Page 30 of Magnetic God

“Since you’re an adult, your records are private. And we take HIPPA very seriously around here.”

I exhale. Thank god.

“Thank you.”

Mom arrives moments later, and I send up another silent prayer of thanks that she didn’t come sooner. There’s no way she’d let the doctor leave without talking to him, and I know for a fact that many people at the hospital view her as some kind of god. HIPPA might not mean crap in a scenario like that, despite what the doctor said to me.

“Let’s go. Jeremiah is waiting.”

Heaven forbid we keep the Pastor waiting.

Both Mom and my stepdad insist that I come home with them, at least for the weekend, so I find myself in my childhood bedroom. Pastor Sullivan gets out of there as soon as he can, claiming he needs to work on his sermon, but my mom stays, her arms crossed.

“Here’s your phone.” She holds it out but pulls it back when I reach for it. “I’m going to ask again. Were you distracted because of a boy?”

“What difference does it make?”

She sighs. “Because you’re better than that.”

“Better than falling in love?”

“So it was a boy.”

“It doesn’t matter, Mom.”

Her eyes light up with malicious understanding. “Something happened? That’s why you were distracted while driving. He broke up with you?”

“Something like that.”

“Hannah, I don’t like to see you hurting, but maybe this is for the best. You don’t need any distractions. You need to focus on your studies so you can get into the Master’s program.”

I bite back a groan. This is not a conversation that I want to have. It’s something we need to talk about. And soon. But, for the love of god, not today.

I say, “Maybe you’re right.”

My answer must satisfy her because she hands me my phone. I set it on the bed next to me and close my eyes. I feel her presence a moment longer before the door closes behind her.

Opening my eyes, I stare at my phone.

There’s a part of me that doesn’t want to look, but I see there are several messages and missed calls.

My heart pounds.

What if Brooks called?

Am I ready to hear what he has to say?

Entering my code, I unlock the screen. All of the missed calls were from Jess. She even left a voice message, which means she must have been worried. Jess loathes leaving voice messages.

I listen to it.

“Han, I know you’re upset, but you were supposed to call when you got home. Let me know when you get this.”

The message was sent an hour after I left. I sigh. I should call her, but I need to read all of my texts first. To see if he responded since he didn’t call…

My finger hovers over the text message icon before I open it.

My stomach turns.

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