CHAPTER TWO

Welcome to Charlotte, North Carolina population 872, 498. The sign read as Hanna let out a sigh. It has been a long awkward car ride as it was oddly quiet, only speaking when the two stopped for food or when at the gas station. It was an extremely long drive and Hanna hopes she never has to go through it again. Her dad hasn’t stopped to take a break or rest and she could see the exhaustion in his eyes, and she decided to break the silence.

“So, Rene was it? What’s she like?” Hanna asked surprising her father that she was even talking to him.

“Oh, she’s great and fantastic. She always puts others before herself, she’s very gentle and kind so please try not to be too hard on her, she really wanted to meet you,”

“How many step siblings are we talking about?” Hanna asked as her dad bit his lip debating whether or not he should tell her.

“She has three kids,” he finally confessed after a minute.

Hanna feels like her eyes are about to go out of her head.

“THREE?! HOLY HELL DAD THREE KIDS?!”

“Hey, stop the swearing it doesn’t look good on you. And yes, three kids what’s the big deal? They are all your age after all,”

“Well I’m sorry if I had been the only child. Three seems to be a bit much to me, and besides she’s probably only with you to help her out with them,” Hanna says chuckling while shaking her head.

“Hanna,” Her father sternly says causing her to shut up.

“Sorry,” she mumbled sitting quietly in the car now.

Nothing else was said as an hour later they pulled up into a huge house. It was a regular brown with four windows on each side, a black roof top, there was one average size garage on the right side with one more car parked on the left side, the door was almost made like glass with a silver doorknob. The place was covered in beautiful green grass and tons of trees around, and other houses a little further in the back.

“So, what do you think impressed yet?” Dad asked smirking once they came up to the door.

“I have to see the inside first,” She bluntly responds causing his smirk to fall as he rolled his eyes.

“HONEY YOUR HOME!” A high-pitched voice sounded opening the door before dad could get his keys out.

To say this trashy white bitch was trash was a total understatement. She was your average white girl with bouncy blonde hair, baby blue eyes, pale skin, long slender legs. She was wearing a short pink skirt with a pink tank top that says, ‘Welcome home Daddy’. Hanna’s eyebrow rose in question but before she could ask something the lady kissed her dad hard on the lips momentarily forgetting that she was there as she couldn’t help but gag at the sight. Some women who wasn’t her mother was practically making out with her dad.

“Oh, I’m so sorry sweetie. Hi you must be- “

“Hanna, my name is Hanna,” She responded putting her hand out but to Hanna’s surprised she grabbed her hand and pulled her into a firm hug.

“OH, ITS SO GOOD TO FINALLY MEET YOU!” She says with a smile before pulling away from her.

“Likewise,” She lied with a tight smile on her face.

The inside of the house was pretty decent. It had one long large brown couch, with a 35 in TV in the center along with a round table in the middle. To the left there was a long rectangle brown table with at least 8 brown chairs seated in it. The place was decorated with all kinds of pictures that mostly contained of her kids and rewards from school.

“KIDS!” She yelled as three older kids came downstairs first.

There was two girls and one boy. The girls looked just alike with long blonde hair, blue eyes, and pale skin; they were both wearing yellow shirts that had ‘Twins’ on it with blue jeans. One had her hair up and the other down which is really the only way to tell them apart. The boy he had short black hair, a baby face that made him look extremely young, he was tall but slender with blue eyes and dark clothing. He kind of screamed Emo.

“Introduce yourselves kids,” Rene says with a smile.

“Flynn,” The emo boy said without a care in the world.

“Flynn be nice, I’m sorry about my brother he’s going through this emo phase right now, I’m Audrey,” The twin on the left with her hair up says with a kind smile.

“And I’m Rosalie it’s nice to meet you,” She says as Hanna nodded her head.

“I’m Hanna, its nice to meet you too,”

“Okay kids so now I want you to show Hanna around the house okay?”

“But mom- “Flynn started but the glare her mother gave him caused him to shut up. “Yes mom,” he says rolling his eyes as the four went upstairs.

“So, you’re the famous Hanna Gonzalez huh?” Audrey asked looking back at her while they were heading upstairs.

“Umm….. Sure, I guess,” She responded just as they reached to the top.

“What’s it like in Arizona?” Rosalie asked.

“Hot, very hot but nice weather,”

“Must be nice, it’s always cloudy or stormy here, but I guess it has its nice days sometimes as well,”

“Anyways here’s your room,” Audrey said leading me to the very end of the hallway.

“Thanks guys…. What’s the people like over here? What school you guys go to?”

“Myers Park High School, it’s an incredibly quiet town. Everybody knows everybody so expect a lot of stares, rumors and judgments on Monday,” Flynn says pushing his hair back with his hand.

“I see, thanks again guys,”

“Its no problem really. Uhhh…. See you later,” Rosalie says before leaving as the other two went separate ways.

