Page 33 of Second Chance Vacation

“He’s good.” I bite my inner cheek again as the skin begins to feel raw. “We don’t talk a ton.”

“So he didn’t tell you then.”

I can hear the grin Jackson is sporting more than I can see it. I roll my eyes as I smack him in the arm.

“Oh, whatever.” I stare into the darkness, almost positive my eyes are adjusting, and I can see Jackson clearly. “What about you? How is everyone? Your family, I mean.”

“You mean Hannah?”

Yes, I mean Hannah.

“No, everyone.”

“Well—” Jackson adjusts his seating to look toward me, “Mom and Dad are good. Dad retired, so he’s not traveling like he used to, which is nice. Mom, however, seems to work more now than she ever did when I was a kid.” Jackson shrugs. “I don’t know. I don’t think she can retire. She enjoys being busy too much.”

“Sounds like your mom.” I quirk a smile, preparing to ask what I really want to know. “And Hannah?”

Hannah and I had a falling out when Jackson and I broke up. At one point in my life, I couldn’t imagine my life without her in it, so to be having to ask Jackson about her leaves a pang in my stomach. I know the cliff notes. Hannah is in New York now, she went to the University of Tennessee, but short of a social media stalk session, I know little.

It’s a shitty feeling.

“Hannah’s good.” The hesitation in his voice bleeds through. “She’s in New York, still doing the acting thing. I miss her, but it’s what she wants to do, so who am I to stop her?”

Silence falls on us like a blanket.

I want to ask more, pry a bit, ask how she’s been besides the facts and figures. I want to know if she has any close friends, a boyfriend, has she booked a show, what big things are happening for her. But I don’t. I just make pleasantries.

“She was always a really talented actress.” A melancholy falls over my voice. I can’t tell if Jackson notices.

“Have you talked at all?”

“No.”

The silence creeps forward again, except it seems like both Jackson and I are desperate to keep it there. I know where this conversation is going, and I’m not sure I am ready to approach it. Jackson decides for me.

“What happened between you guys, anyway?”

“You did.” I try my best to speak matter of fact, but the pain I hold for the topic is clear in my voice. I miss Hannah. I realize I could’ve reached out by this point, but the more time that goes by, the more I don’t know what to say.

The crease in Jackson’s brow leaves me wondering what he is thinking. He just stares at me, deep in thought.

“—how did.” He pauses, clearly trying to pick his words. “What do you mean by, I happened?”

He really doesn’t know?

I just always assumed Jackson was fully aware of what happened with Hannah and me, even more than me—apparently not.

“When we broke up…” I sigh, I really don’t want to talk about this, but here we are, “Hannah was pissed at me. I’m not sure why. I guess I just assumed protectiveness, but she didn’t take it well.”

“I knew she was mad, but I guess I just assumed it would settle—just like all your fights.”

Hannah and I argued a lot as kids, it was never anything big or bad, but we bickered. Jackson and my's breakup, however, was the worst fight we’ve ever had, one we didn’t bounce back from.

“Nope. We haven’t talked since fall of senior year.” I didn’t know when I started, but I am ripping at the grass, tearing each blade apart one by one. The topic, while I realize an important one, leaves me feeling everything I did back then. The pain I felt when Jackson left was nothing compared to losing Hannah.

“That’s too bad…” Jackson exhales, grasping the phone in his hand and turning off the flashlight neither of us realized was now facing the ground. “Have you tried to talk to her?”

He makes it sound so simple.

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