1.22

A month later.

Hannah stops mid-step and lifts her face to look at the building. She remembers the first day she arrived at this school. She was so excited and happy to learn here, but her stay here didn't turn out as great as she thought it would. She suffered too much.

The girl intends to start the second semester differently and forget everything she has done so far. She can no longer trust her subconscious because she is deceiving herself.

Her sister left her with the completion of the summer vacation, and she let herself be controlled by something claiming to be Danielle. By doing so, she hurt herself, as well as her boyfriend, who has already suffered enough from the two twins.

She intends to fight the dark entity that inhabits the room and brings misfortune to its occupants. He needs to put an end to it.

She corrects the white scarf that has slipped off her shoulder and looks around the field, curiously watching the students. The youngsters seem to be jubilant as they make balls of snow and throw them at each other; the boys thus pick up the squealing girls, who, running away from them, fall over on the slippery surface. They laugh loudly and joyfully, causing the corners of her mouth to rise.

A shrill scream escapes from her throat when she is grabbed from behind. Before she can react, someone lifts her up and they both start spinning on their axis. The boy does it so fast that the teenager begins to feel dizzy. Eventually, he too loses his balance. They both fall on the snow.

She lifts her face and looks into Tom's amused eyes. He lies sideways to her, looking happy.

— Did you want to kill us before the start of the second semester? Apparently, the month-long vacation gave you new strength.

— I spent the first two weeks with the boys in the mountains. You would have to see what a skier Jin is.... We were no match for him. It ended up that he and Joseph arranged races and almost killed each other.

At these words, the girl rises to a sitting position.

— What do you mean they almost killed themselves?

— I don't know what went through their heads. That day they looked as if a demon had possessed them. Apparently, they quarreled fiercely, but Jimmy and I don't know what exactly happened. They are both stubborn, so neither of them reached out to agree. I had to interfere and thanks to that they are talking to each other.

— That Joseph is difficult, I know, but I thought Jin was the person who first extends a hand of agreement. — The girl is surprised and apparently doesn't know the boy as well as she assumed.

— Joseph has been acting strangely throughout the trip. He was often absent, constantly calling somewhere hidden. I don't know what's going on with him.

Hannah recalls the last day before returning home when an older student came to her room. Even then, he started acting strangely.

— I missed you. — Hannah blinks her eyelids and looks at her older colleague in disbelief as he puts his arm around her and pulls her close. Tom falls with his back to the snow, and she lands with her face on his chest. She screams for him to let her go, but he laughs and squeezes her even tighter. — You are my mascot.

The teenager starts laughing.

— I don't like this ninny. I wonder what she did that they adore her so much. Whores apparently already have that charm. — Hannah hears every word perfectly. She intends to raise her head and defend herself against the negative feedback, but first her attention is caught by Joseph, who lets the suitcase out of his hand. The teenager mirrors him with her eyes and sees that he is dressed in black. As usual.

The dark prince has returned.

He leans over and takes a handful of snow in his hand. Hannah opens her mouth in shock as she walks up to the girl who insulted her earlier. The snow lands on her face.

— Have you forgotten what the rule are at this school? I would rather not hear a word about Hannah. — She smiles cynically. — Only I can make her uncomfortable.

The teenager wipes the snow from her face, and an amused Joseph watches as black ink runs down her cheeks.

Hannah is sure to approach them; however, the boy entirely ignores their presence.

So she intends to speak to him first.

— Why did you stand up for me?

— Happy birthday, kid — he says with indifference in his voice, looking somewhere in front of him.

The girl is surprised.

— Is it your birthday today? — Tom looks exultant. — Why didn't you brag about it? How does Joe know about it?

— I'd like to know it myself...

She follows him with her eyes all the way to the front door.

— My ass is frozen. I'm going to make icicles instead of poop — Tom announces, and it takes a moment for his words to reach the sixteen-year-old. She looks at him confused. — What? Everyone does it. Why are girls ashamed of it?

— And I already thought you were cured of talking crap. — The teenager rises from the ground and looks at her friend with amusement in her eyes. — It's worse if you freeze something else — she says shamefully, then runs off to school.

*

She closes the door behind her and carefully looks around the interior. She's back in that room again. Will be in it be entirely different now?

She puts down her suitcase and throws herself on the bed. She sighs loudly as she looks at the ceiling. What will this semester look like? Will he be able to cope?

Hannah lies there for a while, not intending to rise from the mattress. She is comfortable, but someone interrupts her rest. She lifts her head and invites that person inside, not expecting it to be Mariah.

— How are you feeling, birthday girl? — The girl enters the room and closes the door behind her, squatting on the edge of the bed. — Happy birthday.

— Does everyone already know that it's my birthday?

— Well... Tom can't hold his tongue. He is so excited about this day that he even ran to the candy store to buy you a cake.

Hannah opens her eyes wider in amazement.

— Really?

— He's a nice guy, and you can see that he really likes you. You're a lucky girl — he says, patting her on the shoulder. — But changing the subject... tell me, did you recover during the holidays? Did you forget all the unpleasantness that happened to you here? I'm sorry that I wasn't able to inform you earlier who was behind it, but I was afraid of this woman. Joseph didn't believe me, so I had no one on my side, do you understand?

— If I were you, I would also be afraid. She was our guardian, besides, her father is the director, so you would not likely win with her.

— I'm glad you understand me, and I'm sorry that you suffered so much.

