14. Hannah
CHAPTER 14
HANNAH
“ U gh, I swear I just went to bed,” I groan to myself the next morning, rolling over and turning off the alarm on my phone.
I soak in my last few minutes of peace, before forcing myself to get up and get ready for the day, knowing that since it’s Homecoming, I’ll be running around until late tonight, trying to make sure everything’s perfect. Blowing out a sigh, I pull myself out of bed and immediately tap my phone to bring up Spotify and hit Riley Green’s newest album, smiling when “Worst Way” starts to blare through my speakers.
I set to work, making Ruby’s bottle out of the powder I keep by the sink, and I take in the view of the sun rising over the farm. Damn, this place is a real headache sometimes, but I love it to death.
Once I have everything ready, I throw on my farm boots I keep by the door and make my way outside to the trailer while still in my pajamas. By the time I open the door, Ruby is already awake, doing what I’m pretty sure is the calf version of the zoomies. It makes me smile to see her up and moving, and I blow out a sigh of relief that she already seems to be gaining weight and strength the way she’s supposed to.
“Good morning sweet girl,” I coo at her, reaching out and rubbing the coarse hair on her sweet little head. “You hungry, huh? You want some breakfast”
In response, she twirls herself in a circle and lets out a soft moo that makes me giggle. “I know it, girl. Here you go,” I tell her, gripping the bottle with both hands and tilting it down to her.
The little calf immediately grabs it with her teeth, and I have to grip the plastic a little harder as she starts to pull on it. I let out a little laugh at her antics and continue talking to her while she eats until the bottle is empty.
Once she’s done, I pull the bottle away and pet the top of her head again as she curls up in a little ball. “You sleepy now, huh?” I ask, as she sticks out her sandpaper tongue and licks my palm. “Oh I know it. You’re so sweet. And you’re getting so strong. I know it may not feel like it right now, but you’re gonna be okay. And I’m gonna work on building you a pen this weekend so we can get you out of this trailer. What do ya think about that, huh?”
Once again, she lets out a little moo before laying her head down beside where I’m standing, her eyes closing almost immediately.
“All right, sweet girl, you take you a nap, and I’ll see you later,” I tell her, relocking the trailer door and turning to check on Leroy.
When I make my way over, I can’t help but laugh at the sight of him in his little piggy bed. It took us a while to get him back in the pen and fill back in the hole he’d managed to dig with his snoot after his escape, but now that he’s lying in his bed with his food bowl flipped over his face, blocking the rising sun, I feel any last bits of frustration with the animal fade.
When I first got him, I had no idea how notorious pigs were for being great escape artists, and I completely panicked the first time he left his pen. But over the last few years, I’ve gotten used to his antics. He never goes far, and he just loves to roll in the mud. I’ve considered bringing him inside to see if it would help since he pretty much thinks he’s a dog anyway, but the idea of adding anything else to my plate right now makes me want to lose my mind, so I’ve just decided to let him do what he wants.
“Morning, my little precious piggy,” I tell him, and I laugh when he wakes with a start and flings his head, moving the metal bowl off his face with a clang.
He jumps up fast and wiggles his little butt while he waits on me to open the pen and pet him. After getting the gate open, I go in and spend a few minutes giving him some attention and rolling his favorite ball for him to chase. I don’t know if it’s normal that my pig likes to play fetch, but it makes me smile so I’m going with it anyway.
My Apple Watch pings, letting me know it’s time to start getting ready, so I reach down and rub his stomach for a moment, laughing as he snorts and rolls in excitement.
“Okay, big guy, I’ve gotta get ready to go to work, and I need you to promise me you’re gonna be a good boy today and stay where you’re supposed to be. No big escape plans today, m’kay?” I tell him, patting his head as I stand from where I was crouched over, and grabbing his overturned food bowl.
“You want some breakfast too?” I ask him, already reaching down and grabbing the scoop I keep in the plastic bucket of his feed. Leroy lets out a squeal of approval, and I roll my head at his excitement.
“Yeah, yeah. I know. Here you go,” I say, dropping the bowl and patting him one more time before letting myself out and making sure that both latches are locked before making my way back inside to shower and get dressed.
“Let’s get this day started then I guess,” I say to myself, trying to ignore the loneliness I feel when I look at the empty house.
“Okay, girls, get set. We’re gonna be between the band and the football team, and we’re bringing up the end of the parade, so we’re gonna have to be ready once they start moving,” Caroline tells the squad later that afternoon as we wait for the police to signal the start of the parade.
The band starts playing the fight song, and the girls get ready to walk, grabbing their poms from the ground and straightening their new navy uniforms.
“Big smiles, girls, let’s go,” I remind them as we start making our way toward the middle of town. The float we’ve spent the last week working on is in front of us, and I can’t help but smile at how good the banner designs look.
