20. Hannah
CHAPTER 20
HANNAH
“ O kay, that’s it for today. Make sure you come prepared for your test on the cell cycle. I’ll see y’all tomorrow,” I call out to my fifth period as the bell rings signaling the end of class.
A few students linger, asking me about the study guide I sent out until I finally have to shoo them out of the room to make sure they aren’t late for their next class. As they leave, I pull my door closed and turn out the lights, desperate for a few minutes of quiet after the review game I’ve spent the day playing with my classes. I love incorporating fun activities into my lessons for engagement, but days like today tend to drain me more than usual.
It’s been a few weeks since Homecoming, but I still feel like I’ve been spreading myself as thin as possible. Between competing and winning regionals with our squad and back-to-back football games, I’ve felt like I’m living at the school and the mid-school year slump is hitting me harder than normal.
After sitting in silence for a few minutes, I take a minute to check the spreadsheet Caroline helped me make to keep up with all the farm expenses and smile when I see that I’ve managed to chip away a little each week. I still feel like I’m drowning in bills, but I got a call last week that by some miracle the cost of Gramp’s services had been lowered and I finally feel like I can breathe. Without that added cost, I’ll be able to catch up with the bank, which takes care of the biggest chunk of debt. Caroline also convinced me to reach out to a few of the local places, and they agreed to let me use a payment plan, so while there’s still a good bit of expenses, I don’t feel quite as stressed.
After making sure everything’s in order, I force myself to grab my planner, knowing I need to finish my lesson plans for next week. I’m flipping through the pages to find the right page when I hear a knock on my door.
I let out a groan and pray it’s not Principal Hale asking me to cover for one of our classes without subs before making my way to the door. I open it, blinking back my surprise when I see Will standing in front of me.
“Hey, uh, what’s up?” I ask him skeptically, knowing he tends to spend all his time in his office at the field house.
“Hey, I need you to sign off on some of these purchase orders for the state cheer competition. And I also need proof everyone’s signed waivers and had physicals so I can turn it in to the state,” he answers, holding out a stack of papers for me to take.
“Okay, I don’t mind, but you do know Caroline normally does this, right?” I ask.
“Yeah, I’m aware. But she’s out today, and I need it turned in now. So can you do it or not?”
“Chill, yes, I’ve got it. Give me just a sec,” I tell him, turning back to walk to my desk. He follows me over, and the quiet click of the door locking behind him is deafening in the small room. I try not to let my nerves show, reminding myself that he’s just here because he’s the athletic director in addition to his coaching responsibilities, but the fact that we haven’t been alone together since that summer has me feeling more on edge than normal.
I grab a pen off my desk and make quick work of signing the paperwork, pushing them toward him when I’m finished. He takes them from me, but he doesn’t say anything as he waits for me to pull up my school laptop and print the waivers we keep on file for the girls. I send them to print and lean over when I grab them, growling as my printer jams for the third time this week.
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” I groan, flipping the lid and hoping to see the paper causing the problem sticking out so I can get this man out of my room, but since the universe obviously hates me, that’s not in the cards today.
“What’s the matter?” Will asks, leaning over to follow my gaze to the printer that’s obviously out to ruin my life.
“The damn thing’s jammed again. I swear this thing is such a piece of junk,” I answer, opening the back panel and looking for the problem.
“Here, watch out, let me look,” he says, rising, and I feel him move behind me as he examines the printer over my head. My arm grazes his, and I feel my heart start to beat erratically. Sis, what the hell? I chide myself, frustrated at my body’s response to him.
I move away, desperate to get away from him to get hold on where my thoughts definitely shouldn’t be going. Will fiddles with the machine for a few minutes until it finally starts to spit out the paperwork he needs, and I don’t know if I want to sigh in relief or mourn the fact that he’s about to leave.
“Thanks,” I murmur, shuffling my feet and stacking the papers as they shoot out, trying to look busy as we stand in awkward silence. God, I hate this. When it comes to anyone else, I feel confident and sure of myself, but there’s something about being around Will that makes me feel like my world isn’t sitting quite right on its axis.
After a few moments of standing in silence, all the paperwork he asked for is done printing, and I reach out, holding it up to him. Our fingers graze lightly as he grabs them, and I feel the familiar jolt of electricity run through my body whenever he’s close. Afraid he’ll realize how he’s affecting me, I turn my back to him, planning to ignore his presence until he leaves.
“Han, I—” he starts, and the sincerity in those two words causes my breath to catch in my throat. It’s been years since I heard anything except anger and annoyance in his tone, but the way he just said my name wasn’t that at all. I’m anxious to hear what he was about to say, waiting for him to continue when the bell signaling the end of my planning period rings. The abrupt sound breaks me out of the trance I was in, and I hear kids start to move through the hallways. Thankful for the distraction, I jump up and run to the door, flinging it open and hoping he’ll take the hint that I can’t do this right now.
“Good afternoon. Come on in and grab your journals for the bell-ringer,” I call out as a group of students make their way into my room.
From my spot at the door I hear one of the boys yell, “Coach Will! What are you doing here?”
Will chuckles before responding, “You do remember I work here right?”
“Yeah, but you don’t ever leave the field house,” one of his players responds.
“I’ll have you know I have to do things other than create plays and watch film, okay? The whole athletic director job does take up some of my time every now and again,” he responds sarcastically.
From my spot at the door, I can’t hear exactly what the boys say back, but it makes Will laugh, and I strain my ears to listen to whatever they say next. They murmur back and forth before I hear Will say, “And not that it’s any of your business, but since the cheerleaders are advancing to State, I needed some paperwork from Miss Hannah.”
“Oh, bummer,” one girl chimes in. “I thought maybe you had a crush on Miss Hannah and came by to say hi.”
“Susie, I know you’re new here, but Miss Hannah and Coach Will fight like cats and dogs. Even we know that. They basically hate each other. There’s no way they’d ever end up together,” one of the boys responds, and several of the other students laugh at that.
The bell rings and I move back into the room, and Will and I make eye contact as he moves toward the door, his usual detached look back on his face. And as he shuts the door behind him, all I can think is I wish that I could hate him as much as everyone else thinks I do.