— Maybe the first semester was not a pleasant one, but I hope this one will be entirely different. I'm counting on it.

— I too hope that these last months will be better for me. I want to finish my last class in a pleasant atmosphere. I think it is possible. Well, because you know.... during the holidays something happened, and I gave Jimmy a second chance. I hope we will succeed this time. At least Joseph now has no reason to continue hating me, so he won't interfere in our relationship.

He notices a slight smile on her face.

— In that case, I wish you all the best. You are a good match for each other. You are the most beautiful couple in this school — she says with conviction.

Mariah laughs at these words.

— If you think so... — Hannah sits down in Turkish, smiling happily. — We'll see if we'll also be the most loving couple.

— You know... I wish this semester would go on. When you guys graduate from high school, I will be left alone. I will miss even mean Joseph. I can't imagine this place without you guys.

The older student pats the girl on the shoulder.

— It's time for you to start gaining friends from your yearbook.

— It's going to be hard because everyone hates me because of my contact with boys, but what to do? I have no choice. You have to try. — She shrugs her shoulders.

*

Hannah's eyes begin to shine with happiness when the boys show up for dinner. All four enter the cafeteria, but her attention is caught by Jin. In a white shirt and black fabric pants, he looks like a million dollars. Tom is dressed in designer tracksuits, Jimmy is wearing black pants and a denim jacket, and Joseph stands out as usual with his dark style. They all look perfect, so Hannah is not surprised by the schoolgirls who start whispering at the sight of them.

They are excited.

Jimmy smiles nonchalantly when his eyes find the girl he came together with during the holidays. She is sitting in the company of her best friend, but the boy doesn't mind. He intends to join them.

Hannah looks at the dark prince and sees that he is unhappy because his best friend has a girlfriend again. To show her anger, passing by she hits him on the head. Tom follows him to the table and only Jin stays in the middle of the cafeteria, looking in the direction of his younger friend.

He smiles when their gazes meet.

There is no doubt that he will approach her. And so he does, but to her additional surprise, he removes a small box from his pants pocket. He places it by her plate.

— I remember that Danielle had a birthday that day, so I prepared a gift for you before I arrived at school. I hope you'll like it — he announces, sitting down next to her. — Happy birthday to you.

— Is it really for me? — she asks excitedly, taking the box in her hand. — I feel cruel because this is the second gift you have prepared for me. I don't deserve it.

— You do deserve it — she confirms, resting her cheek on her palm. — As far as I remember, on the last day before we returned, we promised each other to forget everything and start our acquaintance anew.

The girl does not respond. She smiles and opens a small box. Her eyes begin to shine with happiness when she notices a silver pendant in the shape of a butterfly. It shines and looks precious.

She gasps at it.

— It's beautiful — she chokes out as she takes it in her hand. — I love butterflies.

— I know — his answer surprises her. She lifts her face and looks into his eyes with curiosity. — I just know it. — He shrugs his shoulders.

— Thank you — she replies, carefully putting it back in the box. — He is incredulous.

Joseph watches them the whole time, meanwhile eating his meal. He doesn't like the fact that Hannah is happy.

— Why do you have a raised eyebrow all the time? You look like you've been electrocuted. — Tom tightens his lips as his friend points the knife at him.

— Say another word about my appearance....

— With you, it's impossible to even joke. During the holidays you got even worse, you don't talk to us at all. Is it because of your much older lover, who turned out to be an otter?

— You are starting to be annoying.

— And good! — Tom unexpectedly raises his voice and indignantly gets up from the table. — I'm going to get a cake for my wife, and you sit here alone if you're so nasty.

He leaves the cafeteria, and people look at the leader with interest. The boy seems indifferent to his friend's words.

The lights go out all over the room. No one knows what is going on. Tom returns to the room, who is holding a cake with burning candles.

— Happy birthday, happy birthday... — starts singing, heading to the table where Hannah is sitting. All the students are discussing. The girls watch with envy the seventeen-year-old, who is getting more and more attention from the handsomest boys at Horace Mann. Everyone wants to be in her place.

Hannah gets up from her chair and leans over the table to blow out the candles. Applause rings out in the cafeteria; however, this joyous moment is spoiled by Joseph's shout:

— Turn on those lights, damn it because I'm hungry!

The light bulbs begin to shine, and Joseph gets up from the table and heads toward them.

Everyone is curious to see what's going to happen.

— Seventeen years, huh? Are you going to eat the whole cake? — Hannah crinkles her eyebrows. — You know it's bad at this age because you'll be fat and ugly?

— And good — she mutters under her breath, indignant that Joseph is again trying to spoil her happy moment.

The brunet scoops chocolate frosting onto his finger.

— Yummy.

— Why are you trying to be mean to Hannah again? I thought you liked her at least a little in the recent past, since you were going to protect her — Jin speaks up, who is outraged by his behavior.

— That's my whim — he replies, shrugging his shoulders. — I just stopped liking her — he declares to the girl's face. — I don't like the fact that she is so happy.

— Before you left, you were nice to me. We talked to each other. What happened?

— I saw something in your suitcase. I don't like the handkerchief who got lost between your clothes.

— What is wrong with this handkerchief? It's the only memento of my biological mother.

— And that's why it seems so ugly. — His words are cruel. Hannah gets sad. — Don't worry too much about my words because I know you are mentally weak. What if you hurt yourself? — Tears appear in her eyes as the boy walks away.

What has bitten him?