Caroline and I wave to people along the parade route as we walk behind the girls, and it never ceases to amaze me how many people pile into the streets of our little town for this. Springside might be small, but I love seeing how the community makes sure to support our kids.
Before we know it, we’re back at the school, and we make our way to the football stadium where we’ll have a small pep rally before the boys get ready for the game. Behind us, the team is piling off the flatbed trailer that one of the parents let the team borrow for the parade, and I see Will and Theo talking to one of the other coaches.
“Okay, girls, you have ten minutes to run to the gym and freshen up before the fans start getting here. Go on and meet us back at the field,” Caroline tells the team, dismissing them before turning back to me. “Come on, Han,” she says, grabbing my arm and pulling me toward the boys.
“Ugh, I can’t deal with him today, Caroline. I’m in a good mood, and I don’t feel like ruining it,” I complain with a groan.
“Oh my gosh, stop being such a baby.” She laughs, ignoring my reluctance. “Hey, Cowboy,” she says as we reach her fiancé standing with the man who knows how to push all my buttons.
Theo immediately reaches out for her and pulls her to him without stopping the conversation he and Will are having and presses a kiss to her forehead. After a moment, he smiles down at her. “Hey, Sunshine. Morning, Hannah. You two ready for whatever this is about to be?”
Despite my annoyance at having to put up with Will, I laugh at his question as Caroline tells him yes, immediately launching into the plans for the pep rally.
I can tell Will’s about to say something when one of the assistant coaches makes his way over to us. I know his name is Kent, but I don’t know him that well since he isn’t a teacher, although I think he’s pretty close to our age.
“Hey, ladies,” he says, smiling kindly at both of us. “You ready to rock this pep rally?”
“Yep, we sure are,” Caroline says excitedly, “What about you? Are y’all ready for tonight?”
Will starts talking about their strategy, and I try to look bored, despite the fact that I’ve always loved football. Unfortunately for me, Will is actually a really good coach, and the new play he’s talking about actually sounds really damn cool. Oh well, he doesn’t need to know that.
I check my phone for the time just as Caroline asks, “So, Kent, are you coming to the bonfire at our house tomorrow night? It won’t be anything fancy, but we’re celebrating our engagement and we’d love to have you.”
“Yeah, Theo mentioned it at practice earlier this week. You’ll be there too, right Hannah?” he asks, looking up at me and it takes me a moment to realize he’s talking to me.
“Oh, yep, I’ll be there,” I tell him with a smile.
“Hmm, good. I was thinking we could chat? If so, I’ll come find you?” he asks, and I don’t miss the hopeful expression on his face as he asks.
“Sure, I’d like that. I’ll be the one with the margaritas,” I tease, already looking forward to the peach mix and tequila I grabbed last week at the liquor store.
“Margaritas? At a bonfire?” Will interjects. “Really, Hannah? Can’t you just drink a beer like a normal fucking human?”
I glare at him, ignoring Caroline elbowing him in the ribs at his outburst. “Yes, Will. We both know I like beer too. But what the hell’s wrong with finding some of the little joys in life? Clearly, it’s something you should start doing, since you’re boring as hell.”
We glare at each other for a minute, before Kent breaks the silence with a tight laugh. “I’ve gotta grab something out of my office before this thing gets started, but I’ll see you tomorrow, Hannah.”
“See you then,” I tell him, admiring how attractive he is. He towers over my six-foot frame, and his tan and tattoos should be just my type. I try to feel a jolt of excitement that he seems interested in me, but it never comes. Instead, I compare him to Will in my head, despite the fact that he’s still sneering at me in disgust.
“You got something to say?” I ask, knowing I’m provoking him. But the air feels electric, and I’m desperate to see him snap.
He opens his mouth to fire back at me before Caroline interrupts him. “Okay, enough of that. We’ve gotta go get ready, and I can’t listen to the two of you bicker anymore today. We’ll see y’all later.”
I roll my eyes at her, letting her grab my arm but just as we start to walk away, Theo pulls her back and drops a kiss on her lips before whispering, “See you after all this hoopla, Sunshine.”
She smiles and pulls away from him, grabbing my arm again for us to start walking through the crowd starting to pile into the stadium. I’m about to tease her about how adorably nauseating she and her fiancé are, but she just says, “I already know, we’re too much and I don’t care.”
We both laugh at that, and she changes the subject. “Oh don’t think you’re getting away with us not talking about you. What was that with the coach? He’s totally into you, Han! And he’s cuuute ,” she sings, stretching out the word as far as she can.
“Yeah, yeah, he’s not terrible looking or anything like that. But he’s probably just being nice. I’m not reading much into it,” I tell her seriously.
Caroline groans at that, but thankfully lets it go since we’re walking through the gates of the field where most of the girls are waiting for us to give them instructions.
“All right, ladies, let’s warm up that stunt sequence and be ready to hit it full out,” I call out, desperate to get lost in something other than this conversation with my best friend. “Let’s get it, ladies.”