To say this was the most awkward meeting she’s ever had was an understatement. She’s already missing her regular life at home. Hanna sighed as she finally opened the door to her room. It was nice looking with a queen size bed with purple sheets and a blanket with a purple butterfly on it, a window by her bed, a set of drawers, and a desk with a lamp on it.

“Do you like it?” She heard her dad ask from behind her causing her to jump out of pure fear.

“Dad don’t sneak up on me like that!” She hissed glaring at him as he laughed and held his hands up in surrender.

“Alright, Alright I apologize,”

“But yeah… I like it I guess. I’m just really going to dread Monday though,”

“Why?” her dad asks setting down her bags that he had in his hands.

“Because I’m the new kid and according to the siblings everyone knows everyone and I’m just gonna be the talk of the town,”

“That’s what your worried about?” Dad asked with a raised eyebrow.

“YES!”

“Hon people will talk about you weather you like it or not. Its just who people are they want something to talk about. Don’t take it to heart sweetie, be proud that there talking about you. It makes you the star,”

“Yeah, until I mess up,” She mumbled looking away.

“What?” Her dad asks raised eyebrow.

“Nothing. Bye dad thanks for bringing my bags in,”

“No problem sweetie. Dinner is ready in 15 make sure your downstairs,”

“I can’t eat in my room?” She asks almost pleading with him.

“Nope, you’re not in Arizona anymore kid. New house new rules,” he says kissing her head before leaving the room.

Hanna sighed as she began unpacking her bag once she was finished she laid on her bed and looked up at the ceiling fan.

“How did I end up here?” She mumbled to herself with a frown.

“HANNA ITS TIME TO EAT!” Hanna heard that woman call out as she rolled her eyes and got out of bed.

Once Hanna reached downstairs she noticed everyone already at the table, but nobody ate anything.

“Were you guys waiting on me?”

“Yes, dear we didn’t want to start without you,” Rene says with a kind smile as she sat next to Audrey who sat next to Rosalie and Flynn sat next to her dad who was at the end of the table.

The dinner she saw on her plate was a chicken breast, baked beans, corn, and a muffin.

“Okay grab hands everybody,” Rene says as Hanna rose her eyebrow when Audrey grabbed onto her hand and she had felt Flynn who was beside her grab onto her other hand.

“Hanna would you like to say a Prayer?”

“A-A Prayer?”

“You mean you don’t do one at home?” Rosalie asked with a shocked expression.

“Well, its just me and my mom so there never really was in need of one,”

“You are so lucky,” Flynn says with a sigh as he rolled his eyes.

“Just for that outburst Flynn you give us a dinner Prayer,”

“But mom- “

“Flynn,” His mother said in a firm tone as he sighed and rolled his eyes again.

“God is great, and God is good, let us thank him for our food; by his blessings we are fed, give us lord our daily bread. Amen,”

“Amen,” The group besides Hanna says as they let go of each other and began eating.

Hanna looked down at her plate once more as she took a small bit of her meal.

“So Hanna,” Rene began with a smile. “Tell me all about Arizona. How’s your mother?”

Just by her asking that question has her gripping onto the current fork she had in her hand hard. She should know especially since she took her father away from her.

“She’s doing great actually,” Hanna responded through gritted teeth before putting chicken in her mouth.

“Oh well that’s lovely, give her my kind regards would you?”

“Yes ma’am,”

“Arizona?”

“Oh, it’s a great place. Really it is you should come visit sometime, I’ve been meaning to ask how you and dad met?”

Rene smirked as she looked up at John with a glint in his eye.

“Well John?”

“Ummm…..” her dad started scratching the back of his head. “It was at my business trip and I had to come up here for a meeting, I happened to ask her for directions and it kind of went from there,”

“Oh,” was all Hanna said staring at Rene. “Can I be excused please? I think I’m finished,” she says with a half empty plate but gets up anyways before anyone could respond.

Hanna goes straight into her room and lays on her bed with a huge sigh. She decided to call her mother.

“Hey sweetie how’s it going up there? Did you settle in okay?” Her mother asks her in a child like tone.

“Yes mother I settled in okay, but this family is weird. There’s something weird about dads wife. She’s kind of freaky in a way,”

“Oh honey aren’t they all? You’ll get used to it I’m sure. How are the kids?”

“There okay. So far Audrey and Rosalie are the only ones I can actually stand. Flynn is kind of emo right now so he’s not easy to talk to,”

“I see. Well just keep me updated sweetie okay. I’m only a phone call away,”

“Yes, mama I love you,”

“I love you too sweetie,” she says before hanging up the phone.

When Hanna hung up the phone she sat up and looked up to see Flynn staring at her at the doorway causing her to slightly jump.

“Flynn you scared the shit out of me,” She told him frowning as he shrugged and left back to his own room.