Hanna too now, no doubt wondering why she was there.

“Everything ok?” exhaled the girl, before taking another drag of her cigarette.

“No, not really.” Hanna responded, looking down at her feet.

The girl looked at her watch. “It’s almost time for 4th period, where are you supposed to be?” asked the girl, indifferently.

“I don’t know” Hanna responded, fumbling around in her bag for her diary. Hanna pulled out the small book and flipped through the pages.

“Ah, Maxy’s class” mused the girl, reading the timetable over Hanna’s shoulder. “I’ll take you”.

“Thanks” Hanna replied softly; grateful the girl hadn’t questioned her about why she was out of class to begin with or why her eyes were wet with tears.

The girl put out her cigarette and strolled absently back toward the center of the school. Hanna followed her graciously, feeling a little better. "...Hey" she smiled up at her. “...I’m Hanna”

“Aurora” responded the girl, grinned back. “Alright; this is your class, see ya around, Hanna” Aurora waved over her shoulder, heading in a different direction.

“Thanks again” called Hanna as she entered the gym.