Page 87 of Second Chance Vacation

Knock, knock, knock, knock, knock, knock.

My eyes shoot straight in the direction of my front door, shaken back to where I am in an instant. I jump up from my bed, and the moment my feet hit the floor, a shooting pain travels straight to my head, a pounding reminder of the bottle of wine I downed last night when I returned home. My eyes are puffy, so much so that I can barely see to open the door.

I swing open the front door of my apartment. My mouth gapes as a petite blonde darts past me, failing to greet me as she enters my apartment.

Hannah.

“Hello to you too…” I moan groggily, holding my hand to my eye, begging for the pressure to provide some relief to the pounding centered there.

She ignores my response.

Hannah steps into my kitchen, setting her oversized tote bag on the counter before she begins sifting through it.

“Is there a reason you’re here—?”

Once again, Hannah doesn’t respond. I’m starting to get pissed off at her insistence on not responding. She reaches into her Mary Poppins bag of goodies, pulling out a bottle of Ibuprofen and a bottle of Pedialyte.

Oh, thank God.

Hannah pours me a glass of blue liquid as she pours three pills into my hand. I down them in one gulp before my eyes meet hers.

“Seriously, Han. What are you doing here?”

“What happened, Viv?” Hannah’s tone, to my surprise, is docile, calm, and, more than anything—concerned.

“I had a bottle of wine before bed.”

“That’s not what I meant, and you know it. Although—I had a feeling,” she says, looking around my space with a disgusted frown painted across her lips. The pizza box from last night is still propped open on my coffee table, along with my glass and bottle. Despite the glass, I started drinking straight from the bottle after a single glass.

“Viv—”

My eyes meet hers before yanking open the fridge. I grab a bottle of water and hold it out to her. She grabs it from my hand with no resistance. Grabbing my own, I move to the couch. Hannah follows me without a word leaving her mouth.

“So…I ask again. Viv, what happened?”

“I—” I exhale, rubbing my eyes. “I don’t know. Savannah and Wesley invited Jackson, and I didn’t know about it…”

“Believe it or not, Jackson and I talk. I’m aware of that part, but what happened?”

Tears prick at my eyes, leaving a stinging sensation as the salt hits my swollen flesh.

“I don’t know, Hannah.”

I sigh, looking up at the ceiling with a quiet plea to keep the tears at bay. The moment one slides down my cheek, I am reminded why I don’t attend church.

“Viv—”

“I overheard him tell Wesley that he’s in love with me—” I blurt out, nearly blending my words in on each other, desperate to get the agonizing phrase out of my head as if saying it will somehow wash it from my mind.

“And?” Hannah’s brows salute her hairline with a questioning glance.

“What do you meanand?”

“I mean, why are you so surprised by that? I mean, let’s be honest. He was obsessed with you when we were kids.”

“Yeah…but that’s different.”

“Is it, though?” Hannah asks, causing me to take pause.

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