Forget Me Not

Ch 10. Anger Management

I and Sarah are sitting in my room munching Doritos when someone rings the doorbell.

"Mom, can you please open the door?" I call out.

The doorbell rings again. This time, three times in succession as if the person is in a hurry to get inside.

"Mom?" I shout this time. When there's no reply I get up with an 'ugh' and run downstairs to open the door. Where is my Mom? I wonder.

I open the door and let out a little gasp.

"Oh my God! Hannah?" I ask her to make myself sure that it really is her. I want to hug her and slap her at the same time. She's back. She is finally back! There's a stupid grin on my face and I am about to call Sarah down, but stop when I look closely at her face. It is tear stained and her eyes are puffed. 

"How could you do this?" she asks me with a new set of tears flowing down her eyes, "I never thought that you of all people would do this to me! You were my best friend Rachel."

"I am sorry Han-"

As she comes closer to me, I see that thers's blood on her face, running down from her head all the way down to her chin and then dripping on the floor. There's some on her hands too. Who did this to her?

"You know that Sal's more than a crush to me! And now you are stealing him away even before I can have him? I hate you, Rachel! I hate you. I HATE YOU!" She spits out the last sentence and shoves me hard with both her hands. I tumble back into my house due to the force and Hannah starts running away. Again. Leaving a trail of blood behind her.

"Hannah wait!"

I opened my eyes and tried to sit up. I have to stop her. She can't leave again, but I noticed that the room was dark. It took me few seconds to realize that I was in my bedroom and what I had sen was a dream. God, that shove from Hannah felt so real. Mixed feelings start running through me: relieved that it was just a bad dream and sullen that Hannah is still not back.

My heart was beating so loud that I was worried I might wake my mom up. Trying to calm myself, I took deep breaths. Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale.

When Sal had asked me to go with him to the Dance, I had just stood there without saying anything, my jaw hanging, like an idiot.

"Um...I'll think about it?" I had said after a few seconds.

"Look, I know you might be thinking that this is not what a friend does, but it's just a dance and if Hannah cared about you as much as you care about her, she wouldn't have left without telling you anything."

Sal had a point. Hannah for sure hadn't thought about us at all before running away. I mean, she could have come to me or Sarah to tell us what was wrong. Though we weren't talking as much but we surely would have given a ear to her problems. That's what bestfriends are for.

But still, just because she had left us with so many unanswered questions, it didn't mean that I could go to the Dance with her only crush. Or could I? He hadn't ask me on a date or something. It was just Homecoming Dance. And I had no interest in the 'stealing' business. Plus he seemed like the only person from their group whom I could ask those unanswered questions. And this Dance excuse seemed like a golden oppurtunity.

******

"Oh my God! So it is true! I was right, see? I was so fucking right!" Sarah beemed at me from the passenger seat.

"What's true?" I asked keeping my eyes on the road.

"He's got a thing for you. Remember how I told you that I've seen him staring at you?"