Severed Bonds
Chapter 33- Strong Willed

Shit! Ali jumps.

"She told me tomorrow." She mumbled. Argh! No! Why the hell is everything going to shit?

"Thomas!" He walks over taking his sweet time!

"Yes?"

"Get the clan members downstairs." I say in a low voice. "You!" Ali looks at me with an irritated expression. "Answer the door and distract Hannah." Before she can object I take off with Thomas. How are we going to get them all down there without causing any suspicion! If they replace out Hannah's been living here...who knows how they'll retaliate!

Hannah POV,

Hmmm... what's taking so long? Ali opens the door with a wide smile.

"Hannah! You're out, so soon!" She announces oddly. "I thought you were going to be released tomorrow?" She says with a frozen smile.

"I...thought so too! But then I kept thinking, and I thought why hell shouldn't I be released today!" I exclaim. She nods unusually.

"Yeah, why not!" She stands there blocking the doorway.

"So...what are you doing here?"

"Oh, I was just stopping by to check on Ian. You know since you two are linked and everything." She waves her hand.

"Oh..." I look at Ali for a while, hoping she'll realize she's blocking my way to the house. "Ali?"

"Yeah?" Her posture is stiff and her face is frozen.

"You're blocking the doorway..."

"Oh, my bad." She laughs. She's acting a little odd, maybe she's just very surprised to see me? She steps aside, allowing me to step through. The door shuts behind me, I turn around and see Ali standing behind me.

"Aren't you leaving?"

"I was, but I can stay for a bit." She shrugs.

"Oh, let's go to my room."

"No!" I snap my head at her curiously. "I mean, I can't stay long so we could just stand here..."

"Oh, okay..."

"So....what are your plans for summer break?"

"Oh, wow I haven't even thought about that!"

"Yeah, I bet. It would be good for you to take a trip or something. You know to clear your head, I feel like you deserve a break the most."

"Aww...thanks Ali. That does sound nice, a little trip away from here." I sigh out loud. Reminds me, Lola wanted us to all go on a trip for summer break. I haven't spoken to them for a while Justin is probably worried out of his mind and Lola will be pissed. How could I make it up to them? I'm sorry, Isn't going to excuse my absence for weeks.

"Ali? What are you still doing here?" Ian barges out of nowhere.

"Oh! Yeah, right! Look at the time! I gotta go!"

"Oh, well bye Ali!" She gives me a smile and leaves out the door. Ian walks off not even bothering to say hello! Eh, what do I expect. It's so typical of him. I walk up the stairs and jump on my bed. Oh, I missed you! For the first time I'm excited to sleep, I open up my phone. I'm surprised it's not dead by now. My dad gave it to me when I was released. Sure enough there's seven face times, ten calls and thirteen messages. I sigh, what am I going to do. I can't tell them what happened to me for the past weeks. But I can't just leave them answered either? Especially Justin... I'll worry about it tomorrow, I dive in the covers and allow myself to be taken over by sleep. I wake up feeling refreshed, a little groggy but not as dazed as I was before. I open my suitcase that's barely unpacked, that's when the most brilliant idea popped up in my head. I smile to myself, I put together a really cute outfit. It's been a while since I dressed up like myself. It feels good to have my shit together and to be me again. I meet up with Violet and Johnny. I'm so glad me and Violet have patched things up. It feels nice to have two good friends at this school. I can see Ian in the corner of my eye getting stuff out of his locker. Despite the ups and downs we had. I do owe him a lot, I don't think I would've gotten through my trauma without him. Violet tugs me.

"Hannah? Are you coming or what?" I look back at her and back at him.

"Yeah, sorry spaced out again." Nah, he'd probably use that to prove that I'm dumb and naive all over again. I sit with Violet and her brother at lunch. He's constantly checking up on her, which I don't blame him for. But he can be a bit overbearing...

"How you feeling?" He blurts.

"Fine." She grits her teeth.

"You sure? Are you really sure? Just take time and think about it." She rolls her eyes.

"Yes!" I sit there awkwardly while she glances at me for help. That's when I decided to step in.

"Johnny you're gonna make her have a reason to be depressed!" I joke. She sighs in frustration.

"Sorry, I was doing it again. Wasn't I?" He gives a cheesy smile.

"At this point, I'm starting to think you're doing it on purpose." She huffs.

"I'm not! I'm not!" He pleads. Aww, I'm so jealous! I wish I grew up with a sibling! Having someone looking out for you. Johnny is so sweet and caring, I can see why most girls have confessed to him. But you can tell the only thing important in his life right now is Violet. At the end of the day, I catch Ian by his locker.

"Do you need something?"He huffs. He's always grumpy.

"I just wanted to let you know that I'm going to my house today. Violet asked to come over and if I show her your house it would bring up some questions. And I figured you wouldn't be too keen on hiding in your own house." I look at him to see what he thinks of this.

"Allright." He shrugs. Wait, that's it? He walks off. I thought he would be mad that I let him know at the last second and everything? Eh, I won't push it. If he doesn't want to be bothered I won't bother him. Dad picks me up and I tell him that I've gotten permission to be at my house for the day. He looks at me oddly and smiles. Even though things aren't clear with my dad right now, Justin was right about one thing. He is my dad, and no matter what he still loves and has always cared for me. We put on a movie and order pizza, like the good old days. I tell him that I was able to sleep well for the first night at the house. He nods and smiles about that, then he starts interrogating me about Johnny. Oh no....That's when I went upstairs and told him I want to see my room. I unzip my book bag, and pull out my laptop. I sit on my desk, scoot my chair in and request a meet. Soon as I click send, my screen turns into a grid and two different screens